TL;DR: Fiber internet guy set up one port in my house to use for a wired connection. I know (picture below) that I could wire all my ports fairly easily - I just don't know what hardware I'll need and how to best do it. I have, in what feels like a past life now, stripped ethernet and krimped them into RJ-45s, and wired a patch panel with a punch-down tool. I'm not even sure if those are the correct words anymore.
My basement 'setup'
My wifi has been really spotty lately. My SO and I can't play coop Stardew Valley. My Steam Link in the living room has a terrible connection to my office PC. In my basement I can see all of the ethernet wall jacks are terminated into... something. I have no idea how to hook it all up.
There are six ethernet wall jacks in my house - each labeled and terminated into that thing in the picture above (what appears to me to be half of a patch panel).
A few months ago I signed up for fiber internet, and my wired PC has a really amazing 300Mbps/300Mbps connection. The technician pulled my "bedroom 3" cable which I'm using for my office and terminated it into some sort of female ethernet port thing. Then he ran what I believe is a normal patch cable from the fiber modem to that port. This gave me a connection in my office which I plugged into my google home wifi router. I then plugged my old wireless router into the single google wifi router port and turned off that router's DHCP which, as I understand, effectively turned it into a switch. I thin plugged my Plex server and personal PC into the old wireless router.
The connection to my Plex and PC is excellent. But my Google wireless router and end point are quite spotty. My SO can't play Stardew Valley with me without constantly losing connection. When I use my Steam Link in my living room to stream games wirelessly from my upstairs office PC, it frequently gets more pixelated than 1990s dial-up porn.
If I could supply a wired connection to the other five ethernet ports in my house I'd be set. I know they're terminated into whatever that thing is... Would that thing effectively work as a switch? I've seen pictures online of people terminating their home ethernet into the back of a patch panel which then can plug directly into a switch. Is that what I need to do? Did the thing the technician did actually hurt my ability to make everything work?
Basically what I'm asking is:
My basement 'setup'
My wifi has been really spotty lately. My SO and I can't play coop Stardew Valley. My Steam Link in the living room has a terrible connection to my office PC. In my basement I can see all of the ethernet wall jacks are terminated into... something. I have no idea how to hook it all up.
There are six ethernet wall jacks in my house - each labeled and terminated into that thing in the picture above (what appears to me to be half of a patch panel).
A few months ago I signed up for fiber internet, and my wired PC has a really amazing 300Mbps/300Mbps connection. The technician pulled my "bedroom 3" cable which I'm using for my office and terminated it into some sort of female ethernet port thing. Then he ran what I believe is a normal patch cable from the fiber modem to that port. This gave me a connection in my office which I plugged into my google home wifi router. I then plugged my old wireless router into the single google wifi router port and turned off that router's DHCP which, as I understand, effectively turned it into a switch. I thin plugged my Plex server and personal PC into the old wireless router.
The connection to my Plex and PC is excellent. But my Google wireless router and end point are quite spotty. My SO can't play Stardew Valley with me without constantly losing connection. When I use my Steam Link in my living room to stream games wirelessly from my upstairs office PC, it frequently gets more pixelated than 1990s dial-up porn.
If I could supply a wired connection to the other five ethernet ports in my house I'd be set. I know they're terminated into whatever that thing is... Would that thing effectively work as a switch? I've seen pictures online of people terminating their home ethernet into the back of a patch panel which then can plug directly into a switch. Is that what I need to do? Did the thing the technician did actually hurt my ability to make everything work?
Basically what I'm asking is:
- How hard will it be to get my house setup correctly? Can someone with limited experience with networking from twenty years ago DIY this project?
- If yes, what kind of hardware/tools will I need? I'm happy to swing by a store on my way home and pick up a punch down tool, some RJ-45s, a switch, and a patch panel (if that's what I need).
- Also if yes, what should the actual setup be? Can I use that thing they're terminated to in the picture or will I need to terminate them into something else? Do I need patch cables? Crossover cables?