Question New Apartment Patch Panel configuration help needed!

[stillamtic]

Hi All,

Found out my apartment I moved into recently has seven total Ethernet port wall-jacks. Six of them are Cat6, one is Cat 5e+.

This excited me once I found out because I currently have latency and speed issues with gaming and streaming 4k content on a 5ghz 100 mbps down wifi connection.

I quickly set up my modem in the patch panel and found the correct wire that output to the router in the office. This works, I am able to have the modem in the patch panel and my wireless router in my office.



Now I want to hard wire my PS4 in my living room as there is an Ethernet jack there as well. So I purchased an unmanaged 5-port switch on Amazon and connected it in the patch panel area, but this is where I am having trouble.

I found the right wire to connect into the switch and I am getting activity lights on my PS4 (both green and yellow, blinking yellow), but my PS4 is not recognizing a connection to the internet. I tested with other devices like my laptop, and same thing.

My current configuration is Modem in patch panel connected to link/act port on unmanaged switch. Port 1 of switch is connected to router that is located in the office(this connection works and is live). Port 2 is connected to the PS4 located in the Livingroom (no internet, where issue currently lies).



What does work:

I was able to get an active connection with internet on my PS4 by plugging the wire directly into the modem and then restarting the modem. That's the only thing that has worked so far as far as getting a live connection in the living room.

What didn’t work:

Changing port connections from link/act to other ports, switching out cables, and trying other ports throughout the apartment.

All cables used outside of the patch panel are Cat 5e. All devices connected to a power source.

Any idea what my issue is here? Am I overlooking anything? Is an unmanaged switch in the patch panel w/ the modem not the correct way to go here?

Thanks in advance for your help!!

 

[kanewolf]

Your modem and router need to be at the patch panel. Then the LAN ports from the router can go to devices or another switch to expand the number of wall jacks supported. To provide WIFI in another part of the apartment, you would add a WIFI access point or a second router configured as an access point.

 

[stillamtic]

Your modem and router need to be at the patch panel. Then the LAN ports from the router can go to devices or another switch to expand the number of wall jacks supported. To provide WIFI in another part of the apartment, you would add a WIFI access point or a second router configured as an access point.

Oh I see, not ideal, but I can make it work if it's the only way. Thanks for much for your help!

 

[Alabalcho]

You can make it work even with this config if you can live with 100mbit connections: Use two splitters at the both ends of the patchpanel-to-office connection to make it look like two separate Ethernet cables. Use one for modem-to-routerWAN link, use the other for routerLAN-to-switch link. You can then connect the switch to as many ports as you want, keeping the router (and its WiFi) in your office.

 

[stillamtic]

s,

You can make it work even with this config if you can live with 100mbit connections: Use two splitters at the both ends of the patchpanel-to-office connection to make it look like two separate Ethernet cables. Use one for modem-to-router link, use the other for router-to-switch link. You can then connect the switch to as many ports as you want, keeping the router (and its WiFi) in your office.

Although my connection is 100 mbps down currently, I sometimes get test results in the 110s returns. I'm looking for max bandwidth of a 1000 mbps for future streaming needs. Is there any alternate set ups I can do to keep my wireless router outside of the patch panel? Even if it requires more hardware?

I'm thinking of exchanging my switch for a wired router. Then hopefully I can have the wired router in the patch panel with the modem and the wireless router in the center of the apartment. It's about a 1200 sqft apartment w/ many dividing walls so that's why I'd prefer making the AP more centralized.

 

[Alabalcho]

I'm thinking of exchanging my switch for a wired router. Then hopefully I can have the wired router in the patch panel with the modem and the wireless router in the center of the apartment. It's about a 1200 sqft apartment w/ many dividing walls so that's why I'd prefer making the AP more centralized.

You can use a WiFi router as an Access Point (AP) if you disable DHCP, assign it a static IP address, and plug it LAN-to-LAN with primary router.