[SOLVED] One RJ45 port but I need two... please help!

[bekwon]

I have a single RJ45 outlet in my living room. It's currently being used by my TV set top box but I really want to put my router in my living room because it's a better wireless location and it would allow me to setup a few key wired connections (TV, video game consoles, Android box, etc.).

So I unplugged my TV set top box, plugged my router into the living room RJ45 outlet, and connected my TV set top box to the router. But it didn't work. The TV set top box would get stuck at the started screen. I called up my internet/TV cable company and they said that the TV set top box can't be connected to a router and it has to be connected directly to the RJ45 outlet. I asked if I could maybe use an RJ45 splitter or switch and they said no. For reference, it's fiber optic internet. I'm not sure what model the modem is but the TV set top box is an AirTies Air 7410X.

The internet/TV cable company's solution is to send me a couple AirTies units (Air 4920). One of them will replace my existing router, so it will be plugged into the RJ45 in my guest bedroom. The other one will be a mesh access point that can be plugged into a power outlet in my living room and doesn't need to be plugged into an RJ45. The access point also has a couple ethernet ports so I can run some wired connections (I'm unclear if I can connect an ethernet switch here).

Is this a good solution? Will the wireless access point have any major real-world drawbacks? Any other ideas on how I can get my TV set top box and my router both working in my living room?

 

[SamirD]

This is akin to what verizon does as well with their service.

Where is your router now and what is it connected to for service?

I just read up on the airties. They seem like a pretty decent product if they work the way they say they should. The company definitely knows the problems and challenges of deploying wifi.

 

[bill001g]

So I will assume the tv box is not the router or you would not be concerned about wifi placement.

This means there is a router someplace else. The connection likely goes cable----modem---router---tvbox.

What you should be able to do is buy a router but use it as a AP. You could also buy a small switch if you only need ethernet ports. The cabling would be cable--modem--router---new router---tvbox. The key here is make sure your router either has AP mode or use the LAN ports. You must disable the DHCP and make sure the lan ip does not conflict if your router does not have AP mode.

 

[bekwon]

This is akin to what verizon does as well with their service.

Where is your router now and what is it connected to for service?

I just read up on the airties. They seem like a pretty decent product if they work the way they say they should. The company definitely knows the problems and challenges of deploying wifi.

The router is plugged into the ethernet outlet in my guest bedroom, which is the only other working ethernet outlet in my condo. I was looking into other people's experiences with AirTies and opinions seem to be mixed, which some looking to replace them with a different router and access point.

Ideally, I'm hoping there's a way I can get two working ethernet outlets in my living room, by way of some kind of splitter, switch, etc. but I've been told by my ISP that it simply won't work. So if that's not possible, the next best option seems to be to try to get the best router and access point setup possible, with the access point being wireless and offering gigabit ethernet ports.

 

[bekwon]

So I will assume the tv box is not the router or you would not be concerned about wifi placement.

This means there is a router someplace else. The connection likely goes cable----modem---router---tvbox.

What you should be able to do is buy a router but use it as a AP. You could also buy a small switch if you only need ethernet ports. The cabling would be cable--modem--router---new router---tvbox. The key here is make sure your router either has AP mode or use the LAN ports. You must disable the DHCP and make sure the lan ip does not conflict if your router does not have AP mode.

The TV box, as far as I can tell, is just a set-top box.

When the ISP installed my internet, they had to run fiber optic from somewhere in my building all the way up to my condo unit, connecting it to a modem that is hidden in the ceiling of a closet. The installer then connected my router by plugging it into an ethernet outlet in my guest bedroom. Interestingly, the installer plugged the ethernet cable into one of the router's regular ethernet ports and not the one that was labeled "Internet." I can't remember if he disabled the HDCP.

Accordingly, the connection goes fiber optic line --- modem --- router / TV box. The TV box can't be connected to the router.

 

[bill001g]

It is pretty easy to test. Turn the power off on the router and see if the tv box continues to work. That would mean the tv box takes to the modem rather than the router.

You could also try unplugging the tv box and plugging in your pc instead. If it works then you likely could put router inbetween.

 

[Yogi2367]

Sounds a lot like how my fibre modem works. There are 4 ports on the fibre modem ... 2 of them are for TV only, one is for VoIP telephony only, and the 4th is for internet only.
My guess would be that your TV is plugged into a TV only port, and that would be why when you plug a router into it, it does not work.
To get your TV to work off the internet, you'll need to get your internet signal to the TV by either WiFi, or direct cable, but either way that signal has to come off the internet port on your fibre modem. If you're going to cable it, that cable would have to come off a separate router connected to the internet port on the fibre modem.
My solution was to run a short Cat7 from the fibre modem to an Asus AC5300 Rapture, then WiFi from the Rapture to the TV, leaving the fibre modem's RJ45 still plugged into the TV so I could access vendor supplied content as well as Netflix/Amazon/etc. via the internet connection.

 

[SamirD]

The TV box, as far as I can tell, is just a set-top box.

When the ISP installed my internet, they had to run fiber optic from somewhere in my building all the way up to my condo unit, connecting it to a modem that is hidden in the ceiling of a closet. The installer then connected my router by plugging it into an ethernet outlet in my guest bedroom. Interestingly, the installer plugged the ethernet cable into one of the router's regular ethernet ports and not the one that was labeled "Internet." I can't remember if he disabled the HDCP.

Accordingly, the connection goes fiber optic line --- modem --- router / TV box. The TV box can't be connected to the router.

Some great responses on how fibre setups are wired--I recall having one of these in a previous apartment and there was no way of getting the tv to run over the internet or vice versa. 🙁

But if the installer did plug your service into your router switch and your tv is connected to that, then it is pretty simple--you just connect your router to the tv and the tv jack using only your router's lan ports and it should work.

 

[bekwon]

Alright, so I spoke a technical rep from my ISP and apparently, each outlet is supposed to be designated for different things (also, the fiber line doesn't plug into a "modem", it plugs into a Zhone router). In other words, the ethernet jack in my guest bedroom is supposed to be for internet/my router, and the ethernet jack in my living room is supposed to be for cable TV. I was told that if I plug my router into the ethernet jack in my living room, it shouldn't be able to get internet. But it did. He was surprised and said it shouldn't have been setup that way. After I explained that DHCP was disabled on my router when they did the initial installation, he said it made sense. I'm not a very tech-savvy person so I don't fully understand what this all means.

Bottom line though is that he said there's no way that I can "split" the ethernet jack in my living room to accomplish what I want, nor can I have the TV box plugged into my router.

I'm going to try out the AirTies and see how it goes. If I'm not happy with the performance I will probably switch to Nest Wifi, Eero Pro, Orbi, or some other mesh solution with ethernet jacks.

 

[SamirD]

If you can get Internet at the tv jack, I don't see why you can't use a dumb switch and 'split' the signal that way, one going to the tv and one to an access point for that area. It still isn't clear why your router can't be moved to the tv area if everything is only being plugged into the lan ports (wan empty) as that would be the same thing essentially.

 

[bill001g]

There are 2 ways to "split" ethernet port. You can use the old way that separates the wires into 2 2 pair cables. This limits each to 100mbps. Depends on how fast you internet is. This is extremely cheap and simple but limits the speed.

The other more advanced way is to use vlans. You will now have 2 virtual cables that share one physical cable. You need some small managed or smart switches. They used to be expensive but they are about $30 now for simple ones.

What you would do is say put port 1 on each switch on vlan 1 and port 2 on vlan 2 on each switch. You would define port 3 to be a tagged port and put both vlans on it. You would use the physical cable to connect port 3 on each switch. The switch puts makers (tags) on the packets when they come in the ports so it knows which vlan the belong to.

It does not have to be just 1 port on each vlan you can put as many as you want. It as if you also have a virtual switch connected to end each cable.

 

[SamirD]

I wouldn't use the cable splitting technique as that's never been officially accepted as part of the ethernet standard. Plus ime, they don't last over time, breaking down for whatever reason after a few years.

Vlans can also work, but they also introduce another level of complexity that I don't think are necessary in this case.

 

[bekwon]

If you can get Internet at the tv jack, I don't see why you can't use a dumb switch and 'split' the signal that way, one going to the tv and one to an access point for that area. It still isn't clear why your router can't be moved to the tv area if everything is only being plugged into the lan ports (wan empty) as that would be the same thing essentially.

A lot of this is over my head so I can't really give a proper response. I did try to move the router to the living room and it worked when I plugged it into the ethernet jack that was being used by the TV cable box. But when I tried to plug the TV cable box into one of the router's ports, the TV cable box wouldn't boot up. It's one or the other.

I have an unmanaged ethernet switch that's on its way and I'm assuming that's what you're referring to when you say a "dumb switch." I'll give your suggestion a try once it arrives but as mentioned before, the ISP rep insisted that this won't work.

 

[SamirD]

A lot of this is over my head so I can't really give a proper response. I did try to move the router to the living room and it worked when I plugged it into the ethernet jack that was being used by the TV cable box. But when I tried to plug the TV cable box into one of the router's ports, the TV cable box wouldn't boot up. It's one or the other.

I have an unmanaged ethernet switch that's on its way and I'm assuming that's what you're referring to when you say a "dumb switch." I'll give your suggestion a try once it arrives but as mentioned before, the ISP rep insisted that this won't work.

Feel free to ask questions if something is over your head. All of this was over my head when I first started out too.

Sorry for the poor choice of terminology--dumb switch=simple unmanaged switch--so you're on the right track imo.

One question I do have is when you did connect your router at the tv jack, did you plug the router wan or lan port into the tv jack? And then you plugged the tv into one of the the router's lan ports, correct?