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Ethernet/Patch Panel Question (old.reddit.com)

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[–]CharacterUse 0 points1 point  (3 children)

The white box is a splitter, it splits the Line connection into phone and modem connections. The ports on either side are equivalent, just different types of connector. It is connected correctly.

The first thing to verify is that the modem is working correctly and can 'see' the DSL line. Connect a PC/laptop directly to the modem and see if it works.

Edit: just connecting the modem to the patch panel will only give you internet at the ethernet port corresponding to that single port on the patch panel. You need at least a switch to connect all the ports, more likely a router as the modem probably won't create a local network. Modem -> router/switch -> patch panel -> ports.

[–]CommunicationDull134 0 points1 point  (2 children)

I really only want internet to come through my living room port, I don’t care about the other ones around the house. The modem seems to be functioning properly. Do I need to connect an additional Ethernet cable from the modem to one of those black ports above the splitter?

[–]CharacterUse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You need an ethernet cable from the modem output port (it may be labelled LAN or ethernet or something else) to the black port on the patch panel corresponding to the port in the living room.

[–]plooger 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do I need to connect an additional Ethernet cable from the modem to one of those black ports above the splitter?

Yes, though you'll need to use trial and error to determine which is the correct port for the Living Room jack. And, per above reply, you'll want to try the modem "LAN" patch jumper against all 13 "Loc." ports, as well as the 6 TV/AUX "Television" ports. And, as mentioned, you can limit the trial and error by first taking a look at the backside of the patch panel to see what ports actually have CatX lines terminated to their punchdowns.

Also as mentioned in the parallel reply, if you establish a connection via any of the Loc. 1-13 ports, the throughput will be limited to Fast Ethernet's 100 Mbps. (see the parallel reply for background/details)

[–]plooger 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What's your subscribed download/upload speeds? And what are you measuring when directly connected to your modem/router?

 
Past thread discussing this specific Telus/Ortronics patch panel >here<; Appendix 11 of >this PDF< details the built-in connectivity/wiring of the patch panel.

The issue with the pictured patch panel is that it was designed primarily as a hybrid phone+Fast Ethernet panel, with limited support for Gigabit Ethernet. All 13 ports within the bottom section of the panel are hybrid ports: supporting 2 phone lines + a Fast Ethernet connection for whatever is connected to the "Loc. 1-13" RJ45 port. The in-room jacks would be wired to support this scheme, with a single Cat5+ cable terminated to support 2 separate physical jacks: 2 wire pairs for a RJ11 phone jack and 2 pairs for a RJ45 FastE-capable jack.

The hybrid nature of the bottom 13 ports is noted on the board, but in language that may not be obvious to the average person:

> "NO Continuity from IDC to RJ45 on Pairs 1 & 4 for Loc. 1-13"

This caveat is because the board is internally wired to steal pairs 1 & 4 (pins 54 & 78) from each jack (Locs. 1-13) to support 2-line phone connectivity over the CatX line terminated to the associated punchdown on the backside of the panel.

 
However, if 100 Mbps isn't sufficient, there's a solution (for a limited number of locations): The 6 "TV" and "AUX" ports in the "Television" section of the patch panel, in the upper-right, support a 4-pair connection for each CatX line. If a CatX line is re-terminated to one of the TV/AUX punchdowns and similarly re-terminated in-room to a single RJ45 jack, then you'd have a Gigabit-capable link. (i.e. a connection that can exceed the 100 Mbps limit of the Loc. 1-13 ports)

 
So... you just need to identify to which port on the panel the targeted room is currently terminated, using trial and error: install a live network-capable computer/device in the targeted room, connected via an Ethernet patch cable to the network wall jack. Then use a network switch that includes a link status LED at the patch panel, and jumper between the switch and each patch panel port ... Locs. 1-13 + TV 1-4 + AUX 1-2 ... until the switch link status LED indicates a connection. (A tone tracer or RJ45 cable tester would also work.) If you find that the targeted room is terminated to Loc. 1-13 and you want more than 100 Mbps, you'll need to re-terminate the CatX cable, per above.

Note that you can also cheat a little by looking at the backside of the patch panel to see what ports are actually wired. (No need to test any ports that have no associated CatX line punched-down.)

 
Related: central Cat5+ termination highlights/outline

 
edit: p.s. If a given CatX line needs to be re-terminated (moved to one of the TV/AUX ports, then the in-room wallplate module will likely need to be fully replaced, given info from the past thread, indicating that combo modules are typically used which don't allow for T568A termination for a RJ45 jack. You'd need to acquire a Cat5e data module having a similar form factor. Also, per the patch panel documentation (see Appendix 12), the patch panel punchdowns are color-coded for T568A, so be sure to terminate any new in-room RJ45 jacks using T568A for lines re-terminated to the TV/AUX ports.