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I have a fibre connection with a modem and one RJ45 going into the wall socket. in the common area, I have the incoming RJ45 from the fibre and additional 4 rooms cables meeting at the same spot. I have put an access point there, the incoming from fibre goes into port 4, and the rooms go into the rest (1 have one room cabled but not in use so pulled out). One of the room gets internet but 2 other rooms do not have internet connection at all. The electrician has tested both ends with the cable tester and it shows connected, but I can't seem to get internet in those 2 points. The access point does not have a light when I connect the other end to a laptop. I have tried swapping the cables around to the access point but no luck. I opened up the wall socket to check the wires, the picture is below. Any advise would be much appreciated.

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Attie thx, updated - see layout picture. all rooms terminate at store room. incoming from fibre point also going to store room. i have an access point in the store room. Room 1 & 2 have internet connection, only room 3 with 2 wall sockets does not have any internet but cable tester shows connected. i have taken more pictures of the wiring with the colors and numbers, for one of the sockets in room 3.(apparently i cant add more than 1 image)

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Any help from experts please!

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  • It looks like you've pulled the wires off the RJ-45 socket!... Can you post a photo of the back of the socket too (they usually have a sticker showing which colored wires go on each pin of the punch-down block. To reattach you'll need a punch-down tool, or might get away with a small screwdriver.
    – Attie
    Jul 13, 2017 at 15:19
  • People often do strange and mysterious things when running CAT5/6... You'll want to make sure that the cables all come back to a central point. Drawing a diagram showing where you have what sockets, and where you know/thing the wires are running would be very helpful.
    – Attie
    Jul 13, 2017 at 15:21
  • thanks for the comments Attie, i have edited the post with the layout diagram and also link to the pictures of the socket stickers
    – user749479
    Jul 14, 2017 at 1:05
  • You have five wall sockets trying to be fed from a four-port device? You should have five sockets in the store room one to each of the other rooms, except two for room 3.
    – Ron Maupin
    Jul 16, 2017 at 3:12
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    Electricians should not be running network cable. They do not really understand it. What you want is a BICSI certified installer. He will have the proper equipment, and provide detailed reports on each cable run. There are many parameters that must be met. It is not simple electrical connectivity the way is is for telephone cable, and electricians don't really understand that. Also, electricians are used to stapling wires to studs, and that will ruin a network cable, too. It looks like he didn't have the proper pucnhdown tool, either.
    – Ron Maupin
    Jul 16, 2017 at 6:44

1 Answer 1

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I wanted to write a comment, but it got quite long-winded... The formatting of an answer will help, and these things should get you started to find out what's going on. I'm happy to revise as more information comes to light.

Identifying Connectivity

The First thing you want to do is understand:

  1. Where the wires run
  2. If they are functional

If you're lucky, and all the wires are "functional", then you can easily figure out where the runs go with just a computer and a switch. By "functional", I'm meaning that an Ethernet connection can be established - blinky "link" LED on the switch, computer reporting a connection.

You'll want to make sure that the connection is at the expected speed... If you're using a gigabit switch, and a computer that is capable of a gigabit, then Windows (or ethtool should report a 1000Mbps link. If it does not, then this can indicate problems.

If the hardware is capable of 1Gbps, but the link is reported as 100Mbps, or appears to keep disconnecting, then you'll need to at least invest in some basic tools, or call in a pro.

It looks like you've identified where the runs go, but it would be good to prove out those connections that currently "don't get internet" - don't look for internet connectivity at first, look for Ethernet connectivity. Then for communication with your router or another PC - use ping -t and check for packet loss.

From your diagram, there should be 5x sockets in the store room. You'll want to put your router in the main hall (close to the "fibre" point), and then use a switch in the store room to connect to the rest of the house.

Basic Tools

You can easily get your hands on a "Cable Tester" that will test "CAT-5e" or "RJ45"... search eBay, I can get one for £3.70 GBP (free postage)... there's no need to pay more.

Cable Tester

With this you can connect one piece to each end of the run, and simply ensure that the termination is correct - the LEDs should run 1 through 8 on both ends, otherwise there is a bad link / mismatch.

More (much more) expensive tools will be able to provide you with information on the quality of the run - crosstalk, bandwidth, shorts, length, etc... I'm not advising you to go for a tool like this... Call a pro if you need to.

Termination

I'm not familiar with the terminals you've shown... I can only presume that the RJ45 socket is in a separate piece of the faceplate... and I also have to presume that by removing it you've pulled the wires from the punchdown block.

The 'keystone' terminals are fairly popular, shown below with a "punchdown tool" in action.

Terminal

To put things back together, you'll need a "Punchdown tool" - again available on eBay for around £5 GBP. (You could even get a kit with cable tester, crimps, punchdown tool and a few other bits for ~£10 GBP!)

Termination is actually quite important - mainly, don't untwist the pairs too far and don't leave wire past the terminal.

Electricians

As already mentioned in the comments, don't talk to electricians. They are not equipped to deal with Ethernet - or even phone lines in my opinion.

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  • thank you Attie for the detailed answer. i can fully say that the 2 lines going to room 3 are not functional. there is no light on the switch for that port when i connect the other end to a computer. the rest are all working well. so i suspect that the run has some issues and i would need to get a pro in as it is still brand new renovation done. i might need to re-pull the wires to make sure it is a done correctly. with the cable tester, these 2 sockets in room 3 show connected, but not when a computer is plugged in.
    – user749479
    Jul 17, 2017 at 0:30
  • hi Attie, thank you again. update, it is all fixed now. got a proper network person to have a look at the whole setup. he managed to find a defect in the cable pins and subsequently had to run a separate new cable by trunking as hacking the walls will be too much work. it was the cable all along.
    – user749479
    Jul 26, 2017 at 5:21
  • Well done! glad it's fixed :-)
    – Attie
    Jul 26, 2017 at 5:50

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