Wiring up ethernet jacks in my apartment

[ThatOneMark]

Hello!

I have a rather major issue with my internet. I've been living in my apartment for a few years now, and the internet connection seem to have been going fine. I had to buy a PCIE Wi-Fi card for my computer, in order to access the internet, because for some reason, my ethernet jacks in the wall weren't working. The card hasn't been the most reliable, but it was fine for gaming, until now, when I've started having massive ping issues. I've decided to call my flat manager to ask if anyone could come and help me wire the ethernet jacks up, but to no avail. The same happened with my ISP, no one really wanted to come help me with it. 

Today, I went to my internet box, where all the cables come into my apartment. The left is where the cable comes in. It gets split to five different phone ports. Each port is linked to a ethernet jack in the wall in the apartment. But I'm not really sure how to connect them up, so if there are any experienced network guys in here that could maybe help me out, that would be great. I've put a picture of the box below. The little loop of phone cable connected to two of the ports seems to be the port by the router.

The apartment is a two-story apartment, my router is in the lower part of the apartment, my computer is located on the top floor. There's only a wall and the floor between my computer and router. The router is connected through the ethernet jack in the lower floor, mentioned earlier.

 

I understand this is probably asking for a lot, but since my ISP and flat manager are absolutely useless, I have no other choice. I know there's the Powerline option, but that's not really an option for me at this time. Thanks for any help in advance.

[Blue4130]

1 hour ago, ThatOneMark said:

Hello!

I have a rather major issue with my internet. I've been living in my apartment for a few years now, and the internet connection seem to have been going fine. I had to buy a PCIE Wi-Fi card for my computer, in order to access the internet, because for some reason, my ethernet jacks in the wall weren't working. The card hasn't been the most reliable, but it was fine for gaming, until now, when I've started having massive ping issues. I've decided to call my flat manager to ask if anyone could come and help me wire the ethernet jacks up, but to no avail. The same happened with my ISP, no one really wanted to come help me with it. 

Today, I went to my internet box, where all the cables come into my apartment. The left is where the cable comes in. It gets split to five different phone ports. Each port is linked to a ethernet jack in the wall in the apartment. But I'm not really sure how to connect them up, so if there are any experienced network guys in here that could maybe help me out, that would be great. I've put a picture of the box below. The little loop of phone cable connected to two of the ports seems to be the port by the router.

The apartment is a two-story apartment, my router is in the lower part of the apartment, my computer is located on the top floor. There's only a wall and the floor between my computer and router. The router is connected through the ethernet jack in the lower floor, mentioned earlier.

 

I understand this is probably asking for a lot, but since my ISP and flat manager are absolutely useless, I have no other choice. I know there's the Powerline option, but that's not really an option for me at this time. Thanks for any help in advance.

@ThatOneMark I'd get a cable tester, or at least visually inspect both ends keystone jacks. It could be that they only have 2 wires connected for phone use. It's stupid and lazy, but very common. If that's the case then you will need to pull new wire or at bare minimum, reterminate the ends. 

[dalekphalm]

18 hours ago, ThatOneMark said:

Hello!

I have a rather major issue with my internet. I've been living in my apartment for a few years now, and the internet connection seem to have been going fine. I had to buy a PCIE Wi-Fi card for my computer, in order to access the internet, because for some reason, my ethernet jacks in the wall weren't working. The card hasn't been the most reliable, but it was fine for gaming, until now, when I've started having massive ping issues. I've decided to call my flat manager to ask if anyone could come and help me wire the ethernet jacks up, but to no avail. The same happened with my ISP, no one really wanted to come help me with it. 

Today, I went to my internet box, where all the cables come into my apartment. The left is where the cable comes in. It gets split to five different phone ports. Each port is linked to a ethernet jack in the wall in the apartment. But I'm not really sure how to connect them up, so if there are any experienced network guys in here that could maybe help me out, that would be great. I've put a picture of the box below. The little loop of phone cable connected to two of the ports seems to be the port by the router.

The apartment is a two-story apartment, my router is in the lower part of the apartment, my computer is located on the top floor. There's only a wall and the floor between my computer and router. The router is connected through the ethernet jack in the lower floor, mentioned earlier.

 

I understand this is probably asking for a lot, but since my ISP and flat manager are absolutely useless, I have no other choice. I know there's the Powerline option, but that's not really an option for me at this time. Thanks for any help in advance.

So let's make some assumptions:

1. The cable that "comes in" to your apartment is your WAN cable - the source of your internet. Is this an Ethernet Cable?

2. The other cables are wired into each room

 

Here's what I suggest:

1. Buy a cheap Ethernet Cable Tester - get something like this:

https://www.amazon.ca/Stanz-Network-Cable-Tester-Phone/dp/B01K1DBKN6/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=ethernet+cable+tester&qid=1576349330&sr=8-3

These are factory OEM testers that companies just rebrand - I have the Monoprice version but it's literally the same hardware.

 

2. Test each jack

Using the above mentioned cable tester (or equivalent), connect one end to the jack in one of your rooms. Connect the other end to each port in your network box, one at a time, until you locate the correct jack - LABEL THE JACK. Repeat for each room until you've located and mapped the jack for every room. Also make note of how many wires light up. Ethernet is 4-pairs - 8 wires in total. The tester will send a signal down each wire, which will light up on the tester itself. Make sure all 8 light up. If some are not lighting up, you may need to cut off the last inch or so of the cable and re-wire ("terminate") it.

 

3. Just use a switch. Take the "feeder" line and plug that into a standard unmanaged Gigabit Switch (Basically any switch will work - TP-Link, D-Link, Linksys, Asus, etc). Then plug all the other jacks into the switch too.

 

Questions:

1. Where does the internet come from? It arrives as an ethernet cable inside that box, where's the other end? Does your "Flat Manager" have a modem/router somewhere in the building?

2. You mentioned a router - where is it? How is it connected? Is that the Flat Managers router, or do you have your own.

3. What kind of "Internet" is it? Eg: Fibre (to the home), DSL (either regular or VDSL), Cable (DOCSIS 2.0 or DOCSIS 3.x), etc?

4. Do you contract directly with the ISP and pay your own internet, or does the Flat Manager just offer you internet as part of the deal?

 

We need to determine how the network flows, and what devices are already in the mix. Once we figure that out, it should be fairly trivial to test out the network jacks, and - if working - get you wired up in every room.

[ThatOneMark]

40 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

1. Where does the internet come from? It arrives as an ethernet cable inside that box, where's the other end? Does your "Flat Manager" have a modem/router somewhere in the building?

I am not exactly sure where it comes from. The manager hasn't been responding to any of my emails or text messages, so I am not sure I can answer that.

41 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

2. You mentioned a router - where is it? How is it connected? Is that the Flat Managers router, or do you have your own.

It is located in the living room. It's connected through the Ethernet port in the living room.

42 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

3. What kind of "Internet" is it? Eg: Fibre (to the home), DSL (either regular or VDSL), Cable (DOCSIS 2.0 or DOCSIS 3.x), etc?

It's xDSL.

44 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

4. Do you contract directly with the ISP and pay your own internet, or does the Flat Manager just offer you internet as part of the deal?

We contract directly with the ISP. They supplied the necessary router as well and don't really want me to use my own router.

 

1 hour ago, dalekphalm said:

1. Buy a cheap Ethernet Cable Tester

I'll borrow it from a friend of mine and try that. If the wiring will be fine, I'll invest in a switch, as you recommended thereafter. Thanks for the response!

[dalekphalm]

3 minutes ago, ThatOneMark said:

I am not exactly sure where it comes from. The manager hasn't been responding to any of my emails or text messages, so I am not sure I can answer that.

This cable - is it ethernet? Does it come in and go into your Router?

3 minutes ago, ThatOneMark said:

It is located in the living room. It's connected through the Ethernet port in the living room.

Is your Router a Modem/Router or just a Router? You can post the model number if you're not sure. 

3 minutes ago, ThatOneMark said:

It's xDSL.

We contract directly with the ISP. They supplied the necessary router as well and don't really want me to use my own router.

Probably because their router is likely a modem router.

3 minutes ago, ThatOneMark said:

I'll borrow it from a friend of mine and try that. If the wiring will be fine, I'll invest in a switch, as you recommended thereafter. Thanks for the response!

Great - still some questions for you to answer but looking good.

[ThatOneMark]

1 hour ago, dalekphalm said:

This cable - is it ethernet? Does it come in and go into your Router?

I think it's coax, if I'm correct. It doesn't go straight into my router. It feeds into the first phone line switch, on the picture. The person hired to do our networking then took a phone line cable and plugged one end into the source, the other into the phone line port, which leads to the ethernet jack in the living room. I hope that made sense.

 

1 hour ago, dalekphalm said:

This cable - is it ethernet? Does it come in and go into your Router?

Modem / Router. It's an Innbox V60.

[dalekphalm]

Just now, ThatOneMark said:

I think it's coax, if I'm correct. It doesn't go straight into my router. It feeds into the first phone line switch, on the picture. The person hired to do our networking then took a phone line cable and plugged one end into the source, the other into the phone line port, which leads to the ethernet jack in the living room. I hope that made sense.

That is the most bizarre setup I've seen. If it's coax, it'll have a single large solid wire in the middle, with thick insulation around it.

Just now, ThatOneMark said:

 

Modem / Router. It's an Innbox V60.

Okay - so depending on how it's all laid out, you may need to re-arrange things.

 

This is the order that things must be installed:

1. "Source" internet cable (this would be the cable that plugs into your Modem/Router)

2. -> Into WAN port on Router

3. Router then connects any LAN port to the Switch

4. -> Switch then feeds the network ports in the box (which lights up each jacked room)

 

So, if your router isn't in the same room as that box, you might need to use one of the walljacks to "back feed" the switch, if there's a jack available in the same room as the router.

 

If not, you may have to move the router or run some new cable.

[ThatOneMark]

18 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

3. Router then connects any LAN port to the Switch

4. -> Switch then feeds the network ports in the box (which lights up each jacked room)

Can't I just move the router into the box and connect any available LAN ports on the router to the network ports in the box, eliminating the need for the switch? I only need two of the jacks in my apartment to work.

Edited December 14, 2019 by ThatOneMark
Wrong word used

[dalekphalm]

Just now, ThatOneMark said:

Can't I just move the switch into the box and connect any available LAN ports on the router to the network ports in the box, eliminating the need for the switch? I only need two of the jacks in my apartment to work.

Sorry, I think you need to clarify this.

 

You can do a few different things.

 

1. If you can route the WAN cable into that network box, you could just put your router there, and use it's internal LAN ports instead of a switch (they do the same thing in this context).

2. If you cannot move the router to this box, you'll need to feed the router back there - if you're only hooking up one other jack, you can just pass through the router's jack to the new jack. However, if you need 2 jacks (aside from the router), you'll need something there to port multiply (either a switch or the router).

 

Does that make sense?

[ThatOneMark]

2 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

Sorry, I think you need to clarify this.

What I meant was the following:

• Move the router into the internet box,
• plug the source into the WAN port on the router,
• plug one end of a cable into LAN1 port on the router and the other into the first phone line port that would lead to my living room, do the same thing for my computer room etc, thus eliminating the need for a switch.

Would that be a better idea?

[dalekphalm]

1 hour ago, ThatOneMark said:

What I meant was the following:

• Move the router into the internet box,
• plug the source into the WAN port on the router,
• plug one end of a cable into LAN1 port on the router and the other into the first phone line port that would lead to my living room, do the same thing for my computer room etc, thus eliminating the need for a switch.

Would that be a better idea?

Yes that would be a good idea. One thing you’ll have to test is make sure the metal box doesn’t kill your WIFI signal strength. 

[Jarsky]

On 12/14/2019 at 12:52 PM, ThatOneMark said:

 

It looks like that top one is the WAN, which loops into the bottom port which is your lounge. 

You should just move your modem router into the white box, and hook it up in there, like below