New home network problems

[HnyBgrDntCare]

Ok, I'm stumped.

 

I just moved into my newly built townhome (in the US), got my fiber internet activated (Quantum), and finished unpacking.

 

Now I'm getting my PC all set up and I go to plug in my ethernet and theres no connection.

I headed to my utility closet where the router (ZYXEL C3510XZ) is and found all the ethernet cables (cat5e) are hanging out of the wall and terminated- thankfully labeled- but with one extra one labeled "homerun" that I have no clue what it is or where it goes.

 

I figured since these are terminated I could just plug the ones I needed into my router and get ethernet up to my PC but no dice. I opened up the router UI and poked around a bit but couldn't find anything obviously off (I'm not a networking guy). So I took my laptop down and hardwired in and confirmed that I could connect to the router via ethernet and it successfully connected. I then went though all the other ethernet ports in the house, plugged them into the router, went to the other end and plugged my laptop in, and could not connect through any of them.

 

Im hoping they didn't somehow screw up when they installed the cables, but I'm thinking its probably something I need to do on my end... a setting in the router? a patch panel and switch? does that "homerun" cable do something special? do I give up and only use wifi ? I've tried searching online for solutions but without knowing all the proper terminology or how to diagnose the issue I don't know how to solve this problem. I think I may have to get an ethernet cable tester... maybe they terminated the ends wrong?

 

Anyone smarter than me have any ideas?

 

[Bombastinator]

“Home run” was a short lived term for a methodology of home wiring.  It more or less meant “wire your house like it’s an office building even if it doesn’t need it”. It was a fad.  Extremely long (sometimes too long) cables are placed in the walls to all go to a central point where they are then branched out again. So you can have a wire going from a room wall down to a switch and then off again to another point.  It can be very indirect.  It was also a lot more expensive so it got cheated on a lot.  Basically there’s a lot more wire involved.  I don’t know why someone would label a single cable “home run” though It is possible it means the labels on your cables don’t necessarily mean what you think they do in all cases.  There may also be sub areas besides the one you mentioned. 

Edited August 28, 2022 by Bombastinator

[LIGISTX]

1 hour ago, HnyBgrDntCare said:

Ok, I'm stumped.

 

I just moved into my newly built townhome (in the US), got my fiber internet activated (Quantum), and finished unpacking.

 

Now I'm getting my PC all set up and I go to plug in my ethernet and theres no connection.

I headed to my utility closet where the router (ZYXEL C3510XZ) is and found all the ethernet cables (cat5e) are hanging out of the wall and terminated- thankfully labeled- but with one extra one labeled "homerun" that I have no clue what it is or where it goes.

 

I figured since these are terminated I could just plug the ones I needed into my router and get ethernet up to my PC but no dice. I opened up the router UI and poked around a bit but couldn't find anything obviously off (I'm not a networking guy). So I took my laptop down and hardwired in and confirmed that I could connect to the router via ethernet and it successfully connected. I then went though all the other ethernet ports in the house, plugged them into the router, went to the other end and plugged my laptop in, and could not connect through any of them.

 

Im hoping they didn't somehow screw up when they installed the cables, but I'm thinking its probably something I need to do on my end... a setting in the router? a patch panel and switch? does that "homerun" cable do something special? do I give up and only use wifi ? I've tried searching online for solutions but without knowing all the proper terminology or how to diagnose the issue I don't know how to solve this problem. I think I may have to get an ethernet cable tester... maybe they terminated the ends wrong?

 

Anyone smarter than me have any ideas?

 

Have you pulled any of the wall plates for the ethernet ports off and verified they actually are wired in?

[HnyBgrDntCare]

7 hours ago, LIGISTX said:

Have you pulled any of the wall plates for the ethernet ports off and verified they actually are wired in?

Just checked, looks like they are terminated at the wall plate. I guess they could be incorrectly terminated?

At the router its RJ45- Orange Stripe, Orange, Green Stripe, Blue, Blue Stripe, Green, Brown Stripe Brown

At the wall side it looks like they may not match up with the colors printed on the inside of the jack (which is labeled cat5e+), but each color is side by side with its solid and stripe:

top row: brown, brown stripe, green, green stripe

bottom row: orange, orange stripe, blue, blue stripe

[HnyBgrDntCare]

8 hours ago, Bombastinator said:

“Home run” was a short lived term for a methodology of home wiring.  It more or less meant “wire your house like it’s an office building even if it doesn’t need it”. It was a fad.  Extremely long (sometimes too long) cables are placed in the walls to all go to a central point where they are then branched out again. So you can have a wire going from a room wall down to a switch and then off again to another point.  It can be very indirect.  It was also a lot more expensive so it got cheated on a lot.  Basically there’s a lot more wire involved.  I don’t know why someone would label a single cable “home run” though It is possible it means the labels on your cables don’t necessarily mean what you think they do in all cases.  There may also be sub areas besides the one you mentioned. 

Could the "home run" be for something like a fire alarm system or doorbell?

Im assuming if the cables are too long then i would need to have something that could send a stronger signal than my router can? If its wired like an office then what would I need to do to set up the rest of it like an office?

[Bombastinator]

47 minutes ago, HnyBgrDntCare said:

Could the "home run" be for something like a fire alarm system or doorbell?

Im assuming if the cables are too long then i would need to have something that could send a stronger signal than my router can? If its wired like an office then what would I need to do to set up the rest of it like an office?

The too long problem happens because people don’t check maximum lengths, or run two cables of less than maximum together to create one of more than maximum.  I think you probably need to do a topological network diagram to figure out what is actually connected to what and if it is live or not. Not a what wire is where, just a what is connected to what and what goes where. The problem with home runs is they’re often done wrong.  You need to confirm what you got.  You could do it with a continuity wire and some sort of bell test but it would involve a lot of running around.  An Ethernet network tester could be worth buying depending on how many wall jacks there are in the house.  

[HnyBgrDntCare]

Ok, so I went ahead and bought a cable tester and tested several of the jacks. Lo and behold, all of them have been wired wrong at the wall plate. Not even wired the same from jack to jack, some the blues are swapped, some the browns, and some the greens. I don't even know how someone would get it wrong on every single one unless they were wiring it differently for some specific reason or just weren't networking guys. If thats the case then all these townhomes are probably wired wrong.

[Bombastinator]

12 minutes ago, HnyBgrDntCare said:

Ok, so I went ahead and bought a cable tester and tested several of the jacks. Lo and behold, all of them have been wired wrong at the wall plate. Not even wired the same from jack to jack, some the blues are swapped, some the browns, and some the greens. I don't even know how someone would get it wrong on every single one unless they were wiring it differently for some specific reason or just weren't networking guys. If thats the case then all these townhomes are probably wired wrong.

There’s two kinds of Ethernet.  Those are the colors that get switched.  This bodes ill.  Townhome?  That’s entirely possible.  Those things are often made with the construction equivalent of toilet paper and toothpicks.  Townhomes are famous for losing their value almost as fast as cars.  One of the ways a ccontractor could save money back in the day is low voltage didn’t require a license so it may have been done with cheap day labor.  Also could have been DIY.  I’ve seen some truely horrific DIY.  One asshat former owner of my sister’s house used two whole cans of silicone caulk instead of a toilet ring.  If you’ve got Mickey Mouse low voltage you could have Mickey Mouse other things.  I would check the wall electric and the plumbing too then. 

Edited August 28, 2022 by Bombastinator