Home Network Switch and Patch Panel

[R1727]

A colleague recently moved into a house that appears to have been owned by an IT enthusiast or professional. 

 

We are trying to figure out how the internet setup is meant to work...it's not at the moment. From what we can see, the external internet connection:

1. Goes into the home and straight to a patch panel (we don't know which of the 24 ports it goes to)
2. then to a 24-port CISCO SR224 Switch
3. from the switch back to the patch panel
4. then to the modem router in the home office (we have worked out that 8 on the patch panel goes to the modem)

The issue is that we can't figure out which number on the patch panel is the internet connection, and even when they are all plugged into the switch, the modem doesn't get a connection. 

 

Welcoming any ideas, suggestions or solutions! Thanks in advance!

 

[Needfuldoer]

I think you're looking at it backwards. The modem/router has to sit between the ISP and the LAN.

 

Remember, a patch panel is just a bunch of cables that all terminate in a neat row. Check the room ends of those runs for a cable or plate number. If you can't find them, a tool like a "fox and hound" cable tracer to figure them out. (Unplug all the network cables, then plug the transmitter into one of the room ends. Use the wand to figure out which port on the patch panel it connects to.)

 

8 minutes ago, R1727 said:

then to a 24-port CISCO SR224 Switch

Eew, throw that piece of 10/100 history in the e-waste.

[R1727]

Thanks for the quick reply Needfuldoer. 

 

I thought that was how the setup should work, however, the router lost its internet connection when the patch cables were moved. Is there any edge case where the ISP connection would go to a patch panel & switch prior to the modem/router?

[Needfuldoer]

16 minutes ago, R1727 said:

Is there any edge case where the ISP connection would go to a patch panel & switch prior to the modem/router?

If you have fiber to the premesis, you might have an ONT that spits out an Ethernet connection that then connects to the ISP router.

 

If it's DSL, they could have used a couple patch panel ports to pass the POTS line to wherever the modem is, for whatever reason.

 

If it's a DOCSIS cable modem, absolutely not.

[R1727]

I was thinking about it a bit further overnight. 

Is it possible for the ISP connection to go:

1. to patch panel (e.g. port 15)
2. then a patch cable to another patch port (e.g. 8)
3. which then goes to the modem/router in the home office
4. then the modem/router routes through another patch port (e.g. 13)
5. to the switch
6. to enable other ports in the house to access the internet

 

[R1727]

10 hours ago, R1727 said:

I was thinking about it a bit further overnight. 

Is it possible for the ISP connection to go:

1. to patch panel (e.g. port 15)
2. then a patch cable to another patch port (e.g. 8)
3. which then goes to the modem/router in the home office
4. then the modem/router routes through another patch port (e.g. 13)
5. to the switch
6. to enable other ports in the house to access the internet

 

Basically, this ended up being the setup. 
 

1. ISP connection was port 24 of the patch panel
2. Patch cable from port 24 to port 8
3. Port 8 on the patch panel ended at the home office
4. The modem/router accessed the internet through this port