Technical > Home Improvement > Best way to finish off a Cat5e cabling job?

Best way to finish off a Cat5e cabling job?

The best thing would be to terminate all the lines at a suitable switching location inside the house.
If there is no suitable place to terminate everything inside the home (utility room, etc...), then he should look into a switch which can be housed outdoors. They aren't that expensive. They are usually marketed as "industrial" or "ruggedized".
The PP should have *at least* enough ports to cover all the cables it may be intended to serve.
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Looks like Reverend Wright got his wish - God Damn America.
Nancy Pelosi - House Minority Leader 2010
Harry Reid - Senate Minority Leader 2010

reply to SoCalChris
Here's a little more information to help illustrate how exactly this is set up already.

The cables all go to an outdoor utility box, which is similar to what a circuit breaker would be in. That's what the current patch panel is housed in. I can't really mount a switch inside the utility box because there isn't room in the box, and mounting one outside of the box would require network cables running out the bottom of the door on the utility box to the switch which would have to be mounted to the outside of the house. Besides leaving the utility box open to the elements, that would look awful.

On the interior of that wall is a bathroom. That's not really an ideal place to put a switch either, I doubt that my friend's wife would go for that.

Which is why I need to run cable extensions to the spot where we'd like to locate the switch.

It's not an ideal situation, but hopefully someone can confirm that my plan is decent, or suggest another alternative.

Thanks again!

The point is, is there enough room inside the outside box for a larger (or additional) patch panel? If so then make it happen, and run 6 or 8 or however many patch cables from there to wherever you want the switch to be. If not then terminate the extra 2 wires to a jack and get some cat-5 couplers and do it half-assed...

Honestly it sounds like a kind of asinine setup, and if I were in your shoes I'd use the existing in-wall cable as pull strings to route everything to a sensible location like a basement/utility room/garage/etc. where a proper patch panel and switch could be mounted, ideally in close proximity to the cable/phone ingress. Why anyone would pull cables to a point where they don't want them is beyond me, but such is life.

reply to SoCalChris
Then, basically what you are saying is running the cables outside was a big ol' waste of time, as you really needed them to terminate by the entertainment center.
So, you'll need to pull an equivalent number of cables from the outdoor box back to the switch location (e.g. 8). Otherwise you won't be able to fully utilize the network.

~or~

My suggestion is to get a bigger 3R enclosure (»www.hometech.com/hts/products/wi···dex.html) and get a switch that can handle the temperature.
--
Looks like Reverend Wright got his wish - God Damn America.
Nancy Pelosi - House Minority Leader 2010
Harry Reid - Senate Minority Leader 2010

reply to SoCalChris
I'm assuming this house is on a slab or inconvenient crawl, and that's why the wiring is run to the outside. I know in Cali and other more temperate climates, they tend to put the breaker panel on the outside of the house. Here, that's an absolute last resort, and people aren't used to seeing it. I'm doing a tiny house now on a shallow dirt crawl (no garage or basement) where everything runs to the outside. I'll be mounting one of the 3R panels next to the meter so the Cat5 and network cables will be available to the phone and cable companies.
There simply isn't room in the utility room for the extra panels. I have a feeling the OP is in a similar situation.
--
Looks like Reverend Wright got his wish - God Damn America.
Nancy Pelosi - House Minority Leader 2010
Harry Reid - Senate Minority Leader 2010

reply to SoCalChris
Yep, almost all of the homes out here are on slabs, and I've never seen a home in this area where the breaker panel was indoors.

There should be room in the outdoor box for a small patch panel to hold the additional ports, so I'll probably do that, and then run cables from there to the keystone jacks located where we ultimately want the switch.

I'm not sure why the homeowner ran the cables to this spot in the first place, especially with the patch panel that he put in not having enough ports.

There is no garage or utility room in this house, which is why we're locating the switch near the home entertainment setup, and is probably the reason that the cables were run to the outside box in the first place.

Thanks for everyone's ideas.

If there is room for a patch panel then there should be room for a switch. Take the patch panel out and find a small switch that will fit and terminate all of the cables with modular RJ45 plugs.

reply to SoCalChris
Not to flog the OP too much, but this is a classic case of "doing first, then thinking later"...
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The Truth is the foremost enemy of the State now.

reply to robbin
My main problem with mounting a switch directly in the utility box is temperature. Summer temps here frequently get close to 130 degrees, and the utility box is in direct sunlight for around 6 hours every day during summer.

Most routers that I've seen have a max operating temp of around 104 degrees, I'm afraid these conditions would quickly cook the switch.

What better time of year to test!

Just as an aside, a router is a different device than a switch. A quick search shows switches with a wide operational temperature range.

reply to SoCalChris
I've found a place in most houses that is great for terminating cable and placing a switch. Not the best to service, but it is unused space most people don't think of.
Terminate the cable and put a switch above the door in a closet. Most people won't see it there and most people don't think about the "wasted space" that works great for a switch.

reply to SoCalChris
Q. Best way to finish off a Cat5e cabling job?
A. With a cold beer

reply to Rob

said by Rob:

Q. Best way to finish off a Cat5e cabling job?
A. With a cold beer

reply to SoCalChris

reply to Rob

said by Rob:

Q. Best way to finish off a Cat5e cabling job?
A. With a cold beer

reply to SoCalChris
Probably not what your friend wants to hear, but, if the drywall is still missing then the best bet is to just start over. There just isn't any reason to have all of the cables terminate outside. If I were wiring my house today I would go with Cat 6 cable. The price isn't THAT much higher than Cat 5e now. Run AT LEAST TWO cables to every room, and run the other end to where your (indoor!) patch panel will go. I have mine mounted up high in a closet. I'm using a 24-port patch panel and a 24-port switch, with wiring runs through the attic.

If he wants to just use the 6-port patch panel for now, that's fine. But run the wires while it's easy to do.

I bought all my supplies from »www.deepsurplus.com for WAY cheaper than the big box stores. I also found a screaming deal on the patch panel, already mounted in a network enclosure, with patch cables. I have my switch and a small UPS for it mounted inside.

reply to SoCalChris
»www.nextwarehouse.com/item/?285801_g10e

Not that expensive compared to re-running everything.

Yes, but those switches are only 10/100. If running Cat5e, it is capable of gigabit (which makes a difference with sharing files, running a media server, etc...).
\IMHO....