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Thread ID: 62633 2005-10-14 06:01:00 in house network prob drcspy (146) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
396167 2005-10-15 01:49:00 From the original posting, it appears that here is a patch panel in the pantry cupboard.

Try taking one computer to the pantry, and plugging it into the patch panel socket for the room in which the other computer is. You'll need a cross-over cable at one end of the in-wall cable. Test one cable at a time. At the moment you have too many variables. I'd be inclined to put the far computer on a trolley, and try all the cables in this way ... and label the patch panel sockets so that you know where they go. It's not unknown for patch panels to be marked wrongly. :D

I suppose the best way (until you install a switch, hub, or router) would be to use a cross-over cable as the patch cable. That way you get to use straight cables between the wall sockets and the computers, always. That's the least confusing way to work.
Graham L (2)
396168 2005-10-15 20:54:00 yeh well my networking knowledge doesn't run to pulling apart a couple of junction points in a pantry and fiddlign around with someone elses wiring lol......i'm just assuming that they haveint wired it up quite right cause I reckon at least ONE of those combo's I tried shoulda resulted in a signal...... drcspy (146)
396169 2005-10-16 00:08:00 How many sockets are there in the pantry cupboard? Each of them should be connected to one (and only one) of the sockets in the other rooms. They arer probably mounted in a line on a metal bar. That's called a patch panel. Using it you can connect any one of the remote sockets to any of the others, by using a short cable called a patch cable. Sometime you might connect all the ports to a router or switch, to automate the connections.

First, put the two computers side by side. Connect them with a crossover cable. Look at the lights on the Ethernet cards, and make them talk to each other. Now you know what should happen, when it's all correct. :D If it doesn't work like that, forget about the house wiring for the moment and fix this situation.


Next, set up one computer in a room, plugged into that room's socket with a straight cable. Have the computer turned on, with the (now known to be working) network software installed.

Take the other computer to the pantry cupboard. Connect it, using a crossover cable, to the socket which "should" be the one for the room with the computer. Turn it on. You should see the "link" light on the Ethernet card come on. If you don't, try a straight cable. (The fixed wires should be "straight through", so the crossover cable should be needed at one end).
If that still doesn't work, go back to the crossover cable, and try all the other sockets on the patch panel. What an electrician calls a room might not be what you call the same room.
Graham L (2)
396170 2005-10-16 04:01:00 The sparky may have have been smart enough to label the connections, check the face plate in the rooms, see if they are labeled then match this to a corresponding labeled outlet on the patch panel.

I suspect that the cables run to a patch panel and need to Patched into a switch to complete your network.

You could also use a cross over between the two ports on the patch panel in the pantry if you only want to network two pc's. That would effectivly give you a crossover/adhoc network betwen the two rooms.
beama (111)
396171 2005-10-16 04:47:00 problem is...........that's not a patch panel that i know of in the pantry theres two of em and they look just like light switch panels but they're blank on the faces..........theres a couple of screws one might pull out to remove the covers but god knows what they've got inside them and i didn't have either the time or inclination to look...........

hey thanks guys you are all very knowledgable......
drcspy (146)
396172 2005-10-17 03:05:00 What the hell did the "sparky" install?

If he just daisy chained all the RJ45 sockets in the rooms together (thinking it's just like a phone setup) it can't and won't work.

The twisted pair Ethernet has to be point to point. The wires are not just wires; they are transmission lines, and have to be properly terminated. That means having a proper interface at each end. A long length of extra cable heading off to nowhere, is an "unterminated stub", and is very bad news.
Graham L (2)
396173 2005-10-17 03:25:00 I just dont know.......all I see is a wall socket (rj45) in each room and two blanked out plates in the cupboard where the wires are 'joined' or whatever they have done.........anyway the guy was supposed to go out there today to look at it and I havent heard back......tha'ts good cause in theory if they can get a connection working then as I've left the setup it should 'network' immediately...... drcspy (146)
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