Am I missing something with my home network?

[bolst3r]

I've run cat5e to all rooms in my house and now i'm in the progress of wiring it all up and i'm running into problems.

I wired up both ends of a cable (one end in my office and the other under the stairs) and my network tester tells me I have 8 good connection – great. I have wired both end as follows:

1 = W/o
2 = o
3 = w/g
4 = bl
5 = w/bl
6 = g
7 = w/br
8 = br

I now go to the cable at the office end and wire it into a RJ45 CAT5E network outlet module, following the guide and adhering to the T568B standard as follows:

1 = w/o
2 = o
3 = w/g
4 = bl
5 = w/bl
6 = g
7 = w/br
8 = b

but when I connect the cable tester to it I get nothing. If I had trouble crimping I would have thought I would have still got at least one connection.

Is my theory correct on wiring? It might just be that the socket and crimp tool i'm using is rubbish and that's what's causing the problem but before I try again (for the 10th time) I thought I would check that i'm doing this right!!!

Thanks.

 

[piffle]

For standard cat5, unless you are doing a cross over, just connect like for like.
IE. W/O pin 1 - at both ends etc.

The colours don't make a difference to the operation/performance, they are just the protocol/format etc. Also a necessary if doing many points lol.

 

[bolst3r]

I have included a crossover and I have done them like for like so that shouldn't be the issue, is there a problem including a crossover as I followed the instructions on the tester and the socket and they both included it.

Also If I the wire from the router/hub to the socket has a crossover, how should the wire from the socket to the device be wired? Should this be straight through or should this also have a crossover?

I have wired most cables by the hub (one end only) with a crossover and would prefer not to have to remake all of those connections but I will if it's causing the issue.

thanks for any help

 

[piffle]

Why you used a crosss over?
The router/switch Handles all that.

The network infrastucture should be standard connections. IF you need a xover, you would do that on a patch lead.

 

[plugwash]

For standard cat5, unless you are doing a cross over, just connect like for like.
IE. W/O pin 1 - at both ends etc.

The colours don't make a difference to the operation/performance, they are just the protocol/format etc. Also a necessary if doing many points lol.

Yes and no, the colors themselves don't matter however split pairs certainly do make a difference.........

 

[piffle]

For standard cat5, unless you are doing a cross over, just connect like for like.
IE. W/O pin 1 - at both ends etc.

The colours don't make a difference to the operation/performance, they are just the protocol/format etc. Also a necessary if doing many points lol.

Yes and no, the colors themselves don't matter however split pairs certainly do make a difference.........

Agreed,
but the basic thing was to avoid xover, which seems to be the cause of the problem

 

[punchy]

I have included a crossover and I have done them like for like so that shouldn't be the issue, is there a problem including a crossover as I followed the instructions on the tester and the socket and they both included it.

Also If I the wire from the router/hub to the socket has a crossover, how should the wire from the socket to the device be wired? Should this be straight through or should this also have a crossover?

I have wired most cables by the hub (one end only) with a crossover and would prefer not to have to remake all of those connections but I will if it's causing the issue.

thanks for any help

Does the hub see the router? do you have lights above the ports on the hub and router? I see your original post was talking about a particular loop test problem have you tried connecting to your PC and the connection failed? All network hierarchy Router, Switch and Hub should have crossovers between although as earlier stated newer devices can compensate. All cables from PCs etc to hierarchy are straight through. The crossover swaps the Tx and Rx so the devices dont talk into each others mouths and listen at each others ears, hope that makes it easy not patronising.

 

[Spark123]

Try removing the crossover and see if that works - as has been said a crossover crosses TX and RX so is only usually needed for direct connection of two PCs or similar.
With a hub you shouldn't need it.

 

[TicklyT]

Does the cable DC test OK with a multimeter? no short circuits, stray earths or broken conductors?

IME network testers are not as clever at detecting some faults as some of the manufacturers would like us to believe.

Most modern hub / switch ports are capable of autosensing both speed and straight / crossover anyway.

 

[Lectrician]

Hubs don't really exist anymore, but people seem to keep using the terminology which is wrong.

We use network switches these days, not hubs. A router is typically a modem/switch/firewall in one piece of kit.

Switches autosence speed and negotiate the connection - no crossover cables required.

 

[bolst3r]

Hi thanks for the pointers.

FYI.

Under my stairs I have an SMC wireless router with four ports on it. I will eventually get a gigabit switch but as i'm only using a few cables this will suffice in the interim.

With regards to testing with a multi meter, the under stairs cupboard is about 35-40 foot from the office so testing it this way will be a bit of an issue.

I hear what you're saying about the cable testers being a bit hit and miss but it is quite sensitive which makes me think it might be ok.

So here's my setup:

1) SMC router/hub

2) Cat5E cable (with crossover) (tested with a cat5e connector both ends and tester says it's 100%)

3) RJ45 CAT5E network outlet (wired with crossover)

To test this circuit I unplug the cable from the router and plug this in to one end of the tester, in the other end I make up a small cable with a crossover and plug one end into the network outlet and the other into the test but I get nothing out of it.

When I look at other cables I've used from my device straight into the router they include a crossover and don't have an issue.

 

[Lectrician]

What is it with you and crossovers?

Why do you think you need them?

Have you tried your tester with a simple patch lead? Have you tested the patch leads you are using? You are using the correct socket on the tester?

You can test for continuity and shorts easily irrespective of distance.

Test for insulation between all conductors - you should have very high ohms betweeb all cores.

Then short out all the cores at the far end (for example, short each pair together, blue/white to white/blue and orange/white to white/orange). Then test at the other end for continuity between the pairs. You should see low ohms between the blues and the oranges.......for example.

Summary.
- Test your tester is working on a known working patch lead.
- Use known working patch leads on your install.
- Test the cable with your multimeter.
- EXPLAIN why you think you need/have used cross overs (not that this should prevent your tester working - it should report crossed pairs).

And not stating the obvious, but you are testing the correct the cable under the stairs? DONT trust your labelling. I know you most likely have it labelled correctly, but do not assume!

 

[bolst3r]

>What is it with you and crossovers?

Ha, i'm not obsessed with crossovers, it's just the guides that came with the socket and tester suggested wiring it up this way so I have followed the instructions. I can remove the crossover but was hoping to avoid that as I will have to re-make a few cables.

>Why do you think you need them?

Don't think I need them, just following instructions

>Have you tried your tester with a simple patch lead?

Yes, I made a lead up and it went through the sequence on the tester and said I have 8 connections and all were in the correct order. I also made one up the wrong way to confirm the tester was working properly and it told me I had cables out of sequence.

>You are using the correct socket on the tester?

Not sure if you mean a) the type of socket or b) the socket that corresponds to the lead at the router end. If it's b) then defiantly yes.

>Test for insulation between all conductors - you should have very high >ohms betweeb all cores.

Ok, will do this.

>EXPLAIN why you think you need/have used cross overs (not that this should prevent your tester working - it should report crossed pairs).

I only followed the instructions given but started to worry that having crossovers everywhere would cause an issue I wanted to check where they should be, should they only be between the router and the socket or just the patch lead to socket or all the way through if you are using them.

I guess I was expecting someone to say, "if you have a crossover between the router and the socket then you shouldn't have one on the patch lead as this will mess things up", or someone to say "if you have one on the patch lead then it needs to be removed from between the socket and the router".

thanks.

 

[bolst3r]

Ok, think i've got a little confused between crossovers and twisted pairs. All my cables and the socket are wired up at both ends following the T568B standard which isn't a crossover.

w/o
o
w/g
b
w/b
g
w/b
b

I assumed that as the green wires are either side of the blues that this was the crossover – sorry for misleading ppl.

I think I know where the issue is, I hope someone can set me straight. The instructions that came with the cable tester show the pins on the plug being wired the other way round to the sequence show on this page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet_crossover_cable

The illustration that I have shows you looking at the plug with the sprung clip facing down then wiring from left to right starting with O/W. If Wiki is right then i'm wiring the lead in the wrong order to the socket, hence the tester working when I put a clip on both ends of the cable but failing when I remove the clip and put this in a socket.

Damn instructions!!

 

[TicklyT]

Like this?
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Technical/Networking/Networking.htm