Connecting Home Wired Network

[dreww2]

Hi,

I recently had Verizon FiOS installed and am in an apartment that is wired for ethernet.  I have the Verizon router in one room, and an internet-ready TV in a different room.  I would like to connect the router to the ethernet port in the one room and connect the TV to the ethernet port in the other, and have it all work splendidly.  

How can I go about achieving this?  It looks like all of the ethernet cables end at the Verizon ONT which is in our closet -- I just don't know how to connect everything.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Andrew

[walt178]

It sounds like you want a wired internet connection for your TV.  If that is correct you will need to run a CAT5 (or CAT6) wire from your router to the TV. 

But if your TV is internet ready, does it have wireless capability?  If so, why not try that and see how it works. 

[Anti-Phish1]

Since you say the apartment is wired for ethernet and all the cables terminate where the ONT is, you have a few choices:

1)  Move the router to where the ONT is.  You can then connect any cat5 runs to other rooms dirrectly to the router.

2)  Connect the cat5 run to where the router is to a LAN port on the router.  Connect the TV to another cat5 run.  Use a RJ45 coupler to connec the two cat5 runs together.  This only works for one other room.

3)  Install a switch at the ONT.  Connect one cat5 run to a LAN port on the router.  Connect the other end to the switch.  Connect the cat5 run to the TV to the switch.

[viafax999]

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@dreww2 wrote:

Hi,

I recently had Verizon FiOS installed and am in an apartment that is wired for ethernet.  I have the Verizon router in one room, and an internet-ready TV in a different room.  I would like to connect the router to the ethernet port in the one room and connect the TV to the ethernet port in the other, and have it all work splendidly.  

How can I go about achieving this?  It looks like all of the ethernet cables end at the Verizon ONT which is in our closet -- I just don't know how to connect everything.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Andrew

---

The quick and dirt way is to connect the router where it it is to an ethernet jack.  In the closet connect the other end of the ethernet run from the router jack to the jack for the ethernet run to where the tv is and then connect the tv to the wall jack.

Personally I would also add a switch in the closet so as to be able to service all the rooms that have ethernet jacks.

If you do that then connect the router to the jack where it is. connect the other end of the run to the switch.  connect another port on the switch to the closet end of the run to where the tv is and connect the tv to the other end of that run.  The spare ports on the switch can be used to provide connections for other devices in other areas where the closet runs terminate.

[dreww2]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for the replies.  I like the idea of putting a switch in closet to connect all of the rooms.  Before I do that, I wanted to provide a few photos of what's going on inside the closet.  Please keep in mind this is my first time doing any of this, so don't assume I know something obvious 🙂

All of the ethernet runs from the various rooms come out right near the ONT like this:

They, some aren't plugged into anything, and some are plugged into this little gadget (I have no idea what this thing is).  Annoyingly (but probably for some good reason), there are no RJ-45 plugs:

The blue and yellow wires at the bottom of the picture above connect to this (again, no idea what this is).  This thing in turn is plugged into the ONT.

So the switch idea sounds good, but I'm concerned about screwing things up.  Any thoughts on how I should proceed here?  Also, an explanation of what these things are would be helpful!

Thanks again,

Andrew

[viafax999]

Might be able to give you an answer if and when the moderator allows the photo uploads to be visible.

I would guess they will become visible some time in the next 3 or 4 hours.

[Anti-Phish1]

The blue/yellow pair in the second photo is conneced to the IDC (insulation displacement) jacks in the ONT for your phone line.

In the first photo you can see the blue/yellow pair looped through three set of connectors on the connecting block (BIX).

The blue/white pairs from the 3 cat5 cables connect to the same blue/yellow pair.  Again this is for your telephone service.

[viafax999]

The "thing" is a punch down block and as antiphish points out it's being used for telephone connections.  From the cut off conductors wound around the wires it looks like they used ethernet cabling for the phone system.  This indicates that somehwere in the house you have 3 telephone connectors that are rj45's  Somewhat unusual to have telephone lines as home runs to a closet as normally I've always seen them as being continuous lines with drops on them.  Maybe in new housing home runs have become the norm.  In your case it's possible the 3 connectors are for different floors.

You should check the spare white cables that are there.  The outside sheathing will have an indication on it as what kind of cabling it is.  So long as it states Cat(egory) 5 or higher it will carry up to 1000mb signals on runs of up to 100 metres (330 feet).  hopefully they are terminated with rj45 connectors.  If not you'll need to check the termination in one f the rooms to see which wiring standard they used.  The color codes on the pins will indicate that is is eithe T568-A or T568-B  Whichever it is you need to use the same standard at the connector end when you add connectors to the cables  You can buy connectors at Home Depot or Lowes with instructions on how to use.  Once your cables are terminated then you can add a switch in the closet and connect on ethernet cable coming from the router to that and then the other cables can be plugged into other open ports on the switch to service the other rooms.