Ethernet connections
NontechGuy
Enthusiast - Level 1

Apologies in advance because I am very non-technical.

I have Fios internet with a G3100 router.  My home is pre-wired with ethernet ports in several rooms.  I am having spotty wifi coverage in one part of the house, so I bought a Fios wifi extender.  I want to connect it to the ethernet port in a particular room.  However, the ethernet port in this room (and the other rooms) are not enabled.

There is a box in my basement with a whole bunch of ethernet cables that are not connected to anything.  For most rooms, there is a blue cable and a gray cable in the box in the basement with the name of the room.  There is a blue cable labeled "Feed" connected to a gray cable labeled "Study."  The study is where my router is.  Presumably the Feed cable goes to the ONT, and then the signal goes on to my router in the Study?

Anyway, I bought an unmanaged, Netgear 5 port switch thinking it would be easy to fix this up.  I connected the blue Feed wire to the switch, along with the gray Study wire and the gray wire with the name of the other room I wanted connected.  That didn't work.  It probably caused some minor explosions at a Verizon facility somewhere.

I am at a loss.  Why are there different colored wires for each room, and how should this be set up so it works?  Thank you!

0 Likes
1 Solution

Correct answers
Re: Ethernet connections
Cang_Household
Community Leader
Community Leader

Sorry for beating around the bush for a while. I now have a better understanding of your situation. You are trying to use the unmanaged switch to “split” the Ethernet from the ONT into two? No, this won’t work because the Ethernet from the ONT is not NAT’ed. The Ethernet from the ONT can only be connected to one device at a time, so you should only connect it to the WAN port of the router in a residential setting. For other wired devices, you need to connect to the LAN ports of the router.

Given your description, the Other Room cable should be somehow connected to a LAN port of the G3100. Don’t you have multiple cables reaching each room? If so, try using one cable to connect between the ONT and your router WAN port. Then use another cable to connect a LAN port on the router to the switch located in your distribution panel. Then connect the Other Room cable to the switch. Then the setup should work.

In other words, leave the blue cable from the ONT connected to the Study cable intact. Then somehow route another cable from the Study to the same distribution box. Use this cable to connect a LAN port of the G3100 to your switch, which should be relocated to the distribution panel. Then connect other cables to other rooms to that switch.

View solution in original post

Re: Ethernet connections
dexman
Community Leader
Community Leader

To verify that the blue & gray cables are the feed to the 3100, disconnect them and see if the round LED on the front of the router turns yellow. If it does, it might be worthwhile attaching tags to the cables and labeling them to clearly indicate what they are used for.

Some pictures of the cables and the ONT might be helpful (once posted a Moderator will need to approve them before they appear).

I think it will ultimately boil down to identifying which cable goes where.

Question....could the router be moved to the basement where the cables all come together? That way it will be centrally located. If needed, additional extenders (Verizon or 3rd party) can be located in the various rooms without the need to make the Study a second hub. 🤔 

Re: Ethernet connections
NontechGuy
Enthusiast - Level 1

Thank you!  I did verify that the I have the connections correctly labeled, and they are.  My questions are (1) why are there both blue and gray cables for each room, and (2) what is the correct way to wire everything, because the way I tried did not work.

Again, I tried connecting the blue wire labeled "Feed" to the switch, and then also connecting the gray wires labeled "study" and the desired additional room to the switch.  That didn't do anything, and I lost all internet connection.

I do want the main router in the study, because it provides wifi signal to most of the house.  If I move it to the basement, then I will lose signal.

I've posted photos as well, and presumably they will come through eventually.  Thank you!imageimageimage

0 Likes
Re: Ethernet connections
dexman
Community Leader
Community Leader

Gray cables, to me, would be used for telephone connections. Does each room have a jack to connect a telephone? 🤔

That middle picture looks like multiple pairs of cables are, somehow spliced together. If those are used for Internet service, I'm wondering if you're getting full speed in the various rooms. 🤔

Re: Ethernet connections
Cang_Household
Community Leader
Community Leader

Ok. Where's your switch and router? Are you referring to the black box in your photo as the "switch?" If so, that is not really a switch. It seems like a telephone patch panel at most.

Re: Ethernet connections
NontechGuy
Enthusiast - Level 1

Router is up on the main floor in the study.  G3100.  Switch is not in the photo.  It is a Netgear 5 port unmanaged switch.

Currently the blue "feed" cable is connected to the gray "study" cable, which made me think that the ONT goes to the blue "feed" cable, and that then leads up to the study where it is connected to the router.

So, I connected the blue "feed" cable to the  Netgear switch, as well as the gray study cable and the gray cable with the name for this other room.

I could be completely misunderstanding the situation though.  Thank you for your responses so far!

0 Likes
Re: Ethernet connections
Cang_Household
Community Leader
Community Leader

Sorry for beating around the bush for a while. I now have a better understanding of your situation. You are trying to use the unmanaged switch to “split” the Ethernet from the ONT into two? No, this won’t work because the Ethernet from the ONT is not NAT’ed. The Ethernet from the ONT can only be connected to one device at a time, so you should only connect it to the WAN port of the router in a residential setting. For other wired devices, you need to connect to the LAN ports of the router.

Given your description, the Other Room cable should be somehow connected to a LAN port of the G3100. Don’t you have multiple cables reaching each room? If so, try using one cable to connect between the ONT and your router WAN port. Then use another cable to connect a LAN port on the router to the switch located in your distribution panel. Then connect the Other Room cable to the switch. Then the setup should work.

In other words, leave the blue cable from the ONT connected to the Study cable intact. Then somehow route another cable from the Study to the same distribution box. Use this cable to connect a LAN port of the G3100 to your switch, which should be relocated to the distribution panel. Then connect other cables to other rooms to that switch.