Network cabling

ScottGem · Jul 24, 2006, 06:08 AM

Sending 2 cables to each is not unusual. Generally, one may be used for data, the other for phone service. Its possible that one of the wires is going back to a telephone panel, not the network patch panel.

Where is the wiring contractor? Didn't he finish the job?

What should probably be happening is each pair should end in a wall jack with 2 RJ45 jacks, one labeled phone, the other data. If you can't get the wiring contractor to finish the job, you will need a line tester and an assistant with a walkie talkie or other communications devices. You will then need to test and label each line to see where it goes back to.

Good Luck.

StuMegu · Jul 24, 2006, 06:23 AM

With the wires, I agree with Scott, why has this job not been finished? These wires will probably need to be connected to the back of the patch panel, not the front connections. The front connections go between the patch panel and the switch. As Scott says, if they are not numbered or labeled in any way this will need to be done manually.

It's quite a job to do, will probably be easier to get someone in to finish the job! Maybe the white box is the telephone system, do you have phones to connect to the wall sockets next to the desks?

mclarko · Jul 24, 2006, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScottGem

Sending 2 cables to each is not unusual. Generally, one may be used for data, the other for phone service. Its possible that one of the wires is going back to a telephone panel, not the network patch panel.

Where is the wiring contractor? Didn't he finish the job?

What should probably be happening is each pair should end in a wall jack with 2 RJ45 jacks, one labeled phone, the other data. If you can't get the wiring contractor to finish the job, you will need a line tester and an assistant with a walkie talkie or other communications devices. You will then need to test and label each line to see where it goes back to.

Good Luck.

Yes the wiring is definitely incomplete. Trying to find their contact details. Hopefully I won't have to do the line testing stuff

but at least I know what to do now.

A pair of CAT5s at each desk location (phone and data) seems to fit.

Assuming the 17 PCs end up at the 24 port patch panel, do I need cables which go into a switch, which then just plugs into a modem? Or is a router what I need?

Rgds

Malco

mclarko · Jul 24, 2006, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StuMegu

With the wires, I agree with Scott, why has this job not been finished? These wires will probably need to be connected to the back of the patch panel, not the front connections. The front connections go between the patch panel and the switch. As Scott says, if they are not numbered or labeled in any way this will need to be done manually.

It's quite a job to do, will probably be easier to get someone in to finish the job! Maybe the white box is the telephone system, do you have phones to connect to the wall sockets next to the desks?

There will be phones, but not at present.

Im a web designer not a network design guru, but its kind of interesting (the techno geek in me)

There will be a server too, and I googled across some info about Fast EThernet. I understand from this that with 17 PCs accessing a server, Fast Ethernet is really important. Should I ensure the switch is Fast Ethernet capable? Routers seem slow? And expensive.

There are many things to think of....Fast Server HD 15k rpm 4ms seek etc?

Thanks for your reply.

Malco

StuMegu · Jul 24, 2006, 08:08 AM

It depends what those pc's will be doing! Make sure the server has a Gigabit card in and the switch has a gigabit uplink to connect them together. After that you should be fine with 100Mbps for the switch connections and the pc's. Of course, I repeat, it depends what it's for!

You only need a router to connect with the internet, that will also plug into your switch (unless you run NAt on a server etc). It's quite difficult to tell you exactly what to get without knowing all the requirements, (storage, security, speed, etc.)

mclarko · Jul 24, 2006, 08:59 AM

The PCs will actually be used by staff who will email the odd attached file and browse INternet a little. I just feel that potentially, there will be up to 24 simultaneous requests to send / receive data, and that the server needs to be reasonably fast .

What do you mean by switch having gigabit uplink - are you referring to the switch technology itself (being gigabit compatible)? Ahhh...just seen one http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...tml?NGR-FSM726

X PCs -> switch -> router -> modem
Not sure why a router is needed?

Thanks for your help. A lot has been cleared up by identifying the dual CAT5 cables as phone and data.

Malco

StuMegu · Jul 24, 2006, 09:55 AM

A router is a device that directs network traffic onto different areas (i.e. The internet and back). Your server can act as a router with the modem plugged directly into that, but I prefer a separate hardware router with built in modem. For one thing, you can quickly reset a hardware router if the internet is not working and it doesn't require the server to be rebooted!

As before, there are many configurations you can adopt with this but for a basic setup an integrated router/firewall/modem device is very useful.

As for the server, the best your budget can afford is my advice! Even if you don't fully utilise it now, you should plan for three years down the road.

ScottGem · Jul 25, 2006, 06:16 AM

Your boss should hire a network consultant to set this up. As Stu said, a router is a separate device here. The router will connect your network to the Internet. It has nothing to do with connecting the PCs to the LAN.

I agree with Stu, that the only thing necessary to be Fast Gigiabit is the server connection. You need to analyze how the network will be used. Look at the uses of various departments. If the server will be acting as a file server some departments (Accting maybe) might need a faster connection. So what you might consider is one Fast Ethernet switch with 2 100Mbps switches all 8 port devices. Connect the server and the hi speed users into the Fast Ethernet switch (making sure they have Fast Ethernet network cards). Then the other users into the regular switches . The other switches get connected to the Fast Ethernet one as does your router.

mclarko · Jul 25, 2006, 07:21 AM

[quote=StuMegu]A router is a device that directs network traffic onto different areas (i.e. The internet and back)....QUOTE]

Yes, that has cleared up a lot of confusion. I won't attempt to use a server acting as router. Hmm... So any modem with more than one LAN port in it is a router?

I have figured from you good folk that I could have up to 24 PCs (including file server) wired individually to a patch panel. From here I will straight wire to a switch with one port being used to uplink to a router. The router/modem I imagine will probably have 4 ports on it to allow for later expansion. Maybe it could even be wireless router / modem, since the offices are between 15 and 25m away through breezeblock.

Its also clear that that the dual cable CAT5 going to each desk location is DATA and PHONE.

Many thanks for your help on this one

Malco

Malco

Network cabling

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