Verizon FIOS > ? > Cat5e

[Evil Overlord]

Need advice on planned FIOS network

I just bought a new house. Happily, all the rooms have multi-media outlets - each with a phone jack and sometimes cable outlet visible, but with cabling behind for another coax cable and a CAT5e cable. There must be a dozen or so outlets and thus cables. The cables from them all terminate in a phone box in a downstairs closet. The phone box has:

1. Phone: a panel with inputs from all the phone outlets jacked in, a jack for the incoming phone line (from the phone company), and one more (RJ13?) that I believe is connected to the security system.
2. Cable: another, similar panel, with inputs from all the cable outlets jacked in, and an incoming cable (from the cable company)
3. CAT5e: all the CAT5e cables terminate in 'raw' ends - that is, they have no plugs on the end, just bare cable. Presumably, I can use a crimper to easily put on plugs.

I plan to get Verizon FIOS internet service. The previous tenant had it, so the installation is basically done. Verizon's web site suggests that they'll hook up the FIOS box to the house's coaxial cable network.

I own a cable modem and a wireless G router. My primary goal is internet sharing, but I also have an NAS that needs to be available across the network (shared files, and eventually work as music server for Sonos/SlimDevices/...)

I'd like to hook the FIOS up to my CAT5e network instead. It seems to me that if I use the coax, I'll need a cable modem at each physical connection, then a wireless router. Whereas if I hooked up directly to the CAT5e network, all I'd need for each physical hookup is a regular LAN cable to the computer.


Question 1 - Main query
If I hook FIOS up to the CAT5e network, what is the intermediate device? A patch panel, a switch, a router, a hub, ...? Ideally something really small that fits in the phone box. Otherwise, something I can hang on the wall beside the box. Cheap is good! (Gigabit speeds unnecessary).

Question 2
If I get FIOS hooked up to the CAT5e in the closet, can I hook a computer directly up to the outlets in the house?

Question 3
If good so far, I'm assuming I can connect one ore more wireless routers to the network just by plugging the network cable into the wall (and presumably messing with IP addresses).

Question 4
If Verizon insists on hooking FIOS up to the coaxial network instead, can I have a cable modem in the closet that THEN hooks up to a switch/... and through that to the whole house network?



PS Minor question. The phone panel already has too little room for the number of phone outlets in the house - one cable is disconnected. Is there a simple way to extend the panel or replace it with a larger one?

PPS The previous tenant used just a wireless router connected to (something I just glimpsed), for a network covering only the garage, so I can't learn much from their setup.

PPPS I haven't signed up yet. Plan is to get 20/2 internet at about $50/mo. Other option is ComCast cable (6/1), for about the same price.

 

[thiggins]

First, I recommend terminating your CAT5E cables in a patch panel instead of crimping on plugs. It's a little more expensive, but way easier to do. See Diary of a New Home Network - Part 3

Question 1 - Main query
If I hook FIOS up to the CAT5e network, what is the intermediate device? A patch panel, a switch, a router, a hub, ...? Ideally something really small that fits in the phone box. Otherwise, something I can hang on the wall beside the box. Cheap is good! (Gigabit speeds unnecessary).

Verizon will / should install a router when they install the service. I believe that router includes a MoCA port, which allows networking when a home isn't wired with CAT5e like yours is.

The router probably has four switch ports, to which you could connect four computers / devices. If you need more connections, you need to connect one of the router switch ports to a switch, preferably a gigabit switch. These come in 5, 8, 16, 24 and more port versions. You can buy only as many ports as you need now, then add more later.

Question 2
If I get FIOS hooked up to the CAT5e in the closet, can I hook a computer directly up to the outlets in the house?

Yes, once you get the outlets connected via a switch as in Question 1.

Question 3
If good so far, I'm assuming I can connect one ore more wireless routers to the network just by plugging the network cable into the wall (and presumably messing with IP addresses).

You would need to convert the routers to access points, then, yes, you could connect them via Ethernet.

Question 4
If Verizon insists on hooking FIOS up to the coaxial network instead, can I have a cable modem in the closet that THEN hooks up to a switch/... and through that to the whole house network?

No need for them to do this.

PS Minor question. The phone panel already has too little room for the number of phone outlets in the house - one cable is disconnected. Is there a simple way to extend the panel or replace it with a larger one?

Just use one or more phone Y adapters.

 

[Evil Overlord]

Tim,

Many thanks. I'm a little uncertain about your suggestion of a patch panel rather than crimping on plugs. From my little reading, it seems a patch panel serves a different purpose than a switch - sharing all info, while a switch directs into to only the correct port?

I have a dozen potential LAN outlets in the house. On the other hand, I expect to have only the following LAN devices:

• Desktop computer - could be wired or wireless (g), office.
• Network attached storage - wired, can be in closet.
• Network all-in-one - wired, office.
• Media computer - wired, bedroom.
• 2 laptops - wireless (g), roaming.

My ideal plan is to have all the LAN outlets hooked up and available. This makes it easy to move devices around, or to use a cable if wireless is not working, etc. Since there are a dozen or more outlets, I presume that I need a 16 port switch/panel/... (Actually, reviewing all the outlets I can think of (excluding garage), I might be able to get away with 8.)

However, the fact is that not very many devices are hooked up. This is a 4-level townhouse - narrow but tall. My plan is to have two wireless routers - one for a downstairs zone, one for an upstairs zone. So, it occurred to me that I could use just a 4 or 5 port switch, and hook up only the jacks that I expect to actually use. If I move to another one, I could simply install the jack, and change out the cables hooked up to the switch.

On reason for this - while the cable plugs are cheap, and once you buy a crimper, you have it, the modular/keystone jacks seem to be about $3 a piece. Not a lot, but when you have 12...

Other items - I have a D-Link 802.11g router, but with the original plan would buy another (maybe 802.11n). Maybe a g router on a middle floor would cover the whole house. This is the cheapest option, since I basically need to buy nothing, but I'm uncertain of the range.

I attached some basic diagrams of three alternatives.

I don't have any plans for (or current capacity for) gigabit ethernet, but thought about it just for expansion. Problem is, I can get a D-Link 16 port 10/100 switch for $30, and gigabit costs more. Of course, I've gone the other way on a potential 802.11n router.

 

[thiggins]

You can either crimp plugs or use a patch panel. The patch panel doesn't perform any active function. It only serves as an interconnection method. I personally hate crimping plugs and find pushing down onto jacks much easier. The choice is yours.

The # of switch ports and selection of 10/100 or 10/100/1000 is up to you. I don't "light up" all the ports in my home, just the ones in use.

You should have only one router and it should connect directly to the FiOS "modem". But, again, I believe that Verizon supplies a router if you order the FiOS Internet service. Actually at my parents' home, Verizon installed a router even though they did not order Internet. I think they figured it saves a truck roll in case my parents changed their mind later.

At any rate don't use multiple routers, you'll end up with multiple subnets and systems won't be able to network properly. If you want multiple wireless APs, just convert them via the process noted in the previous post.