Next stoopid question: can I split / daisy chain ethernet cables?
For example: I have one line running to my office, but I want to hard wire both my Mac and my Apple TV. Can I run both without a switch involved? FYI, this is the only location where I have this issue.
This is a Waldo question, but I donāt think you can split an ethernet signal, like you can say a video signal. You can āsplitā, but itās like plugging two cables into the router, squeezing them into a single cable run through the wall, then āunsplittingā them at the ethernet port at the other end. It effectively reduces the signal of each by like 90%. Your best bet is to use a switch, or if not too inconvenient, simply use the existing cable to pull two new ones from the wall to the router or intermediate hub in the attic.
Of course, itās possible Iām completely full of shit.
Yeah, youāre probably right. For this one room, it might be worth pulling the extra line. Itās for my Mac, so it wouldnāt make much sense to have that on the only hobbled line in the house.
That would be what I looked at first. I ran two lines to a couple of my outlets, just for potential future expansion. Like the old āmeasure twice, cut onceā adage, mine is āpull two cables, repair the ceiling drywall onceā.
No. And honestly, a switch in your office is not the end of the world. Weāve come a long way from the shitty Linksys/D-Link switches that just dropped everything and needed to be rebooted every once in a while. Spend $20-30 on a 5-port switch and forget the extra drop. You will not notice a difference in performance.
Similar to Allieās adage: why pull once when you can pull twice?
I really think we ought to be encouraging him to punch more holes in the wall and spend more time in the attic.
My issue with using a switch is that the cable currently drops right behind the wall-mounted TV to a wall box above the skirting board. From there I will need to run a cable around the wall to the Mac (Iām gong to run it on the outside, Iām not hacking into the walls).
So the the switch is going to have to be behind the TV as this is the first junction point. Going to have to think about this one a bitā¦
Maybe Iāll run that one TV off wifi and come back to it if Iām feeling frisky.
Wuss.
Iām ok adding a new wall box and running wires between studs, but Iām not going to go anywhere near running lines horizontally that require crossing studs.
Do I have to enclose the back of the patch panel, or are the exposed wires ok?
For me, this would be a point in favor of pulling new lines in the locations you want them.
This would be one of the shorter runsā¦
Technically there wonāt be any exposed wire. I wouldnāt worry about enclosing it unless youāre worried about a roof leak.
In Houston?
FWIW, I just went back up into the attic and itās Cat 5e cabling. There are 5 pairs of ethernet and coax runs, and itās pretty easy to identify which goes where. Only the lines going to the two spare bedrooms are run together as they come down inside the separating wall.
I also figured that I have a clear shot down into the closet between the walking boards and the HVAC pan. I also figured out where to put the intermediate patch panel and a route to run the new lines so that they arenāt loose anywhere.
Depends on whether youāre worried about whether itāll leak from the top down or the bottom up.
When punching down ethernet strands, I know I have to pick A or B and stick to it, but what about any store-bought ethernet cables I have that connect to devices from wall jacks? Do I have to trash those and make all-new cables based on my punch down choice?
Also, B is better, right?
Almost all commercial patch and device cables are B. One is not ābetterā than the other, they are functionally exactly the same. But B is far more common, so use B.