Help setting up home network

[wawalter]

Hi,

I am trying to get my home network set up and it is not working. Currently, I am using DSL to connect to my router to my computer which works fine. However, I want my router to be in a storage room and just plug the computer into the wall in the family room.

When I finished my basement I put Cat5e in the walls and connected it to a combination phone/ethernet plate from Best Buy where you just strip the wires and screw them in like a normal phone plate. I did this at both ends because I don't know how to put ends on the Cat5e wire.

I put my modem and router in the other room and plugged them in. All the lights came on as usual on the modem and router. I then plugged my router into the wall plate in my storage room and then plugged my computer into the wall plate in the family room. Well, the router shows a slow flashing orange light for that port when I plug in the computer, but the computer network card doesn't show anything.

I went back hooked my computer directly to the router to make sure everything works and it still does. I'm thinking maybe I can't connect the router to the cat5e through a plate or that I screwed up the wires, although I did check that twice.

Here is a little diagram of what I tried to do:

Modem -> Router -> Plate -----> cat5e ------> Plate -> Computer

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Bill

[Kate Albany]

There should be no issue with cabling in this manner as long as the pins are connected to each other in the correct configuration and are live. Have you checked that you have contact from pin to pin through the wall? and that you are not getting any 'crosstalk' at the plates. What does you router manual say a "slow flashing orange light" means?

[wawalter]

The only mention of a flashing orange light is that there is network traffic which doesn't really seem to be the case.

How do I go about testing for crosstalk or pin to pin contact?

I don't really want to hire anyone to set it up since I could probably go wirless for both my desktops for less than a service call.

Thanks again for your help.

Bill

[Kate Albany]

Hi Bill,

Well to be honest it might be difficult for you to test. You would need a voltage meter which you can use to confirm contact between the pins. But if each side of the connection is in a different room you may need a voltage meter with long leads :) Basically thought you would use the meter to confirm the pins are making contact at each end and making a 'live' circuit, to test for crosstalk you need to make sure that a circuit is not made between two different pins, for example if pin 1 makes a circurt with pin 1 on the other end it should not also make a circuit with any other pins at the same time.

You can buy little boxes which you plug both ends of a cat5 cable into which tests all the wireing, I have no idea how much they are though.

Kate

[wawalter]

Well I after rechecking I found I did have the Orange and Blue wires backwards. I'm not sure why that would matter since both sides were the same, but as long as it works I'm not complaining. Thanks again for your help.