Home networking wiring

I am running a cable modem in my house and I have two network cards installed in my computer. I have a network hub and I am running the cable thru my attic and to the living room. My question is I am not sure if I need a hub and secondly am I using all the cables in the cat 5 cable and if not can i use them to run my phone line on?? Also I purchased screw-in type wall plates for the cable going thru the attic. What or how should I connect the wire to this plug layout?
Thank you

1. RE: Home networking wiring
lbyard Mar-11-01 05:02 PM
In response to message 0

You can use a crossover cable (http://duxcw.com/digest/Howto/network/cable/cable1.htm) and omit the hub. If you use a crossover cable, it can usually be plugged into the uplink port on most hubs/switches (http://duxcw.com/faq/network/hubsw.htm) to expand the network. I do not recommend using the unused pairs in a network cable, especially a long one, for phone lines. It may just work. On the other hand the ring pulses may interfere with your network. Also, try to keep a few inches between the cables. RJ45 jacks vary. See my notes on home office wiring at http://duxcw.com/about/count.htm for details on the jacks, etc. that I use. Larry

2. RE: Home networking wiring
cary_fan Mar-13-01 04:30 AM
In response to message 0

I just finished wiring my house (a real pain from the basement to the upstairs through wall plates, etc) and if you're only using 2 computers, like Larry said, you can use a cross-over cable. But, if you're considering ever adding a third computer, you're going to need that hub. Since you've already got the hub, you might as well use it! When using the hub, you'll be using straight-thru cables from the hub to each computer. Like Larry said, you can expand a hub (for example if you've already used up all the ports on one hub you can connect it to another) by using an uplink port. However I disagree with Larry - Uplink ports have crossover wiring already installed, so you actually should use straight-thru cable with that too. Connect one end of the straight-thru cable to the uplink port and then the other to a normal network port on the other hub. Note: the uplink port on a hub is usually shared with one of the ports, so if it's a 5 port hub, you can only connect 5 computers, or 4 computers 1 uplink. Usually even though there are separate jacks for the 5th (or 8th in the case of an 8 port hub) the 5th port and uplink cannot be used at the same time. Or, some hubs have a selector switch for straight-thru and crossover operation on that last port.
What it comes down to: If you're using the hub with an uplink port, you should never have to use cross-over cable. The only time you need to use crossover cable with a hub is if you are connecting 2 hubs together and neither hub has an uplink port.
Cross-over cable: Only use this stuff if you're connecting 2 computers directly together without the use of a hub. You can only reach 10BT speeds using cross-over cable.
Don't use cat5 for phone lines.
I haven't decided how I'm going to cover up those little holes yet, so I'll have to pass on those other questions.

Cary

3. RE: Home networking wiring
lbyard Mar-13-01 03:49 PM
In response to message 2

Sorry to be so blunt, but I do not stand corrected… I disagree with, “…Uplink ports have crossover wiring already installed…” Normal hub/switch ports crossover (MDI-X), PCs and uplink ports do not crossover (MDI—Media Dependent Interface, the same as the wiring of an RJ-45 on an Ethernet Network Interface Card that plugs into a PC). One connects two ports that do not crossover with a cable that does crossover: a crossover cable (see the top of http://duxcw.com/digest/Howto/network/cable/cable5.htm). However, the argument is mute for some uplink ports because some of them (not all of them) have a switch that can change the port from MDI to MDI-X. If you connect a straight-thru cable between a PC and an uplink port (MDI), it will not work. If you connect a PC to an uplink port with a crossover cable, it will work. If you connect two PCs to a hub with straight-thru cables they will not be as fast and as reliable as two PCs connected together with a properly constructed crossover cable. There are more things that can break or come loose. Two PCs connected together with a crossover cable can operate in a full-duplex mode. That is both PCs can transmit simultaneously. Two PCs networked with hub (not a switch) have to implement Ethernet Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) protocol. That roughly means that a PC has to listen for packet collisions when transmitting and the other PC cannot transmit data while the other one is transmitting data. See http://duxcw.com/faq/network/hubsw.htm and http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/lan/cat3ks/c3ksug/cat3ksa.htm for more info. So why use a hub, and slow down your network and waste energy if you don’t have to?
Why not use CAT 5 for phone lines? I have and it works well. Phone (voice) lines can use CAT 3 or higher. Larry