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Question on using all the CAT5E for internet in a newly constructed house

dnpatel
I plan to stick around

Apologies if this is answered earlier. I tried to get an answer from below, but no luck.

 

  1. Ethernet wall jacks question
  2. Converting Cat 5e to Ethernet

I will be moving rogers internet services to a newly constructed home. Home comes with six cat5e through the house. 

 

I intended to plug the desktop computer for WFH and online school. I also want to use a smartphone/ thermostat via wifi. 

 

Internet move is scheduled sometime in May. 

 

House is not wired, and hence rogers move specialist has ordered pro install services for rogers internet.

 

What other things do I need to ask the installer to get an internet connection in each cat5e? 

 

What else I need to buy or install to get an internet connection in each cat5e? 

 

 

 

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Re: Question on using all the CAT5E for internet in a newly constructed house

Pauly
Resident Expert
Resident Expert
Getting internet signal in every Ethernet jack in your house is beyond the scope of the Rogers technician. The Rogers tech is required to install the modem and make sure there's proper signal. The ethernet jacks are your responsibility. Once your ethernet is hooked up and you have a 8 port switch feeding all the outlets the Rogers guy is allowed to plug the modem gateway into any Ethernet jack in your house and it will bring the signal to all of them. But as I mentioned earlier you the home owner it's your responsibility to get the jacks wired up in your house. You don't have to do it yourself you can pay a network installer to do it but Rogers wont

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Re: Question on using all the CAT5E for internet in a newly constructed house

Pauly
Resident Expert
Resident Expert
Getting internet signal in every Ethernet jack in your house is beyond the scope of the Rogers technician. The Rogers tech is required to install the modem and make sure there's proper signal. The ethernet jacks are your responsibility. Once your ethernet is hooked up and you have a 8 port switch feeding all the outlets the Rogers guy is allowed to plug the modem gateway into any Ethernet jack in your house and it will bring the signal to all of them. But as I mentioned earlier you the home owner it's your responsibility to get the jacks wired up in your house. You don't have to do it yourself you can pay a network installer to do it but Rogers wont

Re: Question on using all the CAT5E for internet in a newly constructed house

dnpatel
I plan to stick around
thanks Pauly

Re: Question on using all the CAT5E for internet in a newly constructed house

Datalink
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

@dnpatel I think the question of the moment is "what's included in the pro install services?".  If the pro install tech will finish all Cat-5e keystones and RG-6 cable connectors (in keystones) and install them in a correct wallplate, and either install keystones or RJ-45 connectors on all of the Cat-5e cables in the basement and the RG-6 cable connectors, then everything is almost done.  

 

If the pro install services tech will only install one Cat-5e keystone upstairs and install one keystone or RJ-45 connector downstairs, then I'd call that a fail.  

 

So, it all depends on what's included in the pro install services.  I'd say that a call to Rogers is in order to determine the limits of the services included in the pro install services.  That should be crystal clear after another call to Rogers, so that when the pro install services tech shows up at the doorstep, you know exactly what he should or should not be installing.  If you're not satisfied with the level of service included in the pro install services, then its time to call in a cable / telecom installer to finish all of the cabling and ensure that its ready to go, or, do this all yourself.  You would need to buy a cable stripper, 110 punch down tool for the keystones, compression tool for installing RG-6 connectors, and RJ-45 compression tool for installing RJ-45 connectors on Cat-5e/6 cabling.  This actually isn't hard to do, it just takes a little care and attention to the small details. 

 

At this point, you also need to know what cabling is built into the home.  If you look at the locations where the Cat-5e cabling terminates, both upstairs and downstairs, are there one or more RG-6 cables that are used for satellite or cable services?  If so, I'd say, finish everything, install the proper keystones and wallplates to hold the keystones.  

 

With both Cat-5e and RG-6 cabling completely finished, you have a great deal of flexibility as to where the modem can sit, which is anywhere that has a cable connector on a wallplate.  So, if your intention is to use the modem's wifi, you will need to be able to locate it where it will do the most for you, and not have it sitting in the basement.  With the modem upstairs, you can connect it to the wallplate's ethernet keystone, and feed an unmanaged gigabit switch in the basement.  That unmanaged switch would also be connected to the other ethernet cabling leading to the upstairs rooms.  

 

To install the modem upstairs anywhere in the house, you would need to connect the incoming cable from the external demarcation point, to the cable that runs upstairs to the intended location.  You would need an F-81 connector to connect both cables.  The Rogers install tech will hopefully have one of these on hand, but for info's sake, here's what they look like:

 

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/ideal-3ghz-f-splice-adapter-10-pack-/1000751479

 

For the basement Cat-5e cabling, you could either install keystones on the cable ends, or RJ-45 connectors.  For the keystones, you would or should install a small patch panel to hold the finished keystones, which looks something like this:

 

https://www.amazon.ca/12-Port-Keystone-Rackmount-Unshielded-N062-012-KJ/dp/B01MRS156T/ref=sr_1_5?dch...

 

From there, you would need short jumper cables to run to an unmanaged switch, with one jumper cable required for every cable run upstairs, something like this:

 

https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=Ethernet+Patch+Cable+1+foot&i=electronics&ref=nb_sb_noss

 

Those cables would then connect to an unmanaged gigabit switch, something like this:

 

https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=unmanaged+gigabit+switch&i=electronics&crid=1YHYAXFYEWFJM&sprefix=unmanage...

 

If the modem is upstairs, connected to a wallplate, then you would only need a 5 port switch.  If the modem was parked in the basement for whatever reason (don't do it), then you would need an 8 port switch, one port for the modem's output, and five ports to connect to the upstairs rooms.  

 

If you decided to install RJ-45 connectors on the basement Cat-5e cables, then they can be directly connected to the unmanaged gigabit switch, no keystones, no patch panel, no jumper cables, just a straight connection to the switch.  Once again, the choice of a 5 port versus 8 port switch depends on where the modem is located.  

 

Fwiw, new customers appear to be receiving the XB6 or XB7 modem.  The XB7 modem has a 2.5 Gb/s port on it.  At the present time, I'd say that if your intention was to use the modem for your local network and wifi, then you can actually use that 2.5 Gb/s port and connect it to a 2.5 Gb/s switch, router or pc.  The gigabit ports on modems will typically max out around 940 Mb/s on the downstream side with approx 32 Mb/s on the upstream side.  The XB7's 2.5 Gb/s port will max out at just over 1100 Mb/s with the upstream maxing out around 32 Mb/s.  So, there is a little to be gained at this point, the bigger question is, will Rogers ever decide to increase the downstream data rates and compete with Bell?  The only way to do that at the present time is to use the XB7 and keep it in Gateway mode.  I haven't been able to figure out if the XB7 will run the 2.5 Gb/s port in Bridge mode, which would then feed a router.  

 

The multi-gig switches are available these days, but at a higher price.  Here's a couple of examples:

 

https://www.amazon.ca/TRENDnet-2-5GBASE-T-Compatible-10-100-1000Mbps-TEG-S350/dp/B08XWK4HNT/ref=sr_1...

 

https://www.amazon.ca/TRENDnet-2-5GBASE-T-Compatible-10-100-1000Mbps-TEG-S380/dp/B08XWKF55C/ref=sr_1...

 

So, yup, their more expensive than the run of the mill unmanaged gigabit switches, but they are coming down in price.  Question is, how bleeding edge do you want to be?  If you happen to have a pc with a 2.5 Gb/s port, this might be something of interest.  Those 2.5 Gb/s ports are making their way into routers, pc's and motherboards.  Just a matter of time before they are as common as todays gigabit ports. 

 

Hope this helps.

Re: Question on using all the CAT5E for internet in a newly constructed house

Pauly
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

Never in my life have I seen a Rogers, or Bell or even a third party provider offer service where they hook up all of the customers ethernet jacks, terminate them, connect them to a switch / patch panel, etc.

As a former Network and cable technician, this is a Time Consuming job, Rogers and other companies are ONLY there to Professionally install your ROGERS services and insure its working to Their spec.

Like I said before YOU CAN very well have ALL the Ethernet jacks in your house wired up and activated, what you are doing is you are installing network drops in each room, and connecting them to a switch. Rogers can very well plug THEIR modem into your switch or nearest network jack, which will provide internet to all the jacks, provided the network jacks are hooked up correctly.

It is the home owners responsibility to ensure the network jacks are installed correctly. not the internet providers, and if any connectivity issues arise with the network jacks, rogers and other providers can NOT and will not diagnose them and troubleshoot them. your on your own.

The only Jacks Rogers is allowed to touch and install is the wall jacks with RG6 Coaxial cable that is required for their ignite modem and set top boxes to function. When they say verify cabling, this is the cabling they mean, the Coax cabling, and possibly phone wiring jacks if you have telephone service with them.

To find out what else is included in the professional ignite installation, please click this link: https://www.rogers.com/customer/support/article/preparing-for-your-professional-install

Re: Question on using all the CAT5E for internet in a newly constructed house

Datalink
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

Yup, looking at that list, all they do is "verify ........"  Time to call in an installer who will do it all, or, do it yourself.  

Re: Question on using all the CAT5E for internet in a newly constructed house

dnpatel
I plan to stick around

this is super useful. much appreciated @Datalink 

 

RE PRO installation - I am not 100 % sure what it will include. generic info is available on website

 

I will get an opportunity to see home from inside next week. Based on how cat5e is installed, I will have a better idea. But most likely I might need cable / telecom installer. any recommendation for cable / telecom installer?

 

I will update this thread when I have more info

 

What will be completed during my Professional Installation?

Your Rogers technician will complete the following to help ensure you can enjoy dependable WiFi, TV and home phone service in your home: 

  • Verify that the cabling to your home is ready for speeds up to 1 Gigabit per second
  • Once your WiFi network is set up, verify the WiFi performance for each location you select in your home, and install any equipment needed to help achieve wall-to-wall WiFi coverage
  • Optimize your WiFi settings to help maximize signal strength
  • Confirm that all your previously connected devices are successfully connected to your new WiFi network
  • Help you download the Ignite WiFi Hub app to your mobile device(s) and highlight key features to help you personalize your WiFi experience, including Parental Controls, Active Time Limits, Protected Browsing and easy self-serve tools.
  • Ensure that your WiFi network is secured with advanced WiFi encryption for your devices using Ignite WiFi Hub.
  • Verify that your TV is connected and working.
  • Set up your TV remote.
  • Activate phone wall jacks that were previously in use.

 

 

Re: Question on using all the CAT5E for internet in a newly constructed house

@dnpatel run a google search for:

 

home network installation city

 

Where city = your city.

 

That should turn up a few companies that do home installation, assuming that you're in a larger city.  There might be other terms which might be suitable to use, but, those should do as a starting point.

 

When you have a chance to have a closer look at your home, take a small screwdriver with you, perhaps one philips and one flat head, so that you can remove the wallplates and have a look at what cables are present in the home.  

 

Depending on what you may have requested or what the home builder decided to install, you might see a single Cat-5e cable plus maybe an RG-6 cable for cable and/or satellite services.  That would make sense.  Or, you might see two Cat-5e cables, one for ethernet, one for telephones plus two RG-6 cables.  

 

It would be useful to know what's been run to the various cable drops in the home so that you can ask for a quote from some installation companies.  So, if you have a chance to take stock of what's installed, the companies should be able to give you a reasonably accurate quote.

 

You would want to terminate all of the upstairs cables with the proper keystones and install the proper wallplates to hold those keystones.  

 

Downstairs your choice is to:

1.  install a couple of patch panels;

2.  install compression connectors on the RG-6 cables;

3.  install the terminated RG-6 cables into keystones and install those in one of the patch panels; 

4.  install keystones on the Cat-5e cables;

5.  install the keystones into the other patch panel

 

Done.  

 

At this point you would need short jumper cables to run from the ethernet keystones to an unmanaged gigabit switch.  

 

Note:  you don't need to install the patch panels and you don't need to install keystones on the Cat-5e cables.  The patch panels will result in a neat, orderly, result which is easy to work with.  You can also install the patch panels later on, on your own.  You can simply ask to have RJ-45 connectors installed on the Cat-5e cables so that they can be connected directly to the switch.  So, thats your choice.  At the end of the connector installs, I would expect the installation tech to identify and test all cables to ensure that they work and are ready to go.  

 

If you wanted to install the modem upstairs at a particular location, you should ask the installer to connect the incoming cable from the demarcation point (at the side of the house or garage) to the cable that runs upstairs to the desired location.  When that is done, all that has to happen is to connect the modem to the wallplate cable connector upstairs, and connect the one of the modem's ethernet ports to the wallplate ethernet keystone.  I'm assuming here that you have both available at the cable drops.  You'll find out pretty soon when you can inspect the cable drops to see exactly what cables have been installed.

 

With all of that done, you can probably cancel the Rogers Pro Installation unless Rogers considers a first time installation as requiring a pro installer.  All of the internal work will already have been done.  That doesn't negate the requirement for a tech to do any of the external work that is typical of a first time installation.  To me, that's just normal work that needs to be done, regardless of whether its a new installation, a reactivation or a modem upgrade.  So, if you go down the road of bringing in a telecom installation company, a call to Rogers should be made to clear up what is really required at that point.  The Rogers tech might have to install an external Network Interface Device (NID) which is the grey box you see on the side of homes.  That contains a ground block which is connected to the external cabling and the house internal cabling.  Its also known as the demarcation point, or demarc for short, which is the boundary between the external Rogers system and the internal house system.  

 

When all of that is done, you should have an active service.  

 

 

 

Re: Question on using all the CAT5E for internet in a newly constructed house

@dnpatel is your new house located in a new subdivision or an older existing subdivision?  I'm wondering if, in the case where the house might be a new subdivision, that you would end up with Fibre to the Home (FTTH) instead of the traditional copper cable delivery system.  If its FTTH, then a Rogers tech might have to run a fibre cable into the house to a location where the modem might be located.  If its copper cabling, I'd expect the home builder to have installed an RG-6 cable run from the probable external demarc location to a location in the basement where all of the house Cat-5e and RG-6 cables are located.  

 

Here's an internal picture of a Rogers FTTH NID outside of a house:

 

https://www.dslreports.com/speak/slideshow/33078351?c=2461891&ret=64urlL2ZvcnVtL3IzMzA3ODM1MS1JbnRlc...

 

That NID (enclosure) is bigger than the one's that are used for RG-6 which is copper cabling.  If you have a look at the side of your new house, you might see a Bell and/or Rogers NID located near the electrical meter.  The size of it might give you an idea of what you will have installed.  And, you can call Rogers to see what their using in your neighbourhood.  

 

For RG-6 cabling, with the RG-6 cable run into the house and connection to the upstairs wallplate cable port, the modem will be installed upstairs. 

 

For an FTTH system, its possible that you might end up with a Fibre Optical Network Terminal (ONT) downstairs with an RG-6 cable run upstairs to the modem.  

 

There's a second fibre system that I've seen pictures of, specifically the pictures in the link, that uses a Nokia ONT and an ethernet run to the modem. The modem in this case would be set to connect via ethernet instead of RG-6 cable.  This would be more of a challenge as it would require two ethernet runs between the basement and the upstairs modem location.  One run would connect to the modem, and one run would go back downstairs to the gigabit switch.  So, it would be good to know what cabling is available at the cable drops upstairs. 

 

You probably wouldn't know what fibre system is being installed until it happens, unless Rogers has decided to service the neighbourhood with fibre and use the Nokia ONT.  If your chatting with the concierge service, perhaps they can find out. 

Re: Question on using all the CAT5E for internet in a newly constructed house

Pauly
Resident Expert
Resident Expert
my sister in law has Rogers FTTH, the fiber stops at the basement near the hydro panel. From there, there is a doo hickey thing a ma bob that converts fiber to copper, and uses existing copper runs throughout your house to the desired bedroom. its very unlikely they will run a fiber optic right to the location you want your modem.

Re: Question on using all the CAT5E for internet in a newly constructed house

Pauly
Resident Expert
Resident Expert
Anyways to be quite honest with you, This forum is for providing help to solve Rogers related issues. As much as I want to give more advice and help about Smart Wiring your house with Ethernet in every room, this is not really a "rogers" issue at all. Yes its nice to have it but Rogers folks are not trained to answer such questions, and some of their experts are knowledgeable in this field and can offer some advice, however to get the job done, If you are skilled in this area go right ahead and smart wire your house, otherwise contact a professional to have this type of work done. there are tons of network installers on the jiffy app, on homestars, and even on facebook market place, kijiji or craig's list.

Re: Question on using all the CAT5E for internet in a newly constructed house

dnpatel
I plan to stick around

@Datalink 

 

  • The new house is in new subdivision Whitby, ON L1P 0K6
  • I am getting access to see house on next Monday. thanks for the screw driver tip.
  • Builder charged $150 per cat5e and I believe cat5e wall plate will be similar to Cat5e / F-Type Wall Plate.
  • So far I have ordered GS308 
  • I will upload pics on Monday

Re: Question on using all the CAT5E for internet in a newly constructed house

dnpatel
I plan to stick around
understood and noted

Re: Question on using all the CAT5E for internet in a newly constructed house

-G-
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

@Pauly wrote:
my sister in law has Rogers FTTH, the fiber stops at the basement near the hydro panel. From there, there is a doo hickey thing a ma bob that converts fiber to copper, and uses existing copper runs throughout your house to the desired bedroom. its very unlikely they will run a fiber optic right to the location you want your modem.

That doohickey thing is an RFoG ONU.  Something like this.

 

@dnpatel The service that @Datalink  mentioned is a next-generation service that Rogers is only just starting to install in a few areas, and is based on a completely different technology.  If you do get a piece of Nokia equipment as part of your install package, please post more information to the following thread: New Rogers FTTH Service

Re: Question on using all the CAT5E for internet in a newly constructed house

-G-
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

@dnpatel  I looked up the postal code that you posted and found that Rogers does offer legacy services (e.g. basic TV Starter Package) in your area, so I don't think that you will be getting that next-gen FTTH service... but I would love to be wrong about this.

 

If your builder only roughed-in some wiring and you have unterminated coax cables in some rooms, since you are getting a professional installation from Rogers, if you ask nicely, the Rogers installation tech can attach F-connectors so that you can use them later.  If the builder used cheap, sub-standard coax F-connectors, the Rogers tech should be able to replace those as well.

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