Ethenet wire problem

[newalarm]

So... I have a problem with my wiring. I have three wires (two cat 6 and one 5e) running from basement, about 30-40 feet to my home office. I put ethernet plug on one end, and plug on other. I used a simple cable tester to check continuity on proper wiring of each; they are all fine. But the PCs I plug into those do not get access to the home network.
 
I checked to 10/100 switch (old but works) and modem/router. When i plug a laptop into both directly, it works. But when i connect the wires leading to office into them, no PC gets connection.
 
When I ran the wiring, i was REALLY careful not to kink wires, or run next to power.
 
I have another wire (slightly shorter run) that works fine in modem or switch.
 
Is this something that a newer, smarter switch would fix? Does anyone know why this could be happening?
 
I am seriously frustrated.
 
thanks in advance.

 

[drvnbysound]

Here are some things to consider - at least I've seen it before...

You said that your switch is 10/100... I've seen NICs (and various network hardware) which is 1000 only. If that's the case with your NIC, you won't get a connection unless you have a 10/100/1000 switch.

Seeing as it works when you use the laptop, it's unlikely that it's any sort of cable issue.

The NIC in the PC may be bad as well... have you used it on any other networks lately?

 

[newalarm]

i have two gigabit NICs in the PCs.
 
The ethenet wire that worked with the laptop runs to a different room. it is a 5e cable.

 

[drvnbysound]

So you are connecting a gigabit NIC to a 10/100 switch?

Unless that NIC supports 10/100, it's not going to work. You will need a 10/100/1000 switch.

 

[newalarm]

Its a 10/100/1000.
 
I figured it out last night. I was reversing the wires on the plugs... Aaarrgggg. I borrowed a better cable tester from a network friend, and it gave me a 'short' reading. I thought for sure someone had driven a nail through the cables. but two were showing shorts, and one was causing the machine to act weird. I tested a fourth at another location,and i got 'reversed' and 'miswire' faults.
 
Then i looked at network cable I had near me and noticed that the colors were reversed. It would not be an issue if i used the old style receptacles where you had to figure out the colors on your own. But I used newer ones, that show the color codes for A and B on the block.
 
What was weird is that I was getting different faults. But once i cut the plugs and rewired them, everything worked/tested perfect. I always get confused when wiring plugs.
 
Thanks for the help.

 

[drvnbysound]

Good deal. Yeah, it's usually something rather simple.
 
I too used Ethernet ports which were labled A and B as well. Initially, all of my stuff was wired with the B standard - until I bought the Leviton structured wiring boards and they were all configured to the A standard. So, I've went back to all the ports throughout my home and switched them over to the A standard (talk about a fun practice). That said, I know the B standard by memory, and anytime I'm making cables, they are wired to the B standard. In either case, the strands are straight through from one end to the other (unless you are making a crossover cable), so it really doesn't matter as long as they are the same on both ends.

 

[drvnbysound]

BTW, the reason I know the issue with the NICs and switch speeds mentioned above...
 
I was working on a job with some BlackBox media converters (fiber to ethernet) which were Gigabit [only] devices.... and using them with network devices which were 10/100. Needless to say no connection was made, and it took a couple of hours for us to figure out what the issue was - DOH! 

 

[newalarm]

Such a pain... That is when it is good to stop, think though everything you have done, and make sure you crossed off each possibility of potential problems.

 

[tmbrown97]

Now that makes more sense... I have seen media converters that are gig only; never seen a NIC like that though.
 
Unfortunately the more affordable testers really aren't that helpful; I'm carry a Fluke CableIQ (~$1500) and it has saved me countless hours over the years in troubleshooting by telling me exactly what's wrong, and where the fault is (say, a break 6' down the line - look closer and see where a client's kitty chewed the cord).
 
I also did have one scenario many years back where the cable tested perfect every time with a cheaper continuity type tester - but it didn't work with the PC's; electrician re-ran that wire 4 times and it would test fine but not function - until I discovered he was running through a junction box along side electrical.  Re-ran it a 5th time and kept it separate and it was then fine.  Only a true cable qualifier would've detected that and I didn't have one at the time.
 
Last - t568B is the more common standard in networking.  drvnbysound - if it were me, I would've wired the leviton to B (despite A instructions) and left the ends alone!  It's just swapping the green/orange pairs.  If you have one end A and one end B, you have yourself a crossover cable - but nowadays most smart switches have AutoMDX which will detect either and work.

 

[newalarm]

I would love a new tool, but i can't justify that... not being in the industry. And I was REALLY careful when i ran my cables. that is why I was really surprised when 3 wires were bad...
 
Thanks for that fact about power. i was wondering what would happen if power was run too close to data but could not find anything. At first, i thought the electrician, or someone had moved a power cable or something.
 
I am wiring t568b. I wires were to be 12345678, I did the reverse 87654321. Live and learn. I like things to be clean as much as possible. So i just cut and redid. does not take too long once you get the hang of it. Going to be doing more wiring over the weekend. Its when i get rusty that S@$% like that happens.

 

[drvnbysound]

Last - t568B is the more common standard in networking.  drvnbysound - if it were me, I would've wired the leviton to B (despite A instructions) and left the ends alone!  It's just swapping the green/orange pairs.  If you have one end A and one end B, you have yourself a crossover cable - but nowadays most smart switches have AutoMDX which will detect either and work.

 
Understood. The Leviton gear that's in my SMC is color coded (punch down blocks), so I wanted them wired correctly. I do plan to sell them home within the next 5-10 years, so I wanted it to be clean and understandable by anyone who may perform work here anytime in the future. Since the punch down stuff was setup for the A standard (only), I just went back to my RJ-45 jacks throughout the house and wired them to the A standard as well... so they are straight through - not crossover.
 
Oddly, the Leviton RJ-45 jacks have both standards marked, so they can easily be wired to either standard. However, the punch down stuff actually only shows a single color scheme, and it's in the manual that it's the A standard - not even marked on the board(s).

 

[apostolakisl]

Now that makes more sense... I have seen media converters that are gig only; never seen a NIC like that though.
 
Unfortunately the more affordable testers really aren't that helpful; I'm carry a Fluke CableIQ (~$1500) and it has saved me countless hours over the years in troubleshooting by telling me exactly what's wrong, and where the fault is (say, a break 6' down the line - look closer and see where a client's kitty chewed the cord).
 
I also did have one scenario many years back where the cable tested perfect every time with a cheaper continuity type tester - but it didn't work with the PC's; electrician re-ran that wire 4 times and it would test fine but not function - until I discovered he was running through a junction box along side electrical.  Re-ran it a 5th time and kept it separate and it was then fine.  Only a true cable qualifier would've detected that and I didn't have one at the time.
 
Last - t568B is the more common standard in networking.  drvnbysound - if it were me, I would've wired the leviton to B (despite A instructions) and left the ends alone!  It's just swapping the green/orange pairs.  If you have one end A and one end B, you have yourself a crossover cable - but nowadays most smart switches have AutoMDX which will detect either and work.

 
Am I reading correctly that the Fluke will tell you that the wire is violated x feet away?  That is impressive if indeed I am understanding correctly.  Of course $1500 is also pretty impressive.  Certainly worth it if you do it every day.

 

[tmbrown97]

Understood. The Leviton gear that's in my SMC is color coded (punch down blocks), so I wanted them wired correctly. I do plan to sell them home within the next 5-10 years, so I wanted it to be clean and understandable by anyone who may perform work here anytime in the future. Since the punch down stuff was setup for the A standard (only), I just went back to my RJ-45 jacks throughout the house and wired them to the A standard as well... so they are straight through - not crossover.
 
Oddly, the Leviton RJ-45 jacks have both standards marked, so they can easily be wired to either standard. However, the punch down stuff actually only shows a single color scheme, and it's in the manual that it's the A standard - not even marked on the board(s).

one more FYI - though the Leviton stuff is made for residential and I think they have stickers - but there are a lot of products I've come across that have a cardboard guide snapped into place with the wiring schematics - and it'll be for one standard - but if you pop it out and flip it over, it'll have B on the other side.
 
 

Am I reading correctly that the Fluke will tell you that the wire is violated x feet away?  That is impressive if indeed I am understanding correctly.  Of course $1500 is also pretty impressive.  Certainly worth it if you do it every day.

Yup - you get length readings on the cable, and if there's a problem it'll tell you how far away.  Was troubleshooting a run a few months ago - starts inside and goes out the floor of the portable building into conduit and 300' underground to a remote radio... radio was dead - so, plugged the fluke in - it said there was a short and a break 6' down the line.  Pick up the file boxes on top of the cord and sure enough, the office cat had chewed through it.  That actually happened a couple times with that same cat and different wires...   also good when you know that one end isn't terminated correctly but don't know which one - it'll tell you which end.

 

[BPet]

one more FYI - though the Leviton stuff is made for residential and I think they have stickers - but there are a lot of products I've come across that have a cardboard guide snapped into place with the wiring schematics - and it'll be for one standard - but if you pop it out and flip it over, it'll have B on the other side.
 
 
Yup - you get length readings on the cable, and if there's a problem it'll tell you how far away.  Was troubleshooting a run a few months ago - starts inside and goes out the floor of the portable building into conduit and 300' underground to a remote radio... radio was dead - so, plugged the fluke in - it said there was a short and a break 6' down the line.  Pick up the file boxes on top of the cord and sure enough, the office cat had chewed through it.  That actually happened a couple times with that same cat and different wires...   also good when you know that one end isn't terminated correctly but don't know which one - it'll tell you which end.

Work2Play, I have been trying to read your article "Automate your Lighting with Simply Automated UPB" but the link just brings me back to the forum mainpage?  I'm sorry about posting this here on your topic, but I could not find another way to get in touch with you...