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Patch Panels

S

silvrdragona

n00b
Joined
Dec 26, 2002
Messages
37
Hey guys, I'm going to have 10 cat5e cables run straight down to my basement. I was looking into patch panels for management. Do you think it is necessary or should i crimp on a head on every wire?

If i were to get a patch panel, i want one that i can directly mount on the wall. Can you guys recommend one for me?

Here is a link from Newegg

Can you help me choose one? Or can i get it cheaper somewhere else?

BTW i'm planning to put my switch and router in the basement.

Thanks
 
For home use any inexpensive path panel will do. If you want the installation to look nice and tidey go ahead and use the patch panel, then use small 3" cat5 patch chords to connect the switch to the patch panel. If you dont care about looks, or if you don't want to have to buy a punch down tool and learn color codes, then just crimp some 45 heads on the cat5e's and call it good.
 
ive always liked the look of patch panels.

but it really depends on what you want to do, now, if you intend to have all 10 drops plugged into a switch at all times, never having to reroute wires, or switch plugs around (something i do frequently) then just crimp the rj45 heads down to the wire.

But if you intend to not have all the drops connected all the time, then a patch panel would save you tons of time, and make things much much easier to work with in the long run.

my vote's on the patch panel, and the link you gave us seem to be very good prices. I believe i paid anywhere from 50-70 bucks for a 32 port panel, it was so long ago i can't remember.

you can make your own quick and dirty cabinet for a patch panel out of some spare 2x4's as well. or other misc. materials. (i don't have a link handy to point you in the direction of a manufactured cabinet, so i decided to be lazy and post that :))
 
If you don't want to get extra stuff for mounting, I would just go with this one. It's cheap, it's Cat6, and it fits easily between studs.

The other panels are designed to mount in a 19" rack. It's difficult or impossible to mount them straight onto most household walls, as most household walls have 16" stud spacing (some have 24" stud spacing, but not many). You'd likely want to get a small 19" wall-mount rack in addition to those panels.

I would suggest eBay for better prices (I just scored a 1000' spool of stranded Cat5e there for ~$25), but the patch panels you found at newegg are pretty inexpensive. Might as well stick with newegg!
 
Originally posted by Zlash
I believe the recommended length is around a foot.
Click to expand...
I've never been able to find a minimum distance (or a recommended minimum length) when it comes to Ethernet. I've used 3" cables plenty of times without any phy layer errors.

It's really a moot point anyway because on the other side of the patch panel is going to be a cable run that is probably longer than 12".
 
The other side of the panel really doesn't matter, I know the little 3" cables "work" but could cause problems. As far as I know most cable testers can't even test cables under .4m and I've seen minimums anywhere from .4-.6m .

I've used them too, just making the original poster aware though.
 
Originally posted by Zlash
The other side of the panel really doesn't matter, I know the little 3" cables "work" but could cause problems.
Click to expand...
How so? It does matter: If the 3" cable is connected from a switch port to the panel (and that run is 50') then electrically the cable is 50' 3".
 
instead of a patch panel, use a 12 port wallplate with 10 cat5e jacks and 2 blanks in it. Thats what I do for smaller installations. Its clean and doesnt cost much.
 
Originally posted by ipconfig /all
How so? It does matter: If the 3" cable is connected from a switch port to the panel (and that run is 50') then electrically the cable is 50' 3".
Click to expand...

I suppose it could matter how far apart the "untwisted" regions are. Every point where the cable needs to be crimped or punched down, it has to be untwisted a bit, and that's a compromise to UTP signal integrity. That's why there's limits to how far back you can untwist the wires and still be "in spec" for Cat5/5e/6.

Perhaps having two untwisted regions close together is a problem?

In any event, patch cable is cheap enough that you might as well make all your patch cables capable of spanning the full length of the patch panel, with some slack added on so nothing ever needs a sharp bend. Of course, making stranded patch cables longer than 25' is not so good, but we won't be needing that, will we? ;)
 
I would recommend the smaller kind that mount vertically (12 ports). If you think you might add more cables, then buy a 24 port rackmount patch panel and a small wallmount bracket.
As far as cables go, I normally use 1 to 3 foot cables between the patch panel and switch.
 
Originally posted by Zlash
The other side of the panel really doesn't matter, I know the little 3" cables "work" but could cause problems. As far as I know most cable testers can't even test cables under .4m and I've seen minimums anywhere from .4-.6m .

I've used them too, just making the original poster aware though.
Click to expand...

You are correct, but I have never had issues with them. And especially for home use it really isn't that big of a deal.
 
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