Home networking?

I have a cable modem/router combo (Arris Surfboard) connected via coax cable through a patch panel and connected into a wall jack.

Picture of patch panel:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/4/4f19f981.jpg

But my patch panel is in the basement far from my modem, and I want to be able to use the Ethernet ports in the house. I think I just need to run an Ethernet cable to the nearest wall Ethernet port and then I can connect the other end of that in the patch panel to an Ethernet Switch and plug in the remaining cables to enable access at the other ports, correct?
But...none of the cables in the patch panel are labeled. There's 11 Ethernet cables and 2 unused coax ends hanging there (I only have 6 total Ethernet ports in the house, I guess the other 5 are spare / connect to nothing?).
I guess there's cable testers you can buy, but this is like a one time only problem. Can I just brute force this? Like...run the Ethernet from the modem to the wall port, then go to the patch panel w/ my laptop and plug in to different cable ends till I get a LAN connection? Then I can label that as the "main" and use it w/ the switch as above?
Just checking if I'm on the right track here... Thanks.

Trial and error will work. It'll be a pain and working with a tone generator would be considerably faster, but for a one-time solution, dropping ~$50-100 on a tone generator doesn't make much sense.

adjl posted...

Trial and error will work. It'll be a pain and working with a tone generator would be considerably faster, but for a one-time solution, dropping ~$50-100 on a tone generator doesn't make much sense.

Thanks. Yeah, I'd rather waste some time than buy something like that. Time to look for an 8 port switch (unless they sell 6 port ones)

Yup! I worked as a technician doing this kind of stuff.

There are small chances that the wall jacks aren't terminated, but I'd say it's pretty likely they're done properly seeing as the ends in the patch panel are terminated.

It's interesting that there are some extra, I'd be curious where they go. You'll be able to ascertain them one-by-one quite easily though. I'd just plug them into a switch in the patch panel one at a time and then go to my house-jacks to test. A little tedious, but then you could label them yourself, if you wanted to.

streamofthesky posted...

Thanks. Yeah, I'd rather waste some time than buy something like that. Time to look for an 8 port switch (unless they sell 6 port ones)

I had a 6-port at one point, so yes they do. I ended up upgrading - once you have your home network it's nice to have a few extra ports. Like if you wanted to add a small security device in the patch panel in the future. Or if you find out where those extra cable runs go.

Another very basic way of finding out where the cable goes...if you have a friend to help, try shimmying the cord around and see if you hear it in the wall. Not always successful obviously, but sometimes you end up finding it with two people: one at one end, one at the other testing to see if you can feel the other person pulling.

If you did want to trace the ethernet cables though, a 'tone generator and probe' are what you need.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/4/4893d103.jpg

There are some pretty cheap Ethernet testers on Amazon. Like $10 cheap. You stick the remote on one end, and then plug the master into the other end. If the lights come on, you've got a complete circuit. It can also determine if a cable is miswired.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/1/1b1cd359.jpg