I’ve just moved into a new apartment. It’s got Fiber, and tons of ethernet ports throughout the apartment, which has me excited, but the box is a bit underwhelming. None of the ports are actually active, because the ethernet connections just end loose in the box. I plugged my router directly into the ONT, which has me up and running, but having my wifi coming from a closet isn’t the best.
I know just enough about home networking to know this can be a lot better. My understanding is I’ll need a router connected to the ONT in the box, which I would then connect to a switch, which could then connect up to a patch panel (for the sake of organization), and that would let me use all my wall ports. I’ve got 15 ethernet ports (plus the 3 coax that are already connected up). If people have recommendations for any of that, preferably stuff that would fit neatly in the box, I absolutely would love to know more. Bonus points if you know how to mount stuff to the backboard in the box, I don’t know what kind of mounting system that is.
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I would use zip ties or Velcro tape to keep things in that box.
Get a poe switch and plug the Ethernet in. No need for a patch panel. Get a poe wireless access point and put it at the other end the cable runs in any areas that are dead zones.
AT&T technician here 👋 You have the right idea from taking the ethernet cable from the ONT (white box) and plugging it into the red port on your gateway (I’m assuming it’s a BGW210). After this you have two options, you can either put RJ45 mail ends on the ethernet cables and plug them directly into the gateway, or you can buy a patch panel and use a punch down tool to punch the wires down into the patch panel.
Due to the fact that you have 15 ethernet ports, and there’s only four on the BGW210 gateway, You will need to buy a gigabit Ethernet switch if you want to use more than 4 ethernet ports which is what the gateway only allows. Since your panel has electrical outlets at the bottom this will be no problem.
I’m about 98% sure that you will need to use the T-568B wiring diagram (diagram can be found online, make sure to use B). However if you want to confirm this before you do 15 jacks, you can unscrew the faceplate on the ethernet jacks in the room and verify if they are T-568A or T-568B. Again, because this is an apartment I’m assuming that there are ethernet jacks in the apartment and you just need to complete the other ends which is located inside of this panel.