Add ethernet socket in Cat5 circuit

I need to break into a Cat5 cable to install ethernet socket; I have about 6" of slack in the cable.

Would this be enough to connect to the socket and allow the Cat5 cable to continue on to operate the original socket at the end of the cable; will this socket, in the circuit, degrade the performance of the device connected to the original socket at the end of the cable?

Any tips on how to do the installation; will be using surface mount box besides the plastic trunking which is behind a small cabinet?

Any advice appreciated.

What's operating over this cable?
For networking, I don't think you can drop another computer connection in the middle of cat5 as you propose, these cables are one-to-one / direct from device to router/hub (I think).

What do you mean by "break into the cable"?

Six inches is plenty (nurse!) to cut, strip back and terminate onto a jack (outlet). For a data connection you really should be terminating all four pairs in the cable.

Although voice is typically carried on pair 1 (blue, wh-blue) on pins 4,5 on an RJ45 and up to 10/100 BaseT use the orange and green pairs - these days on a modern network connection, all 4 pairs get used for 1000BaseT ethernet. So its not a wise move to mix voice and data on the same cable.

Again you're going have to spell out in a bit more detail what you are trying to do.

Broadband is Virgin Hub3 (100Gb) to unmanaged Netgear eight port switch, via 6M Cat5 cable, to Cat5 socket, via 7M Cat5, to which is connected a ChromeCast Audio dongle.

About 3M from the switch I want an inline socket to connect a WAP to run a Ring doorbell.

Righto. So very simply one ethernet connection requires one full 4-pair cable, end to end, from active equipment port to active equipment port.

There is no concept of inline or splitting, paralleling or breaking in. Its a dedicated end-to-end cable link. You cannot an must not break into the cable. This is not like a 'bus' phone connection with secondary sockets all hanging off a master.

If you want another connection from the switch, you need to run another 4-pair cable.

4-pair data cabling is a star-wired topology. Makes sense?

You could break the cable and terminate it onto two sockets, then install an AP that also has a switch port on (such as a UniFi InWall HD).

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

Righto. So very simply one ethernet connection requires one full 4-pair cable, end to end, from active equipment port to active equipment port.

There is no concept of inline or splitting, paralleling or breaking in. Its a dedicated end-to-end cable link. You cannot an must not break into the cable. This is not like a 'bus' phone connection with secondary sockets all hanging off a master.

If you want another connection from the switch, you need to run another 4-pair cable.

4-pair data cabling is a star-wired topology. Makes sense?

OK Understand. So back to the switch and run a cable from a spare port to the doorbell. If you hear lots of swearing it's me trying to get the addional cable to the doorbell, socket position; lots of heavy furniture moving and hole drilling!!

My ring doorbell just has a wired connection for power - runs back to a doorbell transformer. The data connection is just WiFi. Picks up the house WiFi. Why are you running a cable back to the switch for the ring doorbell?

Wifi rather weak at Ring doorbell location Solid walls; ask my builder when he installed a ventilator.

So it is the Ring Video Doorbell Elite that you have?

In which case you will need full 4-pair cable and PoE capable switch to power it.

Edit - see it comes with an injector, but you’ll still need all 4 pairs from the injector to the doorbell.

Edited by Pheasant (Fri 20-Aug-21 21:40:32)

I am wondering whether I could use the setup I have in my lounge. From the unmanaged switch I run a 7M Cat5 cable to a Netgear WAP, with ethernet ports. This provides WiFi to my lounge and ethernet to my hifi receiver; this has built-in ChromeCast Audio.

I could terminate the Cat5 cable near the Ring doorbell; as in my original suggestion. Plug that cable into a WAP, with ethernet ports. The fit an ethernet plug on the Cat5 cable going to the conservatory and plug that into the new WAP.

Would that work?

I cannot get the conservatory Cat5 cable to the lounge WAP without similar problems to adding another cable to the doorbell location.

It should do (if I’m understanding your description).

The easiest way to test is to just mock it up quickly using short direct RJ45 patchleads to plug everything into the hub, WAP and cable modern the way you desire and make sure it all works.

If everything is working correctly, then transfer your mock-up to the real world by replacing each patch lead connection with its real world cable run. Even if each cable run has a few RJ45 plugs and sockets/jack ‘interconnects’ along its path, for your relatively short lengths it should be fine, as long as each cable path maintains a straight contiguous connection for each pin/pair. If you had a cheap 4-pair network cable tester it would help to test and check all your connections are correct once you’ve done all your terminations just to ensure you have no pin/pair mismatches or pair splits. It’s easily done, which is why it’s good to test.

You can't really inline a cat5 socket in a cable.

Best solution if you are against running another cat5 cable is get a AP with a built in switch (*Draytek AP810? springs to mind). Stop the first cat 5 cable at the AP/switch combo and then plug the rest of the cable into the switch port on the AP to create on the onward chain.


* or just use an old ISP router with DNS and DHCP turned off as your switch and AP

Edited by mbames (Sat 21-Aug-21 08:24:28)

This is the unit I use to run my lounge wifi and hifi; is this the same type as the Draytek?

Hopefully you got your cabling and setup sorted and the doorbell is Ring-ing (poor joke I know).

Well there had to be a Token joke somewhere.

😎😂

In reply to a post by MHC:

Well there had to be a Token joke somewhere.

That joke does net work.