Connecting fibre modem to Ethernet using ADSL/VDSL patch cable?

[#1]

Hi everyone,

I have a BT FTTC master socket which connects to my BT fibre modem via RJ-11 and my landline phone. I have my house wired for CAT6 Ethernet and two RJ-45 network sockets near the BT master socket.

In order to try and move my router and modem away from the master socket so they can be connected to my UPS under the stairs, I've connected the RJ-11 on the BT master socket to one of the RJ-45 Ethernet sockets using an ADSL/VDSL patch cable and the fibre modem's RJ-11 socket to a different RJ-45 Ethernet socket using another ADSL/VDSL patch cable. However, I can't get any internet connectivity (internal LAN works fine) nor a dial tone on my landline.

Is what I'm attempting to do even possible? If so, what could the problem be and how might I go about solving or working around it?

[#2]

Are the RJ45 Ethernet sockets connected point to point or via a switch ? If the latter then it's not going to work. You could leave the modem near the master socket and connect the LAN port to the RJ45 socket , then move the router to one of the other sockets.

[#3]

I'm totally confused with your description so let's start again.

I assume that you have two CAT 6 cables running from the mater socket to the new location under the stairs. You need to put a filter in the master socket (unless you have a filtered faceplate). Connect one of the filter ouputs to each of the Ethernet sockets. Do the same the other end, making sure that you get the plugs the right way around (DSL to DSL and phone to phone).

If it doesn't work use a continuity tester to check the wiring is intact and cores are not crossed such as this,  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06XT1Z7CH/ref=psdc_949408031_t1_B00ESCN8Z0  you may find a cheaper one if you look, get one that does both RJ11 and 45.

[#4]

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@MisterW wrote:

Are the RJ45 Ethernet sockets connected point to point or via a switch ? If the latter then it's not going to work. You could leave the modem near the master socket and connect the LAN port to the RJ45 socket , then move the router to one of the other sockets.

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They're connected via a switch. If it's not possible, I may just move the router and not the modem which'll still be an improvement.

[#5]

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@Baldrick1 wrote:

I'm totally confused with your description so let's start again.

I assume that you have two CAT 6 cables running from the mater socket to the new location under the stairs. You need to put a filter in the master socket (unless you have a filtered faceplate). Connect one of the filter ouputs to each of the Ethernet sockets. Do the same the other end, making sure that you get the plugs the right way around (DSL to DSL and phone to phone).

If it doesn't work use a continuity tester to check the wiring is intact and cores are not crossed such as this,  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06XT1Z7CH/ref=psdc_949408031_t1_B00ESCN8Z0  you may find a cheaper one if you look, get one that does both RJ11 and 45.

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I have 10 Ethernet sockets around the house which all run to a 16-port Netgear switch underneath the stairs. The switch is connected to my UPS and my aim is to move both my ASUS router and BT fibre modem so that they go through the UPS too but this means relocating them from the living room (where the master socket is, as well as two of the network sockets) to under the stairs.

I was under the impression that the BT fibre faceplates were already filtered? The master faceplate is the only phone socket I have in the house. I've had good speeds and a reliable connection with PN for a few years which I would've thought would rule out dodgy wiring? I just wasn't sure if what I'm trying to do is even possible in the first place.

[#6]

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@MisterW wrote:

Are the RJ45 Ethernet sockets connected point to point or via a switch ? If the latter then it's not going to work. You could leave the modem near the master socket and connect the LAN port to the RJ45 socket , then move the router to one of the other sockets.

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Excuse my ignorance here. Will this not require the modem to handle the PPPoE/config etc  and hence use the router simply as a switch or can you mix WAN and LAN data on the same switch?

[#7]

@pnuser1

If there are two sockets on the master faceplate then yes it is already filtered, hence my bracketed comment in my earlier post.

Another option for you would to leave the telephone where it is. Assuming that the cat 6 cable runs from your living room to the under stairs location simply isolate this from your switch and use it to connect your filtered dsl output on the master socket to the modem. That way both modem and router can be moved and you will still have a spare Ethernet cable running between the two locations.

[#8]

@pnuser1

They're connected via a switch. If it's not possible, I may just move the router and not the modem which'll still be an improvement.

I thought from your description that they may be connected vai a switch. As I said earlier, connecting the Master socket to the modem via the RJ45 and the switch won't work. The switch works at the Ethernet level whereas the signal from the Master socket to the modem is VDSL and not Ethernet. Connecting the modem directly to the Master socket and then connecting it's LAN port to the switch via the RJ45 socket with the router connected to the switch elsewhere SHOULD work. I say SHOULD work, as long as the switch is a Level 2 switch, only one way to find out , that's suck it and see...

[#9]

@Baldrick1

Excuse my ignorance here. Will this not require the modem to handle the PPPoE/config etc  and hence use the router simply as a switch or can you mix WAN and LAN data on the same switch?

Most switches operate at level 2 i.e MAC address. Whilst the LAN port on the modem is not IP it is still Ethernet and has a MAC address and so the switch OUGHT to be able to route ethernet packets from the modem to the router which will still do the PPPoE. I say OUGHT, the problem may be the PPPoE discovery broadcast packets MAY not get through the switch. I've never tried it myself but the theory is it SHOULD work. If the switch has VLAN capability then setting the ports connecting the modem and router in a separate VLAN may help matters...

[#10]

@pnuser1  How are the connections to the switch made - via a patch panel or directly via a plug on the CAT6 cable?

If a patch panel, unplug the switch cable from that and connect to the router LAN then connect the modem DSL connection to the panel (re-insert the cable between the two if you have removed it!).

If it is a plug on the CAT6 cable, then that will have to be converted to a 6P2C or 6P4C plug (RJ11/RJ12) instead of the 8P8C (RJ45) plug.

Phil

[#11]

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@MisterW wrote:

@pnuser1

They're connected via a switch. If it's not possible, I may just move the router and not the modem which'll still be an improvement.

I thought from your description that they may be connected vai a switch. As I said earlier, connecting the Master socket to the modem via the RJ45 and the switch won't work. The switch works at the Ethernet level whereas the signal from the Master socket to the modem is VDSL and not Ethernet. Connecting the modem directly to the Master socket and then connecting it's LAN port to the switch via the RJ45 socket with the router connected to the switch elsewhere SHOULD work. I say SHOULD work, as long as the switch is a Level 2 switch, only one way to find out , that's suck it and see...

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I tried connecting this way and eventually got both wired and wireless devices to connect to the internet but with lots (50%+) of dropped pings and a much less reliable connection. Putting the port on the switch (a Netgear GS116Ev2) that was connected to the modem on its own VLAN broke external connectivity completely.

[#12]

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@PeeGee wrote:

@pnuser1  How are the connections to the switch made - via a patch panel or directly via a plug on the CAT6 cable?

If a patch panel, unplug the switch cable from that and connect to the router LAN then connect the modem DSL connection to the panel (re-insert the cable between the two if you have removed it!).

If it is a plug on the CAT6 cable, then that will have to be converted to a 6P2C or 6P4C plug (RJ11/RJ12) instead of the 8P8C (RJ45) plug.

Phil

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They're made via a patch panel. I couldn't get any external connectivity or dial tone on my landline phone when connecting the modem's DSL port to anything other than the BT master socket.

[#13]

Did you try a conductivity checker as suggested here https://community.plus.net/t5/Everything-else/Connecting-fibre-modem-to-Ethernet-using-ADSL-VDSL-pat...