This topic

ONT and LAN Ports

cn198 — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 00:02:43 GMT

Hi all,

Just moved into a new build with full fibre that has an ONT in the cupboard, but we've also had 4 LAN ports installed in the cupboard that link to other parts of the house, lounge, study, kitchen etc....

We'd like to have the router in the lounge, not in the cupboard, so I know we can use one of the LAN ports in the cupboard to plug the ONT into, and then in the lounge the LAN port then goes into the router WAN port. But then my question is, can we then have a way to then utilise the rest of the LAN ports in the house (rather than just using the wifi). My view is that once the router is in the lounge, there is no way to route back to the cupboard to enable the other LAN ports. For info, there is only 1 LAN port in the lounge. I feel like there could be a solution via unmanaged switches but without a return route from the Lounge I can't see how it would work.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Chris

Re: ONT and LAN Ports

countrypaul — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 07:13:14 GMT

Short answer is no but there may be other solutions depending on why you want the router in the Lounge. For example, if you want the router in the lounge for a better WiFi signal then an alternative option might be to put the router in the cupboard and a Wireless Access point (WAP) in the lounge, you could use a repurposed router as a WAP and switch if you want more ethernet ports in the lounge.

If you explain why you want the router in the lounge there may be other alternative possible solutions such as using Powerline adapters.

Re: ONT and LAN Ports

cn198 — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 07:52:00 GMT

Thanks for your reply. It's a couple of reasons, signal being one, being able to see the blue light is another in case the connection is doing something weird, and also the phone. As the phone has to connect directly to the router it means a phone has to go in or near the cupboard, which we also don't want.

Re: ONT and LAN Ports

licquorice — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 08:24:01 GMT

As far as the phone is concerned, there are multiple solutions.

You can either buy BT Digital Voice handsets which are DECT (cordless) handsets which use the Hub as a DECT base station, plug your existing cordless base unit into the hub and continue to use your existing cordless handsets, or obtain a free Digital Voice Adapter from BT which is effectively a portable phone socket and can be plugged into any mains socket and provides a DECT link back to the hub.

Re: ONT and LAN Ports

countrypaul — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 09:46:30 GMT

How far apart are the Ethernet ports in the lounge and the cupboard - is there any chance of running another cable alongside the existing one. Obviously I have no idea of the layout or way the cables are installed in your place.

I was told some time ago that Cat5 cables should always be installed in pairs, so any faceplate should have 2 RJ45 sockets. Not sure whether that is true, there are obviously many singles around. Perhaps a a discussion for a separate thread.

I know when on copper broadband the lights on the router are useful, is the same that true for FTTP, or are the lights on the ONT more relevant? Just thinking that the lights on the router will only be able to tell if the Ethernet ONT to router is working and probably not whether the fibre is working.

Re: ONT and LAN Ports

David500 — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 10:35:10 GMT

Some houses are built with a standard telephone socket along side the Ethernet sockets in the cupboard which connects to telephone sockets in other rooms. If you have these telephone sockets you connect the router phone socket and telephone socket in cupboard with double ended phone lead and the phone plugged into socket in another room.

Re: ONT and LAN Ports

RussK — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 11:09:10 GMT

One other option is to connect non-BT DECT handset/s to the hub using DECT. I am doing this with my Siemens DECT handsets.

Re: ONT and LAN Ports

licquorice — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 11:25:26 GMT

That's interesting. I haven't got around to trying my Panasonic handsets yet. There was doubt as to whether BT had implemented their own version of DECT although it was originally thought third party DECT handsets should connect. I presume you won't have the added features of the BT DV handsets.

Re: ONT and LAN Ports

RussK — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 11:33:34 GMT

Well, you don’t get the full functionality of the non-BT DECT base station, e.g. answering machine, but things like multi line and call diversion work OK.

My handsets are certified DECT/CAT-iq 2.0, which gives HD voice according to the user guide.

Re: ONT and LAN Ports

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 11:39:07 GMT

@RussK

What about contacts, do your handsets pick up contacts from the SH2?

Re: ONT and LAN Ports

licquorice — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 11:47:11 GMT

@Anonymous Beat me to it 😄

Re: ONT and LAN Ports

RussK — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 12:21:15 GMT

The handsets already had contacts stored on them because I had previously been using their DECT base station.

When I paired my newest handset to my SH2 I transferred the contacts to it (the handset said it was successful). However, there is no way that I can see of viewing them in the hub manager to check.

Re: ONT and LAN Ports

licquorice — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 12:29:24 GMT

You can export the hub contact list as a .vcf file and then open it in Notepad

Re: ONT and LAN Ports

RussK — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 12:49:51 GMT

Just tried that. I’m on iOS so different export behaviour. It only exported 1 contact card. I also tried again to download contacts from my newest handset to the hub. It said 3 successfully uploaded out of 41, so I guess that this functionality isn’t working in my setup.

Re: ONT and LAN Ports

licquorice — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 12:53:24 GMT

That's why I said open it in Notepad. If you open it in the native app it just shows the first card.

Assume iOS has an equivalent text editor to Notepad

Re: ONT and LAN Ports

RussK — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 13:14:28 GMT

I was using an iPad. Just tried it on an iMac and the export worked. To confirm, export of contacts from my Siemens handset to the SH2 worked, and export from SH2 worked.

Re: ONT and LAN Ports

cn198 — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 22:26:28 GMT

The lounge isn't that far away from the cupboard but no chance really of running another cable, and there are no pairs of sockets, it's just the one in each room. I think I just need to accept the router is staying in the cupboard but I need a WAP somewhere else.

Re: ONT and LAN Ports

cn198 — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 22:28:52 GMT

@David500

There is a phone socket next to the LAN socket in the lounge, so yes if I get the right cable that could mean at least the phone doesn't need to be in the cupboard, that would help a lot so thanks!

Re: ONT and LAN Ports

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 22:32:47 GMT

Depending on what speed service you subscribed to, you could make the connection between the ONT & router in the lounge by powerline adapters. That would leave the ethernet port free to run back to a switch in the cupboard, that could then feed the patch panel for the other rooms.

Re: ONT and LAN Ports

countrypaul — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 23:27:20 GMT

If there is a phone socket in the lounge it would be worth checking how that is cabled, if they have by any chance used cat5/5e/6 rather than just phone cable you could probably change that to become ethernet - very small chance but worth checking just in case.

Rather than just a WAP you might want to look at the BT discs that allow you to create a mesh with the SH2 - it might provide better coverage and/or performance than a simple WAP.

I mentioned Powerline adapters early on and @Anonymous has suggested them again as a way of providing a link to the router from the ONT thereby allowing your existing ethernet to go back from the router to a switch in the cupboard. From the general experience on here, gigabit Powerline adapters are unlikely to provide anything like the full performance a gigabit ethernet connection would, so I would therefore suggest using the Ethernet from ONT to Router and the Powerline adapters from Router to cupboard switch if you want the router in the lounge.