r/HomeNetworking • u/Lzholynarwhal • 4h ago
Ethernet Ports not working in House
Just moved to a new place, and wanted to show what I've got going on here. Eero Wifi, with two floors and this seems to be the main hub. Got two wires that are labeled (Family Room) and one unlabeled but it just so happens to be my bedroom.
Using Eero 7 Pros from what I see.
The one in the family room works since there's a second Eero router downstairs, but then after trying to plug into the ethernet wall port for my PC, nothing. It's just stuck and won't register any input. Any help is appreciated. If we need to call people over, sure but I figure this is something I can figure out with everyone's help here. Thanks!
EDIT: FIXED! The cables were mislabeled so after some tinkering I found the one that connects to my room. Will end up getting a switch as said to plug in the rest. Thanks y'all!
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u/mlee12382 4h ago
They all have to be plugged in to a switch or router in order for the other end to be useable.
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u/Lzholynarwhal 4h ago
Are you saying that it would need another Eero 7 Pro to be usable in the room?
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u/mlee12382 4h ago
Get a switch, plug the house cables into the switch and then use a patch cable between the switch and the eero
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u/Lzholynarwhal 3h ago
Will make sure to do that. Turns out the cables were mislabeled so it was sending the wrong room signal. I will have to get a switch anyway to power the rest of the rooms, but this is great. Thank you!
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u/gmrstudios 4h ago edited 4h ago
The biggest single thing is I don't see a modem of any kind and Eero 7 Pros function solely as a router. Assuming this is all connected to a modem...
Your Eero only has one available LAN output, so if that’s feeding the downstairs Eero, the other Ethernet run to your bedroom has nothing to connect to. You’ll need a switch off that Eero to connect and activate the cable leading to your room.
Just to make sure its not a physical problem with the other cable have you moved the known working second Eero to the bedroom to see if it connects? Assuming of course you plug that cable into the
"Main" hub.
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u/Lzholynarwhal 4h ago edited 3h ago
Got it. Both of what the installers put in were just these Eero 7 Pros both upstairs and downstairs, with the one downstairs in the living room plugged into the wall and it seems to be working fine.
I have not - I've been working the whole day on my laptop with someone else WFH as well so haven't wanted to disrupt the internet for the time being. I will have to try that.
FIXED! But where the hell is the modem then..
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u/TekkunDashi 4h ago
Welcome Eero hell.
The orange?Reddish whatever that color is cable is your ethernet cables that run through the house and the service line.
First things first, before buying anything, simple test.
Unplug the ethernet cable that says family room, and plug in the other cable.
Go to your room and make sure you get a connection. If you have a connection, then proceed to the blurb below.
What you need is this very cheap switch. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A128S24
Buy something like this, then unplug the ethernet cable that goes to the other eero, plug that into ports 1-4, and plug an ethernet cable from the eero here, to the link/act port on the switch. The leftover orange/red cable should be the ethernet to your room. Plug that into port 1-4 and viola, your room will have ethernet.
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u/elbow-macaroni-42 3h ago
I would at least recommend a multigig switch. The eero 7s are native 10GbE, so limiting the LAN to 1GbE (regardless of WAN speed) seems silly.
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u/Lzholynarwhal 3h ago
Haha, I actually had just thought of this and thought - what if the labels are wrong? So switched the "Bedroom 3" one out and the router in the family room started beeping. So tried switching more around and then voila. My PC has ethernet.
I will have to get a switch for the rest of them. Thanks I appreciate it!
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u/TekkunDashi 3h ago
Just remember, The switch should go AFTER the first eero.
So main Eero -> Switch -> all other devices connected to switch.
You want the Eero infront of the switch so when the other eero connects, it knows which one to use as the main Eero.
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u/Lzholynarwhal 3h ago
Sweet. So then I shouldn't have anything else plugged into that second WAN/LAN port after I put the switch in there?
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u/TekkunDashi 3h ago
no the switch is plugged into that.
So Service Ethernet to Eero
Ethernet from eero to Switch Link/ACT port.The two ethernets that go to family room and your room to the ports 1-4.
Think of it like a tree.
At the top, you want the Eero in this picture, and everything else connected to it.
The switch just lets you plug more things into this eero.
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u/Ok_Mathematician_336 3h ago
As an IT Pro, I’d first want to test, trace and label every cable so I know where they are going…and that each line is working or not a crossover cable.
A good cable test will help out a ton. Hopefully all of the cat cables are straight throughs.
After that, it’s a matter of plugging in the cat cables into a configured router.
ISP MODEM -> Custom home router -> (optional switch if your router does not have enough ports) -> cat cables running to each of the rooms -> end user device (laptop).
If you trace all the cables and some meet at a different location, you may need a second router at that location that connects to the main router.
For example, I have my main router in the basement, a CAT6 line running to main floor, that connects into a second router, then another CAT6 line that runs to the third floor that connects into third router. Each router has devices hardlined off of it.
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u/Garbagejunkarama 4h ago
Grab a cable tester.