There's a substantial difference in wiring for ethernet and wiring for phones. The phone will work just fine on cat 5 or 6 wiring pretty much no matter how badly it is installed, ethernet will not.

How is the other end terminated? You just can't punch down all your Cat5/6 wiring together like it was a paralleled set of phone wires (though the idiot who wired my house the first time did exactly that, I ripped it out before he left the building and explained to him how to do it properly).

Honestly I have no idea. I know there is a box of some sort in the basement because when the Verizon guy came to put in the router he was downstairs tinkering for quite a while. I don’t think Verizon will come to the house because of the quarantine.

I bought my television and had it mounted from the same people who wired the house for internet. I will give them a call when businesses are back in business.

Suzanne-

I have a similar system in my house and my experience is that Verizon will do what's necessary to hook up the router as simply as possible, but won't troubleshoot all your installed wiring. I think your idea to get the original installer back is the one most likely to get this fixed.

Your router most likely needs a direct connection to a modem (or if the modem is built into it, a service connection). You probably can't move it by just plugging it in somewhere else.

Why do you want to move the router? Maybe there's another way to accomplish what you want to do.

Well, I’d like to move it to a place (spare room)where it and all the wires are not so noticeable. It’s on an open desk currently, but I also have a laptop and its charger, so lots of wires that I can’t hide.

If you want to try, first go to where your cable comes into the house and connects to the cable modem. (Is that the open desk?) In my house, there is a splitter before the modem, with one cable going to my TV room where the cable box is located. The other cable goes to the router, very likely it is right next to the modem (unless they are combined). The router should have several ethernet cables going throughout the house, one to each device or wall connector (like you show). To move the router to another location, ALL those other wires must be run to that other location. If there are two ethernet cables going from the current router location to the new one, then you could buy an ethernet switch or hub to accommodate all the ethernet ports. I could draw a diagram, if you're interested.

Ai yi yi. This is way beyond me. LOL

That’s OK. For now, I can watch Amazon Prime movies and get to the web, so I’ll wait until things get back to normal and have the wiring guy come back.

To move the router to another location, ALL those other wires must be run to that other location.

Not necessarily. You can put a new switch at the old router location. But then all the wires from the various RJ45 jacks still are at that location, which is what the OP is trying to get away from.

I have my modem and router in my second floor office here. From there, one cable goes to a jack in another second floor room. A second cable runs to a switch in the cellar, and from that switch, several cables go on to jacks on the first floor. I also have a feed to another switch and wifi access point in an outbuilding, but don't use that much any more.

I wired this 15 years ago, and with hindsight, I'd do it differently today. I'd probably put both modem and router in the cellar or in a central utility closet, powered by a UPS, with a full jackbay for flexibility. In addition to wired RJ45 jacks in various rooms, I'd run Ethernet cables to a wifi access point on each floor.

Is this Verizon FIOS? And do you have all 3 services (internet, phone, TV)?

Yes.

At it's most basic Ethernet is a type of wired computer networking. It uses cables (a cable is several wires inside of one jacket). Those cable run from a central point to each device (computer, etc.) that's connected to the network.

I think you said that in some rooms, that jack in your picture is used for a telephone. While telephones and computers can use the same type of cable, they wired completely differently and not compatible. So you can not disconnect a phone and connect a computer, it just won't work.

I have no idea how helpful Verizon is with this, you might also look into a local company that specializes in computer networking.

AT&T around here is still providing in-home service.

john-

The OP posted a picture of her wall plate, and it says: Cat6....

Yes, when I had the walk through with the builder, he told me that the “new” plates were able to service both a computer and a telephone. I did move the phone base from the master to a different bedroom and that worked. I have four identical plates. The phone works in all four, but the internet only works in two of them. I made sure to use the same wires dangling from the router (switch?) because I know the telephone and etherent lines with the little clip on the end are different.

i really think the ”home and leisure” subcontractor needs to come back, and that’s fine. I have a full year’s warranty on everything.

Are all you guys out of work Geek Squad?

Are all you guys out of work Geek Squad?

There's no need to get offensive.

The OP posted a picture of her wall plate, and it says: Cat6....

Which doesn't mean there's cat6 wire running to it and MOST importantly, that the connections were made to even Cat5 standards.

There's more to network wiring than just plugging things into the wall (you need to know where the other end goes).

At my work environment, all the "network" wall outlets are RJ45, but some are for telephone and some are for internet. (RJ45 is the type of connector shown in the OP's photo).

Hi Suzanne, I wrote a post yesterday, but it got deleted, maybe because it was too vague, but I will try again.

You say there are two jacks that work with either phone or internet? These jacks are wired through a cable to where your Verizon router or modem is located. Are the four jacks wired the same way?

What I was trying to explain yesterday is that there is two standards for wiring RJ45 jacks; TIA 568A and TIA 568B. Since only two of the four pairs in an Ethernet cable are used for internet, the former (568A) uses the center pairs for telephone, and the outer pairs for internet. Both standards are interchangeable providing the cable has been wired the same way at both ends. Perhaps someone made a mistake and wired the jacks 568A and the other end 568B?

I am not familiar with Verizon equipment, which is why I asked to post a picture. Do you have just one box provided by Verizon which does all your phone, TV, internet? Or do you have a modem into which your either Verizon or self-provided router is connected? If you have a separate modem and router, you would need to remove the router or switch and connect the cable from the jack you want to use directly into the Ethernet jack of your modem, and move the router or switch to the location where you want to use it.

I believe you want to do so to get a better WiFi signal throughout the house? You could also replace the router downstairs with a switch and have internet at all four jacks (provided they were wired properly) and plug the router into any of the four jacks.

You mention the little connectors for phone and ethernet are different. Do you have four cables with little phone connectors and four other cables with larger, ethernet connectors?

I hope I did not confuse you, I'm just trying to understand how's your setup so I can help you.

Oh gosh, you all are so nice and patient trying to explain this to me, but I’m not at all confident in my ability to replace anything without electrocuting myself or ruining some piece of hardware.

To answer your question, I have only one Ethernet wire along with the black cable and they are both attached to the Verizon router ( switch?) In the picture. I have one telephone wire for the base unit. The other phones just plug into a regular electric socket. They don’t need the wire with the little clip on the end that goes into a jack.

Here are some more pictures, but honestly, I’m going to have the expert back to fix whatever he needs to do So that I can just move the router with the same wires into a different room that is supposed to have the same access to the internet.

The big white box in the basement is locked so I couldn’t get in even if I wanted to.

Thank you all again for your time.

Suzanne-

This is something you’re unlikely to fix on your own (as would be the case with many other people). It’s probably something simple, like a miswired wall plate, but it won't necessarily be obvious to you. Instead of trying to do things you don’t have the tech background for — and possibly making it worse — get a professional in to analyze and fix this.

Absolutely. That’s my plan.

The white box is marked "Today's Home and Leisure." That seems to be a local PA company that installs home automation and AV systems. If the cable from the Verizon modem goes into that white box (it looks like it does but I can't be sure), they may be the ones you have to call to get things changed. I'm sure they'll charge you. If you're lucky, it'll only be an arm or a leg, not both.

I'll tell you, if someone put a box like that with a lock on it in my house, I'd call them the next day and tell them to either unlock it or take it out. I don't accept that kind of noise. With an exception for the electric meter, you don't lock me out of my own home's wiring. But then I'm a geek, though not a Geek Squad member.

Yes, they were the subcontractor. They also installed my Ring cameras. They won’t charge, as I just moved in and the builder will have them come out and fix any problem I have. I was hoping it was them and not Verizon because I know Verizon would charge just to look at the problem. I don’t know why they have a lock on it, but you are right. I will ask him to unlock it or give me the key.

The OP posted a picture of her wall plate, and it says: Cat6....

It might be labeled CAT6 but if she's plugging her phone into it and it works, it's certainly not wired as Ethernet. An RJ45 jack is also a lot smaller than an RJ11 plug. Something seems amiss...

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An RJ45 jack wired to TIA 568A standard will have the phone pairs in the center and Ethernet on the outer pairs. An RJ11 plug will fit into most RJ45 jacks, though obviously it will use only the two center pairs.

And I agree with David, if someone wanted to install any kind of locked box in my house, I would make sure they give me the key or they make sure it's unlocked before they would leave my house, or they take back all the wiring and I will call another company.

An RJ45 jack wired to TIA 568A standard will have the phone pairs in the center and Ethernet on the outer pairs.

An RJ45 jack can also support up to 4 phone lines if you omit the Ethernet. You probably won't find that in very many houses, though.

Ok. Verizon uses fiber to the home. Outside, there should be a box called an Optical Network Terminal. The fiber goes in, internet/phone/TV comes out. Usually this is a single coax cable (RG6) that goes into the house. It goes to the router, which with Verizon is also a WiFi router. This decodes the TV part from the signal and sends it along to the TV set top boxes. As to internet, they usually stop with the wireless part. However, if you have your house already wired, you can attach this to a port on the router.

The phone is an internet VoIP system and is wireless. So your base unit connects to the router and the other phones connect wirelessly (just power to keep the batteries charged).

Interesting discussion, but I'm not sure it's helping someone like the OP who doesn't have tech skills....

Weedmeister, I found what I think is the Verizon box next to the utility box by the street, but unfortunately, kudzu9 is correct about my technical skills. ( I did have a FORTRAN 4 class in college probably before you were born. Does that count? LOL.)

I will post the resolution when I have one. Thanks all.

That box in the ground is probably where the fiber is connected. The box on your outside wall is probably near the meter.

If it was Fortran, it was probably a few years AFTER I was born.

We can't say much constructive without seeing the wiring in the house.

So you'll need someone to come and look. Now, I think Verizon will not deal with your house wiring since they didn't install it, unless you have an agreement with them (usually they will bill you for this). So perhaps those THL guys.