CAT5 Connectivity question

[mugentuner]

Hi guys new to the board. Have a question. I created a small LAN network using CAT5 cabling, patch panel to a 16 port switch. Well, to make a long story short, the patch panel was full but i needed to added some new connections (users) to the network. What i did was use a linksys switch in an adjoining office directly connected to the Router as an 'uplink' so that i could directly plug-in additional network connections in there. So, i ran 10 ft. of CAT5 from one pc (reception desk) to the switch directly (Straight wired CAT5). Low and behold, no connection found on the pc (no link light status and windows not seeing the connection). I then asked a technician what could be wrong, he said to add a keystone jack to the end going to the switch and plug-in an additional cat5 cable to the keystone jack and to the switch. This worked! What the heck? Anyway, it was working for about two weeks and the user called me back saying she had no connection again yesterday. I checked the connection and it looked fine physically but no link light status on the switch, tried wiggling the wiring a little bit and it came on? So, i thought it maybe was bad cat5 to the switch, so i replaced the wire with a new one. same thing. I have to wiggle the wiring a little before the switch shows activity. Could any of you experts chime in on what to do to get this connection stablilized? I would really appreciate it, thanks.

 

[4everit]

Does the cable run next to any stronger power circuits?

 

[mugentuner]

No, just through a wallplate to the adjoining office.

 

[4everit]

Well, if you need to wiggle it to make it work, then there must be a problem somewhere on the cable RJ's, switch or NIC.

You need to nail it down on your own, there is no magic here. I'm sure you will find the source of the problem by test-replacing parts.
You may also get a cable connectivity meter - I know it is additional cost, but it was made for situations like yours.