Pre-Wired House - What Now?

[guruofchem]

I have bought a home with Ethernet drops installed, but no other hardware is included and none of the wires in the box in my closet are labeled.

1) What is the simplest way to sort out which of the dozen cables I have in my closet goes to which drop? I have no network testing equipment, and am trying to avoid buying anything I might only use once...

2) Once I have sorted out which cable goes where, any suggestions for hardware to connect them with? An 8 port hub might be enough (I probably won't need every wired drop) - any other issues I might run into that I am not thinking about yet?

3) Network storage - thoughts on the subject. I would like to centralize file storage - is a NAS the way to go, or would I be better off with a pre-built home server box?

Thanks for any help you can provide!

 

[sturm]

Plug computer into port in a room. Goto where all the cables come together. Plug one cable in at a time until you get a link light. Label cable and move to next room.

When you say 8 port hub, I am hoping you mean an 8 port switch as they are technically two different pieces of network equipment. You want a switch. Hubs are slow and outdated.

Nas or home built - whatever floats your boat and you can afford would be my suggestion.

 

[guruofchem]

Nice idea for the link light - appreciate it! The hub/switch thing is just archaic usage on my part.