Russell Hafter News <see...@russellhafter.me.invalid> wrote:
> All the Cat5e cables into the various rooms simply end in an
> RJ45 plug. I am looking to make this a bit neater, but I am
> not keen to cut into the Cat5e cable, so I was wondering if
> I were to buy a wall box with two RJ45 sockets, how are the
> two sockets wired?
The wallboxes typically have modules which are expecting you to push in the
wires using a punchdown tool. That means cutting the wires. With no wires
they sockets are unconnected.
However what you probably want are keystone jacks, which is a standard
module which goes in sockets, patch panels etc. If you had a keystone
coupler module it would take an RJ45 cable into the socket on the back and
provide a socket on the front (ie it's a female to female adapter):
https://www.comtecdirect.co.uk/product/ultima-keystone-rj45-couplers/PG6455
You can then mount these in a keystone wall plate:
https://www.comtecdirect.co.uk/product/ultima-single-gang-shuttered-keystone-faceplates/PG3051
https://www.comtecdirect.co.uk/product/ultima-bevelled-faceplates-with-keystone-shutters/PG3463
which would go in a standard electrical backbox (although this arrangement
can be quite deep, so check what depth you need. The bevelled/angled
faceplates attempt to reduce the backbox depth needed).
> If I plug the Cat5e from the loft into one socket, can I
> plug a small switch into the other? So as to connect, say a
> computer and a printer?
If you had the keystone coupler mounted in a wall plate, you'd only get a
single wall outlet if you had only the one drop cable from the loft. You
could then plug a switch into that, yes.
Theo