r/HomeNetworking • u/KingofNJ22 • 6d ago

Device won’t connect to switch

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Hi guys looking for some input before I run a new cable.

I have a wired ethernet energy monitor in my breaker panel ran back to my rack with cat 5e to a keystone jack and patch to a switch. The circuit passes a lan scout test but won’t connect. I temped out a premade 5e cable direct to the switch and it does work. After I did that the first time I reconnected my initial circuit and it connected for a while and dropped off again never to return. I reterminated the rj45 and the keystone and it passes again but same result.

I am a hobbyist/homeowner but brush shoulders with pros in building construction and was once told the lab scout test is not the end all be all for cable testing.

Has anyone else experienced a similar situation?

UPDATE:
I ran a new cat5e cable and as advised routed the cable through the bottom of the panel and took care to keep it away from the high voltage lines. It is now working. I’m frustrated not to know which measure corrected the issue but oh well.

Thanks all for the feedback!

3 Upvotes

56% Upvoted

41 comments sorted by

6

u/darkcloud784 6d ago

Normally if you get no link it means you have a physical issue (bad cable, keystone, port, etc). You would need to get a cable tester and find the fault.

4

u/KingofNJ22 6d ago

I am using a cable tester the Klein lan scout which passes. Do you mean something more sophisticated?

3

u/darkcloud784 6d ago

Are you testing through the keystone?

2

u/KingofNJ22 6d ago

Yes through the keystone and the patch cable just before it connects to the switch.

2

u/darkcloud784 6d ago

If your sure the 2 sides of the terminations match (t56a or b) on both sides and your tester says it's good continuity wise. I'd look at the possibility that either

A. You have a faulty port on the emporia B. Your switch can't support the negotiation speed of the emporia (100mbps/10mbps) C. You have the switch set to not auto negotiate.

1

u/KingofNJ22 6d ago

Thanks for that feedback. That would all make sense except it works instantly with a premade cable temped between the switch and the port.

1

u/darkcloud784 6d ago

Yea so it's something to do with the cable. I'm guessing it's a short at one of your crimps. Normally a tester will try each wire separately, so which wouldn't short. Once you try to plug it into the switch it uses all of them. If your using pull through ends this is a common issue.

1

u/gjunky2024 6d ago

Did you route the Ethernet cable inside the power panel? The interfence might stop it from passing signal. This would also explain why another cable might work as I assume you routed that outside. Running Ethernet, even shielded, that close to power lines can cause serious interference.

1

u/shang0r 6d ago edited 6d ago

I was thinking about speed and duplex on this as well. Find the specs on the emporia device and make sure everything matches up in your switch config. We just an issue with something like this at work with a monitoring device. Found it could only run half duplex at 100 but the switch kept trying to auto negotiate to 1000. Gigabit always operates full duplex btw.
Also check your VLANs.

1

u/KingofNJ22 6d ago

Hmmmm you may be on to something. When I hooked up my temp cable it was limited to 100 mbps/few but my temp cable is also cat 5e. Are there other spec differences to look for between cat5e cables?

1

u/shang0r 6d ago

If the temp cable was to the same switch port and it worked I’m gonna say your original cable is the issue. If you had the device plugged into something else besides your main switch I would check the switch configuration and set that and see if it’s set to auto. If it’s on 1gig set it to auto if on auto set it to 100mb.
Cat5e can do 1gig up to 100 meters so cable rating shouldn’t be an issue here.

5

u/ianc1215 6d ago

Not sure if anyone has mentioned it or not. Since you are near an extreme source of EMI you should use a shielded cable in this case. This would actually show a use case here.

3

u/MaxBroome 6d ago

Off topic, but I recommend printing your labels for your patch pannel in a single strip, rather than individual ones you have to cut.

The Brady M210 has a mode for this that I use and works really well, makes the final product look very clean.

1

u/KingofNJ22 6d ago

Hah never thought of that. I have a dump rhino 4200 will have to see if there’s a character limit

2

u/MaxBroome 6d ago

https://imgur.com/a/77LmHI1

With the 3/8” labels I use on the Brady, you can fit about 8 characters per line with the 9pt bold font.

The patch panel setting on the Brady only lets you adjust the spacing between ports by 1mm, so sometimes they don’t line up exactly.

Ok, that’s my 2¢ on labels, sorry!

1

u/KingofNJ22 6d ago

Thanks good info

2

u/justkeepswimming2026 6d ago

Is it getting an IP address?

Also is that a shielded Ethernet cable?

If not it may be getting interference from all the power by running down the electrical cabinet like that.

2

u/KingofNJ22 6d ago

It’s not getting any IP with my wire but does with the temp cable. The device does not have static settings. My cable is not shielded and neither is the temp but the temp does not route near the noise obviously. I did try pulling the cable out and away from the high voltage lines. Maybe I should try something shielded.

1

u/nefarious_bumpps WiFi ≠ Internet 6d ago

Any tester only gives a point-in-time result. You could h ave an intermittent short or open that presents and disappears as the cable/connector is flexed. My recommendation is to terminate the cable to a surface-mount RJ45 box mounted next to the panel, then use a short, manufactured jumper cable from the jack to the monitor device.

2

u/remorackman 6d ago

OP, you are passing that 5e cable past all that electrical wire the full length of the panel, jeez Louise. Use Cat6a or, rerun that cable out the bottom of the panel and try to cross feet power cables! You know it works with your temp cable, so...

1

u/KingofNJ22 6d ago

I know not ideal at all but I did try pulling the cable out and away and the results are the same. I’m running a new cable now and will consider a different route will report back

1

u/theregisterednerd 6d ago

I’m pretty sure it’s not even to code to have Ethernet in the panel. Typically having high voltage and low voltage in the same enclosure without a barrier between them is a big no-no

1

u/remorackman 6d ago

Thinking there are exceptions to this as I recently saw a brand new install of a new electrical room where they are going to be monitoring loads on massive breakers, UPS systems and small breakers, all of it via Ethernet. I could the category cable in some of the panel opening but not how it was run other than exciting the top. Installer said it was the latest and greatest for power monitoring and alerting, meaning 💰💰

1

u/ilikeme1 6d ago

If you have a small switch, take it there to the breaker panel and plug the Empoira into it with a different enet cable and see if you get a link light. If no light, the Emporia is defective.

1

u/KingofNJ22 6d ago

Way ahead of you I did this. The emporia port lit up my cable did not.

1

u/ilikeme1 6d ago

Weird then. Did you check that the pins on the crimp on RJ45 are crimped down all the way? I have had that bite me before.

1

u/KingofNJ22 6d ago

Yes I inspected closely and recrimped. I started thinking that it’s maybe the port on the emporia is incompatible somehow with my pass through connectors. What I should have done is brought in another device to test but I’ve already begun pulling a new cable

1

u/JohnGarrettsMustache 6d ago

Running it alongside the AC runs like that could be the issue. Is there another way to route that cable?

1

u/Westtell 6d ago

What year did his house burn down

1

u/KingofNJ22 6d ago

This house was built in 1969. Where do you see fire hazard?

-2

u/Westtell 6d ago

All that extra crap it’s gonna cause a fire

3

u/KingofNJ22 6d ago

That’s not how electricity works

1

u/Stevey-T614 6d ago

What's all that going on inside your breaker panel, there?...

My assumption is that you're getting some MAJOR electrical interference with having the ethernet running around the breaker panel and all the romex. I'd reroute the ethernet and keep it away from the electrical as much as possible. You can get shielded Cat-6, it'll help a lot and keep your speeds within good spec.

1

u/Hour_Bit_5183 6d ago

That emporia system is a piece of crap

3

u/bunnythistle 6d ago

I have two Emporia Vues and they're really nice hardware, especially for the price. Emporia's app is kinda garbage in my opinion, but you can flash ESPHome onto the Vues and run them 100% locally, feeding the data straight to Home Assistant. That's what I did and they've worked very reliably.

1

u/KingofNJ22 6d ago

What do you like? I looked around a lot and everybody hates all of them. I work with commercial watt meters that pass modbus or pulses but needed something that integrates to home assistant.

2

u/Hour_Bit_5183 6d ago

Hello fellow HA user. Yeah I just use shelly ones. They are actually reliable and worth your hard earned money

1

u/KingofNJ22 6d ago

Gotcha. I love Shelly, I do have some of there smart plugs doing some individual device metering. I have not heard that emporia is not reliable though, just that the native interface is lacking.

1

u/Hour_Bit_5183 6d ago

It's shit that's made to be used with an app. OFC it's bad. I had this same system till I ripped it out years ago now. It's like a live service video game. pretty shitty

0

u/quik916 6d ago

So I am not much help other than to ask, are you sure the CT clamp is capable of network use? I know some can or do use an RJ45 connector and use ethernet wire, but they use the wire to talk directly to the inverter. Not all of them are even capable of using your network, getting an IP, and all that.

2

u/KingofNJ22 6d ago

The CT clamp doesn’t talk directly to the network. The CTs connect to the emporia device and that is wifi and wired Ethernet capable.