FIRST: buy a needle nosed Sharpie! Write details on every single wire you trace. You'll thank yourself next time.

Treat the cables as simple bundles of wires that can carry a current or a signal. Supply one end, see which wire it's on at the other. NOBODY that runs wiring can always keep track successfully of every one.

Tracing wires is dead simple if you buy a tester that plugs unto one end and lets you poke around for a signal at the other. There are tons of different ways to do it, depending on the tool. Some (tester) will illuminate a set of dim LEDS, all the way to some (tracer) that will scream bloody murder to find any sort of signal. A testing tool may come in handy when you realize a need to test all four pairs as a group to maximize any change of approaching gigabit speeds.

I have also traced cable with a three battery cage from a cheapo LED flashlight, a butchered patch cord, and the light bulb from the same torch. At eleven o'clock at night one will always find a way.

"There is a RJ45 outlet coming out of the wall where my computer is located. I assume this may be an internet entrance outlet. "

Not a safe assumption. Hey, is this cable or is it DSL? Cable is generally: cable to modem to patch panel to plate at the computer. DSL is generally: phone line to filter/splitter to modem to patch panel to the plate at the computer. And both of these have a zillion variations.

Hello Grubby me:

You said "Tracing wires is dead simple if you buy a tester that plugs unto one end and lets you poke around for a signal at the other. "
I understand but how do I do this when the other end of the wire is 75 feet away?

My input is DSL. I would use a modem and a patch cable from the modem internet output into a RJ45 outlet close to the modem.

How you do this is use the tester. There are essentially two types of tester. The first is a traditional telephone line tracer. The sender is a small box with a pare of aligator clips (some also have either a RJ45 plug and/or insulation piercing "bed of nails" for convenience). The other end is an inductive pickup. You put the sender on the far end and you touch near the wires on the other end listening for the WOO-OOO sound from the sender.

The other (which works best with lines already terminated in jacks or plugs ), is one where you can run out sticking numbered plugs in the jacks on the far end and then you can connect in the tester into an unknown line and it tells you the number of the far end.

These aren't too pricy to buy, but sometimes the rental places have them too.

If the other end of that RJ45 doesn't have a connector on it, you'll either need to put a connector on it and use a network switch to the other one going to where the modem is located. Crimping on RJ45s is a little tedious but there are several YouTube videos around to help. You'll also need to know whether the existing RJ45 outlet in your wall was wired with 'A' or 'B'.

Or you can get a patch panel and a punch down tool but you'll still need to know 'A' vs 'B' for your existing outlet. But if you want multiple active connections, you'll end up needing a switch anyway.

Here's a link to look at (I couldn't add it the normal way).

http://logmett.com/index.php?/quick-tips/rj45-pinouts.html

$7 with free shipping (amazon prime)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LH2LP2C?psc=1

Thanks all for your comments.

ronnatalie: "(The other which works best with lines already terminated in jacks or plugs ), is one where you can run out sticking numbered plugs in the jacks on the far end and then you can connect in the tester into an unknown line and it tells you the number of the far end."
Can you tell me the name and manufacturer of such a tester?

Another question: Will an ethernet tester check two cables which are connected with a coupler. Cables are
loose, not installed anywhere.

Thanks

Hi Richard,

You don't need to buy a tool. Tell me about your current setup. Where is the DSL Modem? How is your computer connected today? What type of computer do you have? You said most of the cat5s in the closet where not connected to anything. So, some are connected to something. What? Do you have an ethernet switch? How many rooms do you want to connect?

With these questions answered I bet we can get you up and running with internet at every rj45 in the house or as many as you want.

By the way, that RJ45 by your computer is most likely connected to one of those cat5 cables in your closet. We will need to figure out which one as our next step.

Paul (using Diane's login)

Hi Paul:
DSL modem is in room with the PC
PC is a Lenovo desktop
PC is thernet cable connected from DSL modem
No ethernet switch or router
I want to connect only one room but it is 75 feet away
Several rooms have rj45 outlets.
Ii hope you are right about the rj45 near the PC

I have found that a Datashark rj45 netwok tester may be the tool I need to check out the cables

Thanks richard.

So you want two computers/devices hooked to the internet. Correct? Or do you just want to move the PC to the other room?

I will assume you want to use 2 PC/devices.

Instead of spending $30 on a tester your could use your modem. Is the closet with the CAT5 cables close to your modem? For instance, can you get a longer telephone cable and extension cord for the power that will allow you to place the modem near the bundle of CAT5 cables in the closet?

If you can, then unplug the modem from the power and add in a long power extension cord. Make sure the telephone cable is is long enough to reach the closet or get one that is and replace the existing telephone cable that plugs into the modem and the wall. Do not unplug the PC from the modem quite yet.

Power up the modem. Make sure your PC is back on the internet. Now unplug the PC ethernet cable from the back of the modem and plug it into the RJ45 on the wall.

Carefully move your modem over to the bundle of CAT5 cables in the closet. Now find the cable that connects to that RJ45 by your computer by plugging the cat5 cables into the back of the modem 1 by 1 until the computer goes back on the internet. Hope this makes sense.

If you only want to move your PC to the other room, you could move your PC to the other room. Plug it into the RJ45 in that room and then use the modem to find the right CAT5 cable as described above.

If you want to have two or more devices sharing the modem then you need to add and ethernet switch in the closet. You will need a basic 5 port switch that can be bought online at NEWEGG or your favorite electronics store for about $20.

I will stop here before describing the ether switch implementation.

you can send me email directly if you want take this offline.

Paul

I did something similar to this.
There is a RJ45 outlet near my PC so I connected the modem ethernet output to this RJ45 outllet. Then I took my second PC to different RJ45 outlets in the house but no success.
I couldn't connect the PC to the cables in the closet because the are terminated with male RJ45 plugs.
BTW, if I didn't say before only two of the CAT 5 cables in the closet have RF45 mail ends.

I didn't think of moving the moden but will do that now per your idea.

I hope one of these two is connected somewhere because otherwise I would need to put male RJ45 ends on them one at a time until I find a connection.

Richard

Yes, move the modem instead. Let me know what you find.

It makes sense that the RJ45 near your PC is not connected to the other rooms. When a house is wired all the wall outlets are "homerunned" back to a central location (the closet). So the RJ45 near your PC goes to the closet and so do all the other jacks. You can plug the male plugs directly into your PC. With the modem plugged into the RJ45 near your main pc and your second PC in the closet you could plug the two cords in the closet into your 2nd PC one and a time to see if either of them is connected to the outlet near your pc. Of course this does not help you find the one in the room that your want to use. Also, without a male adaptor on those cables in the closet, a testing tool will not work either.

Are you willing to learn how to add male connectors to the other wires in your closet? Have you considered using wireless (WiFi) instead? you could buy a router ($20-$50) and a PC USB adapter ($15 ea) and be up and running without screwing with the cables. Its a waste since the cables are there but it would allow you to place the 2nd PC in any room you want.

Paul

802.11n is usually faster than some 10/100 CAT5e connection back to your router. Even if you were running 1Gb on CAT6, you are still limited by the bandwidth coming from your ISP (15Mb? 20Mb?)

So as long you have enough wireless coverage (you might need a repeater), current wireless will be just as fast.

jreagan is correct. if you use your home network for WEB activity only, that is you do not have a home media server or big storage system or some high performance gamers in the house you would be fine with a basic wireless setup. 802.11n would be good enough and you would not notice any difference between wifi and wired assuming good signal in the room that is 75' away.

Good lord! Spend $40 and save yourself all the headaches.

Here is a link that might be useful: lan tracer

Hi:
First of all many, many thanks to all of you for your comments. I have learned a great deal about CAT 5 wiring on this forum.
Right now I am 90% complete with connecting the necessary cabling to achieve my goal of connecting one end of the house to the other with CAT 5 cables.
I spent $5 and bought a Datashark tester. With it I was able to sort our the cables in the closet.and after some searching found the cable that connects to where my PC is to the cables in the closet.
All that remains is to run the last cable from a RJ45 outlet
to its final location. This will be a no brainer.
Needless to say I am one happy camper.
Again thank you for all your help.
Richard