I'm a home owner trying to get an ethernet switch running in my basement office. I've run a weatherproof CAT5e cable from my router on my main floor to the basement and I've used a cable tester to confirm that the cable is good.
Trouble is, I've hooked several brands of ethernet switches to the cable and then hooked up devices to it but no signal seems to be coming out. They are all unmanaged switches from several manufacturers, but nothing seems to be working.
As far a s I can tell, I'm doing it in the right order: Internet (cable modem) -> router -> 50 foot weather-proof CAT 5e ethernet cable (tested) -> variety of 5- and 8- port switches = dead end.
Best Answer
So you need to break this down a bit further. Do the switches blink any lights on the port from the router? Can you hook up a laptop to the router with a local patch cable? Can you hook up a laptop to the basement wire from the router?
If not, then you have a problem on that leg, before figuring out the switches.
Test and confirm each connection before adding another. Many switches also have the concept of an upstream connection, make sure you're using that port for your router wire.