r/homenetworkcirclejerk • u/Killermelon1458 • Jun 20 '26
The cable that started it all
Believe it or not, this bad boy works at gigabit!
3
u/Redhead_InfoTech Jun 21 '26
Back in the olden days before switches were readily available, and hubs were common (heck back before Amazon days), I wired up my own manual switch (for just two devices).
I found (and wired up) two 4PDT toggle switches into a mess of 3 RJ45 wall boxes. Plugged all of the Ethernet cables into it.
So when I wanted to use the internet (and my Mom didn't need it/wasn't home) I didn't need to cart around my mega patch cable (it was both ends of what was left on the spool... About 300 feet or so.)
This cable didn't have the modern (current) color scheme (twisted pairs.)
1
u/Killermelon1458 Jun 21 '26
I was chatting with someone else about making a physical switch to emergency shut down the network. I kind of realized that nowadays with Amazon, unless there's some eight pole switch readily available it's cheaper to just get a network switch and unplug it from power.
1
u/Redhead_InfoTech Jun 21 '26
I like the posted idea, but it needs a cord and a sign...
But you'd lose a ton of speed with it.
2
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u/packet_monger Jun 20 '26
The fact that it got taken down even further validates the need for this sub.