+18 votes
by (1.2k points)
Do you think a patch panel is always necessary? Right now I’m coming from my router to my switch and all connected devices terminate at the switch. I was told that a patch panel should be added but I think that just adds an extra failure point. This is for a very simple small home business without a domain controller. What are your opinions?  
Do you think a patch panel is always necessary?

17 Answers

+14 votes
by (880 points)
 
Best answer
Terminating to plugs is BAD, terminating to jacks is good, then use pre-made patch cables. This is why you terminate to a patch panel (and a jack of some sort on the other side) unless the equipment is in the same area and you can do it with a pre-made patch cable.  
by (5.2k points)
@browning rubbish . if you need to swap around a lot yes
by (880 points)
@brewis79 It has nothing to do with swapping around (although that is a plus), it has to do with the FACT that very few people can properly put plugs on cables. Most people that "think" they can do it can't. The terminations are absolute crap, and while they might pass a $5 continuity tester, they won't pass a real certifier, and usually stream errors.  
by (5.2k points)
@browning its not difficult to make up a lead . jeez
by (880 points)
@brewis79 Put it on a certifier and you'll quickly form a different opinion. In all my life I've met 100's who claim its easy, but only THREE (myself included) that could make cables that actually pass.  
+7 votes
by (2k points)
Using a patch panel, may make things look neater, if you dont need all cables connected to the switch
+15 votes
by (4.2k points)
A patch panel is a good idea but not necessary.  
+15 votes
by (6.6k points)
Id do it. We have hundreds and hundreds of ports at work and in the 7 years I've been there I can't think of one time an issue has been because of a patch panel failing. A bad punch maybe but that's easy to correct. Also it makes things look much better and its easier to troubleshoot since you can trace cables from the patch to the switch easily, which is a whole lot easier than tracing a homerun through spaghetti to a switch port
+15 votes
by (1.5k points)
I doubt it's necessary unless you have more outlet points than available ports and need to swap them around to suit your needs. If you want maximum flexibility then a patch panel is probably the way to go.  
+13 votes
by (1.1k points)
Don't have a patch panel. Don't need to switch my ports often and I think if takes up more room.  
+7 votes
by (1.2k points)
There are only 13 wall ports coming back to the switch. It’s a managed switch that has a wire fault detection feature so if a cable goes bad it will let me know.  
+13 votes
by (3.6k points)
A patch panel is good but if you are retro fitting it, then dont do it I went crazy in my house and did this
by (4.9k points)
@vine what am I looking at?  
by (3.6k points)
A panel for my home automation, the patch panel is below it,  
+10 votes
by (2.5k points)
A Ethernet patch panel is good to have so you don't have trails of cable coming in to the switch. It looks better like this. Excuse the arrow I was showing something to somebody.  
+14 votes
by (470 points)
A keystone patch panel may be a better option since it's more versatile for a home (rj45, HDMI, coax)
+14 votes
by (1.3k points)
Unnecessary in a home environment. It's also more connections that need to be perfect or can fail. I have 24 port switch with 15 full right now. Works fine and costs a lot less and less work to install or add another house run.  
+10 votes
by (1.2k points)
A patch panel is not needed, they are mostly for organizing and allows quick reconfig as needed. However if you have lots of lightening, you could add lightning arrestors in the patch panel. Limit the destruction of a direct hit or a power line hit
+10 votes
by (890 points)
You biggest failure point will be crimped plugs directly on UTP. Bulk cable is solid wire so it is not as flexible as patch cords that use stranded wire. Without any strain relief, it does not take much to start having failures with the crimps. You really need to land UTP on jacks and let patch cords take the wear and tear of your connections.  
+11 votes
by (4.9k points)
What several said above. If you are putting plugs onto the ends of ethernet cables, you should use a patch panel instead. If you are doing everything with pre-made ethernet cables, you can skip the patch panel.  
+14 votes
by (4.5k points)
Not sure I'd describe it as necessary. Although to be fair when it comes to smarthomes and automations probably very little is. I always use patch panels because I usually pull cat6a and they're harder to terminate into plugs due to their thickness versus say cat5e. Using jack's either end, and then premade (commercial) cables from wall outlet to device etc. Also from a reselling point of view it could help. Imagone buying a home from someone. You open the closet or attic and there in front of you is a neatly labelled patch panel going into a small cabinet, versus a hairnet of wires laying on the floor going into a switch. Impressions might count (one way or the other). I also keep CCTV separate from the main network too (Poe switch as opposed to non Poe) so that also would add to the mess if I didn't use a patch panel.  
+8 votes
by (5.2k points)
No needed
+3 votes
by (1.3k points)
Always use a patch panel. Cat cables are tiny cables that break easily. Fix cables to a patch panel and leave them along. Now you can plug and unplug from the patch panel to the switch to your heart's content replacing the cheap patch cables as they break. However . if you don't have a patch panel and you break a cable that is routed meters away, through wall, under floors and over ceilings then that is an expensive break. A patch panel removes this risk. Ask any network engineer if they would fit a patch panel and they will recount the time they tugged that cable a bit hard and ended up rerouting (lifting floors, ceiling panels, walls etc)
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