Reddit mentions of Vastar Network Wire Punch Down Impact Tool with Two Blades - 110 and BK & Network Wire Stripper

Here's the composition of the rack:

• NavePoint 12U Network Rack
  
• TP-Link TL-SG1024: 24 port rackmount switch
  
• TP-Link TL-SG1016PE: 16 port rackmount power over ethernet switch (needed for the Wi-Fi access points)
  
• TP-Link TL-R600VPN: Rackmount router w/ dual-WAN and VPN
  
• Rackmount Power w/ surge protection
  
• Rack shelf: Used to hold modem and NAS
  
• Patch Panel: 24-port Cat6 patch panel (wires go in the pack via punchdown connection, and you run patch cables to the switches)
  
• 12" Patch cables: For connecting between the patch panel, swicthes, other on-rack devices
  
• Synology 416play NAS: Movies, music, pictures, etc. 32 TB in all.
  
  Elsewhere in the house/other useful parts:
  
  
• Keystone Cat6 jacks: one per bedroom, 4 in my home office, 4 in the media room (not built yet), 3 in the family room
  
• 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-hole keystone wall plates: Buy the number of holes you want and just pop in the keystone jacks
  
• Blank keystone inserts: For when you have too many holes in the keystone plates
  
• Ubiquiti AC Pro x 3: Wi-Fi access points, roughly center of the house on each floor (basement, first, second)
  
• Punchdown tool: For doing the punchdown connections on the patch panel and on each of the keystone Cat6 plugs in each room
  
• Extra rack screws and washers
  
• J-Hook: There are two hooks on each wall, holding service loops for the Cat6 and Coax, respectively.
  
  Useful things I learned:
  
  
• I was originally going to run the wires myself, but never could find the time. Also Cat6 is expensive when not purchased in wholesale quantities (< 10,000 ft). So we hired a local electrician to run the actual wires. It took two of them about 1.5 days to run everything. This was well worth the money, since the project would have taken many months to do in the evenings/on weekends with a toddler running around.
  
• I did all the wall terminations. Since they were punchdowns, it was easy and took one evening after work. The electricians would have charged me another half-day of labor.
  
• I did all the network rack work. This also took one evening after work.
  
• Do NOT buy electrical/networking equipment from a big box hardware store. Always go to a specialized retailer, like an electrician supply store. Their prices will be 1/20th that of the big box store, you won't have to have anything shipped, and their employees actually know what they are talking about. So if you're looking for something that you don't know the name of, you can usually describe it.
  
• Newer construction may have fire breaks/blocks/stops which prevent fire and gases from traveling up the inside of the walls. This makes fire move more slowly and give you more time to evacuate. However, it also means you might need to drill holes/patch walls in order to run wires vertically.
  
• Put in a service loop. If you ever need to re-terminate for any reason (like replacing a patch panel), it will give you extra cable to work with. Do the same thing inside your walls behind the wall plates, since you might have to do the same thing there as well.
  
• Buy networking gear that is rated for the same speed (i.e., gigabit). Your network will only be as fast as the slowest part of it.
  
• Watch out for network loops. This is really easy to do and will cause your router to crash or perform suboptimally. I spent >2 hours debugging on of these as a result of connecting my router to itself by way of both switches.

Vastar Network Wire Punch Down Impact Tool with Two Blades - 110 and BK & Network Wire Stripper https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01E58M5EG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_7DDtybSHVADW5


This is the tool I have.

Yeah, it was sort of a hacky way to do it. At this point, I'll likely buy some keystone jacks and redo it (since I also bought a punchdown tool already).

So according to that picture, if they wired it according to the color coding, it's 568A, so if you were to wire it up yourself, make sure the OnQ side is 568A as well to save yourself 50% of the work. But all depends if they did the blue, orange, green, brown pairs accordingly, which I'd assume they would to make their life easier.

If you were to get an 8 port Cat5E patch panel, you're going to need a punchdown tool in order to get the wires hooked up to said patch panel. It isn't hard by any means, and there are tons of videos on Youtube about terminating ethernet cables into rj45 jacks as well as onto patch panels. It isn't rocket science by any means, and depending on your comfort level and if you want to buy what you'd need (watch youtube videos first, maybe you'll find terminating rj45's directly to plug into your switch to be your cup of tea), that might be a MUCH cheaper route than getting someone out there to do it. Maybe you have a friend that can assist, if they are into networking.

But absolutely, Cat5E is Cat5E, be it used for POTS (telephone) or home networking, it's the same media, just how it's terminated on both ends is what matters.

Here is an example of an 8 port Cat5E patch panel. It has color codings for 568A and 568B (in your pic above, 568A per the wall plate, if wired correctly):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LVZVUBO


Punch Down Tool w/ cutter (be careful when using that you pay attention which end the blade is so you don't cut the wrong side of the punch!):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000AZK4D

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01E58M5EG

This is just to hopefully give you an idea of what to search on Youtube for information. Glad to help, just research and research before tackling it yourself, but this isn't something that is going to be super difficult, but also don't want to see someone charge you $500 to do this job!

Good luck, and it's always fun to learn a new skill!

Sorry if I'm confusing you. I'm pretty jacked up on coffee right now haha.

So yes, tone each port on that panel before you remove the wires with this Tool. After you have each blue cat 5 labeled, not the grays, you can save the grays to patch between the switch and the new panel actually, you use your punch down to pull the wires out with the hook part. With everything out, repunch the wires into the patch panel, making sure the pattern matches whats on the wall plate. A punch down tool like this one is nice but not required, to get the wires into the terminals. These are nice because it takes off the excess wire, but a knife can do this fine as well.

As for your last question. I would run up the studs if you could. Then you have a nice plate at the end at the wall. You could even get a multi port jack so you can plug all your items into that and have those go into a separate vlan on the switch.

That's way overkill for the home gamer. I have this one, and it works great.

punch down tool.

https://www.amazon.com/Vastar-Network-Punch-Impact-Blades/dp/B01E58M5EG/ref=zg_bs_6396135011_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=86ZM49GHXCDNAYTMCYNQ

If you plan to do wireless access points you can use a poe switch to power them. With a managed switch rebooting the access point is as easy as turning the port on and off from the switch management. Always run 2 cables at least to each location. You will always find more things to plug in.

You will need a punch down tool for the keystones. Also to make it correct you should have a patch panel at the switch location to terminate the cables. punch down tool
Patch Panel
Patch Panel mounting bracket

I found this tool https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01E58M5EG that says it has a “BK blade.” From the pictures the BK looks exactly like a Krone blade to me though and after googling I wasn’t able to find any other tools with BK blades. Is it safe to assume it’s just Krone with a different name?

Punching down is simple. Buy a Cat6 Patch Panel, and something like this for punching down. It's pretty straight forward just pick a standard (A or B on the jack/patch panel) and stick with it.

As far as your den - can you run a cable to the den from where you patch panel will be? You said there's already a cable there so if you have attic access or basement access and can follow the route of the other cable you could just use it as a pull string of sorts if it isn't stapled inside the wall. If not then wireless would be your option I'd think.