Reddit mentions of VicTsing Network Phone Telephone Cable Tracker Wire Toner Tracer Tester with Bag

You probably want something like this, which is a toner and inductive amplifier, aka fox and hound. You plug one end of the cable (or use the alligator clips) into the tone generator, and use the probe on the other unit to locate the signal. Or you could punch down/terminate both ends and move the tester until you found the right pair.

First of all, great to see that all the cables are terminating in one spot.

Are you planning on making all the jacks for your network, or are you planning on leaving a couple jacks for your telephone?

What you need to do is attach those network cables to a patch panel. Since you already have the OnQ telephone distribution module, probably the easiest replacement would be the OnQ Network Interface Module:
http://www.amazon.com/On-Q-Legrand-363486-01-Network-Interface/dp/B0002M5NKI

A cheaper option is the Leviton panel: http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-001-47603-0C5-Category-Voice-Expansion/dp/B00022742I/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1414892331&sr=1-1&keywords=leviton+network

You could buy 3 of those patch panels to provide a jack for each cable in your house.

Now, what if you want to leave some jacks as telephone jacks? one of the issues is that since I don't see any labelling, you don't know quick cable goes to where.

You could buy a toner (http://www.amazon.com/VicTsing-Network-Ethernet-Telephone-Tracking/dp/B008G8KE90/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1414891492&sr=8-2&keywords=network+toner) but the telephone distribution module will redistribute the toner signal to all the other cables (making locating difficult).

A "Plan of Attack" would be:

1. Buy 3 patch panels and move all existing cables to those panels
   
   
2. Use a toner to map each outlet in the house and the associated cable
   
   
3. Leave the telephone distribution panel (and the white cable attached) to handle telephone connections
   
   
4. For jacks you want to network, attach a network cable to the patch panel jack and attach it to the router (or a network switch for more than 4 connections)
   
   
5. For jacks you want to telephone, use a crimper, or buy some cheap cat5e cables and cut them in half. Patch the cable to the telephone distribution panel and plug them into the appropriate patch panel jack.
   
   
   Note: Since the house was prewired for telephone, the jacks in each room may only be RJ-11 (4P4C) and/or only have one pair punched down. You might want to see if they are RJ-45 Jacks (8P8C) and have all 4 pairs punched down.
   
   Edit: Since it seems you only have a cordless phone in the house (and if you are willing to make all jacks network jacks), you can ignore steps 3 & 5.

As /u/yParticle pointed out below, there are cheaper models. The one I linked to also does more then just toning/probing (I own a slightly different revision of that model).

It's can also be used to do cable map tests, see if a line has service (both telephone and ethernet), and some other nifty features.

Here is one that is $25.

The way I would do it is to terminate all the cables with appropriate RJ-45 plugs. Terminate the other ends of the cables at jacks, starting with the one that you want, but go ahead and do the rest. Use either two laptops or a laptop and a router to test the cables one by one and label them once you get ones that establish a link (watch the little blinky lights on the ports). You may need a couple of RJ-45 inline couplers and a couple of patch cables, depending on how much cable is sticking out of the walls. Once you have the cables id'd, you can cut the ones with plugs to jacks, depending on your need. (plugs are cheaper than jacks and I have lots of them laying around, that's why I'd do that)

There are other ways. You can get a network toning tool which has the advantage of getting to buy more tools, which is a plus in my book. :-) The way I described is how I would do it because I have the tools and materials on hand (cables, plugs, jacks, crimper).

IDK what that 410 thing is, tried googling it but no luck. Sounds like a switch but might be a patch panel. Anyway, what you need is to verify all cables in your home.

Go out and get yourself a Cable Toner. Plug it to your outlet in the bedroom, go downstairs and check which cable it is. Label it.

Do this for every ethernet outlet.

It's possible that these cables are wired for phone, to check this take out one of the outlets and verify if all wires are being used. Better yet take a picture and post it.

Once you have all the wires labeled, make sure the runs downstairs are properly crimped.

You now need to plug all of these runs into a switch. A regular/non smart switch is your best bet. TrendNet has some really great options.

Finally plug one cable from the router to the switch.


Final set up should look like ISP Modem > Router > Switch > all the outlets.

Just realized you may need to get yourself a cheap toner if you don't know which rooms are wired to where; http://www.amazon.com/VicTsing-Network-Ethernet-Telephone-Tracking/dp/B008G8KE90

If you're trying to figure out where those cables go, a cheap cable toner is always a huge help.

1. Don't run cat 6, you get almost nothing for the extra price over cat 5e. If you want to prepare your house for 10gb use cat 6a or cat 6e. I just checked and it's only an extra 10 bucks on monoprice to go from cat6 to cat6a.
   
   
2. Everywhere you run 1 cable run 2 even if you don't terminate the second one. It takes the same amount of effort to pull 2 as it does 1 and it will always be there in the wall if you need it.
   
   
3. Do Not Buy a Crimper! Most of us have one and it is easy to lazily crimp when we should punch. If you don't own one then you'll never form the bad habit. Plus, punching down is easier.
   
   
4. Don't buy a cable tester, all it does is confirm that you're not color blind after you've punched. A cheap toner might be useful though, I have a fluke at work but prefer my cheap $25 dollar one more:
   http://www.amazon.com/Upgraded-VicTsing%C2%AE-Ethernet-Telephone-Tracking/dp/B008G8KE90/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1427681337&sr=8-3&keywords=cable+toner
   

Something like this is pretty helpful in figuring this out. Unplug from the uplink, plug into the toner and wave the magic wand around until you find the cable.

Absolute cheapest? Grab a buddy and some cell phones or 2-way radios. One of you monitors the activity lights on the switch, the other unplugs things one-by-one. Switch side looks to see what light went dead, and labels it. Label other end as well. Repeat until done.

Best? Get a Fluke network testing device.

Good compromise? This.

doubt it. phones can plug into cat5 jacks. they're backwards compatible so to speak. you can't run internet on them, but you can run voice. it's rapidly becoming the standard to simply use cat5 jacks everywhere. can you unscrew one and take a picture? i would be willing to bet all of your wires are punched down to those 2splitters and bridged together. You could easily replace them with a couple of these and use some of these to connect to one of these and rewire the jacks in using RJ 45 T568-b standard or follow this video a quick toolkit will cost about 20-35 and since you've already got the wiring and parts should be pretty cheap. make sure that if you're no longer using the landline to pull the wire from the box to the Network interface for the phones. (unless it's DSL). may want to add a shelf underneath the media panel, although i've seen some creative people tuck a shitload of stuff into those media panels and it look quite nice. Hope this helps. Let me know if you have more questions.

Edit: you can use one of these to quickly and easily trace out if all of those wires end in that cabinet or if some of them ARE going somewhere else. If they are I would check attic areas and other panels around the house. POSSIBLY they terminate outside, but doubt it since your Network interface box is in the basement.

I think that this is the right answer.

So, if you want to switch these over to network jacks rather than phone jacks:

One of these cables either goes to your telephone demarcation point or to another jack where it is daisy chained, one step closer to the demarcation point.

The other two cables are going to other phone jacks in your house. So, if you wanted to place your DSL modem and router in this room, while making the these other two cables real network jacks, it would be a quick job.

My recommendation to trace the cable is to buy one of these: http://www.amazon.com/VicTsing-Network-Ethernet-Telephone-Tracking/dp/B008G8KE90/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1393815640&sr=8-3&keywords=trace+cable

Learned from my last job: Toner
http://www.amazon.com/VicTsing-Network-Ethernet-Telephone-Tracking/dp/B008G8KE90
Never hand trace a cable again.

Unless you have a "toner" that will let you trace which wire is which, like this - yes, you're stuck "trying them".