My name is James Hogue, I'm not a IT person or freelance writer, I'm just a guy who, like most of you, just loves computers. Aside from building my computer and painting both it and my monitor, this is my first Mod.

When I cooked up this crazy idea, I sent an e-mail to Kyle Bennett at [H]ardOCP, who encouraged me and asked for some pics when I was done. When I sent them in, Kyle liked the Mod enough to post it on the front page of his website.

The response from the community was AMAZING, people from all over the world e-mailing me to pat be on the back for a job well done and asking how the hell I did it ! Dwayne from PCExtreme in the states, David from Hexus.net in the UK and Perry from Gameparty.net in Holland all wrote me and offered to post a story and pics of my work.

I never expected to be writing an online article but...

Before I start though, I'd just like to thank Kyle, Dwayne, David, Perry and every one else who e-mailed me, I can't even to begin to explain how totally cool it is to be able to show off a little :)) I'd also like to thank Lucie, my wife, for freeing up the budget and putting up with my mess for the two weeks it took me finish this !

THANKS EVERYONE !!!

Here goes:

This little project came to me a few weeks after a bunch of friends and I threw our first LAN party. My friend Pat Beausoleil and I were talking about how cool it was and when we'd set up another one. It was a blast but the thing is, none of us had a switch or hub so we had to borrow one. Over the next couple of days, we kept talking about it, and I decided it to buy the switch myself. We talked about what type I should get...hub, switch, 16 port, 24 port and I started B.S.ing, about how I'd build it into my case: daisy chain three of four small 8 port units, or maybe two 16 port mounted vertically, we were really caught up in the whole idea but it was just B.S. you know..."wouldn't it be cool if"...until I remembered the patch panels I'd seen in one of the networking closets in the building where we work. 

That's when I went "Hey, I could really build that..."

The ideas came hard and fast then, fit the switch into the top of my case, use two sections of a patch panel as extensions of the ports of the switch. Cut a hole in the top of my case and mount everything on  Plexiglas ...what could be easier right ?

Pat found the patch panel and cables for me so I decided to take the plunge, it wasn't quite as easy as it seemed though.

The whole thing almost died right about then... I started looking around the net for a reasonably priced 24 port switch that would fit in the top of my case. Why 24 ports ? Two reasons, first, obviously, the more people at a LAN party the merrier right ? Second, the patch panels came apart into two sections of twelve ports each. I'd never seen a twelve port hub or switch and no way was I going to have unused jacks sitting in the top of my case, so 24 it was...The smallest switch I could find was about 5"x1.75"x17". It would have fit, but with no room for anything else. 

This is where I sort of took a gamble. I said to myself, if I take the switch's components out of the casing, maybe it'll fit, maybe not, depending on how it's put together... I'll order the switch, open it up, and if worst comes to worst, at least we'll have a switch to use at our next LAN...

I finally ordered Trendware's Trendnet TE100-S24 switch, it was the smallest I could find, it didn't need active cooling and at 130$ Cdn, taxes and shipping included, it was priced just right ! When it was delivered, I promptly took it apart and said to myself, man I really lucked out !

Everything in the switch was modular, the main PCB connects to a separate PCB that held the LED indicators on it, via a small ribbon cable, sort of like the SLI cable used on the old Voodoo 2 video cards. The transformer was built into the casing and connected both to the main PCB AND the standard PC power socket with quick-disconnect headers...in other words it was perfect for what I wanted to do. I knew I was ready and everything would work !

After getting all the parts ready, I had to decide on a layout. For strength I went with 1/4  inch Plexiglas all around. I used standard computer hex screws to attach the electronic components to the Plexiglas and aluminum machine screws to attach the different Plexiglas parts to the case.

 I found out the easy way (by asking the guy at Home Depot :) ) that cutting Plexiglas is as simple as scoring a straight line wherever you need to and breaking it off clean...  

My case is an Antec SX1040 BII and there's not much room in there above the power supply but once again, I lucked out...

The top of the power supply was level with the 5 1/2" drive bay supports (the round holes punched in the bays) so I just cut out a sheet of plexi the length and width of the top of the case to use as a base for the electronics. At first I wanted to use motherboard standoffs to do a clean job but they added too much height. I had mounted the transformer behind the PCB on the top of the plexi, and it didn't fit either...

Plexiglas is non-conductive so decided I could mount the electronics to it directly, I used a small drill bit and a tap to thread holes directly into the plexi so each and every screw would be nice and clean. I also had to move the transformer underneath to make room for the patch panels. 

There was a hole at the back of the case that was exactly in line with the Plexiglas base ( have I mentioned that I was lucky ???) so I made the first thread there.

Next it was time to start cutting !!! The ports on the PCB were right inside the top drive bay leaving no room for the cables. The side of the bay had to go, so I went at with my Dremel. I also drilled a hole for the second retaining screw in the base.

Next I cut out a hole for the second power connector at the back of the case.

I built the patch panel assembly next. After carefully measuring the window size and placement of the panels, I realized that I had no idea how to cut out the narrow slots in the plexi. The score-and-snap-off method was obviously out and I didn't want to do a crappy job with the Dremel because this was going to be the visible part of the case. Duh ! why not use the steel frame from the patch panel as a guide !!!

I had to cut off the side of the frame so I could get close enough with the Dremel but after that, it worked perfectly !

I threaded the plexi and screwed the panel segments into it nice and tight !

Now on to the electrical connections !

Not wanting to have to cut the wires from the original switch's parts in case something went wrong and I had to *ahem* ship it back on warranty *ahem*... I took an old PSU apart and found all the connectors I needed: the main power connector and the exact same quick-disconnect headers used on the switch's transformer ( I said I was lucky right ???)! I un-crimped the terminals in the headers from the short wire used in the old PSU, re-crimped them to longer wires that I took out of an old PC power cord, and soldered the ends to the power connector. I installed the connector in the back of the case using the screws as a ground and connected the header to the transformer. 

The transformer was too far from the header on the PCB so I had to lengthen the wires on the connector a little. I just cut the wires, soldered little extensions in and wrapped the whole thing in blue electrical tape. This was the only original part I had to "break" in the whole project.

Now I was ready to test everything. I ran two wires from the patch panels to the switch, sort of dry-fit everything in place and plugged it in...

It worked perfectly !!!

Now I was into final assembly mode.

To attach the LED indicator PCB vertically, I measured a small block of plexi, threaded it and used epoxy to glued it to the base. 

Next came the daunting task of connecting each port of the switch to the patch panel assembly. I cut twelve patch cables in half which gave me the 24 RJ45 connectors I needed and enough wire for the job. Each port/connector has 4 pairs of color coded wires running from it that have to be punched into the patch panel in the proper sequence. Not having any idea what this sequence is, I plugged one of the cables into the panel and used a multimeter to find what color wire went where...I also wanted the LED indicators to light up sequentially so I needed to make sure I connected the right port on the switch to the right connector on the panel. I got my wife's help with this, she numbered the RJ45s for me (my handwriting SUCKS !!!) so I could keep track of what went where later.

Now pay attention folks, this is complicated...(I'm not sure I understand it myself ) the left row of jacks on the panel are odd numbered, the right row even, so the way the patch panel is made, port one of the switch has to connect to the first right side connector of the left panel, port two connects to the first right side connector of the RIGHT panel, port three to the first left connector on the left panel, port four to the first left connector on the right panel, port five connects to the SECOND right connector on the left panel and so on until you get dizzy and fall on your face !!!

Actually running the wires was tough too. Since I didn't want a rat's nest of wires and to save space, I ran each cable individually. Which means I measured cable1, bent it to shape, removed the panel assembly, punched down the cable, replaced the panel and cable and started over again. I did this for every cable so by the time I had all 24 of them punched down, there were 192 individual wires hanging off the panel assembly going to the 24 RJ45s that, at this point, weren't plugged into anything ! This is where numbering the RJ45s came in handy (thanks Lucie !!!). After replacing the panel assembly, I just connected the right number into it's corresponding port on the switch, untangling the mess as I went along. Unfortunately, I was in a groove (or a wiring induced stupor if you prefer) so I didn't snap any pics of the wiring process. The finished results were pretty neat though, you'll also see why I needed to cut the drive bay next to the switch ports...

All I had to do now was cut out the top of my case, thread the patch panel window assembly and put it all together. Believe it or not, this is the part that worried me most. Since it was all visible, if I screwed up I would either have to cut a new piece of plexi or maybe even order a new top plate for my case from Antec !!! I drew the pattern for the window and cut it out freehand with the Dremel. I lined up and drilled the holes for the screws then replaced the top on the case. I lined up the panel window assembly under the to top of the case and marked the holes for the screws. After taking the top back off, I threaded the plexi. I repainted the top of the case and after it had dried, replaced the top and screwed everything together.

This is the finished result...

...well...maybe not finished...I want to light up that window with a few LEDs and a friend of mine does airbrush...blue and silver flames would look really cool on the side of my case and monitor...I'll keep you posted...

Thanks for reading !!!

James