Right now I am completely wireless internet on all devices that need it. I am wanting to go to wired connections on a few devices. I have a panel in the garage with all where all the pre wired Ethernet cables go to the attic and into separate rooms. (See picture)

Am I correct in assuming that one of the Ethernet outlets is (hopefully living room or office) is the one that I would connect my modem to and it would make all the other outlets "hot" for use? Or am I completely off on how this works?

As stated above, you can pull those off and crimp on new ethernet plugs on each end. You will have to likely do the same on the end in each room or add keystone jacks.

I highly recommend pass through ethernet crimp plugs if you try it yourself as they are much easier to get right for first timers. Look up how your wire pairs must be for each end via Google.
Pass through crimper with tester kit
https://a.co/d/4WBRSpU

As for the plate in each room, i used this setup for dropping my cables.

1 or 2 gang mounting brackets for the drywall if you dont have a wall plate mount already
https://a.co/d/6nQJwgv

1 port plate but can chose whatever your needs are such as 1 ethernet 1 coax.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-White-1-Port-1-Decorator-Rocker-1-Duplex-Plastic-Wall-Plate-1-Pack-5001-WH/206428112

Keystone jacks for at wall plate, get 5E or 6 depending on your cable thats already run
(10-Pack) Cat6 Keystone Jack - [UL LISTED] - Ethernet Wall Jack - Wall Cat6 - Cat6 Network Coupler - Keystone Jack - Cat5/5e/6 compatible - Cat6 Network Coupler https://a.co/d/2QYiIpw

Ah well that's not what I was expecting lol. Only a 5 y/o house so surprised it was wired for phone and just figured it was Ethernet for internet to each room.

Thanks for the responses.

txaggie2012 said:

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Ah well that's not what I was expecting lol. Only a 5 y/o house so surprised it was wired for phone and just figured it was Ethernet for internet to each room.

Thanks for the responses.

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your house is only 5 years old and your builder installed a punch down block? wow.......

RoyVal said:

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txaggie2012 said:

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Ah well that's not what I was expecting lol. Only a 5 y/o house so surprised it was wired for phone and just figured it was Ethernet for internet to each room.

Thanks for the responses.

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your house is only 5 years old and your builder installed a punch down block? wow.......

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My 10 year old house had one. That's how I knew how to respond to OP since I just did the exact same thing.

Stay with wireless it's faster

I had the exact same problem and this is exactly what I did. I added a fairly inexpensive ethernet switch and turned all my outlets live. The Internet in my office is literally 50 times faster going from 16 MBps on Wi-Fi to over 800 plugged in.

It took a little time and effort since I was learning by YouTube and as I went, but it was well worth it.

Crazy Ag 97 said:

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I had the exact same problem and this is exactly what I did. I added a fairly inexpensive ethernet switch and turned all my outlets live. The Internet in my office is literally 50 times faster going from 16 MBps on Wi-Fi to over 800 plugged in.

It took a little time and effort since I was learning by YouTube and as I went, but it was well worth it.

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I wish like hell my house was prewired for ethernet, but it was built in 1992 so I do have phone lines in each room LOL....HOWEVER, I've been able to use MOCA connectors to turn coax into ethernet so I have a wired backbone to my 2nd story, my main tv area downstairs and out to my garage. Better than pure wifi that's for sure.

Using the existing wires for ethernet might not be possible. I've seen a lot of builders do this, and each ethernet cable will run to different rooms. They can do that for phone because it only uses 2 wires each, so you can run one cable to four rooms. However, that's not possible with ethernet since it requires all 8 wires inside the cable.

You will want to go in the attic and see if each cable is ran directly to one room or to multiple.

Average Joe said:

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Using the existing wires for ethernet might not be possible. I've seen a lot of builders do this, and each ethernet cable will run to different rooms. They can do that for phone because it only uses 2 wires each, so you can run one cable to four rooms. However, that's not possible with ethernet since it requires all 8 wires inside the cable.

You will want to go in the attic and see if each cable is ran directly to one room or to multiple.

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Just pull two wall plates off in two rooms. If they ran a single wire to each room (cat 5/6 cable), they'll use the same color pair. If they used one cat 5/6 cable for 4 rooms, each plate will have different color pairs.

I'm in the camp that they just used Cat 5/6 for phone line as phone is cat 3 (IIRC) and when I did electrical work in 2009/2010, the price for Cat 5 vs. Cat 3 was like 5:1 cheaper; it was cheaper to use Cat 5 than Cat 3, even though there are more wires.

~egon