DSL extension or wireless card?

alexalexalex

My phone socket (and thus my router) is on the opposite side of the room to my TV box (talk talk), Xbox, and PC. I have been using my laptop to connect wirelessly but have been using, and wanting to use, my pc more and more but until now the only way to connect it has been to run and ethernet cable across the middle of the room.

I tried using an old telephone extension cable to move the router to the opposite side of the room and all seemed fine but the internet connectio keeps dropping out. I'm assuming this is because of the poor quality of the extension cable (it does look pretty beat up)

what would be my best bet for getting my internet connection across to the other side of the room? will a (new) telephone extension work ok with the filter on the other side of the room? would i be better leaving the phone and filter near the phone socket and using a dsl extension cable like this so i could have my router (and ethernet ports) near my pc? would a wireless pci card suffice in my pc? my pc does download quite a bit quicker than my laptop and i wouldn't like to lose that speed.

any other suggestions or thoughts on what i've already suggested?

thanks

tronator

alexalexalex wrote: »

My phone socket (and thus my router) is on the opposite side of the room to my TV box (talk talk), Xbox, and PC. I have been using my laptop to connect wirelessly but have been using, and wanting to use, my pc more and more but until now the only way to connect it has been to run and ethernet cable across the middle of the room.

I tried using an old telephone extension cable to move the router to the opposite side of the room and all seemed fine but the internet connectio keeps dropping out. I'm assuming this is because of the poor quality of the extension cable (it does look pretty beat up)

what would be my best bet for getting my internet connection across to the other side of the room? will a (new) telephone extension work ok with the filter on the other side of the room? would i be better leaving the phone and filter near the phone socket and using a dsl extension cable like this so i could have my router (and ethernet ports) near my pc? would a wireless pci card suffice in my pc? my pc does download quite a bit quicker than my laptop and i wouldn't like to lose that speed.

any other suggestions or thoughts on what i've already suggested?

thanks

I'm using a cheap 10m telephone extension cable and it works for me. Telephone and Router are both on the same filter at the end of this extension. Can't remember where I bought it a few years ago. It was either Ebuyer or Dixons. So maybe your cable is faulty...

If it doesn't matter to you where you place the telephone, keep the filter close to the socket and buy a long enough DSL (RJ11?) cable.

KillerWatt

alexalexalex wrote: »

any other suggestions or thoughts on what i've already suggested?

How about a longer bit of Cat5 from the router to your PC running around the skirting board? (you can go to 100m without losses on ethernet).

Failing that, a wireless card as you suggested, an ADSL extension lead for the router (I wouldn't try pushing that past 10m though), or a decent (twisted pair) phone extension cable.

TimothyEBaldwin

I suspect the major problem with using extension leads with ADSL is that they are not twisted, so pick up interference. That cable you link to looks flat, not twisted. Does your cable work fine for a telephone?

What's wrong with Ethernet cable? If you have to run ethernet cable across the middle of the room, the same would apply to ADSL unless your room is vary large.

mallada

You will likely find a slight decrease in speed or disconnections over a telephone extension due to interference, same may occur from an extended DSL cable but probably not as bad as it is filtered at the socket and only DSL goes down the extension.

Wi-Fi would probably work better than the extensions, however again may have interference problems from things like wireless telephones if you have any or get any in the future. However if your laptop does not experience such problems at the moment then it is unlikely to happen to your PC.

The best option, and the one i most often recommend is running cat5e around the skirting board/under carpet. It can be picked up extremely cheap if you are going to crimp the ends yourself (which is very easy, but you would need a tool you probably don't have). However pre-done long cables can be picked up cheap online, most big computer shops charge ridiculous prices for cat5 cables. Cable always seems 'faster' due to a decrease in latencies etc compared to wifi.

David

alexalexalex

The reason i would prefer a telephone or dsl extension is because i could then have my router (and its ethernet ports) at the tv end of the room which would be more useful. The dsl cable would need to be an rj11 to rj11 right?
Is cat5 the same as ethernet? If i used that i wouldn't be able to connect my pc and xbox at the same time. Not the end of the world i know but i would prefer to not have to bother switching cables around if possible

KillerWatt

alexalexalex wrote: »

The dsl cable would need to be an rj11 to rj11 right?

Yes

alexalexalex wrote: »

Is cat5 the same as ethernet?

Yes

alexalexalex wrote: »

If i used that i wouldn't be able to connect my pc and xbox at the same time.

You can solve that by obtaining a "network switch", only a few pounds these days.
Alternatively, get yourself a couple of network sockets, mount them on the walls where you want them, link them together, and then use patch cables at either end to connect the devices.
A 2 port wall socket is a couple of quid, and you only need one single run of Cat5 to link the 2 sockets at either end.

kwikbreaks

The problem with any "plug in" phone extension used to carry ADSL is that the extension contains a ring wire which can pick up interference and lower the ADSL speed. If it were not carrying the ADSL it could be filtered at the master socket end so the ringwire isn't actually connected to anything associated with the ADSL signal.

Assuming you absolutely have to run the router on an extension rather than at the master socket with ethernet/cat5 cabling going to the PC which is technically the best solution there are a couple of options which should reduce the chances of problems with your ADSL and avoid having to use WiFi...

You could run a two wire only extension from the master socket faceplate (connectors #2 and #5) to an extension socket by your PC (use either proper CW1308 phone extension cable or CAT5 ethernet cable - the phone cable will be thinner so tidier).

You could buy and fit a BT iPlate which blocks interference picked up on the ring wire allowing a plugin extension to be used. This could be slightly worse than the first solution as most plugin extensions are not twisted pair so are slightly more prone to interference pickup.