How would you route a network cable through your house?

StuC75

Use home plugs for forwarding round the house, and keep the router plugged in as near to the phone master socket as possible, as additional telephone cabling can degrade what adsl broadband speed you would get..

DCFC79

Home plugs for me, easy to setup and never had a problem with the ones I use.

JustAnotherSaver

I'm not sure where the issue of power cables come into it?

I'll explain what i have in the house i'm currently in...

Router connected to master (& only) socket. Cat 5 cable (i bought the cable alone, the ends separate & a crimper & just cut the wire to length myself etc) runs from the router, up through the ceiling in the kitchen right above to the bedroom above. We did this as we were decorating. It runs around the edge of the room under the carpet & into the back of the PC there.
Another cat5 cable (again another i made to length) runs from the router, through the window frame which separates the kitchen & extension, into a cat5 box thing that i screwed to the wall & from this box is a shop-bought cat5 cable which connects to my PC.


I know wireless is easier, but then you have issues with signal drop offs. We've had it before where i can connect to the internet as i'm hard wired, but other machines in the house connecting wirelessley can't. I've always preferred a wired connection. It's faster & more reliable although admittedly, not as easy/convenient as wireless.

IF (big IF) we went the wireless route then we'd want maximum connectivity throughout the house. I imagine we'd then need signal boosters.

We could fit another socket in the PC room upstairs, but i've always been told router into the master socket for best connection, which is in the living room. The 2 rooms in relation to each other are...... the upstairs (PC) room, if you face the road then go left to the master bedroom & straight down to the living room & that is where the master socket would be (all along the front wall of the house).

I should say, i am not close minded, i'm open to advice, but at the moment i still prefer the wired idea.

bsms1147

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

I'm not sure where the issue of power cables come into it?

...

I should say, i am not close minded, i'm open to advice, but at the moment i still prefer the wired idea.

Then homeplugs sound your best bet.

If you don't know what they are you take the Cat5 cable that goes from the router and connect it to a special plug that fits in a UK electricity socket near the router.

You then have another of these plugs in the PC room, again plugged into a UK electricity socket, and you run Cat5 from that plug into the PC/control box.

Your home's built-in electrical wiring act to join up these two points.

Throughput is good and you have a wired connection from your router to your PC, without needing to find an exciting route along the corridors and through walls.



Should you wish to add wireless, you can instead get homeplugs that have built-in wifi, as someone recommends above.

JustAnotherSaver

Hmm, i remember reading about these a few years ago as a possibility.

Is it true that they're not so good if your house wiring is old? (We don't know how old ours is).

Also, in terms of reliability AND speed, how do they rank -vs- direct cabling as i said & also the WiFi option?

My guess is not as fast as direct cabling, but faster than WiFi?

2010

Can anyone recommend some home plugs and from where?

wongataa

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

Hmm, i remember reading about these a few years ago as a possibility.

Is it true that they're not so good if your house wiring is old? (We don't know how old ours is).

Also, in terms of reliability AND speed, how do they rank -vs- direct cabling as i said & also the WiFi option?

My guess is not as fast as direct cabling, but faster than WiFi?

Direct cabling can be faster if everything is using gigabit networking. Homeplugs are likely to be faster than wireless. There are types of wireless networking that can be faster in good conditions but you may not have that kit and walls, interference from neighbours, distance from router lower performance.

I use home plugs as it was more convenient than running wires around the house and due to wireless reception issues. I have had no problems at all with them. I use them to connect my desktop computer, TV, Youview box, and PS3 to the internet. I have had more issues with wireless in the past.

House wiring can cause problems with homeplugs but you can't easily tell if there will be issues until you try them. Note, they don't work so well if you plug them into extension leads. Make sure they are plugged directly into the wall sockets.

A basic set doesn't cost too much so if they didn't work you won't be down much money.

tanith

I had BT put the phone socket and the Internet connection in the upstairs room that I wanted the router to be in.. they did everything for me..

benje302

Hi

I use homeplugs but also have hard wired section.

I use TP link 500 which are very good indeed.

As for hard wiring, if you have the time and skill to do so you can drop the cable through the cavity so no cables seen outside

Also, dont use Cat 5 - use Cat5e is a minimum as cat 5 is 10/100 where as cat 5e is 10/100/1000

Ben

Oblivion

2010 wrote: »

Can anyone recommend some home plugs and from where?

I use an earlier version of these Devolo plugs and they have proved very reliable.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Devolo-dLAN-500-Wi-Fi-Starter/dp/B00C5IA4TW/ref=dp_ob_title_ce