Ethernet extension cable

esuhl

securityguy wrote: »

Your chances of making a decent Cat5 cable which will do 100BaseT reliably using cheap hand tools and a continuity tester are low. Your chances of making one which will do GigE are yet lower. Your chances of the cable surviving any significant amount of flexing over time are lower still.

Well... I made my own cables & routed ethernet cable into wall-mounted sockets with few problems. I was a bit fiddly -- a couple of cables had to be re-done. But it all works fine... and has done for at least 6 years.

I've only run Internet speed tests, but there's no noticible drop in speed between the cabling I've done and the master socket.

kwikbreaks

My 2p worth.

Leave the modem where it is. Buy a long ethernet patch lead off eBay (cheap as chips and every one I've ever had works fine at gigabit speeds) and run that to your preferred router location.

You could extend the RJ11 VDSL link instead but I can't think of any advantage and it will be far more likely to cause problems for the reason outlined before - ADSL and VDSL signal levels are a lot lower than ethernet so more susceptible to problems with noise pickup.

An alternative would be to use a homeplug link between the modem and router. If you got 500Mbps ones there should be no speed loss at current VDSL speeds. It would be more expensive of course.

Moneymaker

securityguy wrote: »

(home wiring often isn't twisted pair)

Only because cowboy installers use "alarm cable" instead of "twisted pair". It should always be twisted pair to minimise radiation /pickup of interference and reduction of ADSL speeds.

kwikbreaks

Moneymaker wrote: »

Only because cowboy installers use "alarm cable" instead of "twisted pair"

Those "cowboys" are frequently the home owner using plug in extension kits. By far the biggest cause of issues is the presence of the ring wire in them. Twisted pair is only slightly more immune to noise pickup than just a simple untwisted parallel pair.

spannerzone

JJ_Egan wrote: »

For many years i ran ADSL with an adsl nation filtered faceplate and ADSL Nation SST extension cable with RJ11 plugs .
Upstairs via this connection was near enough identical to master socket connection .
Straight transfer to use this cable when switching to Fibre .

yeah I do much the same, I have ADSL at the moment and fitted a dual filtered socket on the master socket like THIS and ran some solid core cat5e up to the study where the adsl modem is. I get exactly the same results as if plugged directly into the test socket on the master socket. Also means no nasty filters are required for any phones at all.

Also consider the official BT xDSL extension kit that a BT engineer would fit <link>

Money_Grabber13579

Thanks all, I was trying to lay out the set up from memory, but it turns out I can't have remembered correctly!

I suspect that I do have the yellow cable lying around spare and it may indeed be a different cable between the wall socket and the modem.

I had originally anticipated that the engineer would run a cable from the wall socket upstairs, where the modem would be plugged in, and subsequently the router. This would appear to be similar to the solution suggested by spannerzone.

However, if I were to use this cable, would I be required to hardwire anything? It appears that the cable only has an RJ45 connector on one end. Is the other end a bare wire? I don't want to have to wire anything up myself, if possible, as I don't want to be left without internet!

Of course, if leaving the modem where it is (and possibly wall mounting), I'm happy to look at doing that and just moving the router upstairs, which I understand would require an ethernet extension cable.

Would this cable be any use, or are there better ones out there?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cat5e-RJ45-Ethernet-Network-Cable/dp/B000IAHNVG

paddyrg

Money_Grabber13579 wrote: »

I had originally anticipated that the engineer would run a cable from the wall socket upstairs, where the modem would be plugged in, and subsequently the router. This would appear to be similar to the solution suggested by spannerzone.

Of course, if leaving the modem where it is (and possibly wall mounting), I'm happy to look at doing that and just moving the router upstairs, which I understand would require an ethernet extension cable.

This is what pretty much everyone here is urging you to do - I think it'll be for the best overall. As for a cable, that's the kind of thing, but you may want a longer one depending on your house layout. Better a bit of slack so you can position things nicely than the cable tugging at a port.

Cornucopia

I agree - cable never goes as far as you think. I have 7m just to skirt round the living room to get from one side to the other.

Pre-made Ethernet cables come with an RJ45 plug on both ends. Hence the widespread use of couplers to join them together. It's quick, easy reliable and cheap, whereas making your own is not.

BTW you often see Ethernet cables in pounshops.

kwikbreaks

As you've said you don't want to wire anything up this won't interest you but it may help others.

The main snag with ready made ethernet patch leads is the size of an RJ45 - if you have to pass through floors or walls it's a big hole to drill compare to the 5-6mm a bare cable needs. What you can get are wall mounted sockets with push in cable connector blocks. So long as you use a Krone tool with these they are pretty easy and trouble free. I wired up my house using them and had one duff one which I just rewired and everything has worked perfectly since (about 4 years).

You can also get flat ethernet which lays well under carpets and so through door thresholds too avoiding drilling walls


Examples from Amazon
Socket/Faceplate http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cat5e-Single-Socket-Ethernet-Network/dp/B000Q6LSDQ/ref=pd_bxgy_ce_img_z (you also a mounting box)

Krone tool http://www.amazon.co.uk/KRONE-Type-Punch-Telephone-Insertion-Kroning-Tool/dp/B000Q84THG/ref=pd_bxgy_ce_img_z

5m flat ethernet (longer availabale) http://www.amazon.co.uk/5m-Flat-Network-Cable-Ethernet/dp/B0048LVGGY/ref=pd_sim_ce_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1X6TENKYT8RR469DDXE3

onomatopoeia99

securityguy wrote: »

Your chances of making a decent Cat5 cable which will do 100BaseT reliably using cheap hand tools and a continuity tester are low. Your chances of making one which will do GigE are yet lower. Your chances of the cable surviving any significant amount of flexing over time are lower still.

Home made patch cables are a nuisance, I agree. I've got a few I've had to make up for long runs in an emergency and the failure rate is high.

If it's to be a permanent installation, better to use shorter pre-made patch cables and hard wire sockets at either end connected to a longer wire between the two locations, so using a krone tool rather than a crimp tool.