Can I join a Network Cable

donny-gal

Due to re-arrangements in the bedroom where I had my telephone line, router and ethernet point to the next room, I need to move this to the other side of the room. We are in a bungalow, and it goes up the wall into the loft, across and down the wall in the next bedroom. The internal walls have channels I can thread the cable though, but the one in the unchanged room is on an outside wall and cannot be re-threaded, so need to extend the lan cable in the loft to reach the far side of the room we are re-arranging, IYSWIM.

1 - Can I join it like a telephone cable, with one of the connectors?
2 - Will it deteriorate the connection?
3 - Can I extend it by putting a LAN socket inthe loft and then connecting in to that from a new cable going down to a LAN point?

Thanks for any advice.

Regards
DG

Lorian

You can do number 3 and shouldn't really have any problems unless you are running at gigabit speeds.

stevemcol

http://www.expansys.com/d.aspx?i=115599

Red_Rose_Exile

Unless the length of cable is going to exceed 90m in total length, then you should have no problems.

As an alternative to stevemcol's suggestion, you could also use a switch

Little_John

Ohhh put a switch in there that requires power or a small joiner that doesn't I know which one I would chose.

the phone connection depends on the connector you have the RJ11 4 pin usually clear plastic can be joined using stevemcol's method as an RJ45 (network connector) is just an 8 pin version of the RJ11.

deterioration isn't an issue unless you get to long cable runs or if your using Cat6 but it isn't usually an issue for most home and small office solutions.

fitting a socket does the same thing but I would just go for the coupler it oes exactly the same and will be cheaper than buying a back box, face plate module and blanks.

Red_Rose_Exile

At least with a switch, you have the option of expanding, rather than wasting on a coupler and then a switch in the future and at only a couple of quid more, isn't such a bad option

thewizard

having done something similar to this yesterday, I would definitely use a switch

donny-gal

Thanks to you all

The link into the switch is a normal ethernet plug, which I would need to attach to the end of the lead, and then connect a cable with a plug into the switch and into a socket down the new wall?

Thanks
DG

markchadwick

If there is a power socket on the "outside" wall that you can't feed the ethernet cable down, you might wish to consider Homeplug/Powerline. This basically uses your Mains power network at home as a network bridge between two sockets.

Google it and you should find some details. It can be expensive, but with a little searching you may be able to find it cheaper. If you can get it priced within your budget, it could solve your problem and avoid you getting covered in cobwebs climbing through your attic and getting on the tools.

Mark

donny-gal

Thanks guys, the good news was that when DH went into the loft we had left a load of cable so it reached to the other side of the room. However, am I right in assuming that with the Switch, I could make a single ethernet socket into a multi socket?

What I am think of is I now have a network printer, and usually leave it in the room wit the router, and then the PC is in another room, but this way I could have the printer wired in the same room as the PC.

Thanks
DG

Red_Rose_Exile

yes, you could consider it like a extension socket, assuming your network printer has a built in print server.