Possible to upgrade ethernet in wall?

powerful_Rogue

Just curious as to whether this is something simple I could do, or whether I get a company in.

House had a wired ethernet port in the conservatory (blue) when we moved in. The other end of it is where the router sits (red).

From the conservatory it's then wired into the workshop and garage. These cables are easily accessible as I fitted them.

The issue is the cable (i'm presuming within the wall) from the router to the wired point. It must be an old cable as the maximum speed is 100Mbps. Ideally I would love to upgrade this to more modern cable to get better speeds.

Difficult job?

Mark_d

We considered getting our place wired up but then decided to go for a high spec wifi mesh network.  We've never looked back.  So this would be my recommendation

Rodders53

Why do you believe the cable is limited to 100Mbit/s?
Category 5 cable - Wikipedia even early Cat5 cable is usually capable of faster speed and the construction of the cable is the same between Cat 5 and Cat 5e.

Much more likely is a modem/router or switch or the connected device's ethernet port that is limiting the speed.  Details of such devices would help, probably.

But: assuming that is an external wall on the right a couple of through holes and an external grade ethernet cable can be run simply tacked to the wall.  (It's what I needed to do to get from my 'office room' to the garage and lounge).  Unlikely that your existing cable is in a nice conduit that will allow a new cable to be pulled through.

powerful_Rogue

Mark_d said:

We considered getting our place wired up but then decided to go for a high spec wifi mesh network.  We've never looked back.  So this would be my recommendation

Just upgraded from VM Hub 5 with two VM pods to the VM Hub 5 with 3 x Deco X50 mesh. It's great, however certain areas I do like a wired connection - especially to backhaul to the garage.

powerful_Rogue

Rodders53 said:

Why do you believe the cable is limited to 100Mbit/s?
Category 5 cable - Wikipedia even early Cat5 cable is usually capable of faster speed and the construction of the cable is the same between Cat 5 and Cat 5e.

Much more likely is a modem/router or switch or the connected device's ethernet port that is limiting the speed.  Details of such devices would help, probably.

But: assuming that is an external wall on the right a couple of through holes and an external grade ethernet cable can be run simply tacked to the wall.  (It's what I needed to do to get from my 'office room' to the garage and lounge).  Unlikely that your existing cable is in a nice conduit that will allow a new cable to be pulled through.

Modem to ethernet point and other end ethernet point wired to laptop, max speed I get is 100Mbit/s. Whereas modem wired to laptop gives the full 300Mbit/s.

This is the ethernet point in the conservatory. Excuse the cobwebs, it's behind the sofa! One cable out to garage and the other to the kitchen.

This is the wiring inside.

We're semi and that's next door on the otherside of the wall. I was thinking whether a new cable could be pulled through!

MyRealNameToo

powerful_Rogue said:

Just curious as to whether this is something simple I could do, or whether I get a company in.

House had a wired ethernet port in the conservatory (blue) when we moved in. The other end of it is where the router sits (red).

From the conservatory it's then wired into the workshop and garage. These cables are easily accessible as I fitted them.

The issue is the cable (i'm presuming within the wall) from the router to the wired point. It must be an old cable as the maximum speed is 100Mbps. Ideally I would love to upgrade this to more modern cable to get better speeds.

Difficult job?

Depends how it was done and if you are comfortable doing the termination of the cables?

Ethernet cables arent directly covered by regulations, though are indirectly about combustable materials near power cables etc, and so there is much more variability as to how they are installed. It may be possible to simply pull it through but it can also require cutting channels into the wall and trying to guess the cables route etc. Helping a friend and the previous owner had put it along/inside a stud wall but it had been cable stapled to all the braces which were at different heights so no option but to open up the wall

ButterCheese

We have a similar issue; the router has 3 other ethernet cables going from it, outside, through walls etc.  The one that comes out in our upstairs bedroom does not even work.  The only way I think is to tape either a new ethernet cable to the old one and pull it through.  If you're lucky it will be free and not trapped anywhere by plasterboard etc.  Or you could use string to pull it through once, then tape your new cable to the string and pull the new cable through.

Other than that, you could get a TP links wifi access point (basically a router with antenae) and they usually work a lot better than your ISP router.  

Vitor

100Mbps is a very specific figure, I eapect the cable is damaged or the pins miswired so devices are falling back to 100BASET as not all 4 pairs of wire are working to reach gigabit speeds. Really needs a cheap cable tester to be sure, might just need the cables to be punched down again. 

powerful_Rogue

Vitor said:

100Mbps is a very specific figure, I eapect the cable is damaged or the pins miswired so devices are falling back to 100BASET as not all 4 pairs of wire are working to reach gigabit speeds. Really needs a cheap cable tester to be sure, might just need the cables to be punched down again. 

I do have one of these  - what would you say is the best way to test?

Newcad

powerful_Rogue said:

 These cables are easily accessible as I fitted them.

Then surely you know exactly how you fitted them, and if they have been stapled anywhere, or looped round something, or knotted. So you should know what kind of job it would be to simply tape a new cable to one end and pull it through?

EDIT- Looking more closely at your image it appears to be run in cable trunking fixed to the wall.
If the cable is running in that then isn't it the clip on cover type that you can just prise open again?

powerful_Rogue

Newcad said:

powerful_Rogue said:

 These cables are easily accessible as I fitted them.

Then surely you know exactly how you fitted them, and if they have been stapled anywhere, or looped round something, or knotted. So you should know what kind of job it would be to simply tape a new cable to one end and pull it through?

EDIT- Looking more closely at your image it appears to be run in cable trunking fixed to the wall.
If the cable is running in that then isn't it the clip on cover type that you can just prise open again?

I said:

From the conservatory it's then wired into the workshop and garage. These cables are easily accessible as I fitted them.

My post was talking about the end of the lounge to the conservatory. Obviously I wouldn't be asking the question about the cables if I fitted them.