Ethernet cable or power line adapter for upstairs room

Dark Light · 11 Apr 2019 at 12:57

What would be the best way to get internet to a room upstairs? Which ever option I choose I would like it to be capable of delivering speeds in the future, so 1 gbps for power line and 10 gbps for Ethernet. Does anyone have any recommendations for a power line adapter? Or should I just trailing a cable, where is the best place to get a reel of Ethernet cable, with a crimper and some RJ45 connectors and maybe a tester, would cat 6A be okay or should I go with cat 7 or maybe cat 6.

Avalon · 11 Apr 2019 at 13:05

Do not buy a powerline adapter if you want speed. Firstly you’ll get nowhere near the rated speed, secondly the rated speed is quoted in full duplex, so half it. Property terminated 5e is capable of 10Gbe up to a reasonable distance, if you use 6, then everything (plugs, face plates, panels etc.) needs to be 6. Personally 5 is more than adequate, by the time it isn’t i’ll have run full fibre or something else.

For external cable runs, use external rated cable, eBay has cheap cable sometimes, make sure it’s not CCA.

the-evaluator · 11 Apr 2019 at 14:11

You'll never get 1Gbps out of a set of Powerline adapters. They may have 1Gbps ethernet ports on them but the real world throughput will be nowhere near that.

Go for an ethernet cable. Cat 5e would do fine but for the minimal price difference I'd go for cat 6.

Dark Light · 11 Apr 2019 at 20:38

Avalon said:
Do not buy a powerline adapter if you want speed. Firstly you’ll get nowhere near the rated speed, secondly the rated speed is quoted in full duplex, so half it. Property terminated 5e is capable of 10Gbe up to a reasonable distance, if you use 6, then everything (plugs, face plates, panels etc.) needs to be 6. Personally 5 is more than adequate, by the time it isn’t i’ll have run full fibre or something else.

For external cable runs, use external rated cable, eBay has cheap cable sometimes, make sure it’s not CCA.

the-evaluator said:
You'll never get 1Gbps out of a set of Powerline adapters. They may have 1Gbps ethernet ports on them but the real world throughput will be nowhere near that.

Go for an ethernet cable. Cat 5e would do fine but for the minimal price difference I'd go for cat 6.

Thanks, I didn't realise that power line adapters were like WiFi in terms of not reaching their full speed. I'll go with cat6 cable then, where is the best place to get cable, RJ45 connectors, a crimper and tester? Not going to use faceplates, just going to run the cable among he wall.

the-evaluator · 12 Apr 2019 at 08:40

Anywhere that sells that stuff is likely to sell other bits and bobs that OcUK do so are going to be considered a competitor so we can't mention any names to you.

Avoid any cable that is CCA - copper clad aluminium. Make sure it's pure copper. I'd suggest you don't make up what is effectively a long patch lead, it'd be better to terminate the cable at both ends in a wall soclet and then use a patch cable at each end.

chaparral · 5 May 2019 at 18:48

the-evaluator said:
I'd suggest you don't make up what is effectively a long patch lead, it'd be better to terminate the cable at both ends in a wall soclet and then use a patch cable at each end.

Why not ?

If you terminate the cable into sockets then you have more joints (IE using 2 patch leads to plug into them sockets equal 4 Plugs)

bremen1874 · 5 May 2019 at 19:03

The multiple plugs and sockets don't matter if everything is done correctly.

You don't have to use faceplates, but it is usually the better option. You'd use solid core cable between the faceplates and stranded cable for the patch cords. Under normal circumstances, you'd never assemble your own patch cords.

Do whatever suits you. FWIW terminating cables at faceplates is easier than attaching plugs (and requires cheaper tools).

the-evaluator · 7 May 2019 at 07:55

chaparral said:
Why not ?

If you terminate the cable into sockets then you have more joints (IE using 2 patch leads to plug into them sockets equal 4 Plugs)

Because the long length between the sockets shouldn't be a patch panel. It should be solid core cable that's installed in a patch panel or similar. Once installed that cable doesn't move around unlike patch cables and if you end up needing a longer cable from the wall to your PC then you just remove the patch cable and add a longer one. Much easier than pulling more cable through the run if you've left some slack.

Do what you want but professional installations aren't just a long patch cable.

bremen1874 · 7 May 2019 at 10:57

If you use all stranded cable the working length will be shorter, but still plenty long enough for domestic use.

There's nothing stopping you crimping suitable plugs to the ends of a solid core cable. You wouldn't want to do this for a cable that's regularity plugged/unplugged, but for fixed equipment it'd be okay.

In a case like this where it's a single cable to another room, do what you want.

labcoattech · 7 May 2019 at 14:48

If you want speed and reliability then I would go with wired Ethernet,

Router
Switch > Patch cable > Patch Panel > Solid core cable > Socket > Patch cable to PC

phrases · 7 May 2019 at 14:56

Can you lift floorboards? What are you walls solid or plasterboard? If its for one point then i would just run a single cable from your router tbh. Seems like an expense to buy switches etc just for this. If you can pull it through the floor run it along skirting board perhaps and into a cheap 1Gb switch to where you need it to go. Or if you can make good of the wall run it into a patress box and a ethernet faceplate.

Also if you need some cat6 i've got a 305m reel with loads left on it. Can cut you some off for price of postage if you need. Got some crimps and boots lying around as well i can throw in.

labcoattech · 7 May 2019 at 15:04

The option you go for will always come down to how much you are willing to spend, but at a minimum you want Cat6 cable.

A cheaper option would be as phrases mentioned, a single run of Cat6 from your router to the room.

Avalon · 7 May 2019 at 23:55

labcoattech said:
The option you go for will always come down to how much you are willing to spend, but at a minimum you want Cat6 cable.

A cheaper option would be as phrases mentioned, a single run of Cat6 from your router to the room.

'At a minimum' seems out of place here. Unless you are running over 45m or using something awful like CCA rather than solid core copper, then 5e is generally cheaper and easier to work with as well as being capable of 10Gbit.

phrases · 8 May 2019 at 03:03

Avalon said:
'At a minimum' seems out of place here. Unless you are running over 45m or using something awful like CCA rather than solid core copper, then 5e is generally cheaper and easier to work with as well as being capable of 10Gbit.

Agree bulk 100m of cat5e is around £25 cat6 100m £38. So if OP is running a single cable cat5e will suffice for one simple run to a bedroom/office.

FatRakoon · 9 May 2019 at 03:35

I am in the process of converting my entire house into Ethernet.

I have been using Powerline adapters just for the Media Centre's in the Living room and bedrom, and for the kids Bedrooms, but they have been weird in that they have been absolutely perfect, but then they decided to do silly nonsensical stuff that has often been hard to trace.

Its turning out to be a far bigger project than I ever thought it would be, and I thought it would be big!

Loving the buzz Im getting though... I needed something to do cos Im bored like hell.

chaparral · 12 May 2019 at 12:23

Avalon said:
'At a minimum' seems out of place here. Unless you are running over 45m or using something awful like CCA rather than solid core copper, then 5e is generally cheaper and easier to work with as well as being capable of 10Gbit.

I just finished feeding solid cat 6 to a few rooms in the house (from the upstairs bedroom to the downstairs kitchen & living room) it was a fair bit harder to work with then my old solid cat 5e cable

Partly wished I of stayed with cat 5e due to it being far easier to work with and it would have been fast enough for what am using it for..

Trojan Horse · 16 May 2019 at 20:49

chaparral said:
I just finished feeding solid cat 6 to a few rooms in the house (from the upstairs bedroom to the downstairs kitchen & living room) it was a fair bit harder to work with then my old solid cat 5e cable

Partly wished I of stayed with cat 5e due to it being far easier to work with and it would have been fast enough for what am using it for..

Can you trust me a good place to buy cheap CAT5E cable? Looking for 20-50m

Stephanie Peterson · 16 May 2019 at 21:02

I have just started my home lan rebuild, new poe managed switch - got rj45 ends and my old crimp tool out of retirement and have a box of 5e lying around from a previous work project.
Going to run as much twisted pair as poss, its far far better than wireless or that pish powerline crap. Got a microserver coming for pihole/dns/dhcp and pfsense as well.

Deleted member 77746 · 17 May 2019 at 10:53

The big question is is what is it you are looking to do with it? If it's just for Internet streaming and browsing you will be fine with power lines this would be the most simple solution.

> If you are looking for speed and you are transferring files from PC > PC then Ethernet will be the way to go here.

Avalon · 17 May 2019 at 15:58

Trojan Horse said:
Can you trust me a good place to buy cheap CAT5E cable? Looking for 20-50m

As long as it’s not CCA and ideally using a known brand of cable, you really can’t go wrong at that sort of distance.