Ethernet Powerline and a Flat - HELP!

torN

torN

torN

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18 Nov 2005
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Recently had Plusnet Fibre Unlimited installed in my flat, this is with the new Plusnet all in one hub, there is no BT open reach modem.

Directly connecting to the hub via ethernet using my laptop, I receive 60mbps down and 20 up, excellent! Even over WiFi the connection is 55 down, also great!

The router has to remain in the living room, this is the only phone line / master socket within the flat, at first I thought this will be fine, I could just powerline the connection to the spare room (which is the room next to the living room) and connect to my PC this way.... I was wrong.

Connecting the to the powerline apdater in the spare room reports a barely stable connection at 1 to 3 mbps, this is not acceptable!

I live in a 3 story flat and I am on the 1st floor. What can I do? I do own the flat, would I be better off running a cable around the skirting board and under the door frame to the spare room, the GF is not keen on this, or do I employ an electrician to add Ethernet ports to the walls etc?

Does anyone have any recommendations please? I am all ears!
 
torN said:
would I be better off running a cable around the skirting board and under the door frame to the spare room
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Yes you would be better off doing this, use a flat cable and you can run it under the carpet if you need to, or tack it to the skirting, or under the skirting. Obviously it's more hassle but you will have a reliable/stable internal connection at the full speed of the ethernet port.

Have you tried other sockets? Could just be a dodgy one.
 
I didn't have a huge amount of time to test other sockets last night, but I will run further tests on the weekend. The TP Link powerline apdaters are up to 500mbps ones, they are the £30 pass through set I purchase from a popular retailer. I have used these in a house before and they worked well.

What type of flat ethernet cable? Cat 6?
 
I have found 30meters of CAT7, ideal?

Just to add, would I best best running 15 meters of ethernet to a switch in the spare room and then from the switch to the pc? is 20 or 30 meters of cabling okay to use? Sorry, I am a noob when it comes to the difference between CAT5 etc and if there is a possible loss of data at a certain length of cable.
 
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You are fine up to ~100metres.

If the cat7 is cheap sure, you don't need anything more than cat5e imo though.
 
Cool, okay, thanks Sp00n and ChrisD for the information and help. I do appreciate it! Do either one of you want to negotiate the cable install to my girlfriend :D?
 
I used flat Ethernet cables in my previous flat. I didn't bother running them under the carpet but it meant I could pin them around doors and under doors easily.

When I moved to my house I did some proper internal wiring between the under stairs cupboard, living room, and study (all conveniently on one side of the house).
 
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Keep it tidy and it's no worse than a phone extension, hide it under carpet and she can't argue surely :D
 
DragonQ said:
I used flat Ethernet cables in my previous flat. I didn't bother running them under the carpet but it meant I could pin them around doors and under doors easily.

When I moved to my house I did some proper internal wiring between the under stairs cupboard, living room, and study (all conveniently on one side of the house).
Click to expand...

I took a look, but the images are broken for me.

Sp00n said:
Keep it tidy and it's no worse than a phone extension, hide it under carpet and she can't argue surely :D
Click to expand...

Heres to hoping, #pray4me. The flat is very minimal, there is barely any wires anywhere!
 
torN said:
I took a look, but the images are broken for me.
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Can't check at work but you're probably right, I'll update them later.

I also agree that Cat 7 is a waste of time. I went for Cat 6 because Cat 6A is too annoying to use for internal wiring and Cat 6 should be sufficient for 10G in residential environments.
 
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I have found the following at a popular, large, online retailer :

Flat CAT7 High Speed 8Gbps RJ45 Cat 7 Ethernet cables LAN Networking Cable with STP Copper Wires Shielded & Gold Plated Connector
 
As above cable and solid copper core 5e is what i'd go with, avoid CCA as it's crap. Going back to powerline if you're on the same circuit breaker for the sockets then it's unusual you'd get such poor sync. Have you followed the usual stuff like not plugging into an extension/surge protected outlet?
 
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