Extending a wired network

j.col

j.col

j.col

Soldato
Joined
31 May 2010
Posts
4,464
Location
Bedfordshire
Hi, i need to extend a wired network.

Currently have
Plusnet fibre optic in downstairs rear living room.
Main phone socket in hall with cable running to above.
Main PC in downstairs rear living room right beside Plusnet router.
I have a Lan cable running to rear of house, up the wall and into my sons bedroom at rear of house for another PC.

My other son now needs a wired connection in his room for gaming (at front of house upstairs)
I dont really want to run another cable from the router, out to rear of house and then around to the front of house for him.

What are my options?
Can i setup something like a D-Link 8 Port Gigabit Easy Desktop Switch in the attic, with 1 Lan running to this (taken from the first boys room)
Then run a Lan cable to each room upstairs?

Sorry but i am a new to networking
 
Yep it would work exactly like that :) However that bandwidth of the upstairs PCs, back to the main PC and t'internetz will be limited by the single link back to the pulsate router. However this will not be an issue for internet, but may slow down if you have multiple transfers to the main PC on the LAN but thats probably unlikely?
 
Hi thanks for the reply.
The main use would be for gaming, so i need a low ping.
Would the above router work or is there something better or a better way to do it?
 
Basically yes but I wouldn't personally put the switch in the attic as its not a great environment for electronics. If the switch goes in the rear bedroom and uses the existing cable then that PC can connect to the desktop switch. The rest of the bedrooms can have cables go up into the loft and then down to the rear bedroom where the switch could be.
 
I think what I would do if you want a quick way of doing it with the switch is to run stranded Ethernet cable, like long patch leads through either;

a vertically chased out wall leading to the loft with a brush plate type faceplate for the PC end of the cable to come out.

or the same as above but with surface mounted pattress boxes and trunking.

The main point though is to use stranded cable so that you have decent rj45 connections on each end since you'll be wanting to connect straight into the switch rather than punching down solid core cable to a patch panel prior to the switch.
 
I see what you mean thenewoc but for now i will just be tacking the wire to the wall.

Do i use Cat5e cable? I take it a regular cable and a patch cable are the same?
Told you i was new to this lol
 
If you don't think you'll ever need anything more than 1 Gb/s then yes providing you haven't already used CAT 6 or CAT 6a elsewhere. If you have then I'd stick to the same as you have used already.

There's not really such thing as a regular cable but the point I was trying to make was it should be stranded Ethernet cable if you're going to connect directly between a device and the switch. A patch lead would always be stranded unless it was custom made with the wrong choice of cable. An Ethernet cable can be solid core wires or stranded. The solid core stuff is not suited to having rj45 plugs crimped on to it.

You can tack the Ethernet to the wall but be careful not to overdo it and pinch the cable. I think I would use some cable tie type saddle clips if doing it that way. Those screw to the wall then you can pass a cable tie through them.
 
Last edited:
bledd. said:
They are terrible in comparison to wired.
Click to expand...

I know, I started off my place using homeplugs before eventually wiring Cat6 outside the house into the man cave. :D

But in some cases, if wiring isn't ideal then homeplugs are often an alternative solution.
 
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