Need to extend wired network - what do I need?

titaniumx3

titaniumx3

titaniumx3

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11 May 2006
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I'm going to move into a newly converted loft (2nd floor) soon but my main telephone socket is in my front room (ground floor). Initially I was planning to get a telephone socket extension up to the loft and connect my router from there, but from experience this has a negative impact on ADSL sync speeds.

So, instead what I'm thinking about doing now is to have some sort of ethernet cable running from my front room to the loft, with both ends terminated by a ethernet socket - essentially a ethernet extension. This way I can just leave my router downstairs in the front room, get maximum sync speeds, connect by LAN and not have to use a crappy wireless card.

As you've probably already guessed though, I'm not entirely sure what I need in order to pull this off, so I would really appreciate some advice on what components I need, e.g. the types of cables, sockets, etc.

Also, although I only have a 100mbps capable router, for future proofing I would prefer an extension that is capable of handling 1gbps but still backward compatible for a 100mbps router.

Thanks! :)
 
You will want some kind of RJ45 faceplate, a punch down/IDC tool and a length of cat5e cable. (cant link due to it being a competitor) However, if you dont mind the colour, I will send you a length of cat5e cable for postage costs. (the cable I have is grey)
 
Ryan111 said:
You will want some kind of RJ45 faceplate, a punch down/IDC tool and a length of cat5e cable. (cant link due to it being a competitor) However, if you dont mind the colour, I will send you a length of cat5e cable for postage costs. (the cable I have is grey)
Click to expand...

sorry to be a **** if you have quite a bit, i will Buy some off you mate.

But you will just need to run a new bit of copper up there.. there are many tutorials on how to do it.
 
If you are confident at cutting your own cables then what you need is:

100M reel of Cat 5e (less depending on distance but 100m is £35ish)
A decent crimp tool and cable stripper
Cable connectors to fit at the ends

The onto hardware:

Your choice of router
A decent switch, I recommend something like the HP 1400-8G.


As for the how... ermmm :p Measure twice then a third time, allow for some slack and cut away. Use ducting from B&Q if you are running the cables along the skirting to make it look neat. They even sell self adhesive ones which I have heard good things about.

I added the switch recommendation there to allow for future expansion in case you want to plug in a laptop/games console.

Take the advice of the guy who did my install and use Cat 5e, 6a is a pain to work with but I wanted future proofing for 10Gb.
 
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