I’d go up into the loft and over to the other side of the house. Before doing that though, I’d seriously consider getting three mesh TP Links and improving the WiFi signal, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much better it is over Virgin WiFi
Run Ethernet to upstairs home office
- Thread starter danlightbulb
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You can get away with it sometimes but for this short a run it's not worth the risk as the saving would be minimal.This is what I had hanging out my window for about 20 years til the builders trampled on it
It even survived getting glued to the extension roof with that black stuff they use to seal up stuff and ended up getting loose.
I don't really have any issues with the current WiFi. It's enough for what I need WiFi for, phone streaming, laptop teams calls etc. where it falls short is pc use i.e downloading games or playing with the quest 3 wirelessly. Can a mesh system rectify that?
I've tried to do speed tests in the rooms but I get very inconsistent results. For example test 1 in same room as router can record 90 Mbps but test 2 can record only 30 Mbps in the same spot.
It can be a standalone device which connects to WiFi, and that works fine.
It can also do PC VR games via a usb cable, which also works fine. But some games need more space than I have in my office, so the Quest can also do PC VR wirelessly. However this does not work well if the PC has to stream to the router wirelessly and the router to the quest wirelessly at the same time - not enough bandwidth to do both.
Ah gotcha. You might benefit from running a cable to your PC and a router upgrade. The virgin one was unusable for me, so unreliable in anything other than mild applications.
Yeah probably that's the best solution. In which case would I benefit from a wired pc connection AND a mesh network as well? Would I have one mesh device at each end of the ethernet cable?
I might switch away from virgin anyway when my contract next expires and go to an Open reach FTTP provider.
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If your range is sufficient but it's unreliable/a bit patchy, I'd just go with an ethernet for your pc and a general upgrade to your router. Your router can support future meshing.
Something like this...
TP-Link AXE5400 Tri-Band Wi-Fi 6E Router, Wi-Fi Speed up to 5400 Mbps, 5x Gigabit Port, 1× USB 3.0 Port, 1.7 GHz Quad-Core CPU, with TP-Link OneMesh™and HomeShield, Compatible with Alexa(Archer AXE75) https://amzn.eu/d/0QNprFY
I've suggested this as it's WiFi 6e which apparently the meta quest 3 is.
Just thinking more of how to set all this up - my home NAS is currently downstairs plugged directly into Virgin Router. Could I use this new cable to relocate it upstairs? Is that what a patch panel is for - to run both the NAS and PC off one cable?
No, a patch panel is simply a way to terminate many cables in a convenient way. It offers zero intelligence, just convenient structure to your cabling. Imagine an office with several ethernet end points per desk. Each connection will go to a patch panel. Then the IT admin would run a 'patch' cable (a small ethernet) from the patch panel to a switch or router.
If you want your nas upstairs, run two cables. Or, run a single cable, and get a new router, and move all your it Comms gubbins other than the virgin upstairs.
If you have more than one ethernet device you generally need an individual run of cable or a switch.
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I need a decent WiFi signal downstairs for the TV to use though. If I relocate a new router upstairs then the TV will be farther from it.
Commissario
I did this with two runs around my house many, many years ago. Used standard cat5 cable, didn’t put it in conduit or use any fancy type, just a bog standard roll of cable.
Apart from an incident with a hedge trimmer which was then repaired using a patch cable and a couple of joiners, they’ve both been perfectly OK. No issues at all. Far better than any other solution.
Apart from an incident with a hedge trimmer which was then repaired using a patch cable and a couple of joiners, they’ve both been perfectly OK. No issues at all. Far better than any other solution.
Soldato
My first home networking attempt was to drill out of each room that needed it, ran cables around the perimeter under the damp proof course or buried under gravel, then up drain pipes and in to the house.. I just used some cheap 100m kit from B&Q which had basic cable, small wall boxes and some keystone jacks.. I figured it out quickly and worked for 13 years with no issues..
I later got fed up seeing too many external cables everywhere so basically found I had a waste pipe going ground floor to loft, so I dropped cables beside that, and in some rooms, got over my fear of decorating and fished/chased new cables down walls, often fishing behind plasterboard for large sections, leaving only small holes here and there and went full loft switch and internal cables and much prefer not having ugly cables outside…
each to their own, but you could compromise, have a large Ethernet switch in the loft and drill out of each room you want but cable upwards behind drain pipes, or in internal corners to the soffit and fish cables into the lift via the soffit, that’s how my garden access point is done..
I also have virgin hub in modem mode and use tplink gear for SDN setup (software defined networking) but appreciate that is a big investment…
I later got fed up seeing too many external cables everywhere so basically found I had a waste pipe going ground floor to loft, so I dropped cables beside that, and in some rooms, got over my fear of decorating and fished/chased new cables down walls, often fishing behind plasterboard for large sections, leaving only small holes here and there and went full loft switch and internal cables and much prefer not having ugly cables outside…
each to their own, but you could compromise, have a large Ethernet switch in the loft and drill out of each room you want but cable upwards behind drain pipes, or in internal corners to the soffit and fish cables into the lift via the soffit, that’s how my garden access point is done..
I also have virgin hub in modem mode and use tplink gear for SDN setup (software defined networking) but appreciate that is a big investment…
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My phone is recording 260 Mbps on a speed test this morning. That's in the room above the living room. That's my internet speed with Virgin.
It's not just speed, it's robustness of the signal, latency, quality when congested etc. Run a ping or latency check and you'll see how inconsistent it is.
Yeah and the usb dongle on the pc doesn't get anywhere near that speed.
I feel like I should go a bit further than just a single ethernet cable. I always thought the Nas would be safer up in the loft (if ever get burgled, it would be safer up there). But not sure whether it's worth all the hassle trying to move it up there. Im still to make the loft a good area for storage, and I would need to get power up there too. Plus lofts get hot in the summer don't they.
I feel like I should go a bit further than just a single ethernet cable. I always thought the Nas would be safer up in the loft (if ever get burgled, it would be safer up there). But not sure whether it's worth all the hassle trying to move it up there. Im still to make the loft a good area for storage, and I would need to get power up there too. Plus lofts get hot in the summer don't they.
Don
Better off replacing usb dongles with intel based pci-e WiFi if having to use WiFi - normally a lot more reliable than the realtek chips usb dongles normally use
Yeah exactly, there's several options and I'm not sure which one to do tbh.
Wired ethernet is fixed in one location, but fastest. Or mesh WiFi or better ethernet card. Or sone kind of central network centred in the loft.
Ive ordered a PCIe WIFI card £23 (6e, states Intel AX210 chip). I will try that first and see if it improves my speeds/latency. Its not a TP link card, some obscure brand off the rainforest.