Wired LAN extension

Annirak · 22 Aug 2013 at 09:21

I've recently moved house. My Cable modem/switch/access point is on the ground floor, in the living room, and my office is on the first floor. I have a server that I want to connect to the LAN, but I want it to be in the office.

There is an existing run of CATV cable that goes from the living room to the office.

Because the new house is a rental, I cannot make physical modifications to the property.

The way I see it, I have limited options:

Use powerline networking
Buy a coax Ethernet extender
Try to replace the CATV cable with an ethernet cable
Add a wifi card to the server

#1 is slow, but reliable; I've checked reviews and it seems that even the 500Mbps versions with 10/100/1000 Ethernet top out around 160Mbps.
#2 should be be fast and reliable, but the only vendor is StarTech and they want £260 for a set of transceivers.
#3 is the ideal, but part of the run of CATV cable goes under carpet, and I don't know whether is was laid before or after the carpet was installed. It's cut into the carpet at both ends of the run, so I don't know if I would be able to fish a cable through or not. The rest of the run is held with cable staples, so it should be reasonably easy to replace if I cut the end off the CATV cable.
#4 is easy and, as my AP supports 5G 802.11N, it should be fast, but not necessarily reliable.

Is there an option I've missed? Is there a better version of powerline networking that I should be aware of? Is £260 for the Ethernet over CATV box justified?

thenewoc · 22 Aug 2013 at 09:43

Does the property have fibre internet or adsl?
What is going to be accessing the server from elsewhere than the office?

Annirak · 22 Aug 2013 at 10:19

thenewoc said:
Does the property have fibre internet or adsl?
What is going to be accessing the server from elsewhere than the office?

FTTX. I'm not intending to run much in the way of external services; I should have specified that.

This is more intended to be an internal file/backup server. Outside the backup use-case, we also do some photography, and I transfer large files from time to time.

The clients will be two laptops, two smartphones, two tablets, a Raspberry Pi, and a PS3. I don't see how those could all be at once. Everything other than the laptops will be relatively low-bandwidth. One laptop will likely only be used for large data while it's in the office. The other may do large photo transfers while it's elsewhere; usually over wifi.

wildest_jjk · 22 Aug 2013 at 10:23

Unless I am reading something wrong, can you not just use a switch in the office?

Annirak · 22 Aug 2013 at 10:59

wildest_jjk said:
Unless I am reading something wrong, can you not just use a switch in the office?

Sadly, that doesn't seem to be an option. The Cable endpoint is in another room, on another floor.

I suppose the other option is to move the access point to the office, then use power-line networking to extend back the other way. That would give true gigabit networking in the office, and a low-bandwidth (well, 160Mbps, anyway) link to the PS3, which won't use high-bandwidth anyway.

Confused · 22 Aug 2013 at 11:20

Can you not use the CATV cable to move the modem/router/access point into the office?

Flying_Hellfish · 22 Aug 2013 at 11:25

I'm in a very similar position and I use powerline adapters in my house.

I have a fileserver in the office alongside my gaming rig and xbox.
Media PC and modem in the living room.
Raspberry Pi/NOW TV boxes elsewhere.

All the cabling is CAT6 and the switches are all gigabit. So between main rig and the server, I am guaranteed full connectivity.

Watching video via PLEX is no problem elsewhere, although I haven't fully tested the throughput. It's a makeshift solution but is fit for purpose.

thenewoc · 22 Aug 2013 at 11:39

It sounds like the weakness will be your client's wireless connections to your access point. No matter how fast the server --> access point is, the bottleneck sounds like the wireless access point --> client.

I'm guessing the PS3 and perhaps the Raspberry Pi would be in the lounge and near enough to connect to the router/AP? I'm assuming you have a router connected to your cable modem? Ideally an Ethernet cable between the router and server but if that's not possible I think I would opt for a wireless adapter in the server.

I'm guessing you'd mainly be using the laptops in the office for high bandwidth stuff so as suggested by wildest_jjk, I'd connect a switch to the server's NIC and then connect the laptops to the switch.

You mentioned the CATV cable goes under carpet but if that is literally the case it would be somewhat of a bodge, it ought to go under the floorboards if going that route. If its been done correctly the likelihood is that it will also be stapled to joists under the floor. If it were not stapled you might be able to pull it through with a decent piece of string attached so that you can then repull the CATV cable through and some Ethernet. If that's possible you should tape off the end of the cable that will be pulled through as you don't know what it might meet on the way and turn off the electricity whilst doing it.