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Good evening everyone. Hope you are enjoying the bank holiday! I have BT Infinity 2 with a download of 46Mbps. I am considering Devolo Homeplugs to connect up my blu-ray player and digibox. I could also get a long Ethernet cable through my loft over the living room and drop it down in the corner. I have a 20m Cat 5 cable and get about 20Mbps through that (was surprised at the drop off to be honest. My house is 40 years old (detached bungalow) so I don't know what sort of speeds I would expect. Would I be best getting a 30m Cat 6 cable or trying the Homeplugs do you think? Thanks.
Predicted speed 54.7Mbps down/15.7Mbps up. Actual speed 50Mbps down/6.5Mbps up...  |
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20Mbps on a 20metre Cat5e cable suggests something is wrong at one end or teh other. That cable should be capable of handling Gigabit connections.
I would suggest installing a pair of RJ45 sockets next to the router and another at te remote location and use Cat5e cable to connect them both. Then a set of short patch leads at each end.
If you can get the cable in easily it will be cheaper and more efficient than plugs.
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M H C
taurus excreta cerebrum vincit
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MHC - thanks for the speedy response. I shall have to check again re: the speed over Cat 5. Do you know the longest length of Cat 5/6 I could use? I'm connected to one if the 100Mbps ports on the Home Hub 3. One advantage of the Home plugs is that I could extend the wireless range into the living room.
Predicted speed 54.7Mbps down/15.7Mbps up. Actual speed 50Mbps down/6.5Mbps up... |
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100 metres is the specification. I have managed almost 400m on one connection - so your distances are well within.
Why not install four RJ45 sockets in one faceplate and then run cables to where to want? Install another socket at each location.
Each cable will run a full 100Mbps whereas with plugs then rarely reach full potential and any bandwidth is shared.
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M H C
taurus excreta cerebrum vincit
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Thanks MHC. I didn't know you could get faceplates. Does one Ethernet cable power all three sockets?
Predicted speed 54.7Mbps down/15.7Mbps up. Actual speed 46Mbps down/6.5Mbps up... |
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Hi giggsy1977,
I am also in the process of setting up a home "wired" network.
You may find some really helpful ideas/tips on my thread Advise for future proof home wired network
But it seems your in good hands already as MHC is already on the case 
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majika2007 - thanks for that. I shall certainly have a look at your thread. I'm a bit of a novice in respect of networks but I'm sure I will get something from it!
Predicted speed 54.7Mbps down/15.7Mbps up. Actual speed 46Mbps down/6.5Mbps up... |
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Check for a duplex mismatch - does your NIC think it's connected at full or half duplex?
 Comms is hard |
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JonRennie - sorry but you've lost me with both the NIC and duplex thing there!! Still a bit green I'm afraid.
Predicted speed 54.7Mbps down/15.7Mbps up. Actual speed 46Mbps down/6.5Mbps up... |
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Right, I have been doing my research tonight and I see some Cat 5e cables described as UTP and some as just Cat 5e. In addition some are referred to as patch cables and some aren't. What are the differences between them all?!
BT Infinity 2 - Predicted speed 54.7Mbps down/15.7Mbps up. Actual speed 46Mbps down/6.5Mbps up... |
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I'm using Devolo HomePlugs (dLan 200 AVmini) & have found them to be very effective!
Certainly they appear to be faster than a WiFi system (The Devolo Plugs come with a handy utility which measures the connection speed between each device - I'm getting 100M+ on all of my connections!)
I can't comment on how they perform on a Fibre Connection (as I'm still on ADSL2+), but I'm getting very good speeds, when running Speed-Tester results.
HTH
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No, it is a neat way of getting the cabling to other locations.
Your router has four outputs at present - you are, I believe, using one close by for a PC. The other three can go wherever you want and the neatest/easiest way is to use Cat5e cable which can be hidden away. Rather than buying a patch lead with a connector on each end, which will require 20mm holes to pass through walls, you would use standard Cat5e UTP - which is normally solid conductor. Then terminate this in sockets close to where you need. Then a short patch lead from the socket to device.
If at some time you wanted to put more devices around the house, you install a small Ethernet switch close to teh router and that will increase the number of outputs you have.
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M H C
taurus excreta cerebrum vincit
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There is no power required on these sockets, as the they simply extend whatever is plugged in at each end. So, you might connect like this:
router <= patch cable => RJ45 face plate <= Cat5e/6 cable to far location => RJ45 face plate <= patch cable => device
In effect, it's like one long cable between router and device (all 8-pins are wired straight through).
Typically, I think, solid core CAT5e/6 cable is used for permanent fixings and for making connections in the face plates (which are like 'wire insertion' phone socket connections, i.e. a punch down tool is handy).
Patch cables need to be flexible as they are often moved, so typically they use multicore wires. I'm not sure you can make the connections in the faceplates with multicore wire, so you should use solid wire between the faceplates.
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Tony
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The Homeplugs do appeal for neatness it has to be said. If I was to go down the solid cat5e route between face plates, if I was to get a faceplate with 3 sockets do I need 3 cat5e cables connecting to it? Sorry for asking seemingly simple questions but it's all new to me.
BT Infinity 2 - Predicted speed 54.7Mbps down/15.7Mbps up. Actual speed 46Mbps down/6.5Mbps up... |
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I have a 20m Cat 5 cable and get about 20Mbps through that (was surprised at the drop off to be honest.
I use a 20 metre 26 AWG 100% copper CAT5e ethernet patch cable, bought it from Amazon a few years ago for £6.79, and I get 80Mbps file transfer speeds over a 100Mbps LAN.
I would imagine that that there is an issue with the cable, connectors or setup that you are using. However installing solid core CAT5 and using rj45 sockets would be a better network connection if considering a gigabit LAN and the routing of the cable required it.
I would certainly avoid homeplugs and use a good quality patch cable if installing solid core CAT5 etc. was too much of a problem...
Edited by 4M2 (Mon 27-May-13 15:08:35)
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It's also worth considering doubling up on cable runs that may be difficult to get at in future. I would also use some form of conduit (Plastic tube with gently angled bends). that eases any necessary pulling of solid core cable.
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The Homeplugs do appeal for neatness it has to be said. If I was to go down the solid cat5e route between face plates, if I was to get a faceplate with 3 sockets do I need 3 cat5e cables connecting to it?
Yes, each end needs a unique connection, they cannot be joined together or split in any way. This is the same for home plugs I believe, they are one to one.
If you want more wired connections at the far end, you will need a simple network switch (or switch with wireless access point). These take in one connection and fan out to multiple connections. A switch is pretty cheap and simple to set up (easier than your broadband router).
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Tony
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This is the same for home plugs I believe, they are one to one.
No, Homeplugs are one to many, or even many to many. They form their own radio network.
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This is the same for home plugs I believe, they are one to one.
No, Homeplugs are one to many, or even many to many. They form their own radio network.
An interesting concept - I always thought they used the premises wiring.
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M H C
taurus excreta cerebrum vincit
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Radio network where the medium is the copper mains wiring
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The author of the above post is a thinkbroadband staff member. It may not constitute an official statement on behalf of thinkbroadband.
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No.
Radio is defined as the wireless transmission of signals through free space by electromagnetic radiation.
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M H C
taurus excreta cerebrum vincit
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Free space does not exist
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The author of the above post is a thinkbroadband staff member. It may not constitute an official statement on behalf of thinkbroadband.
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No, Homeplugs are one to many, or even many to many. They form their own radio network.
Hmm, thanks for the clarification.
An interesting concept - I always thought they used the premises wiring.
So did I. How can their wireless be any better - oops, probably a topic for a different thread.
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Tony
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Obviously, I meant RF transmission (and reception) over mains wiring, whatever that's called now.
Edited by deleted (Tue 28-May-13 12:32:06)
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Free of "stuff": matter or energy?
Free of competing use?
Free to use with no fee needed?
All of the above?
BT Infinity 1 (unlimited)
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Free space does not exist
Lol, True that.
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Now it makes sense (to me ). Thanks
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Tony
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I have written a good article about wiring for Ethernet and one of the suggestions that I put up for those of us working on a thin budget was to wire for a barebones situation such as from office to entertainment area while using HomePlugs for other areas until you see further need. Here, I see the HomePlugs work in a complementary manner to a wired-for-Ethernet setup. The article is at http://homenetworking01.info/2012/11/feature-article... .
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