Home networking question

[Think]

So right now my PC, XBox, and Directv receivers are all in the same room. Today or tomorrow I'm moving my PC upstairs to my room. Without going wireless, are there any options other than drilling a hole in the floor/ceiling?

I've also seen these before: http://www.amazon.com/Netgear-85Mbps-Powerline-Network-Adapter/dp/B001AZUTCS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298880622&sr=8-1

How well do those work?

[TransNone13]

I've used them, they're actually pretty legit. But don't expect miracles, 85Mbp/s is theoretical bandwidth, not actual throughput. Also, make sure you secure them. Without it, anyone on the same grid within distance could capture your data.

[salsashark]

Is there an issue with going wireless?

leave the modem and router where you have hard connections, throw a wireless card in your PC and you're done.

[Ricky]

Wireless is flaky, and not to be trusted. Especially the flooded band of 2.4GHz. If you are going to do anything wirelessly, make sure it's 5GHz wireless N.

Powerline networking is great, but the older and poorer your electrical wiring, the worse the connection speed will be. Also, depending on the electrical setup, it may not even work in your specific application. Buy locally so you can return if it doesn't meet your needs.

[Think]

I do a lot of online gaming so I'm trying to avoid going wireless if at all possible. My townhouse is pretty new (built within the last 2 years) so I'm guessing my wiring can't be too bad. If I went with the powerline and my wiring doesn't suck, would I have any issues gaming or downloading torrents through it?

[Ricky]

If your place is that new, I would check out the powerline stuff. FAR more reliable than 2.4GHz wireless in the right environment, and it'll have lower latency than wirelsss.

[Think]

Actually, I might just move the router and modem upstairs with my PC and do the powerline stuff downstairs for my XBox and Directv...

[Ricky]

That's probably the better idea

[TransNone13]

I do a lot of online gaming so I'm trying to avoid going wireless if at all possible. My townhouse is pretty new (built within the last 2 years) so I'm guessing my wiring can't be too bad. If I went with the powerline and my wiring doesn't suck, would I have any issues gaming or downloading torrents through it?


From a network engineer standpoint, there is no substitute for wired networking. Like mentioned above, put your least important networked devices on wireless or ethernet over powerline.

[rforsythe]

Powerline wiring has its own issues. There is no substitute for CAT5/e ethernet, however wireless isn't the devil either. A good access point is step 1, also 5GHz bands are useful as well. Latency isn't a big issue if step 1 is accounted for.

[TurboGizzmo]

You could fish the walls? I ran cat5 because i trust the wire.....I fished the wire to the old antenna plates my old house has.

[Think]

You could fish the walls? I ran cat5 because i trust the wire.....I fished the wire to the old antenna plates my old house has.
I wouldn't know the first thing about how to go about doing that.

[TransNone13]

Technically you should only do this with plenum, and I would use STP. Both are sort of pricey.

[Think]

So I got the powerline adapter kit. But riddle me this. I was hooking up everything upstairs, and when I plugged the modem in there was no connection, but when I went back downstairs there was a connection. I'm thinking my cable hookup upstairs is fubar but I can still watch TV. Anyone know what the issue is?

I'm actually using the powerline adapter kit right now but it seems noticeably slower than being hooked right in so I still would like to have the modem and router upstairs in my room.

Edit: Actually not that noticeably slower, but still doesn't feel like it used to.

[TransNone13]

So I got the powerline adapter kit. But riddle me this. I was hooking up everything upstairs, and when I plugged the modem in there was no connection, but when I went back downstairs there was a connection. I'm thinking my cable hookup upstairs is fubar but I can still watch TV. Anyone know what the issue is?

I'm actually using the powerline adapter kit right now but it seems noticeably slower than being hooked right in so I still would like to have the modem and router upstairs in my room.

Edit: Actually not that noticeably slower, but still doesn't feel like it used to.

Personally? AP downstairs with XBOX and TV and CAT5 upstairs with 'puter. You could compound the complexity by getting a COAX over power adapter set lol. (don't do that please)

[Think]

Personally? AP downstairs with XBOX and TV and CAT5 upstairs with 'puter. You could compound the complexity by getting a COAX over power adapter set lol. (don't do that please)
Yeah, but my cable jack in my room isn't working with the internet for some reason so I can't get the modem to work upstairs.

[TransNone13]

Yeah, but my cable jack in my room isn't working with the internet for some reason so I can't get the modem to work upstairs.


Who is your cable provider? I'd say they are responsible for ensuring access to your services. They should have performed signal tests prior to installing anything.

[King Nothing]

I know how to get wire where it needs to go but I ain't spillin' my secrets.

[TransNone13]

I know how to get wire where it needs to go but I ain't spillin' my secrets.


Lol, TBH man it's easy to run a cable and make it look professional. Just get wall cable tacks and run it along the baseboards.

[Zach929rr]

And whats the problem with neatly routing 3 50ft lengths of cat5?

[Ricky]

Comcast has filters on the line for where the cable modem is. You'd have to look at the Comcast box on the outside of the house.

[TransNone13]

Yeah, Cat5e is good up to 100m.