Ethernet over phone wires?

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timmmay

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#72332 24-Nov-2010 13:33

I'm wanting to run ethernet cable from my office to my lounge, and as of yesterday I no longer use the home phone wiring. If I physically disconnect myself from the phone network could I somehow run ethernet over those wires without a bunch of work? I'd prefer to buy an adapter rather than make one.

Running cable is still an option, but I don't really like drilling holes in my house if I can avoid it.

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#408910 24-Nov-2010 14:11

not sure about phone lines, but you can definitely use your home wiring as a LAN. I do it at home and it works like a charm.

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/power-network.htm

kyhwana2

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#408911 24-Nov-2010 14:13

Depends on what grade cable it is. If it's standard cat3, you'll only get ~10mbit/s out of it. It's cat5(e)/6, then you're luck!

How many pairs do you have access to?

timmmay

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#408912 24-Nov-2010 14:13

I tried that, in my dodgy old house I only got 6Mbps.

If I can avoid drilling holes and running cat5 cable that'd be handy. I should probably get an electrician to do it, so I have nice panels in the wall rather than just drilling a big hole.

kyhwana2

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#408913 24-Nov-2010 14:17

If you don't want to pull cables, there's always wireless ;)
(The proper 5ghz 802.11N stuff is nice. The cheap "n" access points tend to only be 2.4ghz, though.)

timmmay

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#408923 24-Nov-2010 14:37

kyhwana2: Depends on what grade cable it is. If it's standard cat3, you'll only get ~10mbit/s out of it. It's cat5(e)/6, then you're luck!

How many pairs do you have access to?

I have no idea.

kyhwana2: If you don't want to pull cables, there's always wireless ;)

(The proper 5ghz 802.11N stuff is nice. The cheap "n" access points tend to only be 2.4ghz, though.)

I got a D-Link DIR-615(2.4GHz wireless N) and paired it with my Linksys WRT-54GL. I get about 10Mbps, which isn't quite enough.

I think i'd rather run a cable (which I already have) than pay $400 for two new wireless routers.

SteveON

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#408929 24-Nov-2010 14:46

Drilling holes shouldn't be a problem if you just replace the old cable with Cat5.

wellygary

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#408931 24-Nov-2010 14:53

SteveON: Drilling holes shouldn't be a problem if you just replace the old cable with Cat5.

If the phone wire is surplus, and depending on how long your runs are, and how tight the holes in the actual studs and nogs are, you could try to use the phone wire as you draw wire...

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timmmay

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#408939 24-Nov-2010 15:05

I have premade ethernet cable, so i'd need about a 12mm diameter hole. I don't even have a drill bit that big.

Would it be better to get an electrician in to run the cable to panels in the wall? Then I can just plug into the wall, and I can have smaller holes to fill.

ArcticSilver

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#408941 24-Nov-2010 15:08

If you want more than 10mbps then i would definitely run new cat5e or cat6 (pref) cable.

Running over old telephone wires will involve a lot of loss and in the end i doubt you'd beat you wireless at 10mbps.

timmmay

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#408945 24-Nov-2010 15:12

Ok cheers. I'll either drill huge holes, for the premade ethernet cables, or i'll find an electrican to put panels in and wire it up for me. That'll probably cost about the same as two wireless N routers, but it'll be more reliable. My 802.11 G routers are only managing 8Mbps, not near their theoretical limit, so I doubt wireless N would do heaps better.

byronpaul

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#408983 24-Nov-2010 16:14

Or go for VDSL. You can run this across your existing telephone copper & have normal voice running underneath the VDSL signalling i.e. voice & data on the same pair (just like ADSL). Expect data rates around 50Mbps for a short haul& (probably more if the copper is good quality, much more reliable than wireless & no configuration required - just 'plug & go'.

You will need a slave & master pair & I can recommend these ones as best value for money:
http://snappernet.co.nz/Shop/PID/145039EB/TYPE/details/ROOT/SNAPPER
http://snappernet.co.nz/Shop/PID/14503A70/TYPE/details/ROOT/SNAPPER

Talk to Hadley @ Nicegear - he'll be able to sort you out for these.

byron

NOTE: shameless plug - I am biased as I sell & support these products (not for nicegear mind you). I am recommending them for your situation as they are easy to install & reliable - def worth a look.

ArcticSilver

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#409009 24-Nov-2010 16:52

I think VDSL would be a more expensive solution and wouldn't deliver the quality of twisted pair.

Also you could get directional antenna's for your wireless which may boost your signal significantly.

timmmay

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#409048 24-Nov-2010 18:03

Thanks for the suggestion, but i'm not going to spend $500 on VDSL gear which may or may not give a good connection. I considered directional antennas, but I don't think signal strength is a big problem, it's about 30% which I would've though was ok.

I think drilling a hole and running a cable is still the best plan. I might have an electrican do it and put in nice plates on the wall, maybe, but I bet that'd be expensive. Holes are cheap.

richms

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#409118 24-Nov-2010 20:01

IME, if you have 2 pairs and its short, 100 meg works on the old cat-3 2 pair stuff.

You are not running it in proximity to other pairs to worry about cross talk, and there isnt that much stuff around in the freqs above what cat-3 will reject.

Hell, I had 100 meg running over an old piece of underground 4 wire phone cable for a while. That was dodgey but it wasnt 2 real pairs, just 4 wires surrounded by goo in a jacket. Was about 8m to the shed between 2 switches, could get about 7megabytes a sec copying over it which was enough till I put the weedeater thru it.

Richard rich.ms

timmmay

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#409228 24-Nov-2010 22:55

I really don't know how many pairs I have, and after my last experiment I really can't be bothered wiring up plugs myself. Can you get an adapter to plug ethernet into a phone line to do it for you? I'm happy to try it and see, especially if I can get stuff from dick smith and return it if it doesn't work.

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