Cost for Ethernet through house?

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Phexx

415 posts

Ultimate Geek

#94468 12-Dec-2011 14:26

Hi, I am currently using a wireless connection for the internet at the moment. Unfortunaly, it is the longest possible distance from the router to my adapter. This means that the connection is both slow, and VERY unreliable (random disconnects).

I am trying to persuade the house owner (my dad) to wire ethernet to my room. This is because I am going to be adding in a new gaming PC soon, another console (additional to my current 360) and hopefully a server. This means that I would need use a switch to connect them all together, and I would need good LAN speed. Obviously this means a wired connection is needed.

So, how much (very appox) would it cost to get an electricition to wire the cable. Please not that there is already phone lines through out the house whcih I don't use. I understand that the cost is extremly varible, however, I would like a vaige idea before I try to get a sparky round.

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8315 posts

Uber Geek

#556980 12-Dec-2011 14:35

Some more details about the design of the house, would allow a better estimate of what the cost might be,

But given it is a house, the cheapest way of getting a better signal to you is to find a power point mid way between you and the router and bung in a repeater/extender,

Its gonna be cheaper than any wiring job an electrician will do for you, and your biggest limitation to speed is probably you ADSL connection anyway,

Zeon

3916 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#556990 12-Dec-2011 14:45

Can you give us some details about your house like can you crawl under the floor or can you get inside the roof space? is it a two story house and if so where is your room compared to your wiring closet?

If you have enough crawlspace you could quite easily do the wiring yourself. If you do a proper star wiring to every room and take it all back to a central wiring place(e.g. the garage is popular in new home builds) you could add to the value of the house and be ready too for when fibre comes.

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Phexx

415 posts

Ultimate Geek

#557012 12-Dec-2011 15:06

Sorry, completley forgot about the details.

The loft has got space in it, but that's about it, no other crawl space. I believe there is insulation in most of the walls.

A wireless access point closer on the ground floor would probably help. What would be my options in terms of connecting a switch to the network?

Not only was speed an issue, but reliability as well, the connection was intimant and would connect/disconnect regulary.

Phexx

415 posts

Ultimate Geek

#557050 12-Dec-2011 16:03

I think using a power line ethernet adapter downstairs, to connect an access point, would help me. The only issue I am having is that I am unsure of how to connect a switch to the access point, wirelessly.

chevrolux

4962 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#557077 12-Dec-2011 16:42

a set of these will do it. Plug one end by your router and one up in your room. Then you can plug a switch in up in your room. Works a treat. running cables in a multi story houses is not fun and gets costly lol.

Hammerer

2476 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#557114 12-Dec-2011 17:35

I agree, powerline adaptors are a good solution - I use Ethernet, WIFI and powerline at home. They come in a range of speeds and features, some with a built in switch. They offer a lot of long-term flexibility without having to share bandwidth as WIFI does.

There are issues to be aware of:

Most (but not the Netcomm ones referred to above) require an unfiltered line, that means no surge suppressor on the same power point.
Power disturbances will affect your connection, more so if the power cable runs are over a long distance so check the specs for distance. Having said that, I've run older powerline adaptors at their maximum specified distance and usually had no problem.
They are power devices so they can be damaged. Our older ones have gradually died, probably due to lack of ventilation (my kids would throw stuff on top of them).

Phexx

415 posts

Ultimate Geek

#557131 12-Dec-2011 18:12

Ethernet powerline would be a good option however, I believe our house uses two circuits which I have read will stop the powerline from working.

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Phexx

415 posts

Ultimate Geek

#557132 12-Dec-2011 18:12

Ethernet powerline would be a good option however, I believe our house uses two circuits which I have read will stop the powerline from working.

Hammerer

2476 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#557148 12-Dec-2011 18:57

Phexx: Ethernet powerline would be a good option however, I believe our house uses two circuits which I have read will stop the powerline from working.

Powerline/Homeplug will work as long as the adapters are connected on the same circuit but, as you say, they won't work to connect different circuits.

Mattv

242 posts

Master Geek

#557163 12-Dec-2011 19:24

Assuming the powerline way is a viable option for you, here might be a good kit for you - has the switch built in already. I use one myself and get reasonable results with it. Much better than wireless anyway.

Phexx

415 posts

Ultimate Geek

#557168 12-Dec-2011 19:30

Power would be the most ideal solution however, the circuits within the house stop the of the powerline. I would have probably bought that kit you showed if it would have worked.

Does anyone know how I could connect a switch to a wireless network?

Phexx

415 posts

Ultimate Geek

#557169 12-Dec-2011 19:30

webwat

2036 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#557244 12-Dec-2011 23:20

Phexx: Power would be the most ideal solution however, the circuits within the house stop the of the powerline. I would have probably bought that kit you showed if it would have worked.

Does anyone know how I could connect a switch to a wireless network?

You can use a wifi range extender in your room, it has an output to connect the ethernet switch. Sounds like you need another one midway through the house too just to get a reliable wifi signal, and other family members could plug in a computer there too. I wouldn't expect much performance for gaming with two hops on 2.4GHz wireless though, so if you can't get LAN cable to your floor then perhaps another choice is to import a couple of "HomePNA" ethernet adapters so you can get LAN across your phone wiring. This is the only one I could find on google (http://www.sendtek.com/pet_320.htm) but maybe the following link has something useful as well, if you can a device with a local distributor. You probably want the phoneline version unless you have a coax outlet in your room too.

http://www.homepna.org/products/member_products/

Time to find a new industry!

DonGould

3892 posts

Uber Geek

#557297 13-Dec-2011 09:20

Phexx: Hi, I am currently using a wireless connection for the internet at the moment. Unfortunaly, it is the longest possible distance from the router to my adapter. This means that the connection is both slow, and VERY unreliable (random disconnects).

I am trying to persuade the house owner (my dad) to wire ethernet to my room. This is because I am going to be adding in a new gaming PC soon, another console (additional to my current 360) and hopefully a server. This means that I would need use a switch to connect them all together, and I would need good LAN speed. Obviously this means a wired connection is needed.

So, how much (very appox) would it cost to get an electricition to wire the cable. Please not that there is already phone lines through out the house whcih I don't use. I understand that the cost is extremly varible, however, I would like a vaige idea before I try to get a sparky round.

Ok to come back to the original question.

Had you asked "I need some new shoes, a shirt and jeans" then you would well understand if we flamed you for not posting your foot size, neck size, shirt size, leg length and waist measurement.

So what do you need...?

Sockets - ~$10 each depending on what you get, can be as much as $50 each.
Wire - ~$1/m internal or $2/m external.
Punch down tool - ~$30
Test tool for testing the completed wire ~$100

Labour - ~$75/hour.

How long will it take to install? Sorry, can't help you with that one at all. You've told us nothing about your house. You need to publish a floor plan and take a range of photos to tell us where this cable is going to start and finish and how it's going to get there.

You have three choices for the cable: Under the floor and then up, though the roof and then down the wall, or outside, around the house and back in side (hence why the external cable price).

If you get someone to do this job then you're not going to need tools and test gear. If you choose to do it yourself then you'll learn something and have a useful skill. You can buy tools then sell them on TradeMe when you're done so the next person can do this, or you can keep your tools and have tools to help someone next time.

My dad fits all his own data cables him self.

We take lots of photos, plan the job then just install it.

HTH

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Phexx

415 posts

Ultimate Geek

#557314 13-Dec-2011 09:57

As you can see by my second post, I understood that I needed ti post details. I do apologize for the lack of information. When I get home tonight I will try to get you some more information about the layout - if this will help you.

At the moment, I think we will get someone in to do the job. Neither of us have professional experience or tools and the job could be complicated as there is little room to work with.

The other thing is, when we moved into this house 6 months ago, an Ethernet cable went into our rooms (a cable, not a socket) but got removed by the previous owners just before we moved in. However, I have no knowledge of the layout of the cable and where it went. I an hoping a pro can find our if the status of that cable.

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