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Options for Domestic Wired Networking / Broadband

Black Hole

Black Hole

May contain traces of nut
OK, so we know about HomePlugs (powerline networking - and I have to say they're just about OK and definitely not great), and obviously there's cabling CAT5 everywhere for 100 or 1000baseT, but is anybody familiar with any alternative solutions?

How about, for example, distributing networking over the same coax as the TV signal? That would save some re-plumbing (pardon the mixed metaphor)!
 
10Base2 looks remarkably like the network connections we had with a Vax system back in the late 80s. Great for causing havoc when you don't terminate the cable properly.
 
Black Hole said:
How about, for example, distributing networking over the same coax as the TV signal? That would save some re-plumbing (pardon the mixed metaphor)!
Click to expand...
I wouldn't have thought the aerial cable in many homes goes near enough to a network connection to make that any more convenient than running another cable. Might move 'the mess' to a less sensitive area I suppose.
 
Black Hole said:
OK, so we know about HomePlugs (powerline networking - and I have to say they're just about OK and definitely not great),
Click to expand...
Have you considered the option of trying a different brand of Homeplug adapters? I seem to recollect you use Devolo adapters; I used to consider them the best brand but I have recently revised my opinion after some problems and an awful problem with their Cockpit software which really screwed up my Windows 10 computer (and it was demonstrably Devolo Cockpit because having reinstalled Windows 10 and then incrementally installed other software, the problem returned when Cockpit was installed and went again when it was uninstalled). I recently used TP-Link adaptors in my step daughters house with really thick stone walls and six months in they are working well but I haven't done a thorough evaluation of what is on the market.
 
Indeed, Devolo. I'm having pipe-ideas about updating all the service systems (apart from my benefit, it should also add value / saleability to the house... although the lack of high-speed Internet is a problem at the moment!).
 
If you only need to provide part of your network across WiFi, look at a media bridge.
My son is at Uni and needed to get a wired connection for his PlayStation (priorities!)
I already had an ASUS RP-AC52, which I used as WiFi in, then a cabled outlet (only 100mb on this model).
It has worked for 2 years pretty reliably.

I rate the ASUS stuff - their documentation isn’t great though.

I have a RT-AC1200G+ back at home, this will also bridge.

There’s another ASUS the RP-AC68U, looks great for bridging but I’ve never had my hands on one.

I have also used a Fritz 7890 that is a very versatile router. I stuck with the ASUS in the end as the signal was a bit weaker - but if you look around (particularly on German sites) there’s facilities to add up to 9db antennas to it.
It’s a very popular router in Germany, and really nice to configure.
If you go for one of these beware the early models of the 7890 haven’t got the external antenna sockets, and you have to drill into the case, as long as you are handy you’ll be ok.
 
Black Hole said:
What's that when it's at home?
Click to expand...
As Wallace says it's Fibre To The Premises (in this case FTTHome), I'm pretty sure it is a PON (Passive Optical Network), where a single fibre is split (spliced) into 32 branches, this means everyone gets the same downstream data (decrypted at the premises and upstream is TDMed (Time Division Multiplexed). None of the 12 optical ports in the picture are in use yet, but when they are a fibre replaces the copper and is dropped directly into your house
 
Barkychoc said:
If you only need to provide part of your network across WiFi, look at a media bridge.
My son is at Uni and needed to get a wired connection for his PlayStation (priorities!)
I already had an ASUS RP-AC52, which I used as WiFi in, then a cabled outlet (only 100mb on this model).
It has worked for 2 years pretty reliably.

I rate the ASUS stuff - their documentation isn’t great though.

I have a RT-AC1200G+ back at home, this will also bridge.

There’s another ASUS the RP-AC68U, looks great for bridging but I’ve never had my hands on one.

I have also used a Fritz 7890 that is a very versatile router. I stuck with the ASUS in the end as the signal was a bit weaker - but if you look around (particularly on German sites) there’s facilities to add up to 9db antennas to it.
It’s a very popular router in Germany, and really nice to configure.
If you go for one of these beware the early models of the 7890 haven’t got the external antenna sockets, and you have to drill into the case, as long as you are handy you’ll be ok.
Click to expand...
I have several TP-Link WiFi-Ethernet adapters for when I need to connect kit that has no built-in WiFi, but I regard that as only a stop-gap measure. All wireless links (or even powerline) are subject to changing local conditions (more neighbours using more WiFi etc), and contribute to the local conditions.
 
Ezra Pound said:
As Wallace says it's Fibre To The Premises (in this case FTTHome), I'm pretty sure it is a PON (Passive Optical Network), where a single fibre is split (spliced) into 32 branches, this means everyone gets the same downstream data (decrypted at the premises and upstream is TDMed (Time Division Multiplexed. None of the 12 optical ports in the picture are in use yet, but when they are a fibre replaces the copper and is dropped directly into your house
Click to expand...
:eek:

TBH I'd be happy with fibre to cabinet, but it don't look like getting here any time soon! It's not so much the 3Mbps (1.2km to the exchange, and I suspect a crap line to boot) that annoys me as the drop-outs. I've started to think about Virgin...
 
Black Hole said:
It's not so much the 3Mbps (1.2km to the exchange, and I suspect a crap line to boot)
Click to expand...
Jaw drops. What in the world are your SNR margin and line loss figures? You should get at least 4 times the speed on that length line.
 
Try a single cable across the top of the skirting board. White cable, white skirting. A small blob of glue gun, pull it tight and stick it down. Keep some tension up till it sets. I have virgin 350mb which works very well most of the time.
 
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