Gite complex - Internet access distribution via Cat 5 cable?

[Housesitters]

Hi.

We are currently looking after a Gite complex near Tours for some French owners. They currently have ADSL Internet using an Orange Live Box in thier main house and want to distribute it to their Gites. However, due to the thiickness of the walls, it has a very limited range and does not feed the Gites.

The Live box has two Ethernet ports (red and yellow) The red one is currently used to supply their PC and the yellow port is free.

Does anyone know if it's possible to use Cat 5 cable from the Livebox and distibute this around the site maybe with some sort of hub? The longest cable would be about 100 metres.

I have tried connecting my Laptop to the free yellow port with a suitable cable (RJ45 Blinde Cat5 droit M/M) but my laptop shows "Unknown Network" when I do that.

I was hoping that the Laptop would just see the Internet via the RJ45 cable and all I would need is the Livebox code or similar, but it appears not. I think I may have to install the Orange Livebox s/ware to my Laptop, which would not be very user friendly for clients.

Anyone tried this or know how to do this for more than one connection via Cat 5 cable?

All thoughts appreciated.

One last thought, I have heard of aerial boosters. Anyone tried or heard of one?

TIA.

[AnOther]

I think the orange port on the livebox may be for something else but what you want to do is very simple.

Get a multiway hub with at least as many ports as required to feed the Gites and your own machine (sometimes called a switch), plug that into the livebox red socket then plug all your CAT5 cables and your own machine into the hub - voila.

Antenna boosters can be tricky to set up and can often produce limited or unreliable performance so I would regard that as the option of last resort.

Have you thought about doing it with mains ethernet adapters ?

EDIT: Found this to do with the ethernet ports so looks like you can use both for computers.

Red/Yellow Ethernet Ports

To connect computers and/or videogame consoles to the Livebox using an

Ethernet (RJ-45) cable. The yellow port in particular is used for

recovering the Livebox's firmware if it breaks, although it can also be

used to simply connect a 2nd PC to the Livebox with a wire. If more

than 2 PCs need a wired connection, a "switch" hub can be connected to

either of these ports to provide additional connections.

[Housesitters]

Hi. Thanks for the very quick reply. I did try connecting my Laptop to the Yellow port using a RJ-45 cable and my Laptop said "Unknown Network" so gave up

I thought that I might be able to use a "switch" with the Red port and distributing, but am not sure if each visiting Guest might have to install Livebox software in order to access the Internet?

Will try connecting my Laptop direct to the Red port and see if it works, as I have not loaded any Orange software to it yet.

I have some spare "switches" (hubs) back at home in the UK, but have yet to see any here near Tours. Do they sell them in the PC section of any Supermarkets or will I have to go to a PC shop?

Regards

[AnOther]

You should not need to load any software and I would have expected it to just work but if it needs some configuration I'm sure one of the Livebox experts can advise on what you may need to do to do.

[Housesitters]

I have connected my Laptop to the Live box via the red RJ-45 port and it connected to the Internet with no probs. No software loaded either. By the way, I am running Vista.

So, as you say, hopefully it's a case of getting a hub and associated cables and sockets. Will post my results...

Right then, where's a decent PC shop in Tours?

[Danny]

[quote user="Housesitters"]I have connected my Laptop to the Live box via the red RJ-45 port and it connected to the Internet with no probs. No software loaded either. By the way, I am running Vista. So, as you say, hopefully it's a case of getting a hub and associated cables and sockets. Will post my results... Right then, where's a decent PC shop in Tours?[/quote]

Just for info, the other RJ 45 (yellow) ethernet port on the livebox is normally set for the TV service.  If it is not however used for tv, it is easy to go into the livebox settings and change the port to be used as another ethernet port.

instructions here: http://assistance.orange.fr/1313.php?dub=2&

On the computer that is connected to the livebox, Open your Internet browser and enter 192.168.1.1 in the address bar
this will open the livebox configuration pages. Put in admin and admin as the user and password boxes.
Go to 'TV par ADSL' and find the button 'modifier', then to deactivate it, select 'Désactiver' and click on it.
This will free up the yellow port for use by another computer if you are not using TV
you may have to save the settings after this by pressing 'OK' or 'enregisterer' depending on which model of livebox.

This will open one more port but you may still need a hub/switch if you want to connect lots of computers by cable.

Danny

[Anton Redman]

The above is exactly how mine is set up except that I only have a second PC rather than a network hub

[Housesitters]

Excellent replies. Thanks guys. Looks like as well as house sitting, this could be a bus mans holiday too!

Thanks again...superb!