extending a phone/data network

[Steve Last]

Problem for network experts......

I'm trying to get the office connected in a stone house with multiple levels and thick walls. I have phone socket, broadband modem and wifi router in kitchen. 

I find the wireless voice phone is no good in the office (there is enough signal to get a dial and ring tone but reception is useless).

I have

thouhgt about using the "mains wiring" network technique such as NetGear's Powerline but their engineer didn't think it would work - he says it needs to operate

"from the same fuse box" and in his own house will e.g. work on 2

distant power points but not 2 adjacent ones as they are not the same fuse

circuit. In essence it seems to connect via a ring main and the French house is

set up not only with 3 phase but of course they are all separate spurs from the C/B box.

2) a "wifi booster" in an intermediate room but I have had varying reports of reliability and that doesn't solve the phone problem.

So now I am wondering about running cables round the outside which would be

about 20 metres. Phone extension cable would probably not be a problem

but I am not sure about viability or availability of a network cable of that length from the router. Alternatively maybe I could plug a

second router into an extension socket, but presumably I'd then need

to get a second modem from Free.fr as well?   Any ideas from network experts? Is there any way to make it work with just an

extension phone line?

Steve

[Pierre ZFP]

If it's only 20 metres extension then no problem.  You can extend up to around 50 metres (forget the exact distance) with no appreciable loss.  You do need good quality CAT 5 cable (very important that it's CAT 5, or even CAT 6 but no real advantage there).  The reason being that the wires are individually wound so no 2 leads are next to each other for consecutive turns thus reducing drop-out and package clashing.  It's not very expensive and may be cheaper to buy a 50 or 100 metre drum than a length (or look around for a deal on a made up lead)

Since the cable has 6 cores you will have at least 2 spare for the telephone in the same cable rather than running extra.

See here for connecting the plugs

http://computernetworking.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_to_wire_a_rj45_ethernet_plug

 

[Pierre ZFP]

Here we are a made up 20 metre cable for a tenner

http://www.autdirect.co.uk/acatalog/Network_Cables.html

I can personally recommend these people as I've used them often

 

[Pierre ZFP]

I just checked out their postage and it's a bit excessive.

Tell you what, by complete chance I will be passing there this Saturday. 

Please email me if I can get a cable for you and bung it in the post in France.

[Simon]

They sell Cat5 in rolls in Leroy Merlin if there is one near you.  You can run this up to 100m without problem and there are 4 pairs of wires to use, though the network will require 2 of these pairs.  Cat5 is OK for speeds up to 100mb, but Cat5e or Cat6 will give you 1gb.

You will have to put the cable in conduit to run it outside as it is not waterproof.

Regards

Simon

[Steve Last]

Pierre,

you are a true gent! Many thanks for that offer, and the suggestion of being able to have both phone and internet in the one cable is very helpful as I have to thread it behind a huge and very prickly rambling rose! However, that raises one other small question, pardon my ignorance but I haven't played around wih this stuff at all before. If the cable already has the plugs on the end of it, how can I get at the 2 "spare" one for use with the phone?  Just take the insulation off a few inches back and cut the "unnecessary" ones free I guess?

Cheers, Steve

PS how do you want me to pay you for the cable if you get it and mail to my French address - do you have Paypal or something, or I can send you a e-bank transfer or cheque?

[Steve Last]

Thanks Simon, good tip.