Ethernet Patch

  • Thread starter tlowr4
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tlowr4

tlowr4

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Heya all.

So here's the deal. I've got one modem. I've got two outlets (one in the lounge room, one in my bedroom) to connect the modem to. When I connect the modem to the bedroom outlet, I get seriously crappy speeds. 0.5Mbps is blitzing. When I connect it to the lounge room, I get my normal, 7Mbps speed. I've got a computer in my room which needs to stay there, and can only take an ethernet connection. I've got a MacBook Pro which uses WiFi (which I mainly use).

My delema is I need a connection to the PC, while still having the modem in the lounge room. The obvious answer would to take the computer out to the lounge room, but I cannot do this as space is limited, and mum would be annoyed if a computer sat there all day, downloading files, and streaming (got a big justin.tv stream day planned on the 9th of April).

What I was thinking, is if I could somehow patch my Mac to accept the WiFi signal, and output it through the Ethernet port. Essentially an external WiFi card.

Any and all help is appreciated. Cheers.
 
I know you can do that on a PC through Home network setup.

Look on a mac forum for best answers.
 
^^ Uhh, yeah, kinda. Considering the 9th isn't that far away, and I've got more computers which need the same thing done (updates, installs etc)

And thanks Grayfox, I'll have a squiz. I couldn't find anything through extensive google searching, but I'll post a topic there and see if anything pops up.

Any and all help here is still appreciated.
 
Wait, you have a modem but no router?

If so, how do you get your laptop to get Wi-Fi signal from a modem, which last time I looked, doesn't have any Wi-Fi capability?

I am assuming you mean that the modem is inside a router that you were given by the phone company to access the internet. So you are connecting by a router to get the Wi-Fi.

So, just get a super long ethernet cable and connect it to the router and the computer. Put the cable next to the skirting boards and hide them under the carpets (be careful of the sharp nails though). If you only got wooden floors, you can still tidily put them next to the skirting boards by using wire holders (plastic thing that has a nail on it).

It would be the simple thing to do.
 
yeah. i was trying to avoid having cables running everywhere, but it looks like I'm going to have to do like Submerged or bergauk said. However, does having longer cabling impact performance much? I've got slow internet as it is, and I was told that the length and quality of the ethernet cable strongly affects your download and upload speeds. And having a 70ft Ethernet cable....

I'm a newb as to powerline, does it get the same effects from length and poor quality cables as ethernet?
 
Tesla
Digital is digital, the cable doesn't make a difference.
Click to expand...

Cable can/does make a difference.

Ever tried watching digital TV on an RG59 cable?
It is not good.

You need RG6 for digital TV.

But only thing that I can think of the would cause a major speed loss in ethernet is crosstalk or some other kind of noise issue.
 
You could drill some holes in the ceiling and walls to reduce the cable length, if you really want to.

Although in the grand scheme of things, I wouldn't worry too much about signal loss. I have a 15 metre (50 foot) long cable and the network speed is still faster than Wi-Fi by a large margin. Ethernet, for the time being, will always be faster than Wi-Fi for most distances.

A forum in 2005(!) for the same question about signal degradation Kinda shows that you should not get a signal loss until you reach 100 (300 ft) metres mark (as that is the standard for CAT5 cabling). Although in that same forum there are people mentioning that they've got some to go 500 metres....
 
Submerged
Wait, you have a modem but no router?

If so, how do you get your laptop to get Wi-Fi signal from a modem, which last time I looked, doesn't have any Wi-Fi capability?

I am assuming you mean that the modem is inside a router that you were given by the phone company to access the internet. So you are connecting by a router to get the Wi-Fi.

So, just get a super long ethernet cable and connect it to the router and the computer. Put the cable next to the skirting boards and hide them under the carpets (be careful of the sharp nails though). If you only got wooden floors, you can still tidily put them next to the skirting boards by using wire holders (plastic thing that has a nail on it).

It would be the simple thing to do.
Click to expand...


Newer modems are 2 in 1 Router/Modems things. I have a Cisco one, it's garbage xD
 
Most Ethernet cables can go through a length of 100meters without signal loss(as long as it's not damaged in any physical way). That is in theory and I've never tested it before. Though it is a good rule to stand by. If you have a problem with Ethernet making a mess there is the Wireless Bridge you could do. Since I know your modem has a WIFI signal you could have a second wireless router to make itself a device in that wireless network and allow you to use it's four Ethernet ports for your desktop computers.

Edit: There is this too. You could do that but instead in step 3 select the Airport and in step 4 where you would use the Ethernet port.
 
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Seriously.. Get powerline. Use your houses already existing cabling as ethernet. It's a hell of a lot more simple than moving your computer out of your room, and it works across the whole house as long as there are outlets for you to plug the adapters into.


1. Plug Adapter into wall near modem/router combo.
2. Plug ethernet cable into modem/router and also into powerline adapter.
3. Powerline is magical.. So all you've got to do is plug the other adapter into your wall plug and plug another ethernet cable into it, and also into your computer.
4. ???
5. Profit!
 
Two words: Wireless Bridge

Connects to an existing WLAN and provides a wired ethernet interface which you can plug directly into a computer or into a switch.
 
Wow, so many great suggestions. The shared networking is what I was chasing, so it looks like I'll use that until I can get a Wireless Bridge or (preferably) a powerline setup.

How much would I be up for a WB or PL setup?
 
I've seen power line go for $50-$100 for a set of them. You also have to pay attention to the connection speed that they provide. There are some that do less than 100Mbps and you'd at least want a 100Mbps connection for a home network.
 
Grayfox
Cable can/does make a difference.

Ever tried watching digital TV on an RG59 cable?
It is not good.

You need RG6 for digital TV.

But only thing that I can think of the would cause a major speed loss in ethernet is crosstalk or some other kind of noise issue.
Click to expand...

What I was thinking was in purely digital cables, i.e USB/HDMI/ethernet cables (not too sure about that last one though) where the transmitted data cannot be improved in any way through the cable, and the only way bits can be lost is if the cable is poorly built.
 
Tesla
What I was thinking was in purely digital cables, i.e USB/HDMI/ethernet cables (not too sure about that last one though) where the transmitted data cannot be improved in any way through the cable, and the only way bits can be lost is if the cable is poorly built.
Click to expand...

Cheap HDMI cables are not as good as ones that are more pricy(i have seen the difference).

Noise plays a bit part this is why they are twisted paired to reduce crosstalk from each other.
 
Well that's a build issue then. Or you were thinking you were seeing an improvement because it was more expensive.
 
Picture.

It was quite visible, cheaper ones picture was a little more blurry.
And when bent slightly(like you normally would have from player to TV) the picture got distorted.

Cheap copper inside it?

Who knows.
 
I use cheap HDMI cables and the picture is fine. No distortions and the image is not blurred. My PS3 and my PC deal just fine with cheap HDMI cables. The cable box seems to get fuzzy colors over the image but that may be due to a bad connected ground on the coax TV cable(I seen this before on a radioshack coax cable that was connected to the TV upstairs. It was just that the connector was not connected to ground that made SD channel looking like fuzzy crap and HD channels looking bad with some fuzz).
 
Cheapness doesn't affect quality, just like price doesn't ensure quality.

How did we even manage to get onto this topic in the first place?



I will have to semi-agree with Nick on the powerline adapters. 100Mbps should be all you'll need as long as you aren't actually using them as full on ethernet adapters for multiple devices. If its for single device, non network-storage/mass data transfer you'll be fine with them.
 
Grayfox
Picture.

It was quite visible, cheaper ones picture was a little more blurry.
And when bent slightly(like you normally would have from player to TV) the picture got distorted.

Cheap copper inside it?

Who knows.
Click to expand...

Just a defective cable. Not cheap copper :lol:

Digital is going to work or it isn't. As for distances making a difference, maybe if you are running hundreds of feet of it without a repeater. I've got a 70 foot Ethernet cable I've used with no issue or speed loss, and it was a beat on older one.

Honestly, a long-ass power Ethernet cable is certainly going to be faster and more stable than putting digital data through your homes power system, where there is a lot more competition for transmission. Not to mention how it is routed through the house will make a difference.
 
Also a trick to making a cable's signal stronger over a distance is to put it in a very loose knot. Apparently its magnetic fields sort of fixes the degradation. No personal experience but a college instructor talked about it in class before.
 
Azuremen
...

Honestly, a long-ass power Ethernet cable is certainly going to be faster and more stable than putting digital data through your homes power system, where there is a lot more competition for transmission. Not to mention how it is routed through the house will make a difference.
Click to expand...

This is what I was thinking. I have to be very savvy with getting the most out of it as I can, as I only get a 7Mbps down, and 0.7Mbps up. Which is crappy to say the least. I think for the stream I'll use a long ass Ethernet cable, and purchase a powerline set later for when I'm playing with my computer builds and such, where optimum performance isn't that big of an issue.


@Eric Thanks, I'll give that a go. :).
 
tlowr4
I only get a 7Mbps down, and 0.7Mbps up. Which is crappy to say the least.
Click to expand...
Odd. I have the same connection and 99.9% of the time, it's more than adequate. If I'm able to surf on my phone while my wife is on the laptop and the kids are streaming Netflix on the TV, I'm happy. Any more speed (and therefore money) isn't necessary for me, and dare I say most.
 

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