Thread: Long Ethernet cable?

Yes - ethernet cable is "patch cable".

Not hugely an expert in cabling, but I know that there are 2 grades of ethernet (probably more) with Cat 5 and Cat 5e. I re-did my office to Gigabit routers and had to throw away the Cat 5 and upgrade to Cat 5e.

You'd hardly think an extra 20' of analogue cable would stop you getting full speed though, after all it has probably come a few Kms on the exact same cable.

huh ?

download speeds are governed more by your net connect speed and that is 1.5mb download and 256k upload.

any ethernet from the past 20 years or so is at least 10mb so is way more capable than your net connect speed.

the phone cable WILL have an influence if it is rolled up or kinked or frayed etc etc etc.

what download speed are you getting when you down load a file from your isp's file area ?

Ahem, 'scuse me?

The tech said more than 2m of phone wire will cause significant latency?

Sorry, but the guy's a fool. Consider how far you are from the nearest exchange, that will be a better measure of how good your speeds will be. Also, any problems between the exchange and your router will have a much greater influence.

That fact that you are using an extension before the router could introduce noise, but so could a poor connection in the socket itself.

Now, if we were talking SCSI or IPX/SPX, then those short lengths will have a marked effect.

I would suggest just running a new phone line from the jack point to another jack point where the computer is, then you will at least have nicely clipped and strong connections, rather than a phone extension plug.

Alan

The POWER of AULRO is amazing

4 mins after talking to "the Tech" I post here,,
2 mins later
BINGO!
tested on several mirrors,, all saying around 150kbps.

(I will keep my world renown cynacism to myself )


Thank you linesmen,,
Thank you ballgirls,,

Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

sound feasable??

Yes, maybe!

Ethernet can be up to 100m long without issues.

However, an internal extension of the telephone cable can affect the ADSL speeds as it effectively extends your distance from the exchange. Usually a few metres won't matter compared to the several thousand metres outside, but if there are other line problems, of if the telephone wire in your house is a bit old, not of good quality, has poor connections, or runs near something causing interference, then it can make a difference - especially if you're at or near the distance limits for the service you're trying to get to begin with.

I do hope the tech made this suggestion only after looking at your line losses and SNR though, and not as a first guess at troubleshooting?

A few bad assumptions guys!

First..how do you know what the line from the exchange is? Most civilized areas are now optic fibre from the exchange to the distribution terminal (whatever they call those posts on the nature strip) in you area. Copper from there to your house.
Second...the issue is less 'the type of wire' and more 'where you route it'

ethernet is better than phone cable...technically the techie's right (giving you a quick and easy option) but the best solution would be a new phone point next to the computer.

Danny

The easiest thing to troubleshoot problems with adsl is to remove all extension phone lines, and disconnect all but the primary phone, and install a central splitter rather than a series of splitters at each handset/device.

I found with adsl2 that it made a significant difference when I unplugged a decade of cheapo extension cords, and disconnected everything after the box on the wall.

One way to look at it is that adsl is working right at the edges of its limits, ethernet has a huge amount of overhead before you run into noise problems. It's not so much the cable itself, so much as the method of transportation.

Or, adsl is more prone to interference noise on the line, and extension cords tend to get twisted and crushed, ethernet is usually attached to the wall or run between two pieces of hardware that never get moved.

Simon

How old is the phone ext Pedro and how many times have you moved it about...?

Tightness of curve in a cable and duration in that position is the real world issue there.

The tech's suggestion is valid.
Our other esteemed colleges also have good points.

When trouble shooting a network issue swapping cables is bottom up trouble shooting. He/she is eliminating the variables.

New better cable reduces the chance it is your cable that is effecting performance. Short cable to the modem, modem will then boost the signal to your PC.

Jay