Thetownend.com

Righto, here is the situation.

I need to connect my work issue laptop to my router via a good old standard ethernet cable. My broadband router is located in my lounge and I do not want an ethernet cable trailing across the lounge floor for several compelling reasons.

How can I get a wired internet connection in my office upstairs without:-

1. Paying those robbing cunts at BT to install a dedicated phone line upstairs and relocating my broadband router.

2. Trailing a phone line extension from the existing BT socket, over the lounge floor (wooden btw) and up the stairs.

It needs to be a broadband connection btw. Over to you geeks......

TIA.

Homeplugs?

Essentially ethernet by electricity cable. You'd need to have spare power sockets near each location, and strip power blocks (4-way, 6 way) may not be suitable. Also quite pricey.

Not recommending these, and they may not be right for you anyway, but this gives an idea of what I mean

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Max-Value-200Mbps-Home-Double/dp/B001AIKBB4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1259006252&sr=8-2

As Mr batch says, they are pretty reliable and fairly cheap really £31 each...you will need 2, one near the router and one for the extention, they work accross multi ring mains so thats not a problem.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/110264

Not used them myself. Just note the different speed (throughput) ratings and do your research!

What about a second wireless router?  That connects to the first one, not looked if it will work.  Just an idea?

Ahh, a bridge. Now I know.

This looks a good deal to me.....

http://www.amazon.co.uk/D-Link-DHP-303-Powerline-200Mbps-Ethernet/dp/B0027DJ770/ref=reg_hu-wl_item-added

particularly given the one jj posted is only 14mbps as opposed to 200Mbps.

Indeedy, speeds are variable dependant on the quality of the wiring and how many things you have plugged in and overall power draw, I have installed two, one was a 200mbps and one was the one I put up and they both had very similar throughput, @ 12mbps - 15mbps, both on wiring well over 5 years old though.

Suck it and see mate, I would go for the faster throughput ones just in case your wiring is in good condition.

£65 for 200mbps aint bad at all.

Except you'll be limited by the speed of the router and broadband connection, both of which are highly unlikely to be anywhere near 200mbps.

Frankly, if the wiring in my house is like everything else, it'll be a crock of shit......

Speed isn't really that important in some respects, just getting connectivity so I can work at home in a quiet room, especially seeing as I'm about to take 5 weeks out of the office.

Most routers at the moment run at 54mbps and broadband approx 1/10th of that. But for future proofing then I would get the 200mbps.

I had some of the Netgear ones. They lasted a year then one died. Read the reviews on Amazon and you'll see that this is a common problem. I replaced them with the cheap Home Plug. They get excellent reviews on Amazon and have done me well so far.

You could try a bridge, or an extender, but I have read varying reports on them. Furthermore, I kept finding that my wireless stuff suffered interference from various other electrical items.

Anyway, Home Plug all the way for me.

One final question - do those Home Plugs require a driver of some sorts to be installed on the computer you wish to connect? If so, thats a non-starter as my work laptop is so closely controlled configuration wise.

True, but if you start streaming/copying between local devices then extra speed might be useful. Though if the wiring is cackmando then I guess 200mbps is somewhat fanciful.

Not sure on drivers pumbaa. I'd assume you'd 'pair' them and that would be it (i.e. no driver) but don't know.

Deluded

 ;) :D

No they don't. I have been using them at home for a couple of years and they are great. I live in a 3 story house and the wireless is very tempremental.

I don't know what brand they are as I got them free off BT when they bodged the installation of a new phone line into our old house.

Simple plug and play. The ones that Batch advertised at the top of the thread are the ones to go for. Read the reviews against them.

Agree with Batch on this - I have 4 of these working at home really well.  We have a 3 story house and wireless is a bit shit - but these work so well I can stream HD movie content to my PS3 no problem at all.

The kids both have PC's and I use another 2 to connect their PC's to the t'internet

I also have 2 of the Netgear 200 jobbies - stay clear of these !!  The bandwith you get is absolutely shite compared to the cheaper ones.  The difference is about ten times when I ran a test using exactly the same plug points !

You also need no drivers at all - they come with a little application but this is basically to scan the things and tell you what speed you are getting......

One other thing - try to plug directly into mains - not through an extension block - this slows the signal dramatically - and if they are the "surge protect" models then often the signal doesn't get through at all.....

Hope that helps :-)

Or you could pay me to install a proper cat6 (throughput up to 1gb) cable and ends like this:

[url width=200 height=200]http://www.solentcables.co.uk/acatalog/5052209015380-1.jpg[/url]

pm me if interested.

What John said. Materials will be cheaper, just the potential mess of routing the cables. But if you've got liftable floorboards it should be a piece of piss.

I wouldn't want to quote without seeing the job but I imagine I could do it for around £50.

What about a 3 story house with laminate floors throughout - about 10 points needed - no cables showing as the missus will poo poo it !!!

I can do it, but it would cost you!

Up the walls. Easy.

You must have a lot of compter gear