# Home Office Internet



## jowwy (26 Jul 2021)

Has anybody wired up their home office for a wired internet connection, rather than wireless and do you find it more beneficial???

I get video drops now and again, due to everything being streamed in the house from ipads, to sky, to phones and now my works laptop and hoping it will help with these issues

TIA


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## fossyant (26 Jul 2021)

It's not difficult. You can get "flat" cat5 cables that run under carpets well - cable upstairs to a switch next to son's gaming pc, then a cable to daughter's gaming pc. We also have 3 mesh discs, one backed up via powerline ethernet - that's the one that get's the signal out to my shed from the garage.

You may be better off looking at a mesh system - less than £100.


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## jowwy (26 Jul 2021)

fossyant said:


> It's not difficult. You can get "flat" cat5 cables that run under carpets well - cable upstairs to a switch next to son's gaming pc, then a cable to daughter's gaming pc. We also have 3 mesh discs, one backed up via powerline ethernet - that's the one that get's the signal out to my shed from the garage.
> 
> You may be better off looking at a mesh system - less than £100.


just bought 30mtr flat cable......it will run from the router, up through external cable boxes, up under the floorboards and straight into the office.

cable cost me a tenner, i may do the same to the smart TV in the bedroom too


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## HMS_Dave (26 Jul 2021)

Wired connections are the way to go where possible, so you're on the right track. Most routers supplied by ISP's are poor. They're OK for light tasks but for HD streaming on multiple devices and say gaming and similar, wireless leads to more packet loss and increased latency. A good quality wireless router will set you back around £300+ to mitigate much of the negatives. So the most cost effective route is wired connections.


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## PeteXXX (26 Jul 2021)

As well as hard wiring the connection, can you split the router signal in two? 

Vodafone routers can do this (but not sure about other providers). This way, you can have a dedicated connection and everyone else can share the other channel.


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## jowwy (26 Jul 2021)

HMS_Dave said:


> Wired connections are the way to go where possible, so you're on the right track. Most routers supplied by ISP's are poor. They're OK for light tasks but for HD streaming on multiple devices and say gaming and similar, wireless leads to more packet loss and increased latency. A good quality wireless router will set you back around £300+ to mitigate much of the negatives. So the most cost effective route is wired connections.


yup especially as the wired route gives me a 1gb connection, compared to 70mb wireless


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## jowwy (26 Jul 2021)

PeteXXX said:


> As well as hard wiring the connection, can you split the router signal in two?
> 
> Vodafone routers can do this (but not sure about other providers). This way, you can have a dedicated connection and everyone else can share the other channel.


not a clue......


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## si_c (26 Jul 2021)

Two best options are to get a better wifi router - multi antenna units will be much better at multiple streams.

For a single point wired connection the best option I found was to use Ethernet over Powerline, no drop outs, stable connection and no wires around the house.


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## PeteXXX (26 Jul 2021)

jowwy said:


> not a clue......









Screenie from the Vodafone app.


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## jowwy (26 Jul 2021)

PeteXXX said:


> View attachment 601048
> 
> 
> Screenie from the Vodafone app.


i dont think the bt router has that......


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## jowwy (26 Jul 2021)

si_c said:


> Two best options are to get a better wifi router - multi antenna units will be much better at multiple streams.
> 
> For a single point wired connection the best option I found was to use Ethernet over Powerline, no drop outs, stable connection and no wires around the house.


i got ethernet over powerline in the office, will try that now


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## ColinJ (26 Jul 2021)

jowwy said:


> yup especially as the wired route gives me a 1gb connection, compared to 70mb wireless


Have you got a Gb connection to your house?  I know that some lucky people do, but most people are limited to about 70 Mb anyway so wifi isn't going to slow that down much unless there is a very poor signal.

(I am still on normal wired BB and only get about 16 Mb because my local green cabinet has not yet been connected to fibre.)


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## fossyant (26 Jul 2021)

jowwy said:


> i dont think the bt router has that......



Are you on the newer Smart hub - worth a phone call to get mesh thrown in - they will provide upto 3 mesh discs - worth it if the contract is nearly up.


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## slowmotion (26 Jul 2021)

Ethernet cable is *way* better than any wifi link. All you need is some Cat5e (or Cat 6) cable, a few RJ45 connectors and a cheapo crimp tool from eBay. You can get a cable tester for about a fiver too. It's a bit fiddly to crimp the connectors but there are loads of instructions on how to do it on Google and YouTube.


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## jowwy (26 Jul 2021)

ok - i have now connected ethernet over powerline adaptor and all is now better with the world........

so i have now have a 30mtr cat6 cable coming just in case i need to change something


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## jowwy (26 Jul 2021)

fossyant said:


> Are you on the newer Smart hub - worth a phone call to get mesh thrown in - they will provide upto 3 mesh discs - worth it if the contract is nearly up.


not sure what hub it is....they sent it to me before xmas as the old one packed in.....


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## jowwy (26 Jul 2021)

si_c said:


> Two best options are to get a better wifi router - multi antenna units will be much better at multiple streams.
> 
> For a single point wired connection the best option I found was to use Ethernet over Powerline, no drop outs, stable connection and no wires around the house.


that is working fine now.......a lot quicker too


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## jowwy (26 Jul 2021)

ColinJ said:


> Have you got a Gb connection to your house?  I know that some lucky people do, but most people are limited to about 70 Mb anyway so wifi isn't going to slow that down much unless there is a very poor signal.
> 
> (I am still on normal wired BB and only get about 16 Mb because my local green cabinet has not yet been connected to fibre.)


yes i have a gigabit connection to the house


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## fossyant (26 Jul 2021)

jowwy said:


> yes i have a gigabit connection to the house



Unless you have full fiber, BT will top out at 70 mb/s, but wifi slows this further sometimes to the device. The gigabit will be the wired connection to the router, not the internet, so as fast as you'll get to the router. We use wired for the gaming PC's.


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## Drago (26 Jul 2021)

jowwy said:


> ok - i have now connected ethernet over powerline adaptor and all is now better with the world........



Until you discover that someone nearby is a radio ham and OFCUM make you remove it.


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## Mike_P (26 Jul 2021)

WiFi is quite weird, a work colleague recommended cabling the connection so I used a spare powerline adapter and issues with MS Teams stopped, well until two weeks ago when the laptops camera could not be found but I do not think that is related. IT are still on with trying to fix it remotely and were not impressed with my offer of using a rubber 🔨
Had last week a couple of WiFi "press the button" to connect devices that were losing their connection and if reset would not connect at all. Resolved by switching the router off for a while and when back on buttons pressed and immediate connections achieved


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