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I have 10 rooms across three floors in my house and i want an Ethernet connection in all of them. Problem is, there is only a 1 inch conduit pipe going through the walls and i can fit maybe 2-3 wires at max through them. My question is how do i do that. I have heard that just splitting the cable does not work and i can't just install a switch because i wont be able to fit 10 wires through it. Is there a way to do that?
Ankur Chaudhary
Posted 2017-10-05T12:55:32.717
Reputation: 3
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Splitting isn't a good idea. It makes me want to vomit just thinking about it. (I have had to sort out split wiring home installations once too many...)
If Wifi and Powerline are not an option (you may still consider those for those rooms that don't need high speed connections) then your best bet is to use multiple cheap unmanaged switches and daisy-chain them where needed.
Pull the CAT6 cables from 2 or 3 rooms (as many as fit in the conduit) together on 1 switch. Do this in other areas of the house too and run point-point connections between the switches to tie everything together.
Actually this is what I did in my home, because I have only 1 UTP cable going to the attic and nothing on the 1st floor:
Tonny
Posted 2017-10-05T12:55:32.717
Reputation: 19 919
Thats quite a setup, you've got there. Is powerline ethernet better than adding multiple switches? And wont multiple switches lose a lot of data? I mean can i do router=>switch=>switch=>switch=>switch etc. without having a crappy connection?? – Ankur Chaudhary – 2017-10-05T13:30:49.447
1Powerline has advantages and disadvantages. You will have to make your own determination if you will statsify your requirements. – Ramhound – 2017-10-05T13:34:34.983
@AnkurChaudhary You won't loose data. It is not analog where each amplifier would add distortion. The only things to keep in mind: Each connection (switch-switch or switch-device) should be less than 100 meter. And you should not put more than 7 switches in cascade. – Tonny – 2017-10-05T13:35:00.633
@Ramhound You beat me to it. I was going to say the same. – Tonny – 2017-10-05T13:36:10.153
@Tonny Wow thanks. I always thought that would result in poor connection. I am thinking about wiring three cables(after a single switch from my router) through the pipe and splitting for each room via multiple switches. Will that be ok? – Ankur Chaudhary – 2017-10-05T13:39:10.503
@AnkurChaudhary That sounds like solid plan. – Tonny – 2017-10-05T13:40:06.060
@Tonny thanks a ton . So as long as dont use more than 7 switches in series i will be fine. Right? – Ankur Chaudhary – 2017-10-05T13:41:52.950
@AnkurChaudhary Exactly. With more than 7 in series proper working of the ethernet standard is not guaranteed anymore (has to do with timing and delays of signals through the switches). It may work or it may not. But you would have to do some fairly crazy stuff to get to that point. It is usually not a concern at all. – Tonny – 2017-10-05T13:50:56.637
@Tonny Cool. This was really helpful and educational. At my local store i can only find ethernet switches with 4 ports or more. I will try and find one with just two ports and small form factor to make it look a bit neat. I dont know why they are so hard to find and why "splitters" are so easy to find. – Ankur Chaudhary – 2017-10-05T14:10:09.683
Because a 2 port switch is mostly useless @AnkurChaudhary and so the costs don't make sense. (It's simply a network extender at that point). – djsmiley2k TMW – 2017-10-05T15:53:50.310
lol yes you are right. But i can't be the only with with this problem where extending the network is the only thing i need. In fact the number of people who dint do the lan wiring while building their house must be much more than those who did. – Ankur Chaudhary – 2017-10-05T16:15:35.940
Can you accept using ethernet over power? Also, it's possible (I've not checked) that maybe you can get 'bundled' cables with multiple cables within a single carrier so it's thinner than all the cables individually? Another way would be a number of switches in different but 'close' rooms, however this would make a ugly network (and take up more space/power than actually required). – djsmiley2k TMW – 2017-10-05T13:14:58.013
Do you mean powerline ethernet? Do they work as good as an ethernet cable? Bundled cable would be a no go for me as i can only get them through a chinese website maybe, with no guarantees, long shipping times,lot of hassles with the customs and and ultimately wont be able to fit them anyhow. Can i connect one switch to another with no data loss and how many times do you suppose i can do that? – Ankur Chaudhary – 2017-10-05T13:20:44.280
2@AnkurChaudhary Powerline (the AV1000 and AV2000 versions, stay away from the older ones) are pretty good these days. I'm getting stable 600 Mb/s connections (a set of TP-link AV2000 devices) in my home. Be aware that Powerline performance can vary a great deal depending on wiring quality in your house and nearby presence of electrical disturbances. It is impossible to say for sure whether it works well in a given setup. The onlyl way to be sure is simple to try. – Tonny – 2017-10-05T13:31:23.770
Is powerline better than installing multiple ethernet switches? – Ankur Chaudhary – 2017-10-05T13:35:05.367