Connecting upstairs PC to Broadband??

Hi,

No, this isn't as easy as you thought it would be..

I have tried wireless, have a Linksys WAG54G-UK broadband Wi-Fi router
but for some reason the upstairs PC has a very intermittent connection
and I have tried different channels and positions and nothing seems to
help..

So I am looking for an alternative..

First option..

There is a free phone line cable (probably not cat5) that is already run
through the house and is close to both the broadband router (downstairs)
and the second PC (upstairs)..

If I stuck RJ45 connectors on each end and connected it to the
ethernet ports would it work?


Second option..

I could look at a data over power line setup but from what I have seen
these adapters are quite pricey..

Anyone got any experience with these?
Would this be a more viable solution than option one which would
obviously be cheaper?

Thanks for any input..

On Thu, 23 Dec 2004 17:22:40 +0000, WipeOut <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:


>I have tried wireless, have a Linksys WAG54G-UK broadband Wi-Fi router
>but for some reason the upstairs PC has a very intermittent connection
>and I have tried different channels and positions and nothing seems to
>help..
>
>So I am looking for an alternative..

The WiFi is probably still your best option.

Do you know what your signal strength is, if you have XP hover the
mouse over the network icon (Two TV type screens) and see what is
says.

WiFi can be tempremental, moving the access point a few feet can
sometimes cure a bad signal. Also, the WiFi router aerial needs to
point horizonal rather than the normal up as you want to project the
signal up/down.

>First option..
>
>There is a free phone line cable (probably not cat5) that is already run
>through the house and is close to both the broadband router (downstairs)
>and the second PC (upstairs)..
>
>If I stuck RJ45 connectors on each end and connected it to the
> ethernet ports would it work?

Doubt it - different cable design but proper ethernet cable is not too
pricey if it could follow the same route.

Geoff Lane

"WipeOut" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:41cafed9$0$32027$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi,
>
> No, this isn't as easy as you thought it would be..
>
> I have tried wireless, have a Linksys WAG54G-UK broadband Wi-Fi router but
> for some reason the upstairs PC has a very intermittent connection and I
> have tried different channels and positions and nothing seems to help..
>
> So I am looking for an alternative..
>
> First option..
>
> There is a free phone line cable (probably not cat5) that is already run
> through the house and is close to both the broadband router (downstairs)
> and the second PC (upstairs)..
>
> If I stuck RJ45 connectors on each end and connected it to the ethernet
> ports would it work?
>
>
> Second option..
>
> I could look at a data over power line setup but from what I have seen
> these adapters are quite pricey..
>
> Anyone got any experience with these?
> Would this be a more viable solution than option one which would obviously
> be cheaper?
>
> Thanks for any input..

what are distances

upstairs to router
downstairs to router
what is TX (pmicia, mini pci, usb etc) for upstairs pc.

Toy wrote:
> "WipeOut" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:41cafed9$0$32027$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>>Hi,
>>
>>No, this isn't as easy as you thought it would be..
>>
>>I have tried wireless, have a Linksys WAG54G-UK broadband Wi-Fi router but
>>for some reason the upstairs PC has a very intermittent connection and I
>>have tried different channels and positions and nothing seems to help..
>>
>>So I am looking for an alternative..
>>
>>First option..
>>
>>There is a free phone line cable (probably not cat5) that is already run
>>through the house and is close to both the broadband router (downstairs)
>>and the second PC (upstairs)..
>>
>>If I stuck RJ45 connectors on each end and connected it to the ethernet
>>ports would it work?
>>
>>
>>Second option..
>>
>>I could look at a data over power line setup but from what I have seen
>>these adapters are quite pricey..
>>
>>Anyone got any experience with these?
>>Would this be a more viable solution than option one which would obviously
>>be cheaper?
>>
>>Thanks for any input..
>
>
> what are distances
>
> upstairs to router
> downstairs to router
> what is TX (pmicia, mini pci, usb etc) for upstairs pc.
>
>

Distance in a straight line is probably 15 - 20 meters at about a 30 to
45 degree angle, I think the floor is concrete which I am sure doesn't
help..

PC is a new HP desktop that came with a PCI Wi-Fi card that uses an
external antenna on about 1.5m of cable connected by a small screw on
connector that looks like its made of brass..

Longest connect is about 40min then got disconnected and couldn't
reconnect..

Speed constantly fluctuates between 1Mbps and 24Mbps..

I even tried to make up one of the designs from www.freeantennas.com but
the connection is still not stable..

PC is running Windows XP, not sure if there are any settings that can be
changed on the PC side to improve performance..

Router doesn't have all that many Wi-Fi settings and nothing that looks
like it will change the signal strength in any way..

Thanks..

> First option..
>
> There is a free phone line cable (probably not cat5) that is already run
> through the house and is close to both the broadband router (downstairs)
> and the second PC (upstairs)..
>
> If I stuck RJ45 connectors on each end and connected it to the
> ethernet ports would it work?
>
>
> Second option..
>
> I could look at a data over power line setup but from what I have seen
> these adapters are quite pricey..
>
> Anyone got any experience with these? Would this be a more viable solution
> than option one which would obviously be cheaper?
>
> Thanks for any input..

Why cant you just run a cat5 cable between the 2 pc's ?.

Dave

--

Some people use windows, others have a life.

> First option..
>
> There is a free phone line cable (probably not cat5) that is already run
> through the house and is close to both the broadband router (downstairs)
> and the second PC (upstairs)..
>
> If I stuck RJ45 connectors on each end and connected it to the
> ethernet ports would it work?
>
>
> Second option..
>
> I could look at a data over power line setup but from what I have seen
> these adapters are quite pricey..
>
> Anyone got any experience with these? Would this be a more viable solution
> than option one which would obviously be cheaper?
>
> Thanks for any input..

Why cant you run a cat5 cable between the pc and the router ?

Dave

--

Some people use windows, others have a life.

Dave Stanton wrote:
>>First option..
>>
>>There is a free phone line cable (probably not cat5) that is already run
>>through the house and is close to both the broadband router (downstairs)
>>and the second PC (upstairs)..
>>
>>If I stuck RJ45 connectors on each end and connected it to the
>> ethernet ports would it work?
>>
>>
>>Second option..
>>
>>I could look at a data over power line setup but from what I have seen
>>these adapters are quite pricey..
>>
>>Anyone got any experience with these? Would this be a more viable solution
>>than option one which would obviously be cheaper?
>>
>>Thanks for any input..
>
>
> Why cant you run a cat5 cable between the pc and the router ?
>
> Dave
>

The spare telephone cable was put in between the upstairs and downstairs
when the place was renovated and was run in and around all sorts of
paneling and stuff so it would be impossible to run another cable through..

Also I very much doubt that the phone cable could be used to pull a cat5
cable through..

So a wired connection would have to be done over that phone grade cable
or over the power lines..

Thanks.

On Thu, 23 Dec 2004 19:31:30 +0000, WipeOut <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Router doesn't have all that many Wi-Fi settings and nothing that looks
>like it will change the signal strength in any way..

changing channel may get you away from adjacent interference, try
channel 1 as it has the lowest frequency = longest range and no
overlap with channel 6 (a popular default). In the UK you can use up
to channel 13.

Phil
--
spamcop.net address commissioned 18/06/04
Come on down !

In message <41cafed9$0$32027$(E-Mail Removed)>, WipeOut <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:


> If I stuck RJ45 connectors on each end and connected it to the
> ethernet ports would it work?

There is a good chance it will. If it doesn't work at first try limiting the
connection to 10Mbps.

> Anyone got any experience with these?

I read some time ago that someone had got 10baseT Ethernet working over
telephone cable.

We have a patch cable made out quad (4 cores, round, but not twisted pair)
telephone cable, and a Cat5 patch withs split pairs, both of which work at
100bps.

--
Member AFFS, WYLUG, SWP (UK), ANL, Leeds SA, Leeds Anti-war coalition
OpenPGP key fingerprint: D0A6 F403 9745 CED4 6B3B 94CC 8D74 8FC9 9F7F CFE4
No to software patents! No to DRM/EUCD - hands off our computers!

you will need 8 wires. phone lines only have 4

what about reflectors on aerials bothends and what is the signal strength if
you 'face' the remote aerial toward the router & say lay them all
horizontally?
i got very good results with a belkin card with a little externally
'rubber-duck' on a magmount thingy.
ie it's not screwed directly to the back of the wifi PC card but can be
moved around on it's wire.

what distance are you trying to achieve??

mike



"WipeOut" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:41cafed9$0$32027$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi,
>
> No, this isn't as easy as you thought it would be..
>
> I have tried wireless, have a Linksys WAG54G-UK broadband Wi-Fi router
> but for some reason the upstairs PC has a very intermittent connection
> and I have tried different channels and positions and nothing seems to
> help..
>
> So I am looking for an alternative..
>
> First option..
>
> There is a free phone line cable (probably not cat5) that is already run
> through the house and is close to both the broadband router (downstairs)
> and the second PC (upstairs)..
>
> If I stuck RJ45 connectors on each end and connected it to the
> ethernet ports would it work?
>
>
> Second option..
>
> I could look at a data over power line setup but from what I have seen
> these adapters are quite pricey..
>
> Anyone got any experience with these?
> Would this be a more viable solution than option one which would
> obviously be cheaper?
>
> Thanks for any input..