Hardware (Wiring) Question

  • Thread starter Thread starter Charlie Tame
  • Start date Start date
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Charlie Tame

Just on the offchance anyone has done similar.

I'd like to put a PC in an outbuilding that has spare phone lines (not
connected yet) but no coax, cat5 or any other nice stuff and the network
"Hub" is a bit of a distance away with intervening walls so I am not sure if
wireless router + card would work. I also don't want to spend a lot of money
if it can be avoided. I need to access the local intranet and the internet
at reasonable speeds. Adding hardwiring is not really an option. I probably
can find 4 phone pairs to play with (as a risky cat5) but wondered if 2 DSL
modems would work if the wireless option proves useless?

Please, no elaborate solutions or brainstorming, just wondering if anyone
has any ideas and spare time to share them :)

TIA

Charlie
 
Charlie Tame said:
Just on the offchance anyone has done similar.

I'd like to put a PC in an outbuilding that has spare phone lines (not
connected yet) but no coax, cat5 or any other nice stuff and the network
"Hub" is a bit of a distance away with intervening walls so I am not sure if
wireless router + card would work. I also don't want to spend a lot of money
if it can be avoided. I need to access the local intranet and the internet
at reasonable speeds. Adding hardwiring is not really an option. I probably
can find 4 phone pairs to play with (as a risky cat5) but wondered if 2 DSL
modems would work if the wireless option proves useless?

Please, no elaborate solutions or brainstorming, just wondering if anyone
has any ideas and spare time to share them :)

TIA

Charlie
Click to expand...

It would help if you could be a little more specific. "A bit of a distance
away" is about as meaningful as "the screen refreshed in a woosh"... :-)
 
It would help if you could be a little more specific. "A bit of a distance
away" is about as meaningful as "the screen refreshed in a woosh"... :-)
Click to expand...

Pegasus is right, but you can buy external antennas
for many wireless cards and hubs -- with such
you can certainly get them to work over a "bit of
distance."

Maybe not YOUR <grin> bit, but some bits.

BTW, even if you told us the distance we couldn't
tell you -- it also depends on walls and what is in
the walls (pipes, electric, foil insulation backing etc.)

My cards work fine throughout the house except for
one of two nooks and crannies.

So you might be close and have a dead spot anyway,
until you test it.

Hubs and cards are cheap these days though, so if you
think there is a chance, go for it.
 
Actually only two of the four pairs in a cat5 is used so you only need 2
phone pairs.
If it works? Who knows ??

/David
 
Thanks both for taking the question in the spirit it was intended. I guess I
would say about 100 yards, which I think is pushing it considering maybe 2
walls in the way at each end, but the fact is there is sensitive info on the
system too and if the company wants to install wireless and gets hacked
that's their choice, if I do it it'll be my fault :)

Hence I'd rather try wire if I can do so.

Thanks again though,

Charlie
 
Thanks David, I hadn't thought too much about that. I suppose it's only
glorified RS232 when all comes down to it :).

I might give it a try sometime if I can find some spare time and the binding
posts to do it... doesn't help that at some time the phone links to the
outbuildings were dug up and damaged :).

Charlie
 
The limit for CAT5 cable is 100 metres (110 years). To be on the
safe side you can put a low-cost hub or switch somewhere in the
middle.

Wireless networking is safe if you use proper precautions, ie.
- Do not leave the Access Point at its default name
- Do not allow it to broadcast its name
- Use 128 bit encryption
 
AFAIK, 100 m is the maximum distance specified in the
standard for CAT5 cables. Are you aware of a different
figure?


Richard G. Harper said:
That's some pretty good CAT5 cabling! ;-)

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* In fond memory ... Alex, you shall be sorely missed
* http://www.aumha.org/alex.htm


Pegasus (MVP) said:
The limit for CAT5 cable is 100 metres (110 years).
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
It's a 100 Meters but saying that something is
sort of like CAT 5 is not the same as HAVING
CAT5.

In fact, having CAT5 is not the same as having
a CAT5 installation -- there are all sorts of ways
it can be mis-installed so that it doesn't meet the
standard.

And when you are pushing the limits of the standard
this become really critical.

Now, if you are patching together something out of
existing phone wire or something you really aren't
going to get CAT5 at all.

(One of the specs for CAT5 is number of twists
per inch -- or some linear measurement).

--
Herb Martin


Pegasus (MVP) said:
AFAIK, 100 m is the maximum distance specified in the
standard for CAT5 cables. Are you aware of a different
figure?


Richard G. Harper said:
That's some pretty good CAT5 cabling! ;-)

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* In fond memory ... Alex, you shall be sorely missed
* http://www.aumha.org/alex.htm


Pegasus (MVP) said:
The limit for CAT5 cable is 100 metres (110 years).
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Read the quote again - this time not what you think you wrote, but what you
really wrote.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* In fond memory ... Alex, you shall be sorely missed
* http://www.aumha.org/alex.htm


Pegasus (MVP) said:
AFAIK, 100 m is the maximum distance specified in the
standard for CAT5 cables. Are you aware of a different
figure?


Richard G. Harper said:
That's some pretty good CAT5 cabling! ;-)

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* In fond memory ... Alex, you shall be sorely missed
* http://www.aumha.org/alex.htm


Pegasus (MVP) said:
The limit for CAT5 cable is 100 metres (110 years).
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Fair point. However, using telephone wire for CAT5
will never work, at any distance. Furthermore, a
hub/switch in the middle will cut the effective distance
to about 50 meters, well within the standard.


Herb Martin said:
It's a 100 Meters but saying that something is
sort of like CAT 5 is not the same as HAVING
CAT5.

In fact, having CAT5 is not the same as having
a CAT5 installation -- there are all sorts of ways
it can be mis-installed so that it doesn't meet the
standard.

And when you are pushing the limits of the standard
this become really critical.

Now, if you are patching together something out of
existing phone wire or something you really aren't
going to get CAT5 at all.

(One of the specs for CAT5 is number of twists
per inch -- or some linear measurement).

--
Herb Martin


Pegasus (MVP) said:
AFAIK, 100 m is the maximum distance specified in the
standard for CAT5 cables. Are you aware of a different
figure?


Richard G. Harper said:
That's some pretty good CAT5 cabling! ;-)

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* In fond memory ... Alex, you shall be sorely missed
* http://www.aumha.org/alex.htm


The limit for CAT5 cable is 100 metres (110 years).
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Ahh, those fingies. They sometimes have a mind of their own!


Richard G. Harper said:
Read the quote again - this time not what you think you wrote, but what you
really wrote.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* In fond memory ... Alex, you shall be sorely missed
* http://www.aumha.org/alex.htm


Pegasus (MVP) said:
AFAIK, 100 m is the maximum distance specified in the
standard for CAT5 cables. Are you aware of a different
figure?


Richard G. Harper said:
That's some pretty good CAT5 cabling! ;-)

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* In fond memory ... Alex, you shall be sorely missed
* http://www.aumha.org/alex.htm


The limit for CAT5 cable is 100 metres (110 years).
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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