Long Ethernet Cable

[moreno5]

Hi Guys,

New to this forum so go easy please.

I am going to be laying cat6 ethernet cable in my house to attach my network to my modem and media player. Are their any issues with laying down 15-20 metres of cable? Would I see a large loss of quality or speed? If this is the case, is their a booster I can put in to help out.

Thanks in advance.

[Steve]

 

If it's carrying data ie a digital signal there will be no loss upto 100 metres.

[moreno5]

If it's carrying data ie a digital signal there will be no loss upto 100 metres.

Thanks for the lovely welcome.

It will be carrying video mainly, but of course photos and files aswell.

Also, would I get a loss of quality if I run it for 15 metres and split it with a cisco 4 port switch to go another 10-15metres?

thanks

[andrue]

Thanks for the lovely welcome.

It will be carrying video mainly, but of course photos and files aswell.

Also, would I get a loss of quality if I run it for 15 metres and split it with a cisco 4 port switch to go another 10-15metres?

thanks

No. It's a digital signal. It gets 'recreated' by the switch. You can daisy chain it for as long as you want that way as long as each segment is no more than 100 metres. What you're actually describing there is the way the entire Internet is built

[moreno5]

No. It's a digital signal. It gets 'recreated' by the switch. You can daisy chain it for as long as you want that way as long as each segment is no more than 100 metres. What you're actually describing there is the way the entire Internet is built

Thank you so much for your help, highly appreciated. 

[Simon]

Told you! 

[moreno5]

Told you! 

Thanks Simon, you were right 

[Simon]

There's a first time for everything. 

[Ray]

 

[moreno5]

Thanks Ray.

I am looking to have the QNAP NAS in the garage, so am going to try and look at having some kind of cabinet to house it in to protect it from the extreme temperatures. Any ideas on a cheap option?

[Glenn]

 

Take a look on ebay for a cabinet, depending on how big you want something like this may do http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-6U-550MM-DATA-COMMS-CABINET-/151029743735?pt=UK_Computing_Rackmount_Cabinets_Frames&hash=item232a130077 There are several secondhand 42u cabinets for around the same price if you need more space.

[moreno5]

Take a look on ebay for a cabinet, depending on how big you want something like this may do http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-6U-550MM-DATA-COMMS-CABINET-/151029743735?pt=UK_Computing_Rackmount_Cabinets_Frames&hash=item232a130077 There are several secondhand 42u cabinets for around the same price if you need more space.

This looks exactly what I need. Once again, thanks for your help, its perfect!

[zappaDPJ]

 

[andrue]

It's one of the things that attracts me to networking and has made it into a hobby of mine. At its heart it's just a giant game of pass the parcel. I'm actually a programmer by day but I love the way the data my code generates gets encoded, packaged, repackaged and routed eventually ending up potentially on the other side of the planet. I have a pretty good understanding of every part of the process now from the NIC in the computer, how xDSL and cable encode and transmit the data through switches and routers and how ISPs exchange data.

It's quite awesome that it all works

[Simon]

... or doesn't.   

[moreno5]

... or doesn't.   

haha, I hate it when it all goes wrong!

It does amaze me also, but I know nowhere near as much as you do. I love my QNAP server as it has everything, but I may be considering moving to Synology at some point to one of the multiple hard drive set-ups.

[andrue]

haha, I hate it when it all goes wrong!

It does amaze me also, but I know nowhere near as much as you do. I love my QNAP server as it has everything, but I may be considering moving to Synology at some point to one of the multiple hard drive set-ups.

Oddly perhaps the software side of things doesn't interest me. Or at least doesn't excite me. Perhaps it's because that's more or less what my day job is - I get pretty sick of working out how to make other people's software do what it should and/or working out to how interface with it. As time goes on computers seem to be getting less an less intuitive to me. I just hope I can hang on for another decade  - long enough to get me to early retirement

[Technical Ben]

No. It's a digital signal. It gets 'recreated' by the switch. You can daisy chain it for as long as you want that way as long as each segment is no more than 100 metres. What you're actually describing there is the way the entire Internet is built

Well, it's possible to make the internet that way.... http://www.idnetters.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,20394.msg487737.html#msg487737

Generally it's with bigger cables and switches though.

[andrue]

Well, it's possible to make the internet that way.... http://www.idnetters.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,20394.msg487737.html#msg487737

Generally it's with bigger cables and switches though.

Well yes. I was actually surprised when I found out how Be's LLU network was built though. Originally they used BT's WES/BES service and just paid for Ethernet sockets(*) in adjacent exchanges. So all but the last exchange in a series had two Ethernet sockets and they just plugged the DSLAM into both to form a chain. Ridiculously simple when you put it like that

Quite amusing that it eventually grew into a wholesale service that rivalled BT's own offering at least in performance if not in scope. I don't know if they continued relying on BT for the Ethernet though. There are other providers in that market so as it grew they might have bought from other telcos. That's all part of the 'fun' for me. The fact there are lots of different people who can carry data from A to B..and even they often pay for someone else to carry some of it. It really is just like having a parcel delivered. You choose a courier and off it goes. Only sometimes though you pay for DHL it's actually Fred Blogs who picks it up and carries it to their nearest depot because he has an arrangement with them

But basically yes it was just a series of Ethernet links connected by switches

(*)But they aren't linked by a single cable (probably not) and it wouldn't be CAT5 even if it was a single cable. It's more like a 'virtual' Ethernet cable. You just pay for two sockets that data can be sent between.

[moreno5]

Well yes. I was actually surprised when I found out how Be's LLU network was built though. Originally they used BT's WES/BES service and just paid for Ethernet sockets(*) in adjacent exchanges. So all but the last exchange in a series had two Ethernet sockets and they just plugged the DSLAM into both to form a chain. Ridiculously simple when you put it like that

Quite amusing that it eventually grew into a wholesale service that rivalled BT's own offering at least in performance if not in scope. I don't know if they continued relying on BT for the Ethernet though. There are other providers in that market so as it grew they might have bought from other telcos. That's all part of the 'fun' for me. The fact there are lots of different people who can carry data from A to B..and even they often pay for someone else to carry some of it. It really is just like having a parcel delivered. You choose a courier and off it goes. Only sometimes though you pay for DHL it's actually Fred Blogs who picks it up and carries it to their nearest depot because he has an arrangement with them

But basically yes it was just a series of Ethernet links connected by switches

(*)But they aren't linked by a single cable (probably not) and it wouldn't be CAT5 even if it was a single cable. It's more like a 'virtual' Ethernet cable. You just pay for two sockets that data can be sent between.

I love the fact that this whole thread has stemmed from me asking how long ethernet cable can be.... 

[Glenn]

Just pick a few old threads at random, they will no doubt end in food somewhere along the line.

[Tacitus]

This looks exactly what I need. Once again, thanks for your help, its perfect!

Just a point.  Since that looks like a standard steel networking cabinet, the design would assume installation  in a (more or less) temperature controlled environment.  Electronic kit tends to like a fairly steady temperature rather than constant variation.  If you put one in a garage where the temp can vary between just above freezing and (probably) up to about 90/95deg F, it might not suit your NAS.  You could line the cabinet with polystyrene or something similar to protect it from lower temps, but this could have the effect of raising the temp in summer to well above optimum.

FWIW, I live in a bungalow and my main telephone socket is in the roof so it seemed reasonable to put other stuff up there.  The temp varies from about 42deg min in winter to a  max approaching 100 deg at worst.  The modem is installed in a wooden cabinet kept shut in winter and open in summer.  Internal temps are rarely below 50 but do approach 95 in summer; the lower max is because the cabinet is just above the ceiling and escapes the worst of the heat.  Broadly speaking they're within the operating range of most modems and I've not had a problem with either the modem or the apple airport that also sits up there, but I'm not sure I would put a NAS up there.

I had thought of getting a Synology NAS myself.  Looked at QNap and they didn't look as versatile as the Synology product, but YMMV of course 

[moreno5]

Just a point.  Since that looks like a standard steel networking cabinet, the design would assume installation  in a (more or less) temperature controlled environment.  Electronic kit tends to like a fairly steady temperature rather than constant variation.  If you put one in a garage where the temp can vary between just above freezing and (probably) up to about 90/95deg F, it might not suit your NAS.  You could line the cabinet with polystyrene or something similar to protect it from lower temps, but this could have the effect of raising the temp in summer to well above optimum.

FWIW, I live in a bungalow and my main telephone socket is in the roof so it seemed reasonable to put other stuff up there.  The temp varies from about 42deg min in winter to a  max approaching 100 deg at worst.  The modem is installed in a wooden cabinet kept shut in winter and open in summer.  Internal temps are rarely below 50 but do approach 95 in summer; the lower max is because the cabinet is just above the ceiling and escapes the worst of the heat.  Broadly speaking they're within the operating range of most modems and I've not had a problem with either the modem or the apple airport that also sits up there, but I'm not sure I would put a NAS up there.

I had thought of getting a Synology NAS myself.  Looked at QNap and they didn't look as versatile as the Synology product, but YMMV of course 

No you are right, they are more versatile. Don't get me wrong, QNAP is an awesome NAS and has served me very well, but Synology seems to be a step up.

Now you have completely thrown me! So if I buy a comms cabinet I need to have it lined during the winter with the door closed and then door open and ventilated during the summer! I might get the old man to custom make a lined cabinet with a set of fans on the back to ventilate it.

[Glenn]

Put it in one of these.

[moreno5]

Put it in one of these.

Constant cool temperature, spacious, clean, dust proof.....wow, this is perfect....oh....no lockable door