Is it a bridging router cable or just a long cat one?
Is it a bridging router cable or just a long cat one?
I have a home network using Mesh. Internet comes into the house via Virgin Media to their router (v3) > TP-Link Deco M4 "master" > (wireless) > Satellite Deco M4 > ethernet cable > my PC. The distance it goes over wireless is about 10m 15m. A metre or so from the first "master" Deco is an in-use Chimney breast. A couple of metres after that (about a third of the total way) is an extension, which has a roof that loves to stop any sort of signal. About half way through there's a small porch, and then finally into the room with my PC in it (but it's long and because of plug sockets, the Deco is right at the back). Here's a rubbish (but the best I have right now) picture: Yellow = Deco units Red = Cable in to house Blue = Possible site for new Deco unit / router There's a couple of things to note: I can't really move either downstairs Decos closer as there are no suitable plug sockets in the room, or the Virgin Media cable simply doesn't come into that part of the house (it would also mean drilling new holes in the house - see below). I can't really wire / drill to/from outside as the way the property is laid out means outside access would just be too difficult. Using existing wiring around the house is a no go as it's old / used it before and had speeds less than 4MB. I get around 10MB as it is now. My connection into the house is 250MB. Attack 1: Get a bridging router and put it in the little porch to act as a booster between the two Decos (or get another Deco unit?). Someone said latency would suck eggs as it would have two hops. I don't online game often, mainly browse the net and use Teams for work. I have an old TalkTalk router from just last year so don't know if that can be utilised some way. Attack 2: Get some flat Cat (what cat would I need?) cable, move the existing Deco hub to the porch area, which should increase speeds. Flat as it would have to travel around 10m before getting to the Deco as there's a bathroom on that side of the room so have to run it round the other way, likely between the carpet and the skirting board. HOWEVER, note to self : could run a flat cable over and around the bathroom door without the Good Lady moaning as it wouldn't be noticable. Attack 3: Put a wireless card in the PC (I thought the motherboard came with it built in but it doesn't), move the Deco to the porch area and see how speed goes then. As we're expecting twins, I have next to no money for this project so Attack 1 is the least likely option. I also need to test as we have a garden that's 23m long. Before, no wifi down the back but since upgrading to Decos, then you can now get internet at the back of the garden but I think that's coming from the third Deco unit that's upstairs. If it is, that's great as I can move the downstairs Deco without loosing internet access in the hosting part of our garden.
Use a special Ethernet cable that isn't thin or flat because regular flat wires aren't strong enough and don't meet the right standards for speed or safety.
Hey, the problem with using a non-flat runner is that I need to put it under a thin carpet. It would roll from the yellow dot down that wall all the way to the light green hallway or porch area, but then I'd have to move to the other side to get into the mauve utility room. I can use a round one normally, but it will look like a big bump if people walk on it unless I run it around the doorway. If I started from where the PC is, I still have to cross over a doorway, which means figuring out how to move it from one room to another again. On the picture, the PC is in Bedroom 1, sitting right opposite the yellow dot. The light blue room is actually a bathroom. The easiest way would be to cut a hole in the wall and run something outside, but we're on a hill so that hole would have to be pretty high up, or it's going in the middle of next door's shed and garden!