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Thread: Wireless N... worthwhile ?

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    Wireless N... worthwhile ?

    I'm just about to run a 15m cable round practically the whole bloomin' house to connect up a PC in an upstairs bedroom. It currently just runs along the floor, but it's not terribly attractive, or safe, especially when it's the same colour as the carpet ! So I've been ordered by SWMBO to fix it, sharpish

    It'll be a royal pain in the ass to hide, or even just to run along the skirting, so I'm thinking that an N router might be a better bet. So um... will it ? Anyone know ?

    Main reason I'm running a cable is because I'm streaming a lot of stuff from that PC, HD video included. There's a whole host of contrasting reports on the net regarding N routers and their HD streaming ability, and a whole host of contrasting reports about the N products themselves, and I don't know what to believe.

    I'm in a new build house, so you can be pretty damn sure there's no thick walls to go through. Also, I'd rather do without homeplugs, I've had kinda hit and miss results in the past.

    Any advice much appreciated

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    Re: Wireless N... worthwhile ?

    I use a netgear DG834N. The range is excellent. I have 2 computers wireless and a 360 wired (home plugs) and main PC wired.
    I f streaming I would recommend using home plugs. IMO
    Last edited by Anastie; 09-03-2008 at 09:51 AM. Reason: added

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    Re: Wireless N... worthwhile ?

    Thanks for info about the Netgear.

    Homeplugs aren't really something I want to use again, to be honest. Had fair to middling results with them at best, and I can see an N router being of more use in future.

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    Re: Wireless N... worthwhile ?

    IMHO - cable really is best - particularly for streaming/high speed file transfer - but as you say, can be a PITA to hide.

    If you get a cable stapler. you can often run the cable along the top of the skirting board - and then overpaint if it is still obtrusive. Depending on the construction of the house, you might be able to run the cable inside internal cavity walls, but it can be a pain feeding it through and out again. Stair cupboards can be a useful route to upstairs, or airing cupboards where pipes run from upstairs to downstairs.

    However it is difficult to generalise, and if you have chipboard floors, it can be difficult getting access to underfloor cavities (and SWMBO may not be overly enthusiastic.

    If you have fitted carpets, ypou can sometimes hide the cable near the tackless strip (but that means lifting the carpet and then hiring a carpet stretcher to refit it) Otherwise run an external cable (preferably using external grade cable -= but that is more expensive than internal grade.

    Sorry there isn't a magic solution. As you have mentioned, the alternatives are wireless - which can be hit and miss or homeplug - which many have had good results with, but if you have had a bad experience, I can understand your reluctance to try again.
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    Re: Wireless N... worthwhile ?

    In this situation I would definitely recommend going for home plugs. Much better transfer rates than wireless and no ugly cables!

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    Re: Wireless N... worthwhile ?

    I setup a network for a friend at the weekend with a wireless N belkin router - it maxes out at 300mbps and in his house which is really terrible on wireless (something in the walls) a PC equipped with a N (3 aerial) card got 160mbps. Pretty good I thought.
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    Re: Wireless N... worthwhile ?

    I'd definately recommend going the wired route. It may be a PITA but once it's done, it's done and you won't have to worry about signal interference or the possibility that the reception in your house might be poor. Regardless of the throughput of wireless N, the latency can become problematic when streaming HD content.

    As mentionned by peterb, there are loads of options for how you could go about it but you could even consider getting a cabling company in to do it for you and use the money you'd save on a wireless N router. A company should do it nice and neat in the wall cavity.

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    Re: Wireless N... worthwhile ?

    Appreciate everything so far folks !

    Homeplugs really aren't an option, maybe I should have been a bit clearer, sorry ! I've tried them in this house, with average results at best. So it's really N or wired.

    Peterb: thanks for taking the time to write that post, much appreciated. Hadn't actually thought of going through the airing cupboard with the cable, that may save me a whole lot of bother. Nor had I thought of investing in a cable stapler. Well done that man

    Dangel: That does sound like decent rates, there would be no wall problems here, think they're papier mache. No, I'm exaggerating actually, they're probably not as strong as papier mache.

    finnrogers: Very good point about the cabling company, but the gaffer wouldn't have it. I'm off work just now, a man of leisure ! Therefore the prospect of me hiring someone to do something I could possibly manage myself, would probably end in much shoutyness. The advantage of a router would be that I could lie about the price

    I think it's looking like cabling, guess it's safer, though more labour ! Just need to research cable staplers now !

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    Re: Wireless N... worthwhile ?

    Wireless is never a substitute for wired; it's less consistent, there's added latency and the sustained speed with wireless N kit is well below that of 100Mb/s wired ethernet, let alone Gigabit ethernet.
    A little bit of work - but less expense - and you have a nice fast wired network.

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    Re: Wireless N... worthwhile ?

    Rather than a cable stapler, I would just get a bag of skirting cable tacks - the ones with the nail and half a hoop to tie down cables to a skirting board. A little bit more time consuming but they look better IMO and you'll be able to get some that match you skirting boards... just a thought.

    I just have visions of ugly staples everywhere like how virgin media do most of their installations...

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    Re: Wireless N... worthwhile ?

    Quote Originally Posted by finnrogers View Post
    Rather than a cable stapler, I would just get a bag of skirting cable tacks - the ones with the nail and half a hoop to tie down cables to a skirting board. A little bit more time consuming but they look better IMO and you'll be able to get some that match you skirting boards... just a thought.

    I just have visions of ugly staples everywhere like how virgin media do most of their installations...
    That is an option - however if you are like me, you end up hammering your thumb more than the cables!

    Sealey CT610 - Cable Tacker 4-8mm Round 2.5-6.3mm Flat at PVR Direct.co.uk

    This looks a reasonable tacker - better known ones are made by Arrow. Some staples are pre-painted (white) which makes them less obtrusive and some 'fre' plastic coated staples - it comes down to choice and budget. If ypou do go for a cable tacker, try to ensure that the cable isn't compressed inder the staple.
    Last edited by peterb; 12-03-2008 at 10:23 AM.
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    Re: Wireless N... worthwhile ?

    I'm now being overly thorough researching cable staplers

    You'd think I was buying a house or car or somthing, not just sticking a bit of wire to a wall.

    Once again, thanks all

  19. #13
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    Re: Wireless N... worthwhile ?

    Quote Originally Posted by dangel View Post
    I setup a network for a friend at the weekend with a wireless N belkin router - it maxes out at 300mbps and in his house which is really terrible on wireless (something in the walls) a PC equipped with a N (3 aerial) card got 160mbps. Pretty good I thought.
    you mean transfer speeds were better than ethernet? hardly think so.

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    Re: Wireless N... worthwhile ?

    Quote Originally Posted by adam1701 View Post
    you mean transfer speeds were better than ethernet? hardly think so.
    Bad day? Cheer up chap!

    I made no claim to throughput - that's largely dependant on range - but 'n' gear can exceed 100Mbps - netgear claim 150 within 14 feet for example (). Realistically I'd reckon on getting 80-90Mbps throughput in the case I was quoting - more than enough to stream video. Heck, my eee manages that on a 54g setup with half-signal - and that's streaming very large mpeg files from the media center.

    So yeah - i reckon you can surpass 100mbit ethernet (given the right conditions) but I think it'll struggle against my gigabit lan I'd prefer wired where possible of course - who wouldn't?
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    Re: Wireless N... worthwhile ?

    wireless setup, less hassle to setup
    wired setup, more hassle to setup

    i think the question is consistancy, wired = consistant.
    its hard to say for sure what speed u get with the wireless setup, BUT why not add a signal booster upstairs or something so that the signal is stronger = better speed = LAN (not giga of coz) speed?

    does this answer your question?

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    Re: Wireless N... worthwhile ?

    Wireless generally tends to be far more hassle to set up correctly, once you consider the securitty aspect. It will also be less reliable than cable. As the OP stated, he lives in a modern house with thin walls, so signal strength is unlikely to be a problem, and adding a signal booster can make things worse because it will increase the incidence of multi-path interference and the consequent inter-symbol distortion. It also propogates the signal further outside his property boundary - a further potential security risk.

    The only area really where wireless scores over cable is over ease on installation - but cable installation is probably something you only do once.
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