Using a 75 foot extension cable

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L
Linksys
Jungle Guide
#1
Hi,

I'm using a Linksys wireless adapter and my dad's computer has a Linksys router running on cable internet. The boxes for the router and adapter say 802.11b and 802.11g.

There's several walls and doors between the adapter on my PC and the router. The connection speed varies from 11Mbps to 24 Mbps. Sometimes it goes down to 5.5 Mbps. Sometimes it jumps to 24 or even 36MBps, but rarely that high. Is that fast enough for Guild Wars? I figure a dial up is 56 Kbps, and that would be half a Mb, right? So theoretically isn't my average connection around 20 times faster than dial up?

If this doesn't work, well the box for the router says it allows 4 Wired PCs to share the internet. So I can just connect my PC by a cable, right? Well I need about 75 feet of cable to run through the attic across the house to the router. Are extension cables available in that length? I know USB cables only go to like 10 or 12 feet, because anything more would not be effective for data transfer. But an internet cable is sort of like a phone or tv cable so it should be okay to use like 75 feet, right?
t
trevyn
Ascalonian Squire
#3
The throughput (Mbps) of wireless is absolutely not a problem for GW, but the latency of wireless connections can be somewhat erratic, leading to little bursts of lag. I had to run an Ethernet cable to get good gaming performance, but there is a source of interference somewhere around my house.

Ethernet is good up to about 300 feet.

Oh, and go for 100'. You don't want to end up with a cable that's 1 foot too short. Been there, done that, it sucks.
L
Linksys
Jungle Guide
#4
Excellent! Thanks.

I just called Comp USA, they have 50 ft ones and "couplers" to connect them. each 50ft one is $40, couplers are $7. I'm sure I can do this for cheaper. It's just a freaking cable I need. I think I need more than 75 feet. 100 feet will do it.

The prices on the site you linked obviously look better. I'll try call some other stores here too.
L
Linksys
Jungle Guide
#5
Quote:
Originally Posted by trevyn
The throughput (Mbps) of wireless is absolutely not a problem for GW, but the latency of wireless connections can be somewhat erratic, leading to little bursts of lag. I had to run an Ethernet cable to get good gaming performance, but there is a source of interference somewhere around my house.

Ethernet is good up to about 300 feet.

Oh, and go for 100'. You don't want to end up with a cable that's 1 foot too short. Been there, done that, it sucks.
I hear ya. I'll go with 100 feet. I know what you mean about wireless connection flickering, even if it's fast. It wouldn't be fun for gaming and it wouldn't be good to teammates in GW. Thanks.
L
Loviatar
Underworld Spelunker
#6
Quote:
Originally Posted by Linksys
I hear ya. I'll go with 100 feet. I know what you mean about wireless connection flickering, even if it's fast. It wouldn't be fun for gaming and it wouldn't be good to teammates in GW. Thanks.
NOTE

Newegg.com has been near the top of reseller ratings for years and i have been getting my parts from them for years.


shipping is reasonable as well.

top company good prices , name brands
L
Linksys
Jungle Guide
#7
I'm thinking I should get a Link Depot one, rather than generic. Agree?
L
Loviatar
Underworld Spelunker
#8
Quote:
Originally Posted by Linksys
I'm thinking I should get a Link Depot one, rather than generic. Agree?
i go name brand personally
L
Linksys
Jungle Guide
#9
I placed my order. Once I have it and it works great, I'm getting Guild Wars! See you on the battle field.
m
mega_jamie
Wilds Pathfinder
#10
my wireless network drops to 11 sometimes and has no problem running GW at all.

and thats not even counting that 6 people share a connection, via wires or wireless and we are all students, so theres lots being downloaded, I rarely get a lag problem unless several comps are using Bit Torrents at once.
mattjones527
mattjones527
Lion's Arch Merchant
#11
If you want the most bang for your buck I would reccomend buying 250 of category5 network grade cable (without ends) - $40-$50, A crimper $10-$20, and a pack of RJ45 connectors $5-$10. You can do a search for tutorials on how to crimp the cable, its very easy and cheaper too .

Also it lets you make as much or as little cable as you need, so no worries of going over or running short.
L
Linksys
Jungle Guide
#12
I already placed my order for 100 ft. of network cable. I'll see how it goes, I'm sure it will be better than my wireless adapter at least. I'm tempted to get GW right now since i wanna play it. I may do that and the cable will make internet use better anyways.
S
Str0b0
Desert Nomad
#13
Just remember you get a certain amount of signal degradation the longer the distance is between the router and the computer. If posible and you feel comfortable doing it I'd trim down the 100 ft to exactly the length you need and just snap another end on it. It's not hard to do so long as you keep the wires in the right spots.
L
Linksys
Jungle Guide
#14
I may do that if needed, or have my computer wiz friend help me with that. It's hard to tell how much length I need. I'm looking at the distance between the computer and the ceiling where I have a hole from a previous wire(speaker) to the attic, the length of the hallway above which the cable will run, then turning right and through the kitchen, and down another hole to the router.

If there is such a degradation, I hope it's just slightly in bitrate and not stability like the case is with wireless adapters.
K
Knight Of Morion
Ascalonian Squire
#15
Learn to Terminate cable, Its the easiest way to go, if you buy bulk unterminated cable, you can get it for pretty cheap, hell, you can wire your whole house, so you will have internet in any room that you need it, without having to deal with wireless.

Terminating cable is really easy, it'll take ya like 5 mins at max to do each end =) you can even make cross over cable to if needed.

So go out and buy some bulk cable and wire your whole frikin house so you can have the joy of playing GW in any room =P
L
Linksys
Jungle Guide
#16
That would be a great idea, but there's only two computers in the house. Otherwise, sounds exciting.
Z
Zaxan Razor
Lion's Arch Merchant
#17
I used to have my computer running on wireless, however, in the evenings i could never ever get any signal, and my pc is only 20 metres away from the router.

Needless to say, not having internet access while im at home drove me mad so i bought a network cable and ran it through the attic.

IMO wireless = overrated.
Lerxst_of_Syrinx
Lerxst_of_Syrinx
Frost Gate Guardian
#18
Quote:
Originally Posted by Str0b0
Just remember you get a certain amount of signal degradation the longer the distance is between the router and the computer. If posible and you feel comfortable doing it I'd trim down the 100 ft to exactly the length you need and just snap another end on it. It's not hard to do so long as you keep the wires in the right spots.
If you follow the EIA/TIA 568A standards to properly terminate your cables, you should be able to hit 100m (300ft) without any problems. The standard for Cat-5 cabling at 100Mbps is 100m. Beyond 100m you MAY have problems, less than that it's unlikely.
L
Linksys
Jungle Guide
#19
Well I'm going only one third of that so there should be no problem. I'll try it out and find some large file to download to see how fast it goes.
R A C
R A C
Lion's Arch Merchant
#20
I personally have 0 problems with my ~100ft cable. No noticeble issues. Well, Once in awhile, like every 2 weeks or so I might get a disconnect that I think may be due to the 100ft length. But otherwise, my internet performance is the same as the pc that's on a 6 foot cable from our router.