So I live in an old prewar apartment that makes my wireless signal not so great in one room. That one room is where I need the internet to work and game. The only way to improve my internet is to simply bring my ethernet line into that room instead of relying on the wifi. Pretty basic problem solution. But there's a catch, my only option is that I have to drill and run my cable through a wall to get to the other side. And here's where my questions come into play.
A little background... my cable modem / wireless router resides in my living room within my main entertainment center. The office (and desk I work on) where that the wire needs to go to is directly on the opposite side of the wall where my main TV entertainment center is. So I'm looking to get a long drill bit and make a small hole through the wall to run my CAT6 cable through. Seems easy enough, drill a hole from one side to the other, connect a wire.
So my first question is, is it better to just run a long cable that connects from my modem through the wall into my PC, with the wire just going through it?
Cable Modem --> // WIRE THROUGH WALL // --> PC
Or is it possible I can convert that CAT6 line out into an ethernet wall jack/plate to the interior of my office wall? Where I could just plug my PC straight into the wall.
Cable Modem --> // WIRE TO WALLJACK // <-- PC
I'm kind of hoping for the latter because I'd prefer a cleaner look and aesthetic than just a dangling wire with sealant/spackle holding it in. But I don't know much about networking signals, and if it's even possible to output the ethernet line from the modem into a wall jack to begin with. I also don't know what I would need either outside of a wall plate and a jack.
Any help would be appreciated.
Either one will work, you wont see any performance difference. Be sure you have all the correct tools and such.
You will have a male end going into your router than a female end on the wall. Be sure you terminate both in the same sequence (A or B) I usually go with B.
The plate will either stick to the wall or need to be screwed in, depending on the wall/ back plate you get.
In general, all your basic ethernet wall plates are is simple female to female junctions mounted to a plate (they make some you have to actually wire up, but you don't need to go that route). So just grab a couple cat 6 wall plates, a short cable to connect them to each other inside the wall, cut your holes, connect them and mount them. It's pretty simple, especially when you're just running it to opposite sides of the same wall.
Fair warning though, most apartment buildings frown upon stuff like this. Just a heads up.
Be careful. I can't tell you how many horror stories of an old houses and simple drill jobs where the drill ends up going through some every important stuff that was sitting there unexpectedly.
I have just done this myself, started yesterday and finished the job off today. I bought Cat6 cable 17m and sockets+pattress (box for mounting the socket) and a bag of cable clips..
When getting the items in the shop I was shocked by how much they were asking for the plastic push tool for wiring the back of the sockets. I didn't bother getting one, thinking I would be able to use a screw driver but I was wrong. I had to go back to the shop today to pick up the magic plastic stick. I can't believe they wanted over seven quid for a moulded plastic tool, but without it I wouldn't have been able to get it done. The cable fights you a fair bit so final placement of the box was dictated by the cable. In the end it's where it is and it can blooming well stay there!
http://i.imgur.com/4s8fRE3.jpg
It's sideways and wonky but it's on the wall so it's got that going for it.
Today when I was in the shop I remembered that I would need two cat6 patch cables as well. So I have the cable fitted with a box at each end. It's not pretty but it works with the flexibility to make changes later if need be.
I had been using powerline adapters but for some reason they would drop connection many times through the day. Transfer speed was also very poor between my NAS and the PC with them.
Now I have the cable installed my ping has dropped from 35~ish to around 15 and I can stream video files from the NAS (torrent box) to my PC. I can also watch an entire Youtube video without it dropping connection. :)
Wow thank you all SO MUCH for the quick help everyone.
It's all good I own the joint so I can do what I please in terms of doing this type of stuff. I'm also going to be very careful when cutting drilling into that wall as I've never opened that one up. Though I'm sure it's no where near as scary as my kitchen / bathroom walls I had to take apart and redo the drywall on =)
@WhiskeyRanger
Is this what you're talking about?
http://www.amazon.com/Intellinet-Female-CAT-6-Keystone-Coupler/dp/B002JP92K8
@Unholyking What do you mean by terminating both in the same sequence? A or B?
Sorry never heard of that.
Thanks!!
That's a plain junction (coupler). I'm talking about a female to female plate like this:
http://www.amazon.com/RiteAV-Shielded-Female-Female-Plate-White/dp/B00EVJE86S/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1412709619&sr=8-6&keywords=cat+6+wall+plate
It's basically a coupler attatched to a plate. All you need to do is attach a cable between the two plates, and attach them to the wall.
I did not know they made female to female wall plates. Learn something new every day I guess.
You wont need to do it with Whiskey Rangers solution. If you did it by hand where you had the cable coming into a female jack you would need to line up all the copper wires in the correct order.
Wow that is awesome. Thanks for linking that.