Sharing Internet connection

peejay1986

Just wondering, does anyone know if it's illegal (or more specifically, against Eircom's T&Cs) to share an Internet connection between two houses?

Way it is at the minute - we live next door to my grandparent's house and they are our landlords. They've run an Ethernet cable from their router in to our house which I've connected to an access point. We're both happy with the situation and split bills.

Is it legit though? Would Eircom cut us off if they were to find out? I always remove the Ethernet cable when an engineer is round, but it makes it more difficult to explain issues.

ED E

Technically I suspect yes, but I doubt a field technician would care. He's a linesman and his job is to get sync on the modem. Internal networking is your deal.


This was raised before and there's something I wasnt previously aware of. Running cabling between two different ESB supplies is actually a fire hazard. I'm no leccy but IIRC it could prevent the RCD from doing its job(the thing that stops you getting electrocuted/fires starting). I'm sure somebody more knowledgeable will hop in and explain.

If it were me and the distances are short I'd go for a good wireless bridge. Wifi naturally covers neighbors homes so they could never call you out for it, and theres no electrical problem with a radio wave. Decent wireless access points on either side and you should get decent throughput, then you can do whatever you like internally in the second house.

FSL

ED E wrote: »

....
This was raised before and there's something I wasnt previously aware of. Running cabling between two different ESB supplies is actually a fire hazard. I'm no leccy but IIRC it could prevent the RCD from doing its job(the thing that stops you getting electrocuted/fires starting). .

What has an ethernet cable got to do with electric wiring?

An ethernet cable is far superior to wireless which is susceptible to RF interference and is much slower. The quoted wireless speeds are only achievable in laboratory conditions

Yakuza

There have been a few posts here about it on these boards before - there is a potential fire hazard having two houses (which have their electricity supplies in different phases) connected over a copper cable. Fibre optic cable doesn't have this issue (according to here: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r13017517-Ethernet-between-two-houses) but you might be better served using WiFi.

ED E

FSL wrote: »

What has an ethernet cable got to do with electric wiring?

An ethernet cable is far superior to wireless which is susceptible to RF interference and is much slower. The quoted wireless speeds are only achievable in laboratory conditions

From a google

CAT5 surge protectors should be installed as part of outdoor Ethernet networks to guard against lightning strikes.

As above, I'm no leccy. But last time this came up it was suggested it would void your house insurance.

The 'best' way to fix the problem is to use fiberoptic cable between the two locations with fiberoptic-to-ethernet modems on each end.
Another way is to construct a 'ground plane' such that both sites are on the same ground grid. However this can get expensive since it involves a lot of trenching, laying large copper cables and a lot of cad-welding.
Another method is to use good grounds at each end with protector devices on all wires entering the buildings. (similiar to the technique used by phone companies to protect the voice pairs going into a home for telephone service)

peejay1986

Thanks for the replies!

Ah ok, I didn't know about the fire hazard. The system used to be done via WiFi but I found that because of (a) the placement of the main phone socket (and as a result, the router) in the house (b) the thick, heavily insulated wall in between the houses, the WiFi method resulted in heavy speed loss.

I did wonder whether the engineers would be bothered by it. I've often mentioned the access point when on the phone to Eircom but never that it was in another house. As I said, I always disconnect it the cable before an engineer arrives just in case but that means I can't raise my issues with the access point connection.

demanufactured

You can't raise any issues with your internal neteaork anyway....your ISP responsibility ends at the end of the phone line.

peejay1986

demanufactured wrote: »

You can't raise any issues with your internal neteaork anyway....your ISP responsibility ends at the end of the phone line.

Sorry, bad explaining. It's often things like "The speed is fine on my access point, but not the main router" that I want to say. However, the follow up question would be; "Can you show me the access point?".

anotherposter

peejay1986 wrote: »

Just wondering, does anyone know if it's illegal (or more specifically, against Eircom's T&Cs) to share an Internet connection between two houses?

Way it is at the minute - we live next door to my grandparent's house and they are our landlords. They've run an Ethernet cable from their router in to our house which I've connected to an access point. We're both happy with the situation and split bills.

Is it legit though? Would Eircom cut us off if they were to find out? I always remove the Ethernet cable when an engineer is round, but it makes it more difficult to explain issues.

its not illegal but dangerous to run an ethernet cable between two houses with seperate electricity meters. one surge could blow the electrics in either house because the earth would not be in place