Share internet between two houses?

My Uncle lives next door to me in terraced houses. What's the best way to share my internet connection with him? At the moment he can connect wirelessly but I was hoping for something a lot more stable.

I suppose powerline stuff won't work because it's two different houses. Is my best option some sort of repeater to amplify the signal?

Lu Tze

I presume drilling a hole through the wall is out of the question?

Bear in mind that it could be dangerous to run an Ethernet cable through the wall. If both houses are on different electrical phases then it can become a fire hazard. Same applies with sharing a satellite dish.

Ken.

Move your modem as close to his computer as you can. Then get someone to make you an extra long Ethernet cable. Then drill through the wall or go up through the attic. I've seen it done room to room from downstairs to upstairs in a house

gctest50

Run the link over a bit of fibre to be super-safe

These kind of things :

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Fiber-Ethernet-Converter-MCM110SC2/dp/B002Q0WMWQ

.

Sam Russell

What is wrong with wifi? If you are that close, it should work.

Khannie

Sam Russell wrote: »

What is wrong with wifi? If you are that close, it should work.

This. I gave my neighbours my wifi password. They could get a repeater if necessary.

Sam Russell

But if you give them a cable, they will not even need a password. At least with wifi, you can change the password.

imitation

Karsini wrote: »

Bear in mind that it could be dangerous to run an Ethernet cable through the wall. If both houses are on different electrical phases then it can become a fire hazard. Same applies with sharing a satellite dish.

Im curious about this, I have seen posts in the past saying the same, but I'm just not sure how it would happen, as the signals passing through ethernet are low voltage dc. Its very common in industrial settings to have it cabinets running off different phases, i have seen many of these wired with ethernet to each other directly with any barriers or isolators. The only thing I can think of is maybe an earth loop, but I dont think standard ethernet has a ground.

ED E

imitation wrote: »

Im curious about this, I have seen posts in the past saying the same, but I'm just not sure how it would happen, as the signals passing through ethernet are low voltage dc. Its very common in industrial settings to have it cabinets running off different phases, i have seen many of these wired with ethernet to each other directly with any barriers or isolators. The only thing I can think of is maybe an earth loop, but I dont think standard ethernet has a ground.

Im no electrician but as I understand it you could have a situation where somebody got shocked but the RCD wouldnt trigger. Normally these means current stops after a few milliseconds but it would continue if the RCD didnt trigger.

If you post it on the electrical forum I'm sure you'll get a detailed answer.

degsie

Check the TOS with your provider before 'sharing' your internet with another residence. I'm sure they won't appreciate losing potential revenue.

Khannie

degsie wrote: »

Check the TOS with your provider before 'sharing' your internet with another residence. I'm sure they won't appreciate losing potential revenue.

Personally, I couldn't give less of a fcuk. That's not aimed at you. I'll just share my wifi with any friend I want to. If my provider want to take me to court over it, sure let them.

FrStone

imitation wrote: »

Im curious about this, I have seen posts in the past saying the same, but I'm just not sure how it would happen, as the signals passing through ethernet are low voltage dc. Its very common in industrial settings to have it cabinets running off different phases, i have seen many of these wired with ethernet to each other directly with any barriers or isolators. The only thing I can think of is maybe an earth loop, but I dont think standard ethernet has a ground.

Our ethernet cable runs through a hole drilled in the wall. It was installed by an Eircom electrician. I doubt it's that dangerous.

degsie

Khannie wrote: »

Personally, I couldn't give less of a fcuk. That's not aimed at you. I'll just share my wifi with any friend I want to. If my provider want to take me to court over it, sure let them.

So if your 'friends' download illegal material on your service, you will own up to the judge?

Steviemoyne

degsie wrote: »

So if your 'friends' download illegal material on your service, you will own up to the judge?

Surely s/he meant s/he doesn't give a toss if the supplier doesn't want to loose revenue?

Not about someone potentially committing a crime using her/his service.

Khannie

degsie wrote: »

So if your 'friends' download illegal material on your service, you will own up to the judge?

They're not interested / not the sort. They have netflix and they were streaming it over their mobiles. I told them not to bother and gave them the wifi password.

To answer your question though - Why in the name of God would I own up to something I didn't do?

CiniO

Karsini wrote: »

Bear in mind that it could be dangerous to run an Ethernet cable through the wall. If both houses are on different electrical phases then it can become a fire hazard. Same applies with sharing a satellite dish.

How's that?
I have 3 phase installation in my house, so even socket in one room might be on different phase than socket in other room.
And I do have devices connected by ethernet cabke nearly in every room, so surely they are on different phases.
Does this bring any danger? I just can't see how.

degsie

To those sharing broadband with neighbours, why not share your electricity, gas, water? Sure it is harder to achieve but is it any less immoral?

Khannie

HAHAHAHA. Morality? That's your argument? Never even crossed my mind. When my sister comes to my house and asks if she can use my wifi, should I deny her on morality grounds?

mordeith

I gave my neighbour some sugar the other day . . . now I feel so guilty . . .

degsie

Khannie wrote: »

HAHAHAHA. Morality? That's your argument? Never even crossed my mind. When my sister comes to my house and asks if she can use my wifi, should I deny her on morality grounds?

Hahahaha... No. That would be stupid!

Cabaal

degsie wrote: »

To those sharing broadband with neighbours, why not share your electricity, gas, water? Sure it is harder to achieve but is it any less immoral?

If somebody wanted to share water, electric etc, thats purely up to them.
At the end of the day the service is still being paid for.

If I have chickens and I give free eggs to people am I morally wrong as the shops are loosing a customer?
:rolleyes:

degsie

Cabaal wrote: »

If somebody wanted to share water, electric etc, thats purely up to them.
At the end of the day the service is still being paid for.

If I have chickens and I give free eggs to people am I morally wrong as the shops are loosing a customer?
:rolleyes:

Yeah you're right. Share away lads. Sorry for being a party pooper...

AlmightyCushion

Khannie wrote: »

HAHAHAHA. Morality? That's your argument? Never even crossed my mind. When my sister comes to my house and asks if she can use my wifi, should I deny her on morality grounds?

If I was paying a fixed monthly charge for my electricity I probably would share with a friend next door.

SteelyDanJalapeno

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

If I was paying a fixed monthly charge for my electricity I probably would share with a friend next door.

I'd share with the whole estate

ScumLord

WiFi would be the easiest solution. The attic might be worth a look, you might get a better signal because of less walls to go through.


The wifi router you get from your ISP isn't all that great, you could pick up a much more powerful one that would have no problems getting through the wall. Try and find a place that has the least amount of obstacles between the router and the laptop.

Knasher

imitation wrote: »

Im curious about this, I have seen posts in the past saying the same, but I'm just not sure how it would happen, as the signals passing through ethernet are low voltage dc. Its very common in industrial settings to have it cabinets running off different phases, i have seen many of these wired with ethernet to each other directly with any barriers or isolators. The only thing I can think of is maybe an earth loop, but I dont think standard ethernet has a ground.

Not sure, but I think the differential between the negative wires in the ethernet cable and ground should be 0V. In which case it would be an earth loop issue.

stop

As mentioned, Electricians would be able to offer solid advice on this, but there are potential (:pac:) issues with connecting two buildings via Ethernet cable.
See this discussion:
http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=121299

ScumLord

ScumLord wrote: »

WiFi would be the easiest solution. The attic might be worth a look, you might get a better signal because of less walls to go through.

The wifi router you get from your ISP isn't all that great, you could pick up a much more powerful one that would have no problems getting through the wall. Try and find a place that has the least amount of obstacles between the router and the laptop.

I have Eircom eFibre so do I need a VSDL modem then? Thank you by the way.

same ol sh1te

CiniO wrote: »

How's that?
I have 3 phase installation in my house, so even socket in one room might be on different phase than socket in other room.
And I do have devices connected by ethernet cabke nearly in every room, so surely they are on different phases.
Does this bring any danger? I just can't see how.

Because in your house you have a common earth. Two adjacent houses would each have their own earth. This is a huge safety issue, without a common earth you could end up doubling the voltage if something went wrong. I'm not an electrician, but an electronic engineer,.

gctest50

There's little ethernet isolators around too , passive - no power needed

http://www.baaske-medical.de/en/Network-Isolator-MED-MI-1005

http://www.csid.de/galvanische-Trennung/galvanische-Trennung-Netzwerk-Protek-5-AKTION--493.html

I think these posts explain it better than I can. Basically you need proper earth bonding:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=70437912#post70437912

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=53900372&postcount=23