Is it okay to have joins in a long phone line (effect on broadband speed)?

summereire

Hi, I need to cover a pretty big distance (150m) with some phone cable in order to bring broadband and phone there. I already have some decent cable, but it's in 1 or 2 smaller lengths. Questions is would a join or two make any meaningful difference on broadband speed or is it better to have cable with no joins at all? I'd be using connectors if connecting. Thanks!

ED E

You want to run CAT5 or 5E.

Joints = de-twists = increased noise. On ADSL and done well it shouldnt be terrible, on VDSL dont do it. In either scenario you will lose all support from OpenEir (Dont call any technicians out).

summereire

Thanks. It's some of the cable that Eir left over when replacing a line last year- it has 4 wires in it (2 pairs) and black plastic casing. What kind of cable would that be and is that the thing to go for if I was to buy a length of it to get minimal latency, is it expensive? And on Eir business running on that would that be ADSL or VDSL?

ED E

That cable should be fine, its weatherproof telecomms grade stuff.

Really though theres a better approach:
-Leave Modem at existing NTU
-Run phone extension 150m (any old cable will do)
-Run ethernet extension 150m

That way you get maximum speed, retain faults support and get a connection where you need it. Depending on what you need this will only cost you €40-60 in a decent wireless AP and you'll have coverage in both locations(may be beneficial).

ItHurtsWhenIP

ED E wrote: »

That cable should be fine, its weatherproof telecomms grade stuff.

Really though theres a better approach:
-Leave Modem at existing NTU
-Run phone extension 150m (any old cable will do)
-Run ethernet extension 150m

That way you get maximum speed, retain faults support and get a connection where you need it. Depending on what you need this will only cost you €40-60 in a decent wireless AP and you'll have coverage in both locations(may be beneficial).

Isn't Ethernet limited to ~100m?

ED E

MMFITWGDV wrote: »

Isn't Ethernet limited to ~100m?

With CAT5 thats the best you'll do, 5E or 6 will manage the 150M at lower rates.

Important bit is the weakest link factor. Say its 12Mb at the NTU and the extension drops it to 10Mb. But running 150M of Cat6 gives him a link capable of 100Mb(easy) then he keeps his 12Mb to WAN. 20% for a tiny topology change.

summereire

Great advice, thanks. Can you put a wireless router then at the end of the ethernet cable so there is also wifi there?

ED E

Yep, exactly that. It'll also give you 3x ethernet ports so you can run out to other devices too.