Cat5/Ethernet cable extender

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A cheap tester only tests DC connection. Ethernet is RF, and is why cable quality and issues like crimps or extreme stress/bending in the cable matter. Your tester is incapable of telling you if the cable is good...it can only tell you if it is wired wrong. A device capable of telling you what goes on at RF costs many thousands of dollars. Try a switch to see if the...
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Robert Pankiw

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Mar 26, 2012
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By weak and pathetic internet, do you mean wifi? Ethernet won't make your internet connection any better.

If you mean wifi, and your room is too far for a 100ft cable, then you can have some long cable go to a 4 port switch. This would "boost" the signal. There probably are repeaters that do that, possibly using PoE, but I think that a simple 4 port switch would suit you better.
 
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AngeNoir0324

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Apr 28, 2017
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No, the signal falters when you plug the wall from the router. When the wall Ethernet is connected, there is signal from the router directly, but no signal goes through the house. We have confirmed that all the wires are connected correctly. The bottom line is that the signal works from the router, but weakens immensely when plugged into the wall
 
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USAFRet

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Yes.
A 100 meter Cat5e cable.
If your house needs longer than 100 meters (330 feet)...you need some professional wiring.

Now...what is the actual problem?
 
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LinuxDevice

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Sounds like there is a defect in either cable or connectors. Poorly crimped connectors are terrible...kinks and physical trauma to a cable can cause it to lose quality in a very short distance. You might consider just laying a loose cable from the router to the PC as a test to see if this would help...and if it does, then replace the cable in the wall. If you're concerned then get cat-6 instead of cat-5e...though I doubt it'll change much, it could at its limits.

Another test is that you could put a switch right at the router, and put the long cable between switch and PC...if it helps the problem, then it may be the router just isn't that great. If you already have a switch this is an easy/painless test.
 
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AngeNoir0324

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The signal is lost completely in the wall
 
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AngeNoir0324

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Everyone says "switch", what is a switch?

And the router is on the other side of the house and a floor up. I know that the signal is fine before it hits the wall, but when it gets to the wall, the signal strength drops to low or nonexistent
 
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ikaz

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Well that means there is a wiring problem in your wall since it doesn't seem like you want to fix that problem you could also try to Powerline adapters. Though I do have a question is there just one Ethernet cable going from the router strait into the wall ? if so there there has to be a switch or a hub that feeding all those wall connections. That could be the issue as well if its old hub and there lots of collision on the network causing slow responses.
 
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ShadyHamster

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If your router is on one side of the house and you are trying to connect via ethernet over power it might not work.
Each side of the house might be connected to the power box on a separate breaker/switch, if that's the case there isn't much you can do as this would be the reason why the signal is so poor.

Try connecting the 2 EoP devices closer together on the same side of the house or even 2 rooms next to each other, and see if that improves things.
 
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LinuxDevice

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A switch is just a kind of multi-outlet extension cord for the network (sometimes called a HUB, but a HUB is inferior in how it works internally...almost nobody sells HUBs these days, they are switches)...breaking it out into multiple plugins. Example:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=switch&N=100129453&isNodeId=1

The part of the network which converts between the external wiring and digital internal 1's and 0's is the PHY. The PHY is what drives the electrical signal. When putting a switch between router and PC the router won't care about the "extension cord" (the switch), but the PHY of the switch will be taking over...if there is a poorly made router PHY, then this will change how the signal is lost. I'd bet though that something in the wall/wiring/connector is what's wrong, and so the switch isn't likely to help. Assuming you have a switch though you can test for a weak router PHY with very little effort; should the switch help you've saved a lot of work re-wiring. Odds are you need to re-wire.
 
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AngeNoir0324

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We bought a tool that we used to determine if the wires where connected, and they where. The signal is some how lost when it goes into the wall and/or before the signal exits. Also, we found that there was signal (of it being connected), but once we plugged in a Ethernet cable (a guaranteed working wire, btw) the signal strength fell to almost nothing
 
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LinuxDevice

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A cheap tester only tests DC connection. Ethernet is RF, and is why cable quality and issues like crimps or extreme stress/bending in the cable matter. Your tester is incapable of telling you if the cable is good...it can only tell you if it is wired wrong. A device capable of telling you what goes on at RF costs many thousands of dollars. Try a switch to see if the router can't handle the length...most likely it won't help, but it is cheap and easy to test. Try a loose cable over the floor to see if the cable itself might matter...likely it does...but you'll know before wiring through a wall if the cable itself is an issue. It is very unlikely anything else can help other than the wire itself being replaced (remember, your cable tester is wrong if it claims it knows your cable is "good"...such testers are incapable of doing anything but telling about missing/broken wires, and RF has much more difficult requirements).
 
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