BT Infinity Hub 4 (FTTC) Room move


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So i have BT INFINITY with a HUB4 router/modem connected through Fibre Optics to the local exchange on the main road. It comes to my house through the old copper wiring. So BT like to call this Fibre Broadand even though its not Fibre straight to my house. This is known as FTTC (fibre to the cabinet) but its still so much faster than the ordinary. My speeds at an average are around 60mbs D/L and 15mbs U/L via wired connection. Wireless i can still get over 30 down and 10 up....

 

Anyway now that you know everything about my ISP profile i would like some advice please.

 

I currently have everything setup downstairs which is where all my interenet boxes live. I am in the process of moving everything upstairs to my bedroom but i cannot bring with me my HUB4 it needs to stay connected downstairs. Now obviously WiFi is an option as i have clearly stated my speeds are more than ok but i am not satisfied with that being a big gamer and streamer. I want to get the best possible connection in my bedroom.

 

So my question to all of you is..... What would you do in my situation?

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I ran a cable from my router to a switch upstairs

 

before i had managed to do that i was using homeplugs to do the same thing

 

on a 40mb connection i was getting around 32/33 through the homepligs

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Run an Ethernet cable from the router downstairs to a gigabit switch upstairs, you can then connect all your devices upstairs to the gigabit switch and get the best possible speeds.

I basically have my modem connected to the router, then from the router Ethernet cable going to different switches in various rooms of the house, i think its worth the time to set things up like that.

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I also ran a cable upstairs into a Gigabit switch.

 

I tried homeplugs and I'm not sure whether I have dodgy electrics or not, but on my 80/20 connection I got 20-30/20 using the homeplugs.

 

With a cable connected to a Gigabit switch I get 80/20 upstairs. For me, nothing beats a proper cable.

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So basically run a long ethernet cable straight from my Hub4 to a Gigabyte switch in my bedroom upstairs which i can then use to wire up all my devices?

 

Assuming i have understood that i would need to run an ethernet cable which will be a headache in itself but worth doing right.

 

*scratches head and wonders where to begin running cable as have kids and must be done well.

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Powerline/homeplug adapters are probably the best way to go, especially considering you have kids and a long ethernet cable could be a potential trip hazard (unless you're able to pin it up off the floor and keep it out of sight). Speed-wise, they cause next-to-no difference in our home in everyday use (including gaming). We have a WD Livewire 4-port twin pack - one in my room and one in my brother's room - and then a cheap TP-Link adapter from a twin pack downstairs that sends up the connection. We get the full 76Mb download/19Mb upload straight from the Home Hub 4 and the download only drop to around 60Mb after going through the powerline adapters.

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If you can run an ethernet connection straight to upstairs then that's the logical way to go, but you could get one of the newer 600Mbit Power Plugs (you won't get 600Mbit out of it, more like ~200Mbit) which would save on wiring, but there is like 2-5ms added latency.

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If you really need to run an ethernet cable upstairs from down and have concrete walls or don't wanna make a mess, just run it through the windows outside and nail it to the wall. Make sure to unplug it when there's a thunderstorm though.

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So basically run a long ethernet cable straight from my Hub4 to a Gigabyte switch in my bedroom upstairs which i can then use to wire up all my devices?

 

Assuming i have understood that i would need to run an ethernet cable which will be a headache in itself but worth doing right.

 

*scratches head and wonders where to begin running cable as have kids and must be done well.

I bought a 50m cable and tacked it to the door frames. I was going to go through the ceiling and up into the floorboards, but decided that was too much hassle. 

 

Powerline/homeplug adapters are probably the best way to go, especially considering you have kids and a long ethernet cable could be a potential trip hazard. Speed-wise, they're next-to-no difference in our home. We have a WD Livewire 4-port twin pack - one in my room and one in my brother's room - and then a cheap TP-Link adapter from a twin pack downstairs that sends up the connection. We get the full 76Mb download/19Mb upload straight from the Home Hub 4 and the download only drop to around 60Mb after going through the powerline adapters.

 

I suppose it all depends, I've set homeplugs up for someone before and it made next to no difference to the speeds, but with me they just didn't work well at all. It's a bit of an expensive way to go too if they don't work well.

If you really need to run an ethernet cable upstairs from down and have concrete walls or don't wanna make a mess, just run it through the windows outside and nail it to the wall. Make sure to unplug it when there's a thunderstorm though.

You can also purchase outdoor cables, a little more expensive, maybe worth it though. I've never tried them so I can't say what they are like.

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So basically run a long ethernet cable straight from my Hub4 to a Gigabyte switch in my bedroom upstairs which i can then use to wire up all my devices?

 

Assuming i have understood that i would need to run an ethernet cable which will be a headache in itself but worth doing right.

 

*scratches head and wonders where to begin running cable as have kids and must be done well.

To connect the floors of my house I used a flat cat6 cable, and just run it under the carpets, up the stairs and into my network cabinet. I was a bit weary at first, but I tested the cable strenuously before installing it and its been fine. Apparently they can be more susceptible to interference though, so i'd probably make sure you don't run them next to electrical cables, etc.

Oh, and corners are very fiddly, but it's doable with patience!

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I must say i do like both ideas. Homeplugs do seem to be more children friendly.

 

Now i guess its just a matter of doing some research and make sure i get the best tools for either job.

 

Gigabyte switches and Homeplugs.... What to buy and what not to buy... the joys haha

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I suppose it all depends, I've set homeplugs up for someone before and it made next to no difference to the speeds, but with me they just didn't work well at all. It's a bit of an expensive way to go too if they don't work well.

Very true, it depends on the internal wiring in the house. Basic rule of thumb is the newer the house is, the less issues there'll be (the house I live in is only 25 years old, so fairly fortunate there). Another crucial thing to remember is to only ever plug them in directly and not through extensions, so if you go with a cheaper one, you do lose a plug socket. You never know for sure though how it'll perform until you try it. I took the risk and it thankfully paid off. Good thing too, as the WD twin pack was ?50. :p The TP-Link twin pack was a lot less at ?15, and the current models are the same price; that's probably the minimum you'd need to spend to get started. They were all AV200 speed, by the way. That's thankfully plenty for now and probably the next few years; it's probably gonna be a while before BT bring the Infinity 3 (200Mb) & 4 (300Mb) packages down here.

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I must say i do like both ideas. Homeplugs do seem to be more children friendly.

 

Now i guess its just a matter of doing some research and make sure i get the best tools for either job.

 

Gigabyte switches and Homeplugs.... What to buy and what not to buy... the joys haha

 

 

I think a safe bet would TP-Link or ZyXEL and most 1Gbit switches will be alright, they are relatively cheap.

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Been sitting here thinking about this all day and suddenly had a brainwave.

 

My current setup consists of a White Openreach box that is on the wall and plugs directly in to the phone socket. The BTHUB4 then plugs in to the white box.

 

So wouldnt it then be easier for me to run a long ethernet cable from that white box to the hub upstairs considoring the hub has 4 ethernet ports?

 

Or am i missing something here? :/

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that would be perfectly fine to do :)

Then all i need to buy is a long ethernet cable and i am sorted.

 

Hope i dont see too much difference in speeds using a uber long cable.

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Yep that works - from memory, the HH4 has only 100mbit ports on the back so if you DID use homeplugs and they were those 600Mbit ones, you'd have a throttle there anyway. The HH5 has gigabit ethernet on the back.

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Yep that works - from memory, the HH4 has only 100mbit ports on the back so if you DID use homeplugs and they were those 600Mbit ones, you'd have a throttle there anyway. The HH5 has gigabit ethernet on the back.

The 4 has a single gigE port the other 3 are standard.

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The 4 has a single gig port that is Red. The other 3 are yellow.

 

Yep - the red one plugs into the white OR box on a two box solution - so he cannot use it.

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I am guessing there is no way i can by-pass the hub4 so i am not restricted to 100mbit ? Maybe i could squeeze out some extra bandwidth by doing so? Just thinking out loud here. Not an area i excel in.

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if you have your hub connected to a gigabit switch then everything plugged into the gigabit switch then all your internet network will be gigabit as long as they have gigabit ports

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The HH4 has 1 red port and 4 yellow ones.

One of the yellow ones is Gig-E, as per the picture.

 

 

post-11693-0-84740900-1401724797.jpg

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if you have your hub connected to a gigabit switch then everything plugged into the gigabit switch then all your internet network will be gigabit as long as they have gigabit ports

New PC will have one on the mobo so all good there. I automaticaly assumed the hub4 would prevent the switch seeing as that itself is restricted. Found out quite a bit today.

 

Thanks.

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