plugging directly into router vs...

[HereoxMatt]

Hello, first post here. I'm planning on routing Ethernet cables so as to have a better network connection then wireless because my router is located all the way on the other side of the house. Now I have temporary set up where a cat5 is plugged into a, what I would call, a router extension? Our internet and television is bundled so where we would plug in a television reciever I plugged the cat5 and ran it through my halls to my ps4. I mainly want a wired connection because my ps4 suffers bad connection from where I am wirelessly. Now I have 2 questions. I'm planning on wiring a catX wire through my ceiling to either the router or the router extension(please tell me the true name if you are familiar with what I'm talking about it) I want your opinion. Should I plug into my router which has plenty of cat5 outlets to supply my pc AND ps4, or plug my pc and ps4 into the router extension, which only has one cat5 plug, into a splliter and run that way. Also, can someone explain cat5, cat5e, cat6, and cat7? :/ thanks everyone

 

[kanewolf]

If you have several devices in one room, an ethernet switch such as TP Link is the correct device. It lets you pull 1 cable from the router and connect multiple wired devices which are in the same room.

Something like this has both a wired switch and wireless access. This would be good where you have laptops and tablets in addition to wired devices. Many old routers can be used in this manner. These are called wireless access points.

You can fan your router into different rooms with each port on the router, you can then have a wireless access point or ethernet switch in each room.

 

[price_th]

Cat5 vs. Cat6. These are refer to engineering standards for Ethernet cables. This ties to whether you are running at 100mb speed or 1000mb speed. Generally Cat5e will work for both, it just wont be certified at 1000mb.

 

[abailey]

Cat5e is rated for 1000Mb/s up to the standard 100 meters. I won't get into all the different ratings like cat5e vs cat6 or cat6a vs cat7 but the main thing you need to know is CAT5e for speeds up to 1Gb/s, or CAT6a for speeds up to 10Gb/s. CAT6a is thicker, stiffer, and more expensive than CAT5e. CAT5e is plenty for todays household, but if you are trying to future proof you may consider CAT6a. Some people wire in the walls with CAT6a but use CAT5e patch cords to the devices since they don't currently run anything over 1Gb/s. This way they just need to purchase a new patch cable if they do upgrade later.

 

[HereoxMatt]

@kanewolf I'm leaning more toward the second one. Now as I plan on using my pc, it will be running quite a bit and probably the same time as I'm playing online with my ps4. If they are both running is it possible that my connection will be slower because theyy are sharing the same network point? Or no?

 

[HereoxMatt]

Or would it be smarter to use the wireless access point in my room where it can be as close as possible to my gear and route an ethernet cable to the router?