Should I run more Coax, or Ethernet?

[Jathrynn]

The short version of a very long story is this- I live in a small, comfortable, but very old apartment building and I just learned the cable internet line for my apartment had "ingress" (i think that's what the cable guy called it) and its the reason my little home network has not been working lately. Lucky for me, there was a second line installed in my apartment long before I got there and its working just fine (yay). Unlucky for me its in my bedroom, right behind my bed, and it only has like 2 feet of cable I can get out of the wall (boo). A request is going to be sent to my landlord about replacing the bad line....but i know my luck and I'm pretty sure I'm stuck with this second line.

This kinda sucks since the main use of my internet is for online gaming, so I need a wired connection to my computer. Unless I rearrange my entire apartment, I can only think of two solutions to this:
1: Buy a F\F Coax connector, and run some coax cable around the perimeter of my bedroom and into the living room through my door (I'm not allowed to drill holes in the wall) since that is where my computer and game consoles are and I'd like my modem to be....although I heard that extending the coax cable too far can mess with your connection and the whole point of this was to fix my spotty connection.
2: As above, but with an Ethernet cable instead....I'm just worried since the cable from the wall is so short I'd have to keep the modem on a shelf the headboard of my bed has, and I don't want any accidents that may yank cables or knock things over.

Both solutions kinda suck since I have to run a cord through my doorway, but I don't have much choice since I can't put holes in the wall. I could always go wireless....but I prefer a hard line connection for gaming and I don't want to deal with that unless I have to. I'm open to answering any questions as well any other solutions any one has to offer, I'm just looking for a good way to set this up so I can get my pc back up and connected.

 

[clutchc]

You will maintain a stronger signal if you extend the coax rather than the length-limited Ethernet. Just use good cable and barrel connector. You may be able to tape the cable to the base board as you snake it around the room(s). And tape it to the floor as it passes under the doorway so there is less chance of tripping on it.

 

[bill001g]

From a performance standpoint it likely makes no difference. Adding the coax will drop the signal a small amount but it likely will be so small you can not measure it. Pretty much this only matters if you are near the limits on the signal levels. You will be able to tell because the speed test will be lower. Ethernet cable will not have the issue of signal loss it can go 100 meters and run at 1gig speed..10gig if you were to use cat6a.

I would try the coax first if the equipment placement is a issue. Just buy the cable and run it over the floor before you attempt to hide it that way if you are over the limit you can go ethernet.

In either case you want to use quality cable. You may be temped to run some of the so called thin of flat cables. Coax you will get much more loss than normal RG6 cable. Ethernet any of those flat or thin cables are not certified and they may not work well.

It depends on how your place is built. Many times you can carefully pry off the base board trim. Many times there is a small space behind this or you can cut a grove in the back of the trim to hide cable. In many cases the trim is white and the small cracks between the wall and the trim are sealed with white painters caulk. It should be simple to hide any marks from removal and reinstall.