Confused about Ethernet splitters and hubs.

[JasonM]

I’m finally getting around to running some cat5 Ethernet to hard wire internet to a couple of the rooms in my house, the wifi is a bit weak in those rooms, one is the office and the other my sons room, both rooms have a couple of devices I want to connect, 2 laptops in the office and Xbox and pc in my lads room. The router has 4 Ethernet ports, my idea was to run a single cable to each room then a splitter in those rooms to connect each device, from reading up this morning, it seems if I use a splitter, I have to use 2, one at the router end using 2 leads from 2 ports with the one cable coming out, then another in the room to unsplit the signal again, have I got that right? And I can’t get my head around what the difference is from a splitter and a hub. What is my best option to connect multiple devices in the room with a single cable run in each room.
Thanks.

[junglebert]

A switch in each room is what you need.

[junglebert]

These are what I use.

https://www.google.co.uk/aclk?sa=L&a...gQIDRBo&adurl=

[ed335d]

I’m finally getting around to running some cat5 Ethernet to hard wire internet to a couple of the rooms in my house, the wifi is a bit weak in those rooms, one is the office and the other my sons room, both rooms have a couple of devices I want to connect, 2 laptops in the office and Xbox and pc in my lads room. The router has 4 Ethernet ports, my idea was to run a single cable to each room then a splitter in those rooms to connect each device, from reading up this morning, it seems if I use a splitter, I have to use 2, one at the router end using 2 leads from 2 ports with the one cable coming out, then another in the room to unsplit the signal again, have I got that right? And I can’t get my head around what the difference is from a splitter and a hub. What is my best option to connect multiple devices in the room with a single cable run in each room.
Thanks.

10/100 Ethernet uses 2 of the four pairs in a cable. Typically, a splitter is a passive device that directs the second circuit down the unused pairs, so you have to 'undirect' them at the other end. I don't think you can get a gigabit splitter as 1Gb typically uses all 4 pairs to get the bandwidth down a 5e cable.

Something described as a hub will usually be a switch, this will be an active (powered device) that will intelligently repeat/direct the signal and you can join these together so that you can have a number of ports connected by one 'feeding' cable from perhaps your router,

[catch21]

Single cable to each room, switch on the end in the room.

Don’t know if you can still buy hubs tbh. They broadcast everything received on a port to all ports. Think about that!

Just don’t make loops with your Ethernet, i.e. don’t join the new switches together.

[Kingstepper]

As mentioned splitters must be used in pairs and you'll soon use up your 4 router ports.

A hub is different to a switch, poorer performance and uncommon nowadays.

Best bet is a switch in each room which can feed 2 or more devices into one line, only £5-10 so go with those.

[ed335d]

This'll do the job for a couple of devices

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-LS1...5059395&sr=8-7

You can get 10/100 ones for cheaper!

[ed335d]

A thought about the cabling - are you putting in sockets and using patch leads to connect the devices, or planning to put plugs directly onto the ends of the cable?

[ism123]

If you’re on BT you can get those WiFi extender discs to save running cables.

If not, and like others have said, just run the Ethernet cable to a splitter, which as its name would suggest splits the signal into however many ports it comes with.

[JasonM]

Thanks all, switches it is then.

A thought about the cabling - are you putting in sockets and using patch leads to connect the devices, or planning to put plugs directly onto the ends of the cable?

So far the single cables are connecting directly from the router to the devices, I bought the cables with connectors already on.

[ed335d]

Thanks all, switches it is then.




So far the single cables are connecting directly from the router to the devices, I bought the cables with connectors already on.

What about the cables you're planning to run?

[JasonM]

What about the cables you're planning to run?

Those are the cables I have run, 20m of cable with prefitted plug on each end. A bit messy as there is some overage in each room, but fitting plugs myself would have added to the ‘never done that before and I might cock it up’ factor, I guess it’s probably easy enough though.

[ed335d]

Those are the cables I have run, 20m of cable with prefitted plug on each end. A bit messy as there is some overage in each room, but fitting plugs myself would have added to the ‘never done that before and I might cock it up’ factor, I guess it’s probably easy enough though.

Ah, gotcha!

Having a plug on the cable can make routing it between rooms a bit tricky, but that of course depends on the pathway.

Putting plugs on is straightforward and will allow you to get rid of the excess slack. A crimper and a pack of 10 plugs is less than £20 from screwfix

[JasonM]

Thanks Ed, yes, it wasn’t easy tbh, but not as bad as it could have been, the router is near a cupboard that has the fuse box and existing runs through the ceiling ( bungalow) then over the loft and follow some central heating pipes down into the rooms, some inconspicuous 8mm trunking and it looks pretty neat.
I might get the crimper and plugs if MrsM moans about the looped cable under the desk, probably only a matter of time.

[ed335d]

Thanks Ed, yes, it wasn’t easy tbh, but not as bad as it could have been, the router is near a cupboard that has the fuse box and existing runs through the ceiling ( bungalow) then over the loft and follow some central heating pipes down into the rooms, some inconspicuous 8mm trunking and it looks pretty neat.
I might get the crimper and plugs if MrsM moans about the looped cable under the deadly, probably only a matter of time.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/rj45-crimp-tool/30318

https://www.screwfix.com/p/rj45-connector-10-pack/12840

Link to the bits.

I've got a crimper and a tester you can borrow if you feel like giving it a go and don't want to buy the bits for a one-off.

The conductors need to be arranged in a certain sequence, once you've got those, the tester will tell you they're all connected

[JasonM]

Thank you...

[Mr Curta]

The trickiest part is putting the rubber boot on over the RJ45 plug because you forgot to slide it onto the cable before crimping it.

[JasonM]

The trickiest part is putting the rubber boot on over the RJ45 plug because you forgot to slide it onto the cable before crimping it.

Ah, the internet cable equivalent of hoselock connectors.

[David_D]

Spotted this if it’s if any interest to anyone:

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/tp-...amazon-3507835

[JasonM]

Thanks David, appreciated.

[Maris]

You can plug a WiFi mesh disc into one of your switches so it uses ethernet for the backhaul thus providing tremendous range.

[Mr.D]

I've got hardline ethernet , wifi and powerline adaptor.

I reliably get 850Mbps up and down on the hardline , 350Mbps up and down on 5Ghz wifi ( about 50ft range) and about 150Mbps on 2.4Ghz wifi but longer range (can get it 100ft outside the house).

The TP powerline adaptor gets me about 100-200Mbps.

All speeds are both up and down.

Every method is good for streaming 4k UHD , twitch gaming, remote real-time desktop around the planet . Conference calls with 50 people at once pls interactive realtime desktop sharing and 4k video playback.

massive downloads ( 300GB download over the hardline ethernet from an IBM server took about 90minutes , the slowest thing was the server topping out at 500Mbps whilst the connection would easily do 850mbps.

Hyperoptic gigabit fibre ( seriously cheap think its about £40 a month but limited availability). Cannot fault it , best connection I've ever used , breath taking speed and I've been using enterprise level stuff since the 90s.
The IT department at my company didn't believe me until I showed them the speedtest results.

Try the TP link powerline kit , worked great for me.

[Mr_Mac]

Could you not just lose the slack in the loft somewhere if cutting and re-crimping is not an option?

[JasonM]

Could you not just lose the slack in the loft somewhere if cutting and re-crimping is not an option?

I can with one, but the other run nearly killed me, boiled alive with insulation rash. I’m not going in that corner again, ever.

[Kingstepper]

Ideally, cut and affix a face plate though will involve crimping.

[Mr Curta]

Ideally, cut and affix a face plate though will involve crimping.

Fitting a socket is a good call and actually involves punching down with an Insulation Displacement Tool, which is a hell of a lot easier than crimping on an RJ45.

[Kingstepper]

Fitting a socket is a good call and actually involves punching down with an Insulation Displacement Tool, which is a hell of a lot easier than crimping on an RJ45.

Ah yes, forgot how it was done.