+- MacResource (https://forums.macresource.com)
+-- Forum: My Category (https://forums.macresource.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=1)
+--- Forum: Tips and Deals (https://forums.macresource.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=3)
+--- Thread: Will Adding Coax / Ethernet Extension Kill My Web Speed? (/showthread.php?tid=180948)
Pages:
1
2
Will Adding Coax / Ethernet Extension Kill My Web Speed? - SteveO - 07-08-2015
My RR cable modem located in my home office is 50mbps down. That translates to about 45 down via my Airport Express. Which is fine. Except about 25' away in my living room, it downgrades to 15-20. This is an issue with NF, Prime, etc and to some extent web surfing and I suspect even my T-Mo WiFi call ability (lots of dropped calls there).
Q: if I run about 25'-30' of coax to my LR, will it denigrate my signal? I'd like to put the modem and AP there so I can get good speed all the time. Or should I get a super-long ethernet extension cord, leave my modem where it is and put my AP in the LR? Which option makes for a stronger signal? Thanks!
I wonder also if my AP is set up wrong; the amber light blinks. Seems like it used to be green. Maybe making it green would fix it. Off to the paint store!
Re: Will Adding Coax / Ethernet Extension Kill My Web Speed? - N-OS X-tasy! - 07-08-2015
The coax cable will attenuate signal strength by a certain amount, but not enough to impact your throughput speeds. Some good info on coax cable here: https://sewelldirect.com/learning-center/rg59-or-rg6
A blinking yellow light on an Airport router usually means one of three things (listed in rough order of likelihood):
- a firmware update is available for the router
- the router lost connectivity to the Internet
- the router has a configuration error
Re: Will Adding Coax / Ethernet Extension Kill My Web Speed? - SteveO - 07-08-2015
Thanks, N-OS. I ran AP Utility and NATS was set up wrong, light is now green and everything seems much improved. I also moved the AP about 5' closer to the doorway so now it's in line of sight to my living room sofa (where I work most often). It's close to the doorway and now elevated about 4' on a bookshelf...what a difference thus far - MBP speedtest shows 43 down on first test, 58 on second test and beyond.
iPhone 5s speedtest shows 28, 29 and 37 down on 3 tests. Odd that the phone is so different, but it's double what it was so I'm not too unhappy.
Re: Will Adding Coax / Ethernet Extension Kill My Web Speed? - N-OS X-tasy! - 07-08-2015
Elevating a wireless as high as possible and providing clear line-of-sight access for clients are the easiest and most important things you can do to improve WLAN connectivity.
Re: Will Adding Coax / Ethernet Extension Kill My Web Speed? - Article Accelerator - 07-08-2015
SteveO wrote:
My RR cable modem located in my home office is 50mbps down. That translates to about 45 down via my Airport Express. Which is fine. Except about 25' away in my living room, it downgrades to 15-20. This is an issue with NF, Prime, etc and to some extent web surfing and I suspect even my T-Mo WiFi call ability (lots of dropped calls there).
Q: if I run about 25'-30' of coax to my LR, will it denigrate my signal? I'd like to put the modem and AP there so I can get good speed all the time. Or should I get a super-long ethernet extension cord, leave my modem where it is and put my AP in the LR? Which option makes for a stronger signal? Thanks!
I wonder also if my AP is set up wrong; the amber light blinks. Seems like it used to be green. Maybe making it green would fix it. Off to the paint store!
I may be able to answer if you tell me what RR, NF, AP, and LR mean.
Re: Will Adding Coax / Ethernet Extension Kill My Web Speed? - N-OS X-tasy! - 07-08-2015
RR = RoadRunner
NF = NetFlix
AP = access point
LR = living room
Re: Will Adding Coax / Ethernet Extension Kill My Web Speed? - Article Accelerator - 07-08-2015
N-OS X-tasy! wrote:
RR = RoadRunner
NF = NetFlix
AP = access point
LR = living room
Thanks for the translation, N-OS X-tasy!. I think I've lost interest…
Re: Will Adding Coax / Ethernet Extension Kill My Web Speed? - Article Accelerator - 07-08-2015
N-OS X-tasy! wrote:
Elevating a wireless as high as possible and providing clear line-of-sight access for clients are the easiest and most important things you can do to improve WLAN connectivity.
I've found that in most domestic environments, access points located just above ground level provide overall optimum results:
http://forums.macresource.com/read.php?1,174669,174757#msg-174757
http://forums.macresource.com/read.php?1,1062327,1062509#msg-1062509
Re: Will Adding Coax / Ethernet Extension Kill My Web Speed? - N-OS X-tasy! - 07-08-2015
Article Accelerator wrote:
[quote=N-OS X-tasy!]
Elevating a wireless as high as possible and providing clear line-of-sight access for clients are the easiest and most important things you can do to improve WLAN connectivity.
I've found that in most domestic environments, access points located just above ground level provide overall optimum results:
http://forums.macresource.com/read.php?1,174669,174757#msg-174757
http://forums.macresource.com/read.php?1,1062327,1062509#msg-1062509
The problem with placing an AP near ground level is that the signal encounters MANY more objects - people, pets, furniture and appliances, among other things - that have the potential to interfere with and/or attenuate the signal. Placing the AP higher up eliminates many of those sources of interference.
In the last ten years, I have overseen the design of tens of thousands of wireless access points from Cisco, Aruba and Alcatel into K-12 environments. In all that time, the manufacturers' recommendation has always been to mount the access point high on the wall.
Re: Will Adding Coax / Ethernet Extension Kill My Web Speed? - Speedy - 07-08-2015
N-OS X-tasy! wrote: into K-12 environments. In all that time, the manufacturers' recommendation has always been to mount the access point high on the wall.
to keep it out of the reach of children.