switch or coupler

Derfel · Post by **Derfel** » Wed Mar 18, 2009 4:33 am

Hi there,

I have just rearranged my bedroom which has my PC in and now my 20m cat6 cable from my main switch is too short to reach the PC. At the moment I am using a spare gigabit switch and an extra cable to extend to the switch at my PC. However the switch in question was relegated to a spare because it makes a faint annoying 'hiss' that I can hear when sleeping. I have seen RJ45 Couplers around and wondered if there would be any change in performance by replacing the switch with one one of these shielded RJ45 couplers, or even one of the cheaper bog standard couplers. I notice the belkin coupler below is specified as CAT5 not CAT5E or CAT6 does this mean I would lose gigabit performance in the future (I don't have the hardware to make use of this yet).

http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/Sea ... D=84120645

advice appreciated!
thanks

Monkeh16 · Post by **Monkeh16** » Wed Mar 18, 2009 5:23 am

Honestly, a 'shielded' coupler is likely to make little or no difference, and ten quid is a ridiculous price for a simple coupler.

A cheap coupler would work, but I'd personally buy a longer cable, or a reel of Cat5e and make my own (actually, already done the latter).

Derfel · Post by **Derfel** » Wed Mar 18, 2009 2:41 pm

thanks for the response. Putting a new cable in would certainly be the ideal but unfortunately the current cable goes through several walls and under fitted carpets (it's a flat one) to get to me. I only want to refit another one if there is significant change in performance! I think I'll try a coupler to start with!

Monkeh16 · Post by **Monkeh16** » Wed Mar 18, 2009 6:10 pm

Derfel wrote:thanks for the response. Putting a new cable in would certainly be the ideal but unfortunately the current cable goes through several walls and under fitted carpets (it's a flat one) to get to me. I only want to refit another one if there is significant change in performance! I think I'll try a coupler to start with!

A coupler should work fine and not affect performance. However, I'm not sure if a flat cable would be gigabit capable. You may want to consider lifting some boards in future rather than running under carpets

jhhoffma · Post by **jhhoffma** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 7:16 am

I have a cheapo "Cat5 coupler" that I found at CompUSA when they still had stores. I've used it along with two 25' Cat5e cables to troubleshoot my HTPC gigabit link when my 50' Cat5e wasn't delivering 1000mbps.

Worked a treat!

Derfel · Post by **Derfel** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 4:48 am

thanks for the advice all. It will certainly be interesting to find out whether the flat CAT6 cable makes a difference when I get some gigabit hardware, I have a long spare rounded cable so I will test.

I've decided to try a coupler and found a cheap one that is labeled as CAT6 and shielded, not sure if that actually means any difference between the bog standard ones but it's only a couple of quid!

http://www.euronetwork.co.uk/acatalog/M ... -1088.html

thanks again