How do I connect my PC to Fiber with ethernet?

[WestTexan]

Fiber is installed in the kitchen/lounge. My room is next to the kitchen. Is it possible? Kitchen on the left,room on the right

[Generic Username]

Using an enthernet cable

[Dedayog]

You can also connect via wifi too.  It's the same as any other internet setup.

 

The routers/modems have the same connections regardless of ADSL, Cable, Fiber, etc.

[WestTexan]

3 minutes ago, Generic Username said:

Using an enthernet cable

lol,made me chuckle

 

but if the modem or router,I dont know the devices is in the kitchen and my pc is in another room.How would I use an ethernet cable? Do I have to buy a really long ethernet cable and have it run on the walls to my PC?

[Generic Username]

1 minute ago, Dedayog said:

You can also connect via wifi too.  It's the same as any other internet setup.

 

The routers/modems have the same connections regardless of ADSL, Cable, Fiber, etc.

WiFi isn't as reliable as CAT cable

[WestTexan]

1 minute ago, Dedayog said:

You can also connect via wifi too.  It's the same as any other internet setup.

 

The routers/modems have the same connections regardless of ADSL, Cable, Fiber, etc.

Wired connection is faster/more reliable though,right? Also, I don't have wifi on my PC

[Generic Username]

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/everything-you-need-to-know-about-powerline-networking/

[Dedayog]

Just now, WestTexan said:

Wired connection is faster/more reliable though,right? Also, I don't have wifi on my PC

Buy wifi?   A USB wifi adapter is cheap.  Get Powerline, but that's not the best way to go, IMO.

 

I mean, not sure what you want from us.  It's internet, you connect in only a few ways.  Pick one.

 

1 minute ago, Generic Username said:

WiFi isn't as reliable as CAT cable

Wifi is fine, millions of people use it daily to game and stream.  

[curiousmind34]

Just make sure your WiFi solution has enough bandwidth to saturate the bandwidth given by your ISP.

i.e. if it is a 20 mbit connection any $10 adapter will work, if you have a 500 mbit connection try looking into 5ghz/wifi 6 if your router supports it.

 

example of a cheap adapter:
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/CG9KHx/rosewill-wireless-network-card-rnxn250pce

example of a more expensive adapter:
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/zQqPxr/edup-ep-9636gs-bl-pcie-x1-80211abgnacax-wi-fi-adapter-ep-9636gs-bl

[da na]

25 minutes ago, WestTexan said:

Wired connection is faster/more reliable though,right? Also, I don't have wifi on my PC

Yeah, it is much more reliable and fast because it doesn't have to go through the air, so ping to the router is often lower and bandwidth is higher.

[mariushm]

38 minutes ago, WestTexan said:

lol,made me chuckle

 

but if the modem or router,I dont know the devices is in the kitchen and my pc is in another room.How would I use an ethernet cable? Do I have to buy a really long ethernet cable and have it run on the walls to my PC?

Use wireless if you don't need the very low latency, if you don't play multiplayer games where high pings matter.

You can use powerline networking if you don't want wireless (or the router is in a location from where wireless signals are hard to reach your location). You place one device by the router (could be the power outlet where the router's power supply is plugged into) and that device creates a network, it's like a network switch, to which the other powerline devices connect ... so you can plug a powerline device in your room and get ethernet and optionally wireless (if you get a powerline device that also has a wireless access point)

Powerline works best if the outlets are on the same circuit (same fuse in the electrical panel), works a bit less well if there's things like microwave ovens, washing machines, stuff with motors plugged in the same circuit with them... They can get you higher download speeds than wireless, and maybe more consistent high download / transfer speeds but they still have issues with latency, probably worse than wireless sometimes.

Ethernet is king. 

Ideally, you would DRILL a hole in the corner of your room, maybe on that black bad at the bottom or right above that band and route the network cable along the wall.  

 

Another option is to buy FLAT black ethernet cable and use some double sided adhesive tape to more or less glue the cable along the base of the wall, or use clips like the ones in the picture below to attach it to the wall 

You may have to cut or sand / polish a bit of the wood on the door so that when you fully close the door, it won't compress / cut the ethernet cable if you resort to this 

 

Here's an example : https://www.amazon.com/Ethernet-Internet-Snagless-Connectors-Router-Black/dp/B06XXH72SZ/

 

 

[Leon.861]

You could go full fiber but you'll spend an arm and a leg on the equipment.

Other than that you have two options:

- either use an ethernet cable as was previously mentioned and run it along the wall (or maybe even through the wall if thats a possiblity?)

- use a WiFi stick on your computer to recieve the signal from your router.

 

I wouldn't suggest using a powerline adapter. I dunno how your powerlines in the house are routed and how they're shielded, but more often than not you will lose about 20-30% of the speed through the powerline and also will lose in reliabilty. Powerdraws will give you a certrain amount of packetloss - or even cap the entire connection for seconds. Definitly less reliable and slower than a good wifi setup.

[Donut417]

10 hours ago, Dedayog said:

Buy wifi?   A USB wifi adapter is cheap.  Get Powerline, but that's not the best way to go, IMO.

 

I mean, not sure what you want from us.  It's internet, you connect in only a few ways.  Pick one.

 

Wifi is fine, millions of people use it daily to game and stream.  

USB adapters suck. If your going to do WiFi you do it right with a PCIe card. 

 

Secondly WiFi is not as reliable as Ethernet. Just because it works for you doesn't mean it works for everyone. There are areas in the world where they build structures out of Concrete. Concrete and WIFI dont mix. WiFi also has higher latency than Ethernet. So in some games that can be an issue. 

[Dedayog]

3 hours ago, Donut417 said:

USB adapters suck. If your going to do WiFi you do it right with a PCIe card. 

 

Secondly WiFi is not as reliable as Ethernet. Just because it works for you doesn't mean it works for everyone. There are areas in the world where they build structures out of Concrete. Concrete and WIFI dont mix. WiFi also has higher latency than Ethernet. So in some games that can be an issue. 

Very good generic info.  Wifi would be fine for him,  if you looked at the pic he posted.

 

USB adapters are more than fine for most people.  I know we're on a Tech Forum so that everything has to split hairs and be noted that it's 0.5% better or whatever.  

 

Latency gets adjusted by the online game, so having good ping can be adjusted to where the wifi folks are.  Need to mention that too.  Don't just spout that wired is always better, cuz it isn't.

[Donut417]

7 hours ago, Dedayog said:

USB adapters are more than fine for most people.  I know we're on a Tech Forum so that everything has to split hairs and be noted that it's 0.5% better or whatever. 

Its not about better. Its about reliability USB adapters are known to over heat and die quickly. Especially if your shooting shit loads of data thru them. You don't know how many posts I have seen people crying about their USB adapters stopped working. The best solution is to NOT buy one. 

 

7 hours ago, Dedayog said:

Don't just spout that wired is always better, cuz it isn't

But it is. Its more reliable. Consistent and Faster. You're not going to get Gigabit speeds on WiFi but can easily achieve this or faster on Ethernet. 

[Falcon1986]

8 hours ago, Dedayog said:

Very good generic info.  Wifi would be fine for him,  if you looked at the pic he posted.

 

USB adapters are more than fine for most people.  I know we're on a Tech Forum so that everything has to split hairs and be noted that it's 0.5% better or whatever. 

The easiest solution isn't always the best solution. But seeing as this is a tech forum, it also serves to educate the uninformed and offer the best/ideal alternative. The OP's conditions will ultimately direct the solution.

 

Most people don't think about running a cable, but if the run isn't absolutely contraindicated, the connection will be consistently more reliable (with lower latency) and faster than WiFi. WiFi can be faster, but the key is consistency, since WiFi is subject to interference.

 

8 hours ago, Dedayog said:

Latency gets adjusted by the online game, so having good ping can be adjusted to where the wifi folks are.  Need to mention that too.  Don't just spout that wired is always better, cuz it isn't.

Really? I can't say that I agree with this, unless I'm misinterpreting what you're saying.

 

High latency can be caused at any point between the PC's LAN and whatever server it's connecting to on the WAN. Most of the WAN is wired so, ideally, latency should be low on that side. A WLAN can introduce more latency before it even reaches there.

 

Not all online games will suffer from high latency, but those that require quick reaction will.

[Alex Atkin UK]

19 hours ago, Dedayog said:

Latency gets adjusted by the online game, so having good ping can be adjusted to where the wifi folks are.  Need to mention that too.  Don't just spout that wired is always better, cuz it isn't.

Yes they CAN treat everyone like they have the same latency, artificially limiting people with good latency to the same performance as those with poor.  But I don't think this is universally done and you're also missing the big issue with WiFi which is jitter, how the latency can vary considerably between one packet and the next based on what your neighbours WiFi is doing and the variability of radio communication in general.  Just someone walking around the house, putting the microwave on, even weather changes can impact WiFi.

Wired IS ALWAYS better as jitter should be around 0.1ms at worst rather than several milliseconds on WiFi, as you are not subject to changing conditions over the radio frequencies!  Plus the base latency will be something like 0.3ms whereas WiFi will always be at best three or four times higher than that.

Example, my laptop WiFi 6 vs Wired to my NAS:

 

PING server.lan (192.168.1.253) 56(84) bytes of data. 
64 bytes from Server.lan (192.168.1.253): icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=3.81 ms 
64 bytes from Server.lan (192.168.1.253): icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=4.24 ms 
64 bytes from Server.lan (192.168.1.253): icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=4.07 ms 
64 bytes from Server.lan (192.168.1.253): icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=4.02 ms 
64 bytes from Server.lan (192.168.1.253): icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=3.69 ms 
64 bytes from Server.lan (192.168.1.253): icmp_seq=6 ttl=64 time=3.92 ms 
64 bytes from Server.lan (192.168.1.253): icmp_seq=7 ttl=64 time=3.94 ms 
64 bytes from Server.lan (192.168.1.253): icmp_seq=8 ttl=64 time=4.23 ms 
64 bytes from Server.lan (192.168.1.253): icmp_seq=9 ttl=64 time=3.88 ms 
64 bytes from Server.lan (192.168.1.253): icmp_seq=10 ttl=64 time=4.67 ms 
64 bytes from Server.lan (192.168.1.253): icmp_seq=11 ttl=64 time=4.15 ms 
64 bytes from Server.lan (192.168.1.253): icmp_seq=12 ttl=64 time=3.78 ms 
^C 
--- server.lan ping statistics --- 
12 packets transmitted, 12 received, 0% packet loss, time 11018ms 
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 3.693/4.033/4.673/0.255 ms 

PING server.lan (192.168.1.253) 56(84) bytes of data. 
64 bytes from Server.lan (192.168.1.253): icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.174 ms 
64 bytes from Server.lan (192.168.1.253): icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.150 ms 
64 bytes from Server.lan (192.168.1.253): icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.143 ms 
64 bytes from Server.lan (192.168.1.253): icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=0.140 ms 
64 bytes from Server.lan (192.168.1.253): icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=0.125 ms 
64 bytes from Server.lan (192.168.1.253): icmp_seq=6 ttl=64 time=0.181 ms 
64 bytes from Server.lan (192.168.1.253): icmp_seq=7 ttl=64 time=0.145 ms 
64 bytes from Server.lan (192.168.1.253): icmp_seq=8 ttl=64 time=0.146 ms 
64 bytes from Server.lan (192.168.1.253): icmp_seq=9 ttl=64 time=0.128 ms 
64 bytes from Server.lan (192.168.1.253): icmp_seq=10 ttl=64 time=0.125 ms 
64 bytes from Server.lan (192.168.1.253): icmp_seq=11 ttl=64 time=0.125 ms 
64 bytes from Server.lan (192.168.1.253): icmp_seq=12 ttl=64 time=0.143 ms
--- server.lan ping statistics --- 
12 packets transmitted, 12 received, 0% packet loss, time 11016ms 
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.125/0.143/0.181/0.017 ms

Bear in mind this is WiFi in ideal conditions, no big variation in performance just to interference and only a a few feet from the Access Point with no other clients actively using it.