Wired vs Wifi for Gaming

[YedZed]

1 hour ago, VinZie said:

I personally use wired cause I have to get connection through two walls and 1 brick wall. I would be getting pings over 120 at points in CS:GO. I recommend getting a cat6 cable and just going hard wired cause honestly, best decision I made.

Why Cat6? is it actually better at low speeds? Or just for future-proofing?

[aithos]

53 minutes ago, Supreme-frost said:

It is a floor below me, My room is on the top floor: attic. I would have to run the cable down the side of my stairs.

Well if you have the ability your options for wiring without doing that:

 

1) Drill a hole right in the floor.  This is the janky option, it's going to look bad and if you rent or live with your parents it is probably a no-go.  With that being said it's super fast, cheap and easy so if you own and don't give a damn about how it looks then this will get it done and you can just slap some conduit to your wall and paint it to match the wall.

 

2) You cut a hole (4" x 5" roughly) at the base of the wall in your room (after you locate the studs and make sure there is no electrical wire in the wall, always turn off the breaker for the room/wall you're cutting into first).  Then you drill a hole in the floor plate, which will let you drop the cable into the wall.  If the room is literally below you then as long as you make sure you get the right cavity between studs all you'll have to do is cut two smaller holes for the wall jacks and spend a little time fishing the cable.  Then you get a wall patch kit from your local home depot or whatnot and patch the wall, prime and repaint.  No one will ever know there was a hole there and you'll have ethernet connecting the two rooms.

 

Here's a guide if you're interested in how to do it... but please note that this is still kind of a janky option because you're wiring between two rooms and not to a central location.  It's better than a hole in the floor and a cable hanging on a wall, but the ideal solution would be to run to a central location with a patch panel, switch, and router setup.

 

For supplies you'd need:

- Drill and 1/2" to 3/4" drill bit (may need a right angle drill or adapter)

- Small piece of drywall, patch kit, fiberglass tape and spackle/joint compound, 120-150~ grit sanding block

- two single gang boxes, two Cat6 keystones, two single port modular faceplates

- Cat6 cable (23AWG, solid wire that is CM rated or better)

- punch-down tool, screwdriver, putty knife, wire stripper, utility knife, pencil, small level

- hand drywall saw, dust mask and safety glasses, stud finder, network tester

 

Directions:

- Use the stud finder to determine where the studs are near your computer and the router, ideally they would be on the same wall and not opposite sides.  If you can't re-arrange your room and this isn't the case you may still need to run a cable across your room from the wall jack, but may be able to use trim to hide it under.  Make sure you check for power, you don't want the jack in the same cavity as an outlet so if there is an outlet for your setup move a cavity over at least.

- Mark the studs with a pencil and measure out where you want to cut your hole in the wall to drill through the floor (in the center of the studs).  Use a level to draw the lines so you have a nice square box, but do NOT start cutting anything yet.

- Plug a power strip into the same wall and figure out which circuit breaker turns off the outlets on that wall (have someone tell you when the light on the strip goes out, don't rely on the room lights turning off to tell you because sometimes lights are on a separate breaker from outlets).  Turn off the breaker so there is no chance of you accidentally drilling/cutting into a power wire that is live.  IMPORTANT: repeat for the room below as well.

- Use the hand saw to carefully cut out your hole on three sides, for the fourth you can either cut it (stop before going all the way through and hold the piece so it doesn't fall anywhere), or you can score it with a utility knife and then break it off.  I prefer to cut with the saw but YMMV.

- Verify there is nothing unexpected behind the hole, locate the floor plate (usually just a 2x4) , put on your safety glasses and drill your hole through.  If you want to be super thorough you could roll up some sandpaper and sand the edges to make sure it isn't rough or sharp to snag the cable while pulling but it isn't really necessary.

 

- Use the gang box, level and pencil to trace an outline on the wall at the same height as the wall outlets.  That's important, for the love of god don't stick the box in the middle of the wall because your desk is at that height.  That's a super amateur move that will decrease the aesthetic in the room and look really stupid if you (or someone else) moves stuff around.  Having it at the height of the outlet makes it blend in with the room.

- Carefully cut out the drywall opening for the gang box, minding the contours as closely as you can because you want a nice tight fit.  Make sure to open the cable pass through areas on the gang box before you install it or you're going to have a bad time when you can't actually fish the cable through.

- Go downstairs and repeat in the location where that gang box is going, then get your Cat6 cable and fish it through the wall until you have it sticking out of the holes where each gang box will be installed.  Pull the cable through the gang box and get your keystones.  Strip about two inches of cable, trim the center shield if there is one (be careful not to nick the wires).  Use the punchdown tool and follow the "B" configuration and make sure both keystones are wired the same way. 

- Use the network tester to make sure the connections work (you may need a couple short patch cables to test with if the tester didn't include them, but it should).  Once you have verified the jacks work (you didn't damage the cable, etc) then you can install the gang boxes in the wall.  NOTE: make sure you get "old work" gang boxes, those have tabs to hold it in place in the middle of a wall cavity and don't need to be attached to studs.  That's what you want, trust me.

 

- Snap the keystone into the faceplate, screw it onto the gang box and you're almost done!

- Go back upstairs with your small piece of drywall, your patch kit (little plates that screw into drywall and let you screw the patch piece into them) and the rest of the stuff (putty knife, fiberglass tape, compound, etc)

- Make sure the opening is as square as possible and install the drywall patch clips on each of the four sides.  Measure again and cut your piece of drywall as close to that size as you can cleanly manage.  Put it in place and make sure you have marked where the clips are at, screw the drywall patch into each of the four clips.

- Tape each of the four sides with fiberglass tape for stability, cover each piece with spackle or preferably joint compound.  Make sure it gets down into the seam and try to feather it out (YouTube it if you've never done it), that lets you blend it with the wall without having raised areas.  Let it dry and then use the putty knife to scrape any rough areas off it, you don't have to get crazy here.  Sand it lightly and then put two more coats on doing the same thing each time.  The final time you want to sand it pretty thoroughly (and make sure to wear your mask, the dust is horrible for you to breath).  When you run your hand from the wall over the seams you should barely feel it raise where the patch is and you won't be able to see it when you're done which is the important thing.  If you get too heavy handed with the compound you will have to sand it aggressively, so watch some videos and put it on thin.

- Prime the area (if you don't it will never match the rest of the wall), let it dry completely and then paint with two coats of paint matched to the room.

 

Then you're done!  Just plug in your ethernet cables to the jacks on either end and enjoy your super solid connection!

 

 

[aithos]

6 minutes ago, YedZed said:

Why Cat6? is it actually better at low speeds? Or just for future-proofing?

You use Cat6 because it is a thicker cable with better transfer speeds, better shielding, and yes... it future proofs you.  The cost difference is also relatively minor, so it isn't worth investing in a cable like Cat5e that has been outdated for over 5 years at this point. 

[TVwazhere]

1 hour ago, Supreme-frost said:

what is a powerline adapter? what does it do?