Wired console connections

Hardware and technical stuff
1

Okay, so I’m tired of the really spotty wifi connections on my PS3, 360 and Wii since all three are set up downstairs while my PC/router is upstairs. Connections are never fully reliable and often very slow. Getting booted from Burnout Paradise multiple times last night was the last straw so I’m now seriously looking at running ethernet cable downstairs from the router to establish wired connections to all three consoles.

Some questions:

  • Is this worth doing? I’ll have to buy a ton of cable (not expensive, I know) and go through the hassle of finding a neat path to run it between floors, which may involve some drilling. I’m going to set up my 360 closer to the router to demo a wired connection so I’ll be able to see for myself before committing to this set-up, but would like to hear from others who have real experience of wired-vs-wifi gaming connections. Will I see much better performance/reliability?

  • What kind of cable should I get? CAT5e, CAT6? Is there much difference?

  • Ideally I’d like to be able to run one cable from the router that could go to all three consoles via some kind of splitter (one cable in, three cables out). Am I smoking crack here, or is this possible? Is this what an ethernet hub/switch is? Or am I going to have to run three cables from the router if I want to serve all three consoles? I only have two spare router ports so if a single-cable solution isn’t possible I’ll probably just run two cables to PS3 and 360 and screw the Wii as it’s hardly worth being online with that right now anyway.

  • Any other pointers/thoughts on going wired?

(crosspost alert - also on GAF)

2

I personally think it’s worth it, but opinions differ. Some would say just to get a bigger antenna for your wireless connect. Me, I’ve got Cat-6 ethernet running to almost every room in my house, terminated with wall ports so it looks nice. I’ve also got a big honking antenna for my wireless, because damned if I don’t want to sync shit up on my laptop while sitting in my driveway.

I think if you’re going to do it, do it right - Run at least two lines to the room with the electronics, and terminate at least one of them. The other is a “just in case” line if you decide you want an extra port in the room or just want to add a phone line or something. The thing about running one cable is it’s just as easy to run two, so you might as well.

  • What kind of cable should I get? CAT5e, CAT6? Is there much difference?

For your application, Cat5e is technically sufficient. I went with CAT6 because when you’re installing shit behind walls and taking the time to do it, you might as well do it right the first time.

Like if the guy who ran coax cable throughout my house had used this philosophy, I wouldn’t have had to come in on day 1 of owning it and rip out all his crappy RG-59 and replace it with RG-6 Quad.

For the price difference, you might as well go CAT6. Make sure you get solid-core cable as well, it transmits better over distances. Stranded should really be kept to lengths of less than 20 feet if you’re a nutter like me.

  • Ideally I’d like to be able to run one cable from the router that could go to all three consoles via some kind of splitter (one cable in, three cables out). Am I smoking crack here, or is this possible? Is this what an ethernet hub/switch is? Or am I going to have to run three cables from the router if I want to serve all three consoles? I only have two spare router ports so if a single-cable solution isn’t possible I’ll probably just run two cables to PS3 and 360 and screw the Wii as it’s hardly worth being online with that right now anyway.

That’s smart thinking. Terminate one of the two wires that you run downstairs, take that and plug it into a switch located admist all of the gaming goodies. Run 3 cables out of the switch into the consoles, and you’re in great shape. For the money, you might as well get a gigabit switch, even if your equipment doesn’t take advantage of it just yet. But that’s your call.

I can’t recommend heavily enough doing a proper in-wall installation with wall jacks and the like.

Oh, and while you’re doing this, you might consider running some good RG-6 cable while you’re at it. Two strands of that will ensure you never have to run any cable to that room ever again.

3

Thanks for the advice, M5. Unfortunately I’m not really handy enough to run cables through walls and I’m in a rented apartment so I can’t go hacking away at stuff anyway. So it’s a hastily-improvised trailing cable or nothing.

4

Yep, a switch is what you want. Any of these would work:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2052810030&bop=And&Pagesize=100

5

Is your apartment carpeted? If it is, you might be able to run a cable along the edge to conceal its eyesore. However, that’ll make a 6-foot straight line into a 30-foot squiggle. Given that you’re using the router’s ports already, moving that might not be an option. You might want to consider running a cable through the router to a wireless access point or bridge with line of sight to your goodies.

6

Eeek. Sorry, I just assumed you could hack and slash as you please. In that case, a single Cat5e running to a switch is your best bet. If cable clutter bugs you, get some cable concealer to run along the floor moldings if you have hardwood, or tuck it under the carpet edge like Tankero suggests.

7

Yeah I’ve considered that. I have occassionally used a cheap Nyko wireless bridge thing (pair of ethernet transceivers; one connected to router, other to 360) but have found that to be not much of an improvement. Is a dedicated access point/bridge likely to offer better performance; something comparable to a wired connection in terms of performance and reliability?

8

Nothing will beat cable. Good ol’ copper trumps flimsy radiowaves every time. Mind you, at this point we’ve reached the horizon of my technical expertise. I cede the floor.

9

Yeah I think I’m committed to good old trusty cable at this point. I can get 100 feet of it for like $20 and a 5-point switch for not much more. All I have to figure out is how to run the cable in the least obtrusive manner possible.

Does cable length matter in regards to latency/performance?

10

Yes, there is a limit, somewhere around 300 feet as I understand it.

11

My upstairs/bedroom setup is 2 stories above my main cable modem/router point and runs Xbox Live and PC games over wifi with no problems. I use three Buffalo routers (one upstairs, one in the living room, one on the actual cable modem access point in the home office area) flashed with dd-wrt and with boosted transmission power (which may run afoul of FCC rules but I haven’t been bothered for it yet and would be surprised if I ever was). Unless your internal walls are lined with lead, I’d be surprised if you couldn’t get your setup to work well over wireless though it may require buying new equipment and doing some testing to see which channels give you the best connection.

But, yeah, you can also just buy a really ridiculously long cat-5 cable and do it that way too.

12

The connection basically works, it’s just not very fast or reliable. I’ve had my 360 going through two different routers now; my new one (Netgear WPN824) is really good - the 360 is showing maximum wifi signal strength and Xbox Live connection tests all come back 100% (open NAT, etc) - and yet, I don’t seem to be able to stay in a Burnout Paradise game for more than five minutes and PS3 wifi downloads are PAINFULLY slow.

I don’t know what the problem is; I feel like I’ve troubleshot almost everything on the wifi side (even attaching the 360 network adapter via a USB cable and hanging it on a picture frame near the ceiling so it’s as close as possible to the router above) and maybe now it’s time to give a simpler wired solution a shot, even if it means trailing an ugly-ass cable down the stairs.

13

This doesn’t sound like a WiFi problem, in all honesty. Tracert, ping, and an irate phone call might be the tools you need.

14

Can you elaborate? I never have any problems with my wired PC connection, nor on my wifi MacBook Pro.

15

You’re describing problems that would be more closely related to your internet connection, not your LAN. If you’re getting good signal strength and a clean bill of health from your Xbox, I’d start by looking at the quality of signal going out of the house. Of course, internet forum speculation is hardly the best diagnostic tool, but from the sound of it…

Anyway, such sights as this can help you test your connection’s quality. Compare this with what you’re paying, pinging servers across the map and see if you can find a rough spot.

Edit: Term misuse.

16

Determining whether it’s a wireless/wired problem is really easy. Buy the 100’ cable, run it down the hall/stairs/whatever to the 360, plug it in. Don’t worry about making it look nice until you’ve put in an hour or three of play to determine if it’s actually more reliable that way or not.

If you have a bunch of neighbors with wireless, cordless phones, running microwaves, etc, that can all interfere with your wifi.

17

Doing exactly that right now; results soon.

18

Here’s an initial comparison download speed test with XBLA game Boogie Bunnies (39.87mb)

Wifi: 2m55s
Wired: 52s

Still need to test online play reliability, but early results suggest I’m going wired…

19

Okay, Burnout Paradise online is about 1000% better over a wired connection. Now to hide this damn wire…

20

And people wonder why I can’t be bothered with wireless…