They don't get it

Go ahead and pull em in the wall! Don't be scared. Worst case the world is ending anyways

Well that's reassuring
Damn. When you look at it that way, I could probably justify attempting a lot of difficult things that way. Thanks!
Damn, you’re right.
I holes in your pants became fashionable, so too can holes in your walls!
- Nah we got rings and plates to look all pretty. May be a couple extra blank plates in your house once it's all said and done depending on how hard it is to fish wires around, but, again the world is ending so it's cool

When I was 15, my dad purchased me a plaster saw (still have it) and handed me his drill.

Then told me to make it look neat, but "don't fuck up because your mother will kill us both".

I ran about 4 network points through the house.

Nothing like fear to produce a 100% perfect finish 😉

And then there's me who just screwed up installing a new door knob. I stripped the threads on the screws cause I used the wrong size screws drilling. Now if the new knob fails in the future, I need to buy a new door lmao
- If it's a wooden door that you're screwing into, dab some match sticks with a little bit of liquid nails and gently hammer them into the stripped-out screw hole, and cut them flush with the hole. Once the glue dries, you can drive the screw back into the matches and it'll have enough wood to bite into.

For me it was like

Join forces and do link aggregation for double the speeds.
- LACP won't get ya double throughput sadly.

A tale as old as time. Before Ethernet cables we were running phone extension cables through the house to connect up the modem to the only phone jack.

I am old enough to remember those good old days!

I had to buy carpets to hide the cable under them when running across the floor. Only exposed parts go through the doorways, and the wife complains about them. Well, I am not complaining about our craptastic wifi anymore.

If you own your house you could learn to pull cable and how to do punchdowns. It's not a super difficult job. That way you could impress the lady of the house with your technical skills while also hiding the mess.
- In my experience, the part about hiding the mess is all she cared about, as long as "the internet still works."
  
  But you will always look at that wall jack and feel great about it while always having the lowest latency and highest throughput you can possibly get, and that will always impress yourself!
- I'd be careful giving broad advice like this.
  
  In my country (Australia) it's illegal to run cabling yourself unless you're a registered cabler.
- Honestly for newbies I always recommend inline couplers instead of punchdowns. Still meets electrical code in areas where you can't run a cable through a wall (wiring only) and allows for the use of non-crimped cables so the barrier to entry is far lower. It's not like most houses are at risk of hitting the length limits for Ethernet runs anyway.

I did this for every device in my house. used flat ethernet cable and just fished it under the carpets. Was significantly cheaper than trying to make wireless reach the other side of the house.

Flat ethernet cable

What?!! I did not know this existed!!
- Yeah they're great! I got a super long flat white one and those little white plastic staple things you can lightly hammer into the wall, and ran it along the baseboard of the walls, makes it nearly invisible! It was a bit tedious to do (which is why I haven't yet redone it in the place I live now, although I will), but honestly I super recommend it. My partner wanted to try and run cords through the walls but I was way too nervous about what might go wrong, so found this solution instead lol
- You can also buy devices you plug into the wall and route your network through your power network. Used them to give my detached garage wifi. Works pretty well.

I was staying with some friends and we were all Computer users and gamers, Ethernet cables sprawled across the floor to every room in the place, and when we got tired of tripping over it, we duct taped them down to the floor where they stayed until we moved out.

This is the way.

I can either spend $20 on the cable or you can pay $2000 for a professional to buy it and stick it in the wall.

Having one ethernet cable run by an electrician isn't that expensive. I had someone run one for me to my office for like 150 bucks since my ISP wouldn't run fiber to it.
- I got an electrician and they just told me to hire a drywall guy (only half kidding)

You could just use 2 Ethernet Over Power adaptors (not to be confused with power over ethernet).

After all, it's not as if the powerlines aren't already installed at home and connect all power plugs with all other power plugs.

This isn't even new: I've been using this solution for about a decade, back when it could do a mere 20Mb/s (which was still way faster than my Internet connection could handle back then ;))

Unless having a 500Mb/s limit on bandwith is somehow unacceptable when you could have Gigabit ethernet. Then again, why not fibre all the way ;)

Have you ever paid attention to packet loss?

Honest question, because I'm an electrician and Ethernet is so fickle, I've always assumed it would play hell on the overall quality.
- The whole thing is layered into multiple levels (go check the OSI Model and its Layers on Wikipedia if you're willing to go down that specific information hole ;)) and the physical layer should mainly be handling packet loss on the connection between those adaptors, transparently to the higher layers that just see that as lower bandwidth than the spec for the adaptors (a spec which is really quite optimistic, IMHO).
  
  Yeah, a cable with a metal sheaf wired to the GND level (i.e. Cat cable) is going to be way better at higher frequencies and at isolation from noise that two twisted copper wires were the network signal is shared with a different "signal" which whilst generally 50/60Hz (depending on country) can have spikes and noise at other frequencies, so it's never going to be the same.
  
  However for example at home right now I can get a reliable 100 Mbit/s over a pair of those adaptors from my router to my PC and the speed limitation is actually (I believe) from my old router not supporting Gigabit Ethernet rather than from the adaptors which are supposed to handle up to 500 Mbit/sec.
  
  That said and as somebody pointed out, it only works well if the plugs you're connecting are on the same electrical network, as transversing coils isn't exactly great for high frequency signals.
- It definitely can be finicky. I had a portable ac that completely killed the power line ethernet connection when it ran. And my current house I have it in i use from where my router is to where my main TV is and it is unreliable even without that AC unit. So it definitely depends on the circumstances.
- I used ehternof power for many years and although I didn't look at packet loss I never had a problem with it.
My experience is that you need to be sure the outlets are on the same electrical network, otherwise it doesn't work. When I did get it to work it seemed to be reliable.

Worth it every time.

Why not get a powerline adapter at that point?

Shhh, it's better to struggle with the ethernet cord and make memes about it.
Did that got better? When I tried it, speeds were horrible, ping all over the place and sometimes it didn't work at all...
- They did, but they're still dependent on competent home wiring, so results CAN vary
Powerline can't even do gigabit (usually) and you need very favorable circuits.

Are you...are you in the walls?

I had to run a Ethernet cable from the cable modem in the master bedroom to the office security gate and switch, which then connect to all the servers, desktops, and wifi routers.

All thanks to shitty coax wiring in condos and Crapcast.

upgraded to a 3 node G mesh. it just works x10 years https://store.google.com/product/google_wifi_2nd_gen?hl=en-US

It's either deal with the distance with a wireless network (which can't even reach my current bedroom in my house) or deal with concrete walls that also cuts down the Wi-Fi signal in my new bedroom.

Then again, my home's network is due for an upgrade because it's 17 years old, so I just need to convince my family to upgrade to CAT6 cabling and a faster Wi-Fi router.

Easy I have either cable but no family, my PC is happy too :)

They let me go in the attic and run the internet line into my room (it was a 75ft cable). Now we use 5G, but are planning direct fiber once our city halves cost for service.

Ok serious question I just picked up this Ethernet splitter and I was hoping to split pre router in an effort to bypass the router and bump speeds slightly. Is that actually going to work or am I just dreaming?

Amazon link: https://a.co/d/21ev6zA

Your router uses NAT (network address translation) to share a single IP, allocated to your internet connection, among many clients, such as your gaming PC.

So what you are attempting is not going to work.
- Those Ethernet splitters also don't let you pass the input signal to more than one output at a time - you couldn't have the router and the PC on at the same time.
No. Tis won't work. What you are looking for is a network switch. https://www.amazon.com/Ethernet-Splitter-Optimization-Unmanaged-TL-SG105/dp/B00A128S24

However, what do you mean by "bump speeds by bypassing router"? If you see any improvement what so ever it will be only on your local network, there is no way to gain internet speeds like that
- I don't really know! I was thinking one less device to go through, but now I realize that's silly
There is ONE IP address available from your ISP to your home, so even if that splitter physically "shares" the electric signal, only ever your router OR whatever is on the other end of that splitter will get it and with it a working data connection to the ISP (and that's assuming it even works). Further whichever gets ot os sorta random and it won't really jump between one and the other at need - you're sharing the physical line but not the actual data connection.

Frankly, if your router is somehow making the connection slower, get a better router as well as the correct ethernet cables for reaching higher speeds (i.e. gigabit ethernet won't run on cheap Cat 5 cables).
- It's not slow by any means but I had to move my modem and router further away to reach all parts of my house better. So I was laying the Ethernet cable and as I was plugging it into the router I just thought maybe that would give it just that little tiny boost. But I just won't do it now. Thanks for that

Do people not know power line ethernet adapters are a thing? Look if up on Amazon, you just plug one into the wall by your router and one next to your PC. Clean and strong connections.

There’s a few caveats to this. I had a good set of powerline adapters that still ended up with worse performance than a usb wireless dongle.

If the outlets are in different circuits or you have a house with old wiring there’s a good chance they won’t work
- Granted I've only used it in 2/3 houses but they've always given me the best speed, at least in the past 5-10 years. They used to be much worse if you're basing this on old experience. And also the oldest house I used them in only got 2MBps so it wasn't exactly hard for them to get to top speed. My current place isn't exactly new wiring and the copper cables still get my max speed of 11MBps.
  
  Yeah you won't get the full experience of gigabit connection through copper wall cables but I've never lived in a place with fast enough WiFi for that to matter. I much prefer a cable free house, I have a power cable going to my server in a cupboard and I really hate it, wish there was a power socket in there.
From my experience, power line adapters are very hit or miss depending on your house setup. I've had power line adapters that couldn't even get above 10 Mbps. I feel like the next best thing besides just straight up Ethernet cables is something called MoCA adapters. They use the already existing (in most houses) coax cables, which allow for much higher throughput and very consistent connection. I've had peaks of 850-900 Mbps with 10ms latency using MoCA adapters.
- Yep. Got one transferring 1 gig fiber between floors, and the upstairs regularly gets full speed through it. Highly recommended if you can do it.
This is as dumb as asking if people don't know wifi exists. Yeah, pretty much everyone knows, but it has substantial tradeoffs to just running a long cat6 cable, one of which likely is plain cost.
thanks for this!
- Just be careful, they can be pretty expensive and often way way slower than advertised.
  
  The main reasons I use them are places you lack WiFi coverage, where reliability is more important than speed.
If I wanted to do powerline best I could do is get 3 rooms next to me, certainly not floor above or below me.
What in tarnation is this black magic? I don't know how I've never heard of these before.
- If your house is wired for cable and you’re not using it, they also have MOCA which is way way better.
  
  Coax cables are wicked fast and you can use them alongside network switches to get LAN all sorts of places you’d normally have issues.
- They're good/reliable enough that it's worth the £20-30 to try a set out. Although like another guy commented bad wall wiring can sometimes have effects if your router is really fast, I get my full 11MBps through my walls easily enough in relatively old housing.

run the cable to a switch make it so 1/2 the house depends on it, after enough time youll justify doing it better

In college our apartment had one long hallway with all the rooms coming off of it. The connection for the router was on the opposite end from my room. So me and another guy had a horrible connection. We macgyvered a bunch of Ethernet cords using cheap couplers from Amazon and just laid them down in the hallway and into my room. We used an old router as an wireless access point. It may not have looked nice, but it worked!

I did the same. In fact, the PC I built doesn't even have wifi.

Mine runs from the top floor all the way into the basement!

How many are 100ft?

30 meters.
- 30,48 meters.
  
  Come on, be accurate. The metric system isn't based on random body parts or things laying around that came in handy once upon a time 400 years ago
- Thanks
100

This sas me back in the day lol so funny 🤣

Do y"all not use the magic adapters that you plug in by your router, then by your PC to make a lan cable out of the electric wiring? That improved my cable management so much

Power over Ethernet adapters have some serious limitations. MoCa adaptors which use existing coaxial connections, even if you have cable internet, can provide greater speed and better latency than Poe. To be honest though, copper ethernet or fiber ethernet or generally the best way to go.

Drill through the walls or be lazy and run a cable over the roof
- To clarify, powerline adapters are what you mean. Power over Ethernet is just that, providing a current over an ethernet cable.
How are your upload/download speeds using those?
- I used to have them. They work in a pinch, but it's not the most solid connection in the world from personal experience.
- Not as good as normal lan, but much better than wifi, and is easier to manage than a 50ft cord, so pros and cons
- Faster than your internet. Probably not a good option if you want to hook up a NAS, though.
It's all about compromises. Aside from a massive solar flare ravaging the earth or a small rabbit nibbling on the wires, there's not much that will disturb the signal using an ethernet cable. Wifi is sensitive to other wifi and various home appliances, PLC can easily pick noises from a faulty device anywhere in your house (or your neighbor's…) and have to reduce speed to maintain an acceptable signal/noise ratio, etc.
Those are called Powerline adapters and they are so easy to use and secure. I use them so I don't have to drag cables across the house

Ended up using a powerline Ethernet adapter

I always wonder if I’m introducing bad latency by running a 100 ft ethernet cable.

Then I remind myself it’s the speed of light.

My double-brick house really suffers with WiFi, and I work from home so I almost permanently have an Ethernet cable to my office. My fiance has gotten used to it at this point

Literally me a couple weeks ago

I still don't know whether that is a kangaroo or a rat.

Wifi is actually really good these days. I would be surprised if you could notice the difference given a wifi router in a decent spot.

When I set up people to work from home and see some of the WiFi set ups they have, I just tell them to go wired if they can. They wonder why their internet is slow when they have one AP and it's on the other side of the house. Also it's the one their ISP provided and it's 10 years old.
- $400 Wifi⁶ mesh router vs one $10 wirey boi
- In my countries the routers can all do a gigbit down so I think its better to use wireless unless you have a really large house.
It really depends on what you are doing and what you are expecting to get out of the experience. For instance, streaming a game from a gaming pc to a Steam Deck or other portable unit works best when the pc is wired to the network.

But that's why you would put it near the router so you don't have to use 100 ft of cable to do it, so meh.
- Yeah, unfortunately my house is pretty old, so there's exactly one spot I can place a modem/router. I could centralize the router, but it always ends in a cable 🙃
- I use my steam deck to stream games over wifi. I cannot notice the performance difference between wifi.
Yea, I just moved into a little apartment that only has wifi from the landlord's house. I was skeptical about it, but it's been almost a year now and not a single problem with it. I used it for my PC, cell phone, TV and tablets. I have never had to ask my landlord to "restart" the modem.