{"id":39630,"date":"2021-02-18T17:06:51","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T17:06:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/246de744-2d44-483a-a4e3-8c527ab86ddc"},"modified":"2021-02-18T17:06:51","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T17:06:51","slug":"ethernet-why-your-home-office-could-use-more-of-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/ethernet-why-your-home-office-could-use-more-of-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethernet: Why your home office could use more of it"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s been almost a year since many of us started working from home, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to change anytime soon. In previous Jason Squared shows, Jason Cipriani and I have talked about securing your home internet<\/a> and even how to improve your Wi-Fi signal<\/a>. However, there are alternative ways to improve connectivity throughout your home. Today, we will talk about one of the oldest — and perhaps still one of the best ways to connect your equipment to the internet — Ethernet. <\/p>\n

What the heck is Ethernet, exactly? <\/h3>\n

Ethernet is a wired network communications standard developed in the early 1970s<\/a> by a computer engineer named Bob Metcalfe<\/a> (who, for many years, was also a well-known computer industry columnist<\/a> at InfoWorld<\/a><\/em> and also was responsible for forming 3COM, which HP later bought in 2010) and his team of researchers at Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Category 5e Ethernet Cables<\/p>\n

<\/span> Steve Heap, Getty Images\/iStockphoto <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Over the years, Ethernet morphed from using coaxial cable to twisted pair cable and fiberoptic cables. The original standard called for network frames sent at 10Mbps. Today, it’s not uncommon for Ethernet to communicate at 1Gbps over twisted pair cable. Ethernet can move as fast as 40Gbps\/100Gbps using fiberoptic cables on enterprise networks within data centers or in specialized environments.  <\/p>\n

Why do we want to use Ethernet at home? <\/h3>\n

Chances are, you probably already do use at least some Ethernet at home. Most consumer broadband installations will have a residential gateway that incorporates Wi-Fi and some broadband access device, like a cable modem or an optical network terminal (ONT). Those will be connected with a short Cat-5 or Cat-6 Ethernet cable<\/a> and the modular RJ-45 8-pin connector.<\/a> <\/p>\n

There are many homes in which that’s likely the extent of their Ethernet install. But all home routers\/residential gateways have at least one or more additional Ethernet ports on them, allowing you to expand that Ethernet network. So, for example, in my own home, with my AT&T ARRIS residential gateway (the main router), I have a few extra Ethernet ports. I have a 24-port Ethernet switch<\/a> connected to one of these to add more Ethernet-connected devices. <\/p>\n

But you’re not stuck with the number of ports on your router. An Ethernet Switch<\/a> is like the USB hubs you can buy for your PC or Mac. If you run out of Ethernet ports, you buy a switch, and it will give you more network interfaces. <\/p>\n

Why would I want to connect more devices to Ethernet rather than use Wi-Fi? <\/h3>\n

There are a lot of reasons. Ethernet is super-reliable for starters. It is secure; it’s far more difficult for someone to sniff your network traffic if you use Ethernet, especially if you are using something like a VLAN. It’s also considerably faster than the network connectivity you will get in most home environments with Wi-Fi. Even with Wi-Fi 6, you will only get 450Mbps to 650Mbps speeds under optimal conditions; you will still get interference and latency. But with my 1Gbps fiber connection from AT&T, I frequently get over 900Mbps downloads, close to wireline speeds, when using a computer connected to the Ethernet switch. <\/p>\n

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The other thing that’s good about Ethernet is it has pretty high distance limitations, like about 100 meters per run. So you can get the full speed out of that cable over that distance. This is good to have if you have a multi-story home, where you might have, say, an entertainment center in your basement or a bedroom on an upper floor that you want to have high-speed network connectivity.  <\/p>\n

Perhaps the Wi-Fi from the bottom floor or even your mesh network just isn’t cutting it because there are too many walls or whatever. You can bridge your network using a Wi-Fi access point using Ethernet, and a long cable runs to the switch or the router. You need to be able to drop that cable through a wall soffit, through the attic, or a crawlspace, or run it along the wall under the carpet to where it has to go.  <\/p>\n

In my case, my office is in the room next to where all my broadband equipment is, so I hired a handyman to install an Ethernet jack on both sides of the adjoining wall. But I know many people who have just drilled through the wall, bore a hole, and put an inexpensive plastic plate there<\/a> or a grommet kit<\/a> that is used for pushing cables through. You can get those at Home Depot. <\/p>\n

Is it expensive to build out your Ethernet network? <\/h3>\n
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