ᐅ Installing a retractable 20m Ethernet cable – any tips?

Created on: 14 May 2018 21:31
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Werkstudent
Hello everyone!
I hope you are all doing well!
A brief description of my issue:

My router is located in the living room. To get the best possible internet connection on my PC, which is in the bedroom, I use a 20-meter (65 feet) Ethernet cable that runs across the entire apartment. Of course, this does not look good and is also dangerous (tripping hazard).

Therefore, I want to route the Ethernet cable along the baseboards. This looks better because the cable is no longer visible, and there is no longer any risk of someone tripping over it.

Laying the cable is not a problem, but I have a different question.

I would like the Ethernet cable to retract automatically along the baseboard in the bedroom when it is not plugged in anywhere. Similar to how a vacuum cleaner’s power cord retracts.

I hope you can help me with this, and I wish you a nice day.

Best regards
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Alex85
17 May 2018 06:56
I have had very good experience with dLan. You just have to give it a try. If it doesn't work, you can simply return the devices.
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Deliverer
17 May 2018 11:49
I have also had good experiences with this in several places. However, only with the original products from Devolo. Two other manufacturers required frequent reconnections.

The speeds were always faster than the respective internet connection would have needed, and faster than what a Wi-Fi network (without additional access points) could have provided.

Of course, if you have a 400 Mbps connection, it could be tight. In that case, only a network cable will help. But the average 50 Mbps in Germany should work fine.

Another question: Why don’t you want to keep the last few meters constantly connected? Isn’t your PC fixed on or under a desk?

If it’s not a PC but a laptop, I can’t think of any use case that wouldn’t be well served by Wi-Fi. (Well, I could probably come up with one… but I don’t really believe in it ;-)
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Payday
20 May 2018 08:42
Regarding the main topic: a 20-meter (65 feet) LAN cable is already quite long and not really practical anymore. With a self-retracting mechanism, the cable would need to be wound onto some kind of spool or similar device. If that’s the case, it would have to be split into two parts, or is the intention to pull the entire cable through the house? Where would the retraction mechanism be located?

You can lay the cable so that the open end is accessible and that’s that. Alternatively, you can use one of the ideas suggested here in the thread.
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Alex85
20 May 2018 08:46
You could secure the cable directly onto a surface-mounted junction box and then install the pull-in device there. Alternatively, you could use a coupling.
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Werkstudent
23 May 2018 14:17
Good day,
Thank you for the tips! I have a FritzBox 7590. The 5 GHz Wi-Fi is already working at my home. However, I prefer using a LAN cable for my PC.

I’m thinking about extending the LAN connection from the FritzBox, so it sticks out slightly from the power strip, allowing me to use a shorter LAN cable in the room.
Do you know if this would lead to a loss in speed?

At the moment, I have a 100,000 connection, and if I get 70,000 to 90,000, I would be quite satisfied.
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Domski
23 May 2018 14:36
Home LAN: either 100Mbit or 1000Mbit.
There are no intermediate stages. Either it works or it doesn’t.
The router has 1GBit (1000Mbit) LAN ports. If you use standard-compliant CAT5 or CAT6 cables, the cable length does not exceed 100m (328 feet), and the connection components (plugs, sockets) are properly installed, you will get 1000Mbit speed between the PC and the Fritzbox.