[Extabyte]

i plan on getting a mac, and im putting it in my new room (which is in the attic). And my problem is the fact that our router is in the basement. How many feet can i strech a ethernet cord with out having to spend any more money on a hub.

[Frisco]

No limit. You buy by cable length.
Of course an Airport or other wireless router is much more practical. You don't want a cable running all over the house.

[Extabyte]

im sure there is a limit. My School (as well as others) is filled with computers and they are all networked. and they have to place hubs every so often to keep the signal gonig throug. Im almost sure i have to place hubs in the connection i am pondering. so i just want to make sure thatt i have to. Wait i think i will have to. becasue ihavn't heard of a ethernet cable thats longer than 50 feet. I guess i'll just buy two 50 footers and hub 'em togather. Thanx anyways.

[drmbb]

According to homenethelp,com, the maximum length for copper UTP ethernet cables on 10/100/1000baseT connectiions is 100 metres. I personally have used cables up to 75ft without problems - just be sure to get a good quaility cable (eg. belkin or some other reliable name brand).
P.S. you can also order 100m cables here

[chughes]

I would seriously consider a wireless router, rather than the hassle of pulling all that wire. You don't have to spend $250 on an Airport Basestation. Something like the Buffalo Airstation 54MPS would work with OS X and an Airport card, and cost a little over $100.
Chris

[Extabyte]

well then i have a new question. how long can i have the computer from the router. Wait, can i have my mac connect to a linksys router? our will i have to get an airport extreme thingy. and can i connect my windows computer to the airport extreme? jeez this is complicated

[chughes]

Not so bad really. Try this for all the basic wireless info you will need http://reviews.cnet.com/Networking/2001-3243_7-0.html?tag=cnetfd.glnav . That includes product reviews. When you look into this you may be surprised to find that wireless routers aren't nearly as platform dependant as you would think. You should have no problems fiding a router that will feed a PC and a Mac on the same network. I wouldn't be considering the Airport base station though if one of your machines will be in the attic. It is not a strong signal strengh contender. Whatever router you choose, get something that is WEP enabled to allow you to secure your network. Check out the Buffalo I recommended above. I found it on CNET, and it is my pick for a system I am working on for a friend.
Chris

[Extabyte]

i already have a router. I'm just going to wire it all the way up there. becasue all of our stairs are right ontop of one another. The wireing is not gonig to be a problem. so thanks anyways. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Extabyte]

wait i just read about the airport extreme card that it supports 802.11b certified wifi sytems. my linksys router is an 802.11b.So can i connect to the internet like that? and i so will it be slow? and just so you know the router is 4 levels below the attic.(basement - living room, kitchin, dining room - bedrooms- attic)

[mystery_stain]

You can use your 802.11b router with an Airport Extreme card. I do it. It does limit you to the 802.11b speed. Additionally, while 802.11b starts out faster than broadband Internet, the speed can drop down to feel like dialup if the signal is blocked too much by your house. If you can wire, do it, so it is there if you need the speed. I still plug my PB into Ethernet wire to do big file transfers between machines or big downloads like those 70MB OS X updates.

[Extabyte]

So is ther some kind of switch off when i have the mac hooked up to the router by wifi and ethernet? or will the two connection types be both running at the same time. and the slowness of the wifi will be in effect.

[braindoc]

The two are independent of each other. The wireless portion limits will not affect machines that are connect concurrently via the 10/100 ports.
This is all moot since most home internet connections will be less than 8Mbps, more typically around 1.5 Mbps or less. The wireless speed is at 11Mbps.
The speed issue is more relevant when you do file transfer between machines within your own network. The highest transfer rate within your network will be the max speed of the wireless connection. Ergo, if you have lots and/or large files to transfer between machines it would be best to hook them up via ethernet cables (100Mbps)
But I can verify that the max run for an unamplified/repeated length of Cat 5 cable is 330 feet/100 meters. To attain higher lengths you must change to fiberoptic, (extremely costly) or just put an ethernet switch between the lengths to increase overall topology length.