Major Network Disappointment

We are moving on October 1^st – that’s this Saturday! Woohoo! We have greatly enjoyed being at my parents’ house, but it’s time for us to move. Our good friends Eugene and Christie are allowing us to rent from them while they are the RD of Farrar at Corban College.

When Eugene first knew he would be moving into this house, he said that a project he might want my help for would be wiring the house with cat5 to have a 10/100 network in the main rooms. Well, he found a wireless system that worked for him and the project was delayed. I knew that before I moved in I would want it wired, so this last Saturday, my dad and I headed to Fry’s to get some stuff and wire the house. We got enough cable and plugs to wire the entire house. I was very excited.

Eugene wasn’t feeling well and my dad has a lot of experience under houses, so he offered to do the “dirty” work under the house. We drilled a couple holes first, shoved some cable down, and my dad went under. He was under a LONG time and we he came out it was apparent that this project wasn’t going to happen. The house has huge ventilation tubes that completely block off a huge part of the access under the house. Without dismantling them (and possibly causing a LOT of issues with breaking things) there is no way to get past them and wire the house.

I was really disappointed. I have a 5 computer network that will be moving with me. Fortunately, I was able to find a workable wireless solution. D-link makes a 108 megabit wireless router and wireless bridge. So, I can have computers wired in two rooms and then bridge that connection wirelessly without losing any speed. In theory. I will report on the success or failure of that project as time goes on. But, at least it is a workable solution to my problem without much extra cost.

HUGE thanks to my dad for all the time spent this weekend helping me with my network endeavors. And a HUGE thanks to Eugene and Christie for allowing us to rent their house and giving us such a great deal.