XBL rant (1 Viewer)

Sorry guys but I just have to vent, I was anxiously looking foward to getting my XBL starter kit and other equipment to play some this weekend and play some GR with you guys this Monday. On paper the plan was good, connect a cable modem to my X-Box and be done with it. Well today I decided to give my cable provider a call about the splitter they gave me to connect my modem to the outlet in the living room by the Tv, well today my provider tells me over the phone(Even
though I've had numerous contact with them through email about this) that I can't do this right now and it's one modem per house, I was shocked. Needless to say I've already looked at my other options (wireless and router). I can safely say wireless won't work because it is just to expensive for me right now, it would be my best choice though because of my current situation with 2 rooms away from eachother but it is just to expensive. The other most obvious choice is a regular wired router. The big problem with that though is that my mother will never put up with Cat-5 cable going from one room to another even if it's along a ceiling or a baseboard (she thinks I'm going to destroy the house), I think right now though because of money issues a wired router is the way to go the only problem with it is that if I do it I will have to detach the cat-5 cable from my X-Box and hide it whenever I'm done which can be a pain, I suppose I could also drill through the wall into the next room and bring my cat-5 through tthere directly behind the tv to my X-Box but than again it would "ruin the house". What would you guys do in this case, use the cat-5 only when needed or just give up completely thinking that XBL is a hopeless dream? I guess if anything good comes out of this it is that I may be able to do this tons cheaper and if I do get XBL running get a couple games for it and also I got a new splitter for my Tv which I say improved the picture. Always got to look at the positive . Sorry about the long rant which may make me sound like an ass but I'm extremely mad with my cable company and house set-up right now .

Router is the best way to go. I have a linksys one. We already had holes in the all underneath the baseboard heating to run phone and tv cables, so running network cable around the house wasnt a problem and you cant even see them. How is drilling one little hole where people cant see "ruining the house"

capt

Joey, My mother is the biggest obsessive compulsive person I've seen. Everything has to be neat and organized as a matter of fact the only reason I have a HT with back speakers is because we got new carpet where I could route the wire under it before it was installed. I don't quite understand the purpose of not making a drill hole but until after I graduate in May and save up some $ I can not get out and am stuck with it.I completely agree though the drill way is cheaper and with a little help would take less than 15 minutes.To bad it probably will not work that way even though it is more reasonable.

I got a Linksys wireless router for my cable modem, cause my PC is in a different room. I'd say get a regular router, and run cat5 when you're playing, and put it away later. That's what I plan on doing - the wireless bridge that you'll need to do XBL is $80, which is on top of the router.

I've wired a couple of houses now, and there are some great ways to hide cable. You can just put wires under baseboards most of the time, especially with carpeted floors. You can also take the baseboard right off, lay the wire at the bottom of the drywall (there's usually a small gap, and then put the baseboards back on. Also, drilling holes behind baseboards is a great way to get wires through walls without visible holes.

Also, cold air returns are your friends. You can run wire through these without damaging anything. Just don't try it with heating ducts.

Hey Keith,

Wireless routers are getting cheaper and cheaper by the day. Look around for a deal on a decent one (Linksys, DLink), you should be able to find them for ~$50. Buy two of them, hook one up the cable modem and the other up to the Xbox (you will need to configure the Xbox one on the PC 1st time though.) It takes a little sweat to get it all running correctly, but it is just way too easy once it is done. We love our wireless, way beyond just the XBL component, but for whole house internet access on other devices. And at $100, what more can you want?

Wireless really is worth waiting just an extra week or two IMHO, you'll never go back. Plus if you ever have a laptop for a computer, wireless is almost a must these days.

-Joe

Keith, if you don't have the cash for wireless, just do what you suggested: put your CAT5 away when you're done.

If you've worked with trim before, Chris's suggestion about the baseboards is a great way to go. If you haven't, you might want to look for another solution. No obsessively clean person will be happy with someone learning to remove and install trim in their house.

If you do go with the baseboards, be very careful when you pry them off. If you pry from the top you will damage the sheetrock.

Tap out the nails when you are done and pull them out the rest of the way with pliers. Buy replacement nails to reattach the trim. Use a nail set to drive the nailhead below the surface. Putty over the heads, let dry, sand flush if needed and then paint.

If you have trouble matching the paint, you might want to take a section of the trim to your local paint store before you reattach it to have them mix up matching paint.

Chris: I'm glad I'm not the only one sneaky enough to rely upon a cold air return!

-j

TUNE IN NEXT WEEK when we build a replica shaker dining table.

Keith, I don't understand the problem. You were going to pay for 2 cable modems and the cable company told you that you can't do that? If you were going to pay for 2 modems that would have probably been more expensive than just getting a wireless access point and a wireless bridge for connecting to the xbox.

Keith, check the link in my post above. It's just for illustrative purposes; you can pick these up at Lowes or Home Depot.

-j

Thanks for all the tips,I'd love to do the outlet thing however, while I can find the faceplates to do it I'm having a hard time figuring out to connect it all or in other words make it a workable outlet for ethernet? what kind of wiring do I need to get to do this?

Keith, check the link in my post above. It's just for illustrative purposes; you can pick these up at Lowes or Home Depot

Sorry, I didn't see the link you were talking about in your post. Am I missing something?
Thanks.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Sorry, I didn't put the link in!

Try this: http://smarthome.com/8559.html

Okay, if I were you, I would do the following:

1. Get a suitably long ethernet cable. It's cheaper to make your own, but it can be a pain if you aren't inclined.

2. Run it through the hole.

3. Buy 2 wall plates at Home Depot/Lowes/Whatever for coax, ethernet, whatever is cheapest. Match it to the ones in your house.

4. Throw away the little plugs or whatever that comes with the wall plates. You just want the hole. Slip it over the end of the ethernet cable. If it isn't big enough, drill it out or carve it our with an X-Acto type knife. Take care not to crack the plate. Or return it and buy one with a bigger hole.

5. Glue the little screw heads in. You can buy stubbier ones if they will poke into the wall. You just want the heads for show.

6. Slide it up to the wall and attach it with 2-sided tape.

This way it looks finished, you don't have to crimp cable or fight with the teeny wires, and you can dismantle it and patch it up with a little joint compound and paint. Er, I'm assuming your walls are sheetrock and aren't wallpapered.

I know this isn't the proper way to do it, but I think it might be the best way given your concerns. If you do decide to go the proper way, buy quicksnap terminals. Or something (I can't remember the name). You want the ones that are crimpless.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

-j

Jay, thanks for the link, that helps . Those are the exact same ones that I saw over at Home Depot. Thanks for the instructions on how to do it too.