Internet Cable Problems

[Tonks]

Well, my cat chewed through it. Right through it, two pieces. The problem is, it's about 100 feet long, and that kind of internet cable costs about $150-$250. By no means do I want to go buy another one. I can't buy a shorter one because it would not reach to my comp. from the router. Does anyone know of some method I could use to fix said cord? I've heard of "splicing" it, but have no idea of how to do that.

Or, any suggestions to alternative methods would be welcome. I can't do wireless as that does not provide a strong enough connection for me to play games or even stay connected very long.

Thanks.

 

[Miz]

My dad did some weird thing where he took spare cords and hooked them up to the other cords where the part where it was broken but I don't know how he did it so I can't really help you there

I'll see if he remebers lol

 

[Tonks]

I think that's what splicing is. If you could get him to write an explanation of it, I'd appreciate it.

 

[Rad]

Well, I bought a 50' cable from radio shack for 20$ a few months ago... so I dont think you would have to spend that much (If you get the standard generic ones)

But if you want to splice it, just cut off the edges around where its chewed up, then cut off the rubber around the cable. There will be this interlaced foil-cable wrapped around some copper wire with this thick plastic tube looking thing in the center. In the center of the plastic is a thick copper wire.

What you do, is you cut off some of the plastic revealing the copper wire on both ends, then you should take a wire and burn the ends of the wire to take the plastic coating stuff off. Just use some electrical tape and tape the wire in the plastic together, and then the other wires together around that (MAKE SURE NO CABLES CROSS or else it wont work)

But yeah, the interlaced aluminum foil is there to protect the cable from interference or something. I dont really know I only spliced that type of cable once before, and Im not an electrician

 

[enouwee]

Well, my cat chewed through it. Right through it, two pieces. The problem is, it's about 100 feet long, and that kind of internet cable costs about $150-$250. By no means do I want to go buy another one. I can't buy a shorter one because it would not reach to my comp. from the router. Does anyone know of some method I could use to fix said cord? I've heard of "splicing" it, but have no idea of how to do that.

Or, any suggestions to alternative methods would be welcome. I can't do wireless as that does not provide a strong enough connection for me to play games or even stay connected very long.

Thanks.

Ethernet cable (RJ45)?

30m (almost 100ft) cost between 15 and 30EUR, so less that 50USD. To reconnect both ends, you'll need special tools which aren't cheap either ( example here ), as well as some connectors and a female-female adapter.

If you don't own them already, you might as well buy a new cable, as it's already assembled and spares you a lot of time, in case you make some mistake.

 

[Tonks]

Well, I bought a 50' cable from radio shack for 20$ a few months ago... so I dont think you would have to spend that much (If you get the standard generic ones)

But if you want to splice it, just cut off the edges around where its chewed up, then cut off the rubber around the cable. There will be this interlaced foil-cable wrapped around some copper wire with this thick plastic tube looking thing in the center. In the center of the plastic is a thick copper wire.

What you do, is you cut off some of the plastic revealing the copper wire on both ends, then you should take a wire and burn the ends of the wire to take the plastic coating stuff off. Just use some electrical tape and tape the wire in the plastic together, and then the other wires together around that (MAKE SURE NO CABLES CROSS or else it wont work)

But yeah, the interlaced aluminum foil is there to protect the cable from interference or something. I dont really know I only spliced that type of cable once before, and Im not an electrician

I don't think that's the kind of cable I have. Mine's rather flat, oblong, instead of round. It has 4 or 5 wires in it, different colors.

Ethernet cable (RJ45)?

30m (almost 100ft) cost between 15 and 30EUR, so less that 50USD. To reconnect both ends, you'll need special tools which aren't cheap either ( example here ), as well as some connectors and a female-female adapter.

If you don't own them already, you might as well buy a new cable, as it's already assembled and spares you a lot of time, in case you make some mistake.

Well, by the time I got to Radio Shack, it was closed, so I'm going tomorrow. Maybe my estimation is off, but I recall it being high-priced. If it's not, I'll just get a new one. Otherwise, I'm going to be using a bunch of F-F connectors with some shorter cables so it makes the distance.

Thanks all, I appreciate it.

 

[Rad]

Oh, I was thinking the actual cable like for a tv... not the ethernet cable (My cable modem uses this cable and outputs the ethernet so it could have been both)

But if the cables already ruined, and they are color coded, might as well try it.

Cut out the bad part, strip the plastic off the wires and burn the copper so its more conductive, then wrap the wires together and twist several times, tape them up making sure theres no gaps in the tape so it cant short out...

 

[enouwee]

I don't think that's the kind of cable I have. Mine's rather flat, oblong, instead of round. It has 4 or 5 wires in it, different colors.

the number of wires will be either 1 (coax) or pair (RJ45: 2 pairs or better: 4 pairs of wires)

If the connector isn't one of these, we'd better look at your network card. It should look like the bottom one, RJ45. Good old coax is a way outdated now. Even mine got laid to rest a few months ago, after almost 15 years of service.

Cut out the bad part, strip the plastic off the wires and burn the copper so its more conductive, then wrap the wires together and twist several times, tape them up making sure theres no gaps in the tape so it cant short out...

You should be shot for suggesting this, but that'd not be painful enough.

Networking being "high technology", perfect cabling is required: merely joining the cables together will create interferences and your connection will be as slow as a 28.8K modem. We tried it on a 2m cable for fun and guess what ... packet loss was huge and peak speed was ... 8K/s.

 

[Tonks]

Oh, I was thinking the actual cable like for a tv... not the ethernet cable (My cable modem uses this cable and outputs the ethernet so it could have been both)

But if the cables already ruined, and they are color coded, might as well try it.

Cut out the bad part, strip the plastic off the wires and burn the copper so its more conductive, then wrap the wires together and twist several times, tape them up making sure theres no gaps in the tape so it cant short out...

As enouwee pointed out, that would be as effective as using yarn instead of a cable.

the number of wires will be either 1 (coax) or pair (RJ45: 2 pairs or better: 4 pairs of wires)

If the connector isn't one of these, we'd better look at your network card. It should look like the bottom one, RJ45. Good old coax is a way outdated now. Even mine got laid to rest a few months ago, after almost 15 years of service.

It looks like the one in the middle of these three, though it's a bit larger and much longer.

I've used two cables, using an F-F connector to connect them, because one wasn't enough to cover the distance.

It should look like the bottom one, RJ45.

The end looks like that, sure, but the wire isn't as round.