Wifi vs Ethernet for TCL Roku 4k 43" TV

[Muse]

I had <5Mbps DSL forever, but 10 days ago gigabit fiber internet was installed here. I have 3 of those Roku TVs. Now, in configuring one of them I ran into something that didn't work with wifi, but did work if ethernet connected. What could that be?

I just tested my 2.4ghz and 5ghz wifi bands on one of those TVs, and the connections were "good" and "fair" respectively. 56Mbps versus 28Mbps, so I left it on the 2.4ghz band.

I'm contemplating running ethernet cabling in the house, up to 100 foot runs, up and out of the router room upstairs, into the attic and down into upstairs bedroom and one down to the kitchen. I'm wondering if it's worth doing. What feature of those TVs is supported by ethernet but not by wifi?

 

[RearAdmiral]

I'm curious what didn't work on wifi, that shouldn't really happen without some sort of configuration problem. I ran ethernet to everything except my TCL roku tv actually, despite it being fairly easy to access. It works fine but I always prefer ethernet. I shouldn't have "tested" the wifi and just ran the ethernet, since it works fine haha. I did however make the mistake of terminating my own cables. It is just not worth it on cat 6(not that it is even any cheaper after you buy tools), maybe punch them down in a jack and put in an outlet in the wall(I wound up doing this), just get 100ft manufactured cables if you need. I'd probably do it for sure now that there is gigabit service though!

Those speeds aren't super quick but should work fine for most streaming services.

 

[Muadib]

Have you looked into powerline or moca options? Call me lazy if you must, but they are just easier to do. I have these, and they work great. As long as you have just one electrical breaker box in the house, you will save hours.

https://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-Powerline-Pass-Through-TL-PA9020P-KIT/dp/B01H74VKZU/ref=asc_df_B01H74VKZU/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309807187084&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7793323972121031730&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9003550&hvtargid=aud-801738734305:pla-434473964379&psc=1

 

[VirtualLarry]

I did however make the mistake of terminating my own cables. It is just not worth it on cat 6(not that it is even any cheaper after you buy tools), maybe punch them down in a jack and put in an outlet in the wall(I wound up doing this), just get 100ft manufactured cables if you need. I'd probably do it for sure now that there is gigabit service though!

Read this carefully, @Muse !

 

[mindless1]

There shouldn't be anything that is supported by ethernet but not wifi. I wonder if you just had a temporary wifi signal loss so effectively no internet connection for that moment.

Ethernet cable is definitely worth stringing IF it's not too much trouble to do so, or in some cases you might just run cable to put in an access point elsewhere in the residence, closer to the wifi clients, particularly if you also find that mobile devices aren't getting good throughput where you want to use them, or of course a router instead of access point (with switch built in as is standard) so you have both a more local *access point functionally* device as well as the option to run the ethernet cable from it to clients like the TVs.

 

[Muse]

Read this carefully, @Muse !

I did a few times, still trying to understand the post.

What is "termination?" Just the crimping on of RJ45 connectors to ethernet cable?

 

[Muse]

Have you looked into powerline or moca options? Call me lazy if you must, but they are just easier to do. I have these, and they work great. As long as you have just one electrical breaker box in the house, you will save hours.

https://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-Powerline-Pass-Through-TL-PA9020P-KIT/dp/B01H74VKZU/ref=asc_df_B01H74VKZU/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309807187084&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7793323972121031730&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9003550&hvtargid=aud-801738734305:pla-434473964379&psc=1

Well, maybe not so good for me. I'll explain. There are two breaker boxes here. The house was built in 1910. Two story, and modified a few times. During WW II, was a housing crisis and house was divided into two units, an "upstairs" and a "downstairs." I still get PG&E bills divided into upper and lower charges, even though 5 or so years after buying the house I applied with my town's planning department to change the house officially into a single family dwelling. I completed the process, there were many hoops to jump through. However, there are still two breaker boxes outside. I called the utility and they said to have them recognize the fact that I'm the only guy paying the bills and that it's officially a single family dwelling, they insist I have the service modified, have a single box put in. Either by me or an electrician (or whoever) I don't suppose they will know or care.

Anyway, I don't know if this impacts installing powerline or moca options, I'd never heard of them before. Will they benefit me? I'm trying to understand what's going on here. Why do this instead of that, etc.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I don't honestly think that powerline ethernet will work, in your (rather unique!) case, of have the upstairs and downstairs on separate breaker boxes and meters. If there's no common wiring (besides ground, if that) going between your upstairs and downstairs outlets, then you're pretty-much out of luck. Either string ethernet, use Wifi (*and Mesh or Repeaters as needed), OR, maybe, run MOCA, if you have had cable service installed to both floors, normally that's connected together, at the demarc, and you could probably use MOCA in that case. IF you're wired for cable TV, on both floors.

I mean, I know I told you that that router was good, and it is fairly decent (got one right here with Fresh Tomato on it, trying to figure out what to do with it, trying to sell it to a friend), but in your specific case, I think that you might be best off with a decent Mesh networking setup. (and unfortunately, the original Asus AC66U / RT-AC1750 do not support AiMesh at this time.)

 

[Muadib]

Well, maybe not so good for me. I'll explain. There are two breaker boxes here. The house was built in 1910. Two story, and modified a few times. During WW II, was a housing crisis and house was divided into two units, an "upstairs" and a "downstairs." I still get PG&E bills divided into upper and lower charges, even though 5 or so years after buying the house I applied with my town's planning department to change the house officially into a single family dwelling. I completed the process, there were many hoops to jump through. However, there are still two breaker boxes outside. I called the utility and they said to have them recognize the fact that I'm the only guy paying the bills and that it's officially a single family dwelling, they insist I have the service modified, have a single box put in. Either by me or an electrician (or whoever) I don't suppose they will know or care.

Anyway, I don't know if this impacts installing powerline or moca options, I'd never heard of them before. Will they benefit me? I'm trying to understand what's going on here. Why do this instead of that, etc.

With your setup, powerline probably is a bad move for you. However is you have coax in the house, then Moca would be a good option. Moca does cost more in my experience, but it may be worth it. Here is a kit:

https://www.amazon.com/Actiontec-Bonded-Ethernet-Adapter-ECB6200K02/dp/B013J7O3X0

 

[RearAdmiral]

I did a few times, still trying to understand the post.

What is "termination?" Just the crimping on of RJ45 connectors to ethernet cable?

You are correct on your termination assumption. If you choose to run ethernet cable you can run the cable from router -> through house -> inside of wall of desired room -> to ethernet jack. You can either use a manufactured cable with the connectors already attached and then just "pass through" the connection via an outlet like this, or if you have ethernet without connectors you can terminate / "punch down" the individual wires into something like this. Take a look at the differences in the jacks inside the outlet connectors.

The latter is what I wound up doing because I am dumb and thought terminating my own cables would work out fine. There is a 50% or so failure rate for no real reason for terminating into a cat 6 connector. A punch down is hugely more reliable, but buying an already manufactured cable is the way to go.

I always encourage my friends to use ethernet if they can! It really just simplifies a lot of bandwidth issues for home media.

As mentioned above MOCA could work out for you as well. The simplest solution but with the most work is to run ethernet. It takes a while but I was very glad that I did it, I also installed a second wireless router as an access point so that my whole house is covered with excellent signal. You could also do this.

For your kitchen it sounds like you would be going from the attic, down a story into the first floor right? That would be the only cable route that could be problematic, since you'll have to deal with the first floor's ceiling.

 

[Muse]

The run from the upstairs room with the router to the downstairs kitchen (which is on the other side of the house) would go up from the router room via taping or clips to a hole at the top of a door-less closet in that room into the attic. From there the cable would traverse across the width of the house and to a shaft that was evidently made for venting from the kitchen. In the kitchen I can grab the end of the cable and pull it in and run it across the corner formed by a wall and ceiling, then the adjoining wall/ceiling via a perpendicular change of direction (hope that makes sense) and thence to, really, 4 devices:

1. TCL 43" 4K Roku Monitor/TV

2. 14" laptop (which is now wifi connected)

3. Mini-tower Windows 10 PC

4. Brother printer (which is now wifi connected)

Making that ethernet connect to 4 devices means, I suppose, some device. A switch? Don't know. Just an ethernet switch?

Or maybe some other system than ethernet cabling. The guy who installed my gigabit fiber 11 days ago said he thought Cat5e was probably all that's necessary, not Cat6. I can get a 500' roll of Cat5e at Home Depot for $35 and a 1000' roll for $60.

I've terminated ethernet cable before, had my failures and successes. I suppose I could do it and just test it. If it works, it works, right? If it doesn't work, cut off the connector and crimp another and test again...

Running ethernet to my upstairs bedroom would be similar to the kitchen run. In the bedroom there's a laptop and another of those TCL displays, so some kind of split would be in order.

I ran rooftop antenna coax to those rooms from through the attic a few years ago, so the ethernet cable runs are basically similar runs.

I could get premade cables. Maybe a few holes would have to be a little bigger. But obviously I'm limited in lengths. Maybe 100 footers.

Are all RJ45 connectors the same or should I make an effort to buy certain ones, better, more expensive ones?

Now, I can't imagine trying to do this through the walls. There are probably studs to deal with. I sure don't want to open the walls up to do it.

 

[Muse]

I don't honestly think that powerline ethernet will work, in your (rather unique!) case, of have the upstairs and downstairs on separate breaker boxes and meters. If there's no common wiring (besides ground, if that) going between your upstairs and downstairs outlets, then you're pretty-much out of luck. Either string ethernet, use Wifi (*and Mesh or Repeaters as needed), OR, maybe, run MOCA, if you have had cable service installed to both floors, normally that's connected together, at the demarc, and you could probably use MOCA in that case. IF you're wired for cable TV, on both floors.

I mean, I know I told you that that router was good, and it is fairly decent (got one right here with Fresh Tomato on it, trying to figure out what to do with it, trying to sell it to a friend), but in your specific case, I think that you might be best off with a decent Mesh networking setup. (and unfortunately, the original Asus AC66U / RT-AC1750 do not support AiMesh at this time.)

I'm wondering too if I should stick with what I have... wifi. I can run ethernet, have to weather the cable termination snafus, if any. Or perhaps the Moca. Or a Mesh networking setup, even if that requires getting a better router... But my wifi seems better, now that gigabit fiber has replaced my rather slow <5Mbps DSL. Why do I even want ethernet? Well, it will be faster, a lot faster. But will I experience benefits from that increased speed? Do I have enough bandwidth now for "all practical purposes?" Can I stream 4k now, for instance? I tried streaming what my TCL Roku TVs call 4K, but I have no way of knowing if it's REALLY 4K! I guess I could sign up for a trial period of Youtube TV, maybe I'd know then. Or a 30 day trial of Amazon Prime, don't know if they have 4K. ...Please discuss!!!

 

[RearAdmiral]

I think I understand your situation a little better now. You are correct about needing a switch if you want to connect all those devices. Sounds like you will need to decide if you want the cable visible in your rooms or not. That was a no-go for me mostly, which complicated my runs but again is just more labor to keep things clean and run them down the correct walls. Unless you have higher than "normal" walls you shouldn't have a horizontal stud to worry about getting the cable by. Just cut a hole into the header(or whatever it is called) if you have one and smoosh the cable down with a wire fisher / rod, or up from an outlet hole cut into a wall, or some combination of those techniques.

Cat5e will be fine, cheaper and easier to terminate as well. Again I was just being too cool and used cat6.

RJ45 connectors...that's a crap shoot it seems, another reason to get pre built cables.

 

[quikah]

You would probably be satisfied with a mesh router. I have a 2 story townhouse (~1800 sqft) and would often have network issues with a single router in certain places. Switching to a mesh router has fixed the problem (using an Eero base downstairs with one beacon upstairs).