Anything faster I can run on Thinnet?

But the crucial question hete is: would this product run more than 10 Mbps over 'thinnet coax' ? :-)

The spec ifor TW is primarily impedance and mechanical dimensions which just have to match the BNC connector used on each end (N for thickwire cable).

The loss specification is either "don't care" for small networks or "lower the better" if you are pushing the distance limits. These belden part numbers are used for applications other than Thinwire and designers need to know loss numbers. I don't imagine there is a big market for TW, or thickwire, these days.

You are not talking about pulling new wire. You've gotta use what you've got which, ISTR you've said has no identifying info on it. I hope it didn't come from Rat Shack.

Your only hope to use your cable, ISTM, is to buy a pair of "g" wifi APs that have screw-on antenna connectors and coax adapters (SMC-to-BNC, or whatever) to connect to the cable and go for it. It might work. This is not big bucks and if the test fails you can sell the APs to someone. I guess you set them up as a mesh bridge.

IMO, on a good day, "g" will be modestly faster than 10mb ethernet, measured by actual thruput.

1) Last I heard, ethernet over coax does not use frequencies anywhere near 2.5 GHz.

b) I guess you missed the point "the only question is the reduction in length for acceptable levels of operation".

Ethernet over coax doesn't. It was suggested that 802.11a, b, or g be tried. Those run at 2.5 or 5 GHz.

Sorry, but I have to disagree here. Basically, both cables should at least comply to the same specs. That, I agree to.

But from a practical point of view: A typical thicknet cable is Belden 9880.

6.9 dB per 100 feet attenuation at 1000 MHz, 11.5 dB at 2.5 GHz (So it would be suitable for 'Wifi')

A typical thinnet cable is Belden 9907

14.8 dB per 100 feet at 1000 MHz, 2.5 GHz not even specified :-)

As you see: size does matter, at least if you want to run something else over an existing cable.

Well don't dismiss it too quickly. If you know you have lots of 2.4Ghz noise, for example, use 802.11a (5.8Ghz). Or vice-versa.

Considering you can get clean, LOS ranges of several miles outdoors with commonly-available antennae, I bet there's a chance you can make this work indoors. What's the approximate distance?

-Jonathan

125m is definitely a possibility for wireless, as long as you have LOS. Even if it's somewhat noisy, I think you stand a good chance of being able to get over 10mbps. You will need some good Pringles antennas. :-)

-Jonathan

This is a factory environment with changes of levels, metal grating, steel roofing, and a welding shop with what amounts to a faraday cage around it in between! No LOS here I am afraid. That is why we are putting in fiber, but finding fiber contractors willing to do industrial quality work in rural locations for less than the book value of the entire facility is difficult.

I think we are going to have to call this one dead and buried. Anyone know where I can go to fiber splicing school?

sPh

If I might make a suggestion, _try_ two pulls of UTP, one for your longest run and one that you believe to be your worst case for interference, and see what happens. You may be pleasantly surprised. And if you aren't you haven't spent much.

If the regs where you are located allow you to pull your own fiber, then one option would be to measure out the pulls and order connectorized cable in appropriate lengths, and just be careful not to pull it too hard, bend it too tight, or bust the connectors. Don't know if it's still the case but once you needed about a thousand bucks worth of tooling to put connectors on fiber.

[snip]

Or try one of those Pre-N wireless APs. In my condo, I could never get Cisco AP-340/350's to connect across the bedrooms! Just 20' or so apart, but something caused the notebook to never connect.

So I tried the Linksys SRX AP and NIC. Now I get signals that are EXTREMELY strong. Well worth the money.