SWMBO's PC is up & running, not sorted the e mail out yet, but never mind.

Bought a 5 metre Cat 6 cable with male/male ends to connect the new PC to
the router. Not piggin long enough! Went to Staples yesterday & they don't
do a cable with male/female ends so I can extend it, nor do they do a
'joiner'.

Their only suggestion was to buy a new 10m cable.

I'm sure Maplins or someone online sells these things, prolly much cheaper
than Staples, but being a numpty I don't know what to ask for - visions of
"fork handles" .

Could some kind person point me at what to order please?


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message


http://tinyurl.com/26qqbg

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:24:05 UTC, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

I'm sure Maplins or someone online sells these things, prolly much cheaper
than Staples, but being a numpty I don't know what to ask for - visions of
"fork handles" .

TZ09K from Maplin - "RJ45 coupler". They say RJ11 in one place but
that's just a typo going by the description. This joins two cables.

6 in stock at Luton as of today.

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

On 10/03/2008 08:24, The Medway Handyman wrote:

Bought a 5 metre Cat 6 cable with male/male ends to connect the new PC to
the router. Not piggin long enough! Went to Staples yesterday & they don't
do a cable with male/female ends so I can extend it, nor do they do a
'joiner'.

Most walk-in shops are extortionate for cables.

Mind you Maplins are taking the **** at £5 for a coupler, you would want
the pin-to-pin version, not the crossover version.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=24632

If you do go for a longer cable instead, don't let them persuade you
that cat6 is in any way better or faster, cat 5e is all you need, at
least they are "down" to £1/m for the 10m and 15m versions.

On 10 Mar, 08:24, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:
SWMBO's PC is up & running, not sorted the e mail out yet, but never mind.

Bought a 5 metre Cat 6 cable with male/male ends to connect the new PC to
the router. *Not piggin long enough! *Went to Staples yesterday & they don't
do a cable with male/female ends so I can extend it, nor do they do a
'joiner'.

Their only suggestion was to buy a new 10m cable.

Dave
I have several metres of cable, crimps and the necessary tool. If you
wait until Tuesday I can let you borrow them and you can do the job
for free.
Regards
Tim

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
...
SWMBO's PC is up & running, not sorted the e mail out yet, but never mind.

Bought a 5 metre Cat 6 cable with male/male ends to connect the new PC to
the router. Not piggin long enough! Went to Staples yesterday & they
don't do a cable with male/female ends so I can extend it, nor do they do
a 'joiner'.

Their only suggestion was to buy a new 10m cable.

I'm sure Maplins or someone online sells these things, prolly much cheaper
than Staples, but being a numpty I don't know what to ask for - visions of
"fork handles" .

Could some kind person point me at what to order please?


From Screwfix
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/10436/...E-Coupler-RJ45.
Then by £47.01 in vouchers to get free delivery ;-).

There's no need for a Cat 6 coupler - you don't need Cat 6 unless you're
going Gigabit ethernet, and going a long way.

Don't think you can get away with one of these:
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/19352/...s/RJ45-Coupler
You can't.

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:24:05 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

SWMBO's PC is up & running, not sorted the e mail out yet, but never mind.

Bought a 5 metre Cat 6 cable with male/male ends to connect the new PC to
the router. Not piggin long enough! Went to Staples yesterday & they don't
do a cable with male/female ends so I can extend it, nor do they do a
'joiner'.

Good job ..

Their only suggestion was to buy a new 10m cable.

Good suggestion ..

I'm sure Maplins or someone online sells these things, prolly much cheaper
than Staples, but being a numpty I don't know what to ask for - visions of
"fork handles" .

'10m Ethernet patch cable'.

Could some kind person point me at what to order please?

eBay eg:
http://tinyurl.com/yqrxhg

All the best ..

T i m

p.s. Considering your role I would suggest you take up Tim's offer and
watch him make up a patch for you (a patch would use stranded cable,
fixed wiring (between wall boxes / patch panels) would use solid core
cable). Once you see how easy it can be (depending on how much
patience you have) you could add making such to your portfolio?

The Medway Handyman wrote:
SWMBO's PC is up & running, not sorted the e mail out yet, but never mind.

Bought a 5 metre Cat 6 cable with male/male ends to connect the new PC to
the router. Not piggin long enough! Went to Staples yesterday & they don't
do a cable with male/female ends so I can extend it, nor do they do a
'joiner'.

Their only suggestion was to buy a new 10m cable.

I'm sure Maplins or someone online sells these things, prolly much cheaper
than Staples, but being a numpty I don't know what to ask for - visions of
"fork handles" .

Could some kind person point me at what to order please?


Apart from taking Tim up on his offer, I suggest that you have a look
here for reasonable/sensible prices:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Products.ASP?CatID=5&Category=Cables&Thumbnails=ye s

(Scan's postage is not cheap so not recommending them.) Always a good
idea to have a range of cables to hand.

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org

In article , Rod
scribeth thus
The Medway Handyman wrote:
SWMBO's PC is up & running, not sorted the e mail out yet, but never mind.

Bought a 5 metre Cat 6 cable with male/male ends to connect the new PC to
the router. Not piggin long enough! Went to Staples yesterday & they don't
do a cable with male/female ends so I can extend it, nor do they do a
'joiner'.

Their only suggestion was to buy a new 10m cable.

I'm sure Maplins or someone online sells these things, prolly much cheaper
than Staples, but being a numpty I don't know what to ask for - visions of
"fork handles" .

Could some kind person point me at what to order please?


Apart from taking Tim up on his offer, I suggest that you have a look
here for reasonable/sensible prices:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...es&Thumbnails=
yes

(Scan's postage is not cheap so not recommending them.) Always a good
idea to have a range of cables to hand.


This lot are excellent for data stuff)..


http://www.datacommsdirect.co.uk/pro...ageHistory=cat
--
Tony Sayer

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:24:05 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

SWMBO's PC is up & running, not sorted the e mail out yet, but never
mind.

Bought a 5 metre Cat 6 cable with male/male ends to connect the new PC
to the router. Not piggin long enough! Went to Staples yesterday &
they don't do a cable with male/female ends so I can extend it, nor do
they do a 'joiner'.

Their only suggestion was to buy a new 10m cable.

I'm sure Maplins or someone online sells these things, prolly much
cheaper than Staples, but being a numpty I don't know what to ask for -
visions of "fork handles" .

Could some kind person point me at what to order please?

==================================
For future reference, find out if there's a computer fair in your
vicinity. You'll always get good prices and advice at these fairs and they
help to keep you aware of new stuff.

Cic.
--
===================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
===================================

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:20:12 UTC, Cicero
wrote:

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:24:05 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

SWMBO's PC is up & running, not sorted the e mail out yet, but never
mind.

Bought a 5 metre Cat 6 cable with male/male ends to connect the new PC
to the router. Not piggin long enough! Went to Staples yesterday &
they don't do a cable with male/female ends so I can extend it, nor do
they do a 'joiner'.

Their only suggestion was to buy a new 10m cable.

I'm sure Maplins or someone online sells these things, prolly much
cheaper than Staples, but being a numpty I don't know what to ask for -
visions of "fork handles" .

Could some kind person point me at what to order please?

==================================
For future reference, find out if there's a computer fair in your
vicinity. You'll always get good prices and advice at these fairs and they
help to keep you aware of new stuff.

I think the point is that he wanted it today. He's very near a Maplin...

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

If you're near Colchester you can get a 10m cat5 patch cable from the trade
counter at Rapid Electronics for £3.19
http://www.rapidonline.com/Office-IT/IT . Otherwise it's £4.95 for
postage.




"Bob Eager" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:20:12 UTC, Cicero
wrote:

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:24:05 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

SWMBO's PC is up & running, not sorted the e mail out yet, but never
mind.

Bought a 5 metre Cat 6 cable with male/male ends to connect the new PC
to the router. Not piggin long enough! Went to Staples yesterday &
they don't do a cable with male/female ends so I can extend it, nor do
they do a 'joiner'.

Their only suggestion was to buy a new 10m cable.

I'm sure Maplins or someone online sells these things, prolly much
cheaper than Staples, but being a numpty I don't know what to ask for -
visions of "fork handles" .

Could some kind person point me at what to order please?

==================================
For future reference, find out if there's a computer fair in your
vicinity. You'll always get good prices and advice at these fairs and
they
help to keep you aware of new stuff.

I think the point is that he wanted it today. He's very near a Maplin...

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 11:15:14 UTC, "Phil Jones"
wrote:

If you're near Colchester you can get a 10m cat5 patch cable from the trade
counter at Rapid Electronics for £3.19
http://www.rapidonline.com/Office-IT/IT . Otherwise it's £4.95 for
postage.

Not too near for the Medway Handyman!

That's the problem...Maplin are sometimes the cheapest/quickest option,
much to my annoyance; postage and/or delivery delay are important
factors.

If I'm in Medway, the Maplin there is OK (I used to park round the back,
but someone was murdered there). But I go to Thanet about twice a week
so the Maplin there is not much of an overhead in terms of fuel and
time.
--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:55:28 +0000, Bob Eager wrote:

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:20:12 UTC, Cicero
wrote:

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:24:05 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

SWMBO's PC is up & running, not sorted the e mail out yet, but never
mind.

Bought a 5 metre Cat 6 cable with male/male ends to connect the new PC
to the router. Not piggin long enough! Went to Staples yesterday &
they don't do a cable with male/female ends so I can extend it, nor do
they do a 'joiner'.

Their only suggestion was to buy a new 10m cable.

I'm sure Maplins or someone online sells these things, prolly much
cheaper than Staples, but being a numpty I don't know what to ask for -
visions of "fork handles" .

Could some kind person point me at what to order please?

==================================
For future reference, find out if there's a computer fair in your
vicinity. You'll always get good prices and advice at these fairs and they
help to keep you aware of new stuff.

I think the point is that he wanted it today. He's very near a Maplin...

==================================
And that's why I said, "For future reference.........".

Cic.

--
===================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
===================================

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:55:17 UTC, Cicero
wrote:

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:55:28 +0000, Bob Eager wrote:

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:20:12 UTC, Cicero
wrote:

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:24:05 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

SWMBO's PC is up & running, not sorted the e mail out yet, but never
mind.

Bought a 5 metre Cat 6 cable with male/male ends to connect the new PC
to the router. Not piggin long enough! Went to Staples yesterday &
they don't do a cable with male/female ends so I can extend it, nor do
they do a 'joiner'.

Their only suggestion was to buy a new 10m cable.

I'm sure Maplins or someone online sells these things, prolly much
cheaper than Staples, but being a numpty I don't know what to ask for -
visions of "fork handles" .

Could some kind person point me at what to order please?

==================================
For future reference, find out if there's a computer fair in your
vicinity. You'll always get good prices and advice at these fairs and they
help to keep you aware of new stuff.

I think the point is that he wanted it today. He's very near a Maplin...

==================================
And that's why I said, "For future reference.........".

Sorry, it was a general reply and I probably chose a bad message to tack
it onto.

I thought computer fairs were dead. I haven't seen one for ages, and
when I did it seemed to have been taken over by a few cliques who had
driven everyone else out and put up their prices.

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

"Cicero" wrote in message

==================================
For future reference, find out if there's a computer fair in your
vicinity. You'll always get good prices and advice at these fairs and
they
help to keep you aware of new stuff.

I think the point is that he wanted it today. He's very near a Maplin...

==================================
And that's why I said, "For future reference.........".

Cic.

--
===================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
===================================


But thats just plain silly ie you pay £3 to £4 to get in through the door
and pay prolly £6 for the cable so ya might as well go the high street and
pay.

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:59:07 +0000, Bob Eager wrote:

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:55:17 UTC, Cicero
wrote:

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:55:28 +0000, Bob Eager wrote:

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:20:12 UTC, Cicero
wrote:

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:24:05 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

SWMBO's PC is up & running, not sorted the e mail out yet, but never
mind.

Bought a 5 metre Cat 6 cable with male/male ends to connect the new PC
to the router. Not piggin long enough! Went to Staples yesterday &
they don't do a cable with male/female ends so I can extend it, nor do
they do a 'joiner'.

Their only suggestion was to buy a new 10m cable.

I'm sure Maplins or someone online sells these things, prolly much
cheaper than Staples, but being a numpty I don't know what to ask for -
visions of "fork handles" .

Could some kind person point me at what to order please?

==================================
For future reference, find out if there's a computer fair in your
vicinity. You'll always get good prices and advice at these fairs and they
help to keep you aware of new stuff.

I think the point is that he wanted it today. He's very near a Maplin...

==================================
And that's why I said, "For future reference.........".

Sorry, it was a general reply and I probably chose a bad message to tack
it onto.

I thought computer fairs were dead. I haven't seen one for ages, and
when I did it seemed to have been taken over by a few cliques who had
driven everyone else out and put up their prices.
===================================
No offence taken.

I suppose it depends on where you are; here in Wolverhampton there's a
regular fair almost ever Sunday and Tuesday. It's run by Northern Computer
Markets (no personal connection) who provide similar fairs throughout the
North West and Midlands. All the porn has disappeared and there's always a
good selection of everything computer related.

Cic.
--
===================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
===================================

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:03:22 +0000, George wrote:


"Cicero" wrote in message

==================================
For future reference, find out if there's a computer fair in your
vicinity. You'll always get good prices and advice at these fairs and
they
help to keep you aware of new stuff.

I think the point is that he wanted it today. He's very near a Maplin...

==================================
And that's why I said, "For future reference.........".

Cic.

--
===================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
===================================


But thats just plain silly ie you pay £3 to £4 to get in through the door
and pay prolly £6 for the cable so ya might as well go the high street and
pay.
==================================
It isn't silly at all.

I pay £1-50 entry as a pensioner and I choose from a selection of
suppliers for various items. I have no idea what savings I make but I
certainly couldn't buy half a dozen different items online (including 100
DVDs for £13-00) for a carriage / postal cost of £1-50.

Try it sometime - a visit to Manchester might be a pleasant day out for
you.

Cic.

--
===================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
===================================

"Cicero" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:03:22 +0000, George wrote:


"Cicero" wrote in message

==================================
For future reference, find out if there's a computer fair in your
vicinity. You'll always get good prices and advice at these fairs
and
they
help to keep you aware of new stuff.

I think the point is that he wanted it today. He's very near a
Maplin...

==================================
And that's why I said, "For future reference.........".

Cic.

--
===================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
===================================


But thats just plain silly ie you pay £3 to £4 to get in through the
door
and pay prolly £6 for the cable so ya might as well go the high street
and
pay.
==================================
It isn't silly at all.

I pay £1-50 entry as a pensioner and I choose from a selection of
suppliers for various items. I have no idea what savings I make but I
certainly couldn't buy half a dozen different items online (including 100
DVDs for £13-00) for a carriage / postal cost of £1-50.

Try it sometime - a visit to Manchester might be a pleasant day out for
you.

Cic.

--
===================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
===================================


How many people that go through those doors are pensioners? its £4 at
aintree racecourse and the amount of stall there leave a lot to be desired.
The only time its worth going to those shows is when you're buying a lot of
stuff otherwise its pointless paying the entrance fee just for a box of
DVD's that can be got at most shops for less.

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:15:16 UTC, Cicero
wrote:

I pay £1-50 entry as a pensioner and I choose from a selection of
suppliers for various items. I have no idea what savings I make but I
certainly couldn't buy half a dozen different items online (including 100
DVDs for £13-00) for a carriage / postal cost of £1-50.

Probably get close. SVP (svp.co.uk) give a very good service, and have
'99p postage' offers quite often.

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:19:39 +0000, George wrote:


"Cicero" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:03:22 +0000, George wrote:


"Cicero" wrote in message

==================================
For future reference, find out if there's a computer fair in your
vicinity. You'll always get good prices and advice at these fairs
and
they
help to keep you aware of new stuff.

I think the point is that he wanted it today. He's very near a
Maplin...

==================================
And that's why I said, "For future reference.........".

Cic.

--
===================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
===================================


But thats just plain silly ie you pay £3 to £4 to get in through the
door
and pay prolly £6 for the cable so ya might as well go the high street
and
pay.
==================================
It isn't silly at all.

I pay £1-50 entry as a pensioner and I choose from a selection of
suppliers for various items. I have no idea what savings I make but I
certainly couldn't buy half a dozen different items online (including 100
DVDs for £13-00) for a carriage / postal cost of £1-50.

Try it sometime - a visit to Manchester might be a pleasant day out for
you.

Cic.

--
===================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
===================================


How many people that go through those doors are pensioners? its £4 at
aintree racecourse and the amount of stall there leave a lot to be desired.
The only time its worth going to those shows is when you're buying a lot of
stuff otherwise its pointless paying the entrance fee just for a box of
DVD's that can be got at most shops for less.

===================================
I don't count but I'm aware that a substantial proportion of the people I
see are not in the first flush of youth. As I indicated earlier, it's
worth the entry fee for an opportunity to browse and see what's new.
Buying at discounted prices is a bonus. I haven't been to the Aintree
venue (not Northern Computer Markets, I think) but why would I when I have
such good service on my doorstep?

Cic.

--
===================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
===================================

In article ,
The Medway Handyman wrote:

Their only suggestion was to buy a new 10m cable.

I'm sure Maplins or someone online sells these things, prolly much cheaper
than Staples, but being a numpty I don't know what to ask for - visions of
"fork handles" .

Could some kind person point me at what to order please?


Screwfix?

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/27015/...tch-Lead-Beige

Don't bother with cat6 - complete overkill. Cat5 will be fine. Connector
boxes *usually* work but best avoided if possible (probably fine for your
needs though).

Darren

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:21:04 +0000, Bob Eager wrote:

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:15:16 UTC, Cicero
wrote:

I pay £1-50 entry as a pensioner and I choose from a selection of
suppliers for various items. I have no idea what savings I make but I
certainly couldn't buy half a dozen different items online (including
100 DVDs for £13-00) for a carriage / postal cost of £1-50.

Probably get close. SVP (svp.co.uk) give a very good service, and have
'99p postage' offers quite often.
==================================
"....half a dozen different items.....".

A recent visit included 2 caddies, 100 DVDs, 3 Linux compatible wireless
cards (£10-00 each). I'm sure that those items would cost far more in
postage if bought online.

These fairs are usually very good value, as long as you avoid the
occasional shark.

Cic.

--
===================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
===================================

"Paul Matthews" wrote in message
...
Tim Decker wrote:
I have several metres of cable, crimps and the necessary tool. If you
wait until Tuesday I can let you borrow them and you can do the job
for free.

TBH bespoke cables are not worth the time taken to make them these days -
the
only point in making your own is if you need to feed a wire, and the only
way
to make it fit is unterminated or if you need a very specific length.

Scan are my first stop for cables (they are reasonably priced and local -

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...egories=61&Thu
mbnails=yes
I am sure you can get them cheaper.

P.
--
Paul Matthews

http://www.hepcats.co.uk

Ya can in the Pound shop

"Cicero" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:21:04 +0000, Bob Eager wrote:

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:15:16 UTC, Cicero
wrote:

I pay £1-50 entry as a pensioner and I choose from a selection of
suppliers for various items. I have no idea what savings I make but I
certainly couldn't buy half a dozen different items online (including
100 DVDs for £13-00) for a carriage / postal cost of £1-50.

Probably get close. SVP (svp.co.uk) give a very good service, and have
'99p postage' offers quite often.
==================================
"....half a dozen different items.....".

A recent visit included 2 caddies, 100 DVDs, 3 Linux compatible wireless
cards (£10-00 each). I'm sure that those items would cost far more in
postage if bought online.

These fairs are usually very good value, as long as you avoid the
occasional shark.

Cic.

--
===================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
===================================


And the other drawback is...

You have to wait a month for the fair to open again if one of the items is
faulty. :-(

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:42:21 +0000, George wrote:


"Cicero" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:21:04 +0000, Bob Eager wrote:

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:15:16 UTC, Cicero
wrote:

I pay £1-50 entry as a pensioner and I choose from a selection of
suppliers for various items. I have no idea what savings I make but I
certainly couldn't buy half a dozen different items online (including
100 DVDs for £13-00) for a carriage / postal cost of £1-50.

Probably get close. SVP (svp.co.uk) give a very good service, and have
'99p postage' offers quite often.
==================================
"....half a dozen different items.....".

A recent visit included 2 caddies, 100 DVDs, 3 Linux compatible wireless
cards (£10-00 each). I'm sure that those items would cost far more in
postage if bought online.

These fairs are usually very good value, as long as you avoid the
occasional shark.

Cic.

--
===================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
===================================


And the other drawback is...

You have to wait a month for the fair to open again if one of the items is
faulty. :-(
==================================
No - Sunday to Tuesday or Tuesday to Sunday. And of course most sellers
have retail premises to which faulty goods can be returned by post. I
never buy anything substantial without confirming the seller's location
with a business card or billhead - often both. I've returned only one item
since first using these fairs in 1992.

Cic.

--
===================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
===================================

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:36:31 UTC, Cicero
wrote:

I pay £1-50 entry as a pensioner and I choose from a selection of
suppliers for various items. I have no idea what savings I make but I
certainly couldn't buy half a dozen different items online (including
100 DVDs for £13-00) for a carriage / postal cost of £1-50.

Probably get close. SVP (svp.co.uk) give a very good service, and have
'99p postage' offers quite often.
==================================
"....half a dozen different items.....".

A recent visit included 2 caddies, 100 DVDs, 3 Linux compatible wireless
cards (£10-00 each). I'm sure that those items would cost far more in
postage if bought online.

Fair enough. Except that the offer I mentioned was indeed 99p for the
whole order. And carriage is only 4.99 for up to 20kg anyway!

I'm sure they have all of those items too, even cards for a jumped up
wannabe UNIX :-) [1]
The point is that there are viable online alternatives...with low or
free carriage. I buy a lot of stuff from CPC who are also comparable on
price and do free carriage if the goods total 40.00 (plus VAT).

[1] OK, it's not too bad but IMO there are better UNIX-like systems
around...!

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

"Paul Matthews" wrote in message
...
Tim Decker wrote:
I have several metres of cable, crimps and the necessary tool. If you
wait until Tuesday I can let you borrow them and you can do the job
for free.

TBH bespoke cables are not worth the time taken to make them these days -
the
only point in making your own is if you need to feed a wire, and the only
way
to make it fit is unterminated or if you need a very specific length.

Scan are my first stop for cables (they are reasonably priced and local -
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...umbnai ls=yes
I am sure you can get them cheaper.

P.
--
Paul Matthews

http://www.hepcats.co.uk


They sometimes are.
( As you state, where you need a specific length. )

At my work, we have several large classrooms, and the network points are on
the walls. I've installed semi-permenant patch leads to each station, and
making them to the correct length made a very neat job. Otherwise, you
have loops of spare cable or tight cables.

But in general, I agree.
I won't make up a cable for general use.

I buy in amazing amounts of patch leads.
0.5 or 1m for use inside wiring cabinets,
2 or 3 m for general use.
I seem to go through 20 of the longer ones a month.
Mostly due to visitors appearing with laptops and wanting to 'borrow' ( ie
steal ) a patch cable.
Who the heck goes roaming about with a laptop in a carry case *without* a
cat5 cable? Sheesh.

Don't even **ask** about the wireless.

--
Ron

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 17:27:15 +0000, Bob Eager wrote:

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:36:31 UTC, Cicero
wrote:

I pay £1-50 entry as a pensioner and I choose from a selection of
suppliers for various items. I have no idea what savings I make but I
certainly couldn't buy half a dozen different items online (including
100 DVDs for £13-00) for a carriage / postal cost of £1-50.

Probably get close. SVP (svp.co.uk) give a very good service, and have
'99p postage' offers quite often.
==================================
"....half a dozen different items.....".

A recent visit included 2 caddies, 100 DVDs, 3 Linux compatible wireless
cards (£10-00 each). I'm sure that those items would cost far more in
postage if bought online.

Fair enough. Except that the offer I mentioned was indeed 99p for the
whole order. And carriage is only 4.99 for up to 20kg anyway!

I'm sure they have all of those items too, even cards for a jumped up
wannabe UNIX :-) [1]
The point is that there are viable online alternatives...with low or
free carriage. I buy a lot of stuff from CPC who are also comparable on
price and do free carriage if the goods total 40.00 (plus VAT).

[1] OK, it's not too bad but IMO there are better UNIX-like systems
around...!

==================================
I'm sure it's really a case of shopping around for the best deals, both
goods and carriage costs. The point about computer fairs (apart from
prices) is that it's quite a pleasant and enjoyable experience. I'm sure
that many people pay just for the pleasure of window shopping. I often
buy online but find the worst part is the uncertainty of delivery times.
Waiting around for a delivery that doesn't arrive when expected is really
quite frustrating. That's not a problem from a local computer fair.

Cic.

--
===================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
===================================

"Piers Finlayson" wrote in message
...

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
...
SWMBO's PC is up & running, not sorted the e mail out yet, but never
mind.

Bought a 5 metre Cat 6 cable with male/male ends to connect the new PC to
the router. Not piggin long enough! Went to Staples yesterday & they
don't do a cable with male/female ends so I can extend it, nor do they do
a 'joiner'.

Their only suggestion was to buy a new 10m cable.

I'm sure Maplins or someone online sells these things, prolly much
cheaper than Staples, but being a numpty I don't know what to ask for -
visions of "fork handles" .

Could some kind person point me at what to order please?


From Screwfix
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/10436/...E-Coupler-RJ45.
Then by £47.01 in vouchers to get free delivery ;-).

There's no need for a Cat 6 coupler - you don't need Cat 6 unless you're
going Gigabit ethernet, and going a long way.

Don't think you can get away with one of these:
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/19352/...s/RJ45-Coupler
You can't.

Why not? It looks like the ones I used for loads of networking at CeBit and
other shows.

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
...
SWMBO's PC is up & running, not sorted the e mail out yet, but never mind.

Bought a 5 metre Cat 6 cable with male/male ends to connect the new PC to
the router. Not piggin long enough! Went to Staples yesterday & they
don't do a cable with male/female ends so I can extend it, nor do they do
a 'joiner'.

Their only suggestion was to buy a new 10m cable.

I'm sure Maplins or someone online sells these things, prolly much cheaper
than Staples, but being a numpty I don't know what to ask for - visions of
"fork handles" .

Could some kind person point me at what to order please?

http://www.cableuniverse.co.uk/catal...tch-cable.html
£3 + £2 p&p

"dennis@home" wrote in message
...


"Piers Finlayson" wrote in message
...

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
...
SWMBO's PC is up & running, not sorted the e mail out yet, but never
mind.

Bought a 5 metre Cat 6 cable with male/male ends to connect the new PC
to the router. Not piggin long enough! Went to Staples yesterday &
they don't do a cable with male/female ends so I can extend it, nor do
they do a 'joiner'.

Their only suggestion was to buy a new 10m cable.

I'm sure Maplins or someone online sells these things, prolly much
cheaper than Staples, but being a numpty I don't know what to ask for -
visions of "fork handles" .

Could some kind person point me at what to order please?


From Screwfix
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/10436/...E-Coupler-RJ45.
Then by £47.01 in vouchers to get free delivery ;-).

There's no need for a Cat 6 coupler - you don't need Cat 6 unless you're
going Gigabit ethernet, and going a long way.

Don't think you can get away with one of these:
http://www.screwfix.com/prod/19352/E...s/RJ45-Coupler
You can't.

Why not? It looks like the ones I used for loads of networking at CeBit
and other shows.

Because it's not Cat5 rated. Actually, in my experience at very low levels
of network traffic you _may_ be alright. However I've had the misfortune to
track down a variety of network faults caused by the use of these non-Cat5
rated couplers. I'd therefore never use one again, and I go out of my way
to remove and detroy any I find in any networks I encounter given the
potential for wasting days of time tracking down problems.

All of the cases I've investigated and tracked down the problems to these
thingys have been on 100BaseT networks, normally with reasonable (ie not
low) loads. Problems have been intermittent and bizarre - mostly random
network outages that can propogate and span multiple ethernet segments. The
biggest problem I tracked down was in a large telephone service provider in
the US that had one of these on their voice path. Every 12 hours or so they
had a complete outage lasting minutes.

Piers Finlayson wrote:
"dennis@home" wrote
"Piers Finlayson" wrote

Don't think you can get away with one of these:
http://www.screwfix.com/prod/19352/E...s/RJ45-Coupler
You can't.

Why not? It looks like the ones I used for loads of networking at CeBit
and other shows.

Because it's not Cat5 rated. Actually, in my experience at very low levels
of network traffic you _may_ be alright. However I've had the misfortune to
track down a variety of network faults caused by the use of these non-Cat5
rated couplers. I'd therefore never use one again, and I go out of my way
to remove and detroy any I find in any networks I encounter given the
potential for wasting days of time tracking down problems.

Seconded. A mate and I had no end of trouble trying to link up a
workshop to the house with these things in the middle (two parallel runs
of cat5, so only one joint per connection). Turned out that some of the
time the copper fingers in the connector were getting stuck in their
grooves, so that they weren't really making contact with the plugs.

We ended up replacing the connector on the run that was carrying network
(t'other was video) with a small hub, to act as a kind of booster.
Fortunately the link point was in a small shed that held the main power
incomer for the property, so easy enough to add a supply for it.

Pete

In message , Cicero
writes
I suppose it depends on where you are; here in Wolverhampton there's a
regular fair almost ever Sunday and Tuesday. It's run by Northern Computer
Markets (no personal connection) who provide similar fairs throughout the
North West and Midlands. All the porn has disappeared and there's always a
good selection of everything computer related.
You're not watching carefully enough. There's still all sorts of dodgy
stuff on offer.

Cic.

--
Clint Sharp

"Piers Finlayson" wrote in message
...

"dennis@home" wrote in message
...


"Piers Finlayson" wrote in message
...

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message ...
SWMBO's PC is up & running, not sorted the e mail out yet, but never
mind.

Bought a 5 metre Cat 6 cable with male/male ends to connect the new PC
to the router. Not piggin long enough! Went to Staples yesterday &
they don't do a cable with male/female ends so I can extend it, nor do
they do a 'joiner'.

Their only suggestion was to buy a new 10m cable.

I'm sure Maplins or someone online sells these things, prolly much
cheaper than Staples, but being a numpty I don't know what to ask for -
visions of "fork handles" .

Could some kind person point me at what to order please?


From Screwfix
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/10436/...E-Coupler-RJ45.
Then by £47.01 in vouchers to get free delivery ;-).

There's no need for a Cat 6 coupler - you don't need Cat 6 unless you're
going Gigabit ethernet, and going a long way.

Don't think you can get away with one of these:
http://www.screwfix.com/prod/19352/E...s/RJ45-Coupler
You can't.

Why not? It looks like the ones I used for loads of networking at CeBit
and other shows.

Because it's not Cat5 rated. Actually, in my experience at very low
levels of network traffic you _may_ be alright. However I've had the
misfortune to track down a variety of network faults caused by the use of
these non-Cat5 rated couplers. I'd therefore never use one again, and I
go out of my way to remove and detroy any I find in any networks I
encounter given the potential for wasting days of time tracking down
problems.

All of the cases I've investigated and tracked down the problems to these
thingys have been on 100BaseT networks, normally with reasonable (ie not
low) loads. Problems have been intermittent and bizarre - mostly random
network outages that can propogate and span multiple ethernet segments.
The biggest problem I tracked down was in a large telephone service
provider in the US that had one of these on their voice path. Every 12
hours or so they had a complete outage lasting minutes.

Must be different then as I have never had a problem with them.

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 23:03:41 UTC, "dennis@home"
wrote:

"Piers Finlayson" wrote in message
...

"dennis@home" wrote in message
...


"Piers Finlayson" wrote in message
...

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message ...
SWMBO's PC is up & running, not sorted the e mail out yet, but never
mind.

Bought a 5 metre Cat 6 cable with male/male ends to connect the new PC
to the router. Not piggin long enough! Went to Staples yesterday &
they don't do a cable with male/female ends so I can extend it, nor do
they do a 'joiner'.

Their only suggestion was to buy a new 10m cable.

I'm sure Maplins or someone online sells these things, prolly much
cheaper than Staples, but being a numpty I don't know what to ask for -
visions of "fork handles" .

Could some kind person point me at what to order please?


From Screwfix
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/10436/...E-Coupler-RJ45.
Then by £47.01 in vouchers to get free delivery ;-).

There's no need for a Cat 6 coupler - you don't need Cat 6 unless you're
going Gigabit ethernet, and going a long way.

Don't think you can get away with one of these:
http://www.screwfix.com/prod/19352/E...s/RJ45-Coupler
You can't.

Why not? It looks like the ones I used for loads of networking at CeBit
and other shows.

Because it's not Cat5 rated. Actually, in my experience at very low
levels of network traffic you _may_ be alright. However I've had the
misfortune to track down a variety of network faults caused by the use of
these non-Cat5 rated couplers. I'd therefore never use one again, and I
go out of my way to remove and detroy any I find in any networks I
encounter given the potential for wasting days of time tracking down
problems.

All of the cases I've investigated and tracked down the problems to these
thingys have been on 100BaseT networks, normally with reasonable (ie not
low) loads. Problems have been intermittent and bizarre - mostly random
network outages that can propogate and span multiple ethernet segments.
The biggest problem I tracked down was in a large telephone service
provider in the US that had one of these on their voice path. Every 12
hours or so they had a complete outage lasting minutes.

Must be different then as I have never had a problem with them.

Perhaps you've missed the point that Screwfix were selling two different
couplers. One was Cat5e rated, and one (the one under discussion) was
much cheaper and wasn't rated at all. Or are you saying that you've
never had trouble with a 'pound shop' version even on a 100BaseT
network?

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

"Bob Eager" wrote in message
...


Perhaps you've missed the point that Screwfix were selling two different
couplers. One was Cat5e rated, and one (the one under discussion) was
much cheaper and wasn't rated at all. Or are you saying that you've
never had trouble with a 'pound shop' version even on a 100BaseT
network?


I have used 20p ones and not had a problem.
There must be some bad ones out there that I haven't used.

"dennis@home" wrote in message
...


"Bob Eager" wrote in message
...


Perhaps you've missed the point that Screwfix were selling two different
couplers. One was Cat5e rated, and one (the one under discussion) was
much cheaper and wasn't rated at all. Or are you saying that you've
never had trouble with a 'pound shop' version even on a 100BaseT
network?


I have used 20p ones and not had a problem.
There must be some bad ones out there that I haven't used.


Another poster provided a link to Scan who do packs of 10 Cat5e ones for
£2.20 (ex VAT), so around 22p. I'd not seen them this cheap before, but it
is possible that you had proper Cat5e ones like the Scan ones.

Alternatively, you may just have hit no problems because you were lucky. If
you're happy to keep on using them, that's up to you. My recommendation
would be only ever to use Cat5 rated ones, but you've probably realized that
already :-)

On Tue, 11 Mar 2008 08:39:48 +0000, Paul Matthews wrote:

The most likely reason I can think of for a problem affectimg more than
one segment is using them in inter device links rather than to end
systems and not having correctly influenced spanning tree.

Not knowing much about networks with multiple segments I was wondering how
an iffy cable/connector could affect more than just that segment. Then I
remembered that the poster said the network was fairly heavyly loaded.
Thus any retries required to get past the dodgy bit start to slow things
down, then buffers start to fill up, and when they do the "stop sending,
we are full" starts to propergate across the network... This would
obviously be more of a problem with interdevice links than to an
individual device.

This probably explains why some people don't have a problem with cheapo
couplers and others do. It would only take a short break in network
traffic for buffers to empty and the problem not to manifest itself.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 23:01:46 +0000, Clint Sharp wrote:

In message , Cicero
writes
I suppose it depends on where you are; here in Wolverhampton there's a
regular fair almost ever Sunday and Tuesday. It's run by Northern Computer
Markets (no personal connection) who provide similar fairs throughout the
North West and Midlands. All the porn has disappeared and there's always a
good selection of everything computer related.
-------------------------------------
You're not watching carefully enough. There's still all sorts of dodgy
stuff on offer.

==================================
How do you know I'm not watching carefully enough? What dodgy stuff is on
offer?

Cic.

--
===================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
===================================