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Ask HN: Getting HOA to upgrade Ethernet wiring

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Re: Ask HN: Getting HOA to upgrade Ethernet wiring

#21

Cost is the major consideration. If the Cat5 cable was installed during construction, it might be very difficult to pull in replacement cabling. The labor and associated management, administration costs rapidly mount up. Unless a significant proportion of owners want the same, you might be better off seeing if you can simply upgrade your unit's connection. Even that might involve new conduits, etc which you might nee…

Yeah it would be amazing if it was something where I can simply upgrade my units connection. I’ll reach out and ask if that is an option. Thank you!

Re: Ask HN: Getting HOA to upgrade Ethernet wiring

#22
post #12

I would try two things: (1) Running gigabit ethernet over the cat 5. Maybe it works? (2) Look at GFast. I run a GFast service in my apartment block. We have Cat 3 (yes, 3!) cable. We can do 500mbit. You would need to buy a DSLAM.

Thank you! I will look into that DSLAM.

Fair warning, setting up and managing a DSLAM is an undertaking, and additionally everyone that wanted to use it would need a compatible modem as well.

Source: I've setup and managed two such environments back in the day at an ISP, and also a couple of older VDSL setups in apartment blocks. It's a good way of getting some extra mileage out of old wiring but its expensive, creates another SPOF, and requires at least some knowledge. It can also be a giant PITA to troubleshoot, and all your wiring becomes far more precious when it comes to water/damp and interference.

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