[Noisebridge-discuss] In search of a cheap/free metal enclosure OR a short story about getting DSL2 installed

[Rubin Abdi]

Hi there.

I just got DSL2 installed (thanks to Sonic.net). This was the first  
time I've interacted with a broadband installation tech that was  
friendly and willing to let me watch over what he was doing and what  
things he was hooking up. After about 20 minutes of running between my  
basement and my 3rd floor flat, my phone jack got switched over to the  
DSL2 drop the AT&T is providing. Most of the trouble was dealing with  
all the other telco crap wires that were left around over time, my  
building is over 100 years old.

Anyhow, once doing an initial speed test he noticed my connection was  
rather slow (gasp! first time I've had an installer stick around, let  
alone wanting to do a speed test and comment that I wasn't getting  
what I was paying for). He guessed two reasons for this, or a  
combination. I'm far away from the central office and/or the wiring in  
my house is crap. We dragged a power cord down into the basement and  
plugged the modem directly into the AT&T drop, this gave an amazing  
100KB/s gain on my download pipe.

His recommendation was to either run fresh cable up to my flat for the  
DSL service, or run ethernet and setup the modem in the basement. I've  
tried his first suggestion, and sadly that didn't help all that much.

Proactively thinking I opted to just run CAT5e instead of a twisted  
pair down the side of the building. Since there's no power outlets in  
the basement, I've ordered some cheap PoE injector splitter kit which  
should power the modem. All I need now is some sort of housing.

The basement gets slightly damp during rain time, so a housing is very  
much necessary. There's an extra TELEPHONE INTERNET box screwed onto a  
wall down in the far corner of the basement that I think has become  
long lost and forgotten, especially since there are no wires going  
into it. I think I might want to try using that, but the case is made  
of plastic and I'm worried about the PoE splitter getting too hot for  
it.

Any suggestions/recommendations on where I might find a metal  
enclosure locally that'll hold such things but not be a problem with  
over heating? Thanks.

--
Rubin Abdi
Rubin at Starset.net