What to do about short ethernet cable? Straight connector or switch?

[infantrytrophy]

I have ethernet cabling (cat 5e) throughout my home, all wired back to a distribution box. I would like to relocate a newly-purchased router to be more centrally located in the home (for better wifi signal). There are two cat 5e cables from the distribution box (where the cable modem is located) to the proposed new router location, so I plan to connect one cable (from the cable modem) to the WAN port of the router. The other cable will go from one of the router's LAN ports back to an 8-port gigabit switch in the distribution box, where the cables for the rest of the home are connected to the switch.

Unfortunately, one of the two cables at the new router location is about 3 feet short to allow connection to the router at the desired position. Can I just connect a 3-foot cat 5e "jumper cable" to the shorter of the two cat 5e cables using a straight-through connector? Or do I need to install a switch to get the extra 3 feet of length?

I'm getting good gigabit-level speed with the existing cat 5e cabling. Would placing of a short "jumper cable" with a straight connector slow the transmission speed down or cause other problems? Or, if the "jumper cable"/connector idea is not good, would interposing a switch between the router and the main switch in the distribution box cause a problem?

Thanks.

 

[L&LD]

All you can do is try. You'll know immediately if something goes wonky that it would be the first thing to troubleshoot later.

 

[KenZ71]

How about an inline coupler?

http://www.cmple.com/search.aspx?SearchTerm=Cat5e+inline+coupler+

I use these when running factory termed cables to a wall plate or keystone

 

[infantrytrophy]

All you can do is try. You'll know immediately if something goes wonky that it would be the first thing to troubleshoot later.

How about an inline coupler?

http://www.cmple.com/search.aspx?SearchTerm=Cat5e+inline+coupler+

I use these when running factory termed cables to a wall plate or keystone

Thanks for the replies. I tried an inline coupler (similar to that recommended by KenZ71) and it worked fine. Problem solved!

BTW - the new, more central, location for the router was a great idea. My former setup was an old Dlink DIR 655 router plus 3 Dlink DAP 1522 wireless access points to cover a very large home. The new setup is a "refurbished" Apple Airport Extreme in the new central location with only one of the 3 WAPs still in service (in a remote over-the-garage room). I was able to get rid of 2 of the WAPs, plus there is much better wifi signal to all locations in the main part of the house.