Computers & Electronics

Wiring your house with Ethernet...is it possible?

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Oct 24, 2012
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EugW wrote: First off you should choose the wall where you expect to need it, but I understand plans can change. However, you can get conduit and run it along the baseboard. The plastic conduit isn't exactly bargain basement cheap, but it's not that expensive either and it's extremely easy install. The smallest wiremold is about 1 cm tall, enough for a couple of Ethernet cables.
Hence the "why do it now?".
As you said: It's easy
So there is absolutely no reason to do it pre-emptively. You'll only be working 5x more because odds are that you won't use more than 1/5th of those jacks if you wire up every room.
Wait until a need comes up: Wire things based on the need.

If anything, the only pre-emptive expense is a 1000' spool of Cat6, a crimper, and a bag of 100 jacks and plugs.
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Jan 16, 2007
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I haven't done every room since it wasn't needed, but I've been running CAT6 ethernet cables through my heat vents for years. Some vents more or less head straight down from the second floor to the basement. Having an unfinished basement is a plus in this case.
From the switch in the basement connects to the cable modem. From the vent duct I push the cable underneath the baseboard of the carpeted floors to reach my desk. Not 100% necessary, but I try and hide the cables from sight as much as possible.

This is a clean, cheap, almost no unsightly cables visible, relative easy DIY job with no wall cutting involved. Only hard part is when the heating duct doesn't go straight to the basement.
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Mar 23, 2009
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NubNub wrote: I haven't done every room since it wasn't needed, but I've been running CAT6 ethernet cables through my heat vents for years. Some vents more or less head straight down from the second floor to the basement. Having an unfinished basement is a plus in this case.
From the switch in the basement connects to the cable modem. From the vent duct I push the cable underneath the baseboard of the carpeted floors to reach my desk. Not 100% necessary, but I try and hide the cables from sight as much as possible.

This is a clean, cheap, almost no unsightly cables visible, relative easy DIY job with no wall cutting involved. Only hard part is when the heating duct doesn't go straight to the basement.
I don't think it's required in residential homes, but in commercial buildings, running the cables through vents requires plenum rated cable. The problem here is the sheath is flammable and also gives off nasty gases.

I'm not sure of the specifics, but I believe that plenum cable is more fire retardant and also less toxic when burned.

Although it's probably not required in residential installs, if I were doing this in my own home, I'd use plenum cable too.
alkizmo wrote: Hence the "why do it now?".
As you said: It's easy
So there is absolutely no reason to do it pre-emptively. You'll only be working 5x more because odds are that you won't use more than 1/5th of those jacks if you wire up every room.
Wait until a need comes up: Wire things based on the need.

If anything, the only pre-emptive expense is a 1000' spool of Cat6, a crimper, and a bag of 100 jacks and plugs.
Reasonable point, but if you're going to do it doesn't hurt much to do it a few extra times to run to each room, esp. if the cables all coming out the same exit point in the house. You're going to have to seal up the area, but if you do it piecemeal, you'll have to open up and close that exit point several times.
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riser rated cable is fine, plenum if you gonna run in duct
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EugW wrote: Reasonable point, but if you're going to do it doesn't hurt much to do it a few extra times to run to each room, esp. if the cables all coming out the same exit point in the house. You're going to have to seal up the area, but if you do it piecemeal, you'll have to open up and close that exit point several times.
Doing one run is easy. Doing two runs is twice as hard especially if they are two different rooms.

The trick is to make the exit point "re-openable" like using a piece of PVC that you seal with electrician's putty (easy to re-open, it is like playdough).
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Aug 4, 2003
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I paid $125 per drop, with 18 drops in my house. Later discovered that my renovation contractor would have done it far cleaner and cheaper, being paid per hour. He had to clean up the mess made by the people wiring the Cat6 anyway, who were not used to lathe and plaster.
Yes I do have heatware. Look over here! Yes, here! Heatware: fitbrit
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Lath and plaster, and run in-wall for 18 drops? That must have been difficult and time consuming.
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I had an installer do my place. I had 40 drops put in. Any room with a TV had at least 3 drops.

I'm not a fan of wireless, so I made sure there was at least two drops in everyone room in house except for the bathrooms.

It wasn't cheap, but well worth what I paid. In my previous home, I ran my own wire and it was a mess. Even ran one outside the house. Not a good idea.

My installation is clean and he did have to break one wall, but he repaired it and it looks clean.

PM me if you want his contact information.
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fitbrit wrote: I paid $125 per drop, with 18 drops in my house. Later discovered that my renovation contractor would have done it far cleaner and cheaper, being paid per hour. He had to clean up the mess made by the people wiring the Cat6 anyway, who were not used to lathe and plaster.
Does your average contractor know how to do this? It would seem renovations are an excellent time to get this done.

Also, what about ethernet over coax? I have unused coax ports around the house.
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mr_raider wrote: Does your average contractor know how to do this? It would seem renovations are an excellent time to get this done.
Pulling the cables isn't a big deal, but many contractors don't really don't know much about network setup or even cable termination. Furthermore, many contractors have no interest in doing this sort of thing. They'll probably tell you to ask an electrician to do it while he lays the electrical wire... which is a bad idea since most electricians will just run the network cables in parallel with the electrical cables at the same time. That's really bad for Ethernet signal integrity.
Also, what about ethernet over coax? I have unused coax ports around the house.
MoCA is what you want. The MoCA bridges aren't cheap, but are supposedly pretty reliable. I've tried HomePNA over coax and while it worked well, it's not recommended if you have cable TV on the same line, since HomePNA will overlap some frequencies. OTOH, MoCA is built to be compatible with cable TV.
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Not sure how safe it is. But I've had a friend drill a hole straight from the main floor to the basement in the corner of a room.
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Crzyrio wrote: Not sure how safe it is. But I've had a friend drill a hole straight from the main floor to the basement in the corner of a room.
Perfectly safe, as long you avoid electrical, sewer, water, etc.

In homes usually it's just wood +/- carpet.

The main problem is that if it's not placed correctly, it doesn't look very good. A cable coming through the floor can also catch your toes or snag a vacuum cleaner.
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Jul 27, 2009
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If you have an attic you might be able to wire most of your ethernet cables down. Probably easiest.
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I did my parents house rather easily. If you have access to the attic, dropping cables is quite easy. Just tie a heavy nut at the end of the cable, drop it down, drill a hole where you want it to come out, and then pull the cable out of the wall using plyers.
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alkizmo wrote: Pre-wiring a house post-construction is a waste of money because you are facing the typical diffuculty of fishing wires while trying to wire anywhere that might not end up ever being useful.
There's no other way to get decent speeds outside of Ethernet.
Plus if it's $150/drop, a good powerline setup will cost that much anyway. May as well do it right the first time and get full gigabit.

What happens if you wire the North wall of a room, but the day you actually plug something in that rooms, that it turns out to be placed on the South wall? Are you going to place a plug in every wall of a room? That would cost a fortune!
I'd rather have it on the North wall and run a short section of cable along the baseboards or something than have wires running in the hallways. That's FAR easier to hide and isn't a trip hazard.

Or you could plan it out beforehand.
EugW wrote: Pulling the cables isn't a big deal, but many contractors don't really don't know much about network setup or even cable termination.
For me, it's the pulling that's hard. Termination is easy. But I still wouldn't trust the contractors to do it unless they have experience in termination. Besides... that's the easy part.
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^if you can pull the wiring, i will terminate for you, only if you live close to me though
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Thanks for feedback guys (free 'thanks' for everyone lol). It's too bad power-line doesn't work. Would anyone by chance know why? When I plug it in I am accessing my neighbors internet, not mine).

I do have access to the attic, but the router and cable modem is in the basement. Can I just call up like Costco or Sears or something to do this? Or do I need a special electrician?

Just thought of another thing. I will be painting the house soon. So...if I am doing any drilling, would it be better to do it BEFORE painting starts?
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SuperDuperFox wrote: Thanks for feedback guys (free 'thanks' for everyone lol). It's too bad power-line doesn't work. Would anyone by chance know why? When I plug it in I am accessing my neighbors internet, not mine).

I do have access to the attic, but the router and cable modem is in the basement. Can I just call up like Costco or Sears or something to do this? Or do I need a special electrician?

Just thought of another thing. I will be painting the house soon. So...if I am doing any drilling, would it be better to do it BEFORE painting starts?
Check your house layout. Find the best route that you can drill a hole straight down from attic to basement. First is to find the studs of your second and first floor. Find the best detour. Is your basement furnished or finish? If not that will be a lot easier. That hardest part might be drilling through the floors. Obviously you would want to do the painting after you drill and touches up your drywall.
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Aug 22, 2006
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SuperDuperFox wrote: I do have access to the attic, but the router and cable modem is in the basement. Can I just call up like Costco or Sears or something to do this? Or do I need a special electrician?
In that case, I'd just do all the drops myself and hire someone to do attic <-> basement. Toss a switch up there (preferably one with VLANs) and you're golden.
I don't think Costco does wire pulls. I'm not sure if Sears does either. Check the phone book (aka Google) for local data people. Call around and ask for quotes.
Barring that, any electrician should be able to do it. I'd still do the termination myself though, especially if you don't hire someone that has done it before.
Just thought of another thing. I will be painting the house soon. So...if I am doing any drilling, would it be better to do it BEFORE painting starts?
Obviously.
Heck if it were me, I'd cut a channel in the drywall, run the cabling then patch it for those nuisance spots.
You could even finish termination in the attic and make your own holes from attic to basement. Take out a patch of drywall on the ceiling and floor and drill. Patch and paint. Done.

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