Here’s my 1st pass at the 2nd floor Ethernet cable layout plan. The idea here being to connect it to an existing wired LAN network in the basement (I refer to that as my cave) and be able to achieve near Gig file transfer speeds.
View: https://imgur.com/a/ovXI85Q
Of paramount importance here on the 2nd floor (the wife factor) is that no cables (other than device to wall) must show. Thankfully, Closet 1 (it’s mine) is exempt from that. Most of the runs of cables (CAT 5e only) will be at the wall-ceiling corner and subsequently covered by crown moldings. This makes running cable around the rooms quite simple. Once the cable is up above … there’s bound to be a few problems running from wall/ceiling height down through the wall to the outlet box where the cable will emerge from the wall but I think I’ll be ok. Note that in the drawing … the blue walls are exterior (stuffed with fiberglass insulation, vapor barrier and sheeted on the inside with ½ inch drywall), the black walls are interior (hollow) and each side is sheeted in ½ inch drywall. They’re all standard 16 inch centered 2 X 4 stud walls with a double top plate.
In the diagram … the 6 circles represent wired LAN connection points where devices can plug in. I have no idea what to call these so I’ll just call them Ethernet Points and refer to them as EPs … until I know a better term. These will be at different heights on the wall depending of course on the height of the surface the device will be sitting on. For example, a laptop on a desk sits much lower than a big screen wall-mounted smart TV. They will all emerge from the wall through a newly installed standard electrical outlet box but I anticipate using 2 types of wall plates. One type is where the cable simply passes through a hole in the plate (hopefully I remember to do this before I crimp the connector lol) and terminates in a standard connector. I think of these as ‘holed plates’ and will refer to them as HPs. Here’s a link to what I mean:
https://www.amazon.com/Leviton-88013-001-000-Standard-Telephone/dp/B00004YUJU/ref=sr_1_3?crid=WMPO5B5MS8CL&dchild=1&keywords=outlet+plate+with+hole&qid=1612124576&sprefix=outlet+plate+with+,aps,194&sr=8-3
The 2nd type of plate has a female jack on the wall side and undoubtedly produces a better finished appearance. I’ve never had one ‘in my hand’ but I’m hoping it might be as simple as … crimping a standard connector on the cable (in the outlet box), plugging it into the back of the plate … screw the plate to the outlet box and … job done! I think of them as ‘socketed plates’ and will refer to them as SPs. Here’s a link to what I mean:
So in my diagram … say the EP in the Office ... beside it I’ve written ‘1 SP’ … that just means EP #1, terminated in a ‘socketed plate’. The brown cable coming from EP1 is what I’m using now … it’s temporary and will be removed at the end of school term as step1 of this 2nd floor project (maybe I shouldn’t have put it in the diagram). EP1 doesn’t actually exist yet. There is no outlet box in the wall … the brown wire simply ends in a crimped connector that I plug into my laptop. No other cables, EPs, switches have been installed so everything is up for discussion and easy modification.
Thinking of EP6 (in the bedroom). It’ll be used for a secondary router (probably with a directional antenna … another thing I’ve had no experience with). The secondary router is all configured the way I want and running fine in the cave (no directional antenna of course) so that should be just ’plug and play’ in it’s new location. Install a directional antenna if needed and all will be good. I’m thinking if there comes an occasion where I want wired LAN access in bedroom … the router will have 3 unused GB LAN ports so … no problem.
Also, EP5 will be doing the bulk of the ‘heavy lifting’ in terms of transferring large files down to the large HDDs in the cave. That’s why I’ve given it it’s own wire (olive colored) connecting directly to one the LAN ports of the primary router down there.
Anyway … any initial thoughts about … either the planned layout or the ‘the how you actually physically do it problem’ would be most welcome! I’m probably going to ‘double up’ on the cable (red) coming from the cave to the 2nd floor switch. At approx 150 feet this by far is the longest cable and I think ... following convention ... will be plugged into Port 1 of the switch? Even if I don’t actually crimp the connectors at either end of the spare cable, just having it ‘at the ready’ seems smart. Cable is not really a factor in this.
View: https://imgur.com/a/ovXI85Q
Of paramount importance here on the 2nd floor (the wife factor) is that no cables (other than device to wall) must show. Thankfully, Closet 1 (it’s mine) is exempt from that. Most of the runs of cables (CAT 5e only) will be at the wall-ceiling corner and subsequently covered by crown moldings. This makes running cable around the rooms quite simple. Once the cable is up above … there’s bound to be a few problems running from wall/ceiling height down through the wall to the outlet box where the cable will emerge from the wall but I think I’ll be ok. Note that in the drawing … the blue walls are exterior (stuffed with fiberglass insulation, vapor barrier and sheeted on the inside with ½ inch drywall), the black walls are interior (hollow) and each side is sheeted in ½ inch drywall. They’re all standard 16 inch centered 2 X 4 stud walls with a double top plate.
In the diagram … the 6 circles represent wired LAN connection points where devices can plug in. I have no idea what to call these so I’ll just call them Ethernet Points and refer to them as EPs … until I know a better term. These will be at different heights on the wall depending of course on the height of the surface the device will be sitting on. For example, a laptop on a desk sits much lower than a big screen wall-mounted smart TV. They will all emerge from the wall through a newly installed standard electrical outlet box but I anticipate using 2 types of wall plates. One type is where the cable simply passes through a hole in the plate (hopefully I remember to do this before I crimp the connector lol) and terminates in a standard connector. I think of these as ‘holed plates’ and will refer to them as HPs. Here’s a link to what I mean:
https://www.amazon.com/Leviton-88013-001-000-Standard-Telephone/dp/B00004YUJU/ref=sr_1_3?crid=WMPO5B5MS8CL&dchild=1&keywords=outlet+plate+with+hole&qid=1612124576&sprefix=outlet+plate+with+,aps,194&sr=8-3
The 2nd type of plate has a female jack on the wall side and undoubtedly produces a better finished appearance. I’ve never had one ‘in my hand’ but I’m hoping it might be as simple as … crimping a standard connector on the cable (in the outlet box), plugging it into the back of the plate … screw the plate to the outlet box and … job done! I think of them as ‘socketed plates’ and will refer to them as SPs. Here’s a link to what I mean:
So in my diagram … say the EP in the Office ... beside it I’ve written ‘1 SP’ … that just means EP #1, terminated in a ‘socketed plate’. The brown cable coming from EP1 is what I’m using now … it’s temporary and will be removed at the end of school term as step1 of this 2nd floor project (maybe I shouldn’t have put it in the diagram). EP1 doesn’t actually exist yet. There is no outlet box in the wall … the brown wire simply ends in a crimped connector that I plug into my laptop. No other cables, EPs, switches have been installed so everything is up for discussion and easy modification.
Thinking of EP6 (in the bedroom). It’ll be used for a secondary router (probably with a directional antenna … another thing I’ve had no experience with). The secondary router is all configured the way I want and running fine in the cave (no directional antenna of course) so that should be just ’plug and play’ in it’s new location. Install a directional antenna if needed and all will be good. I’m thinking if there comes an occasion where I want wired LAN access in bedroom … the router will have 3 unused GB LAN ports so … no problem.
Also, EP5 will be doing the bulk of the ‘heavy lifting’ in terms of transferring large files down to the large HDDs in the cave. That’s why I’ve given it it’s own wire (olive colored) connecting directly to one the LAN ports of the primary router down there.
Anyway … any initial thoughts about … either the planned layout or the ‘the how you actually physically do it problem’ would be most welcome! I’m probably going to ‘double up’ on the cable (red) coming from the cave to the 2nd floor switch. At approx 150 feet this by far is the longest cable and I think ... following convention ... will be plugged into Port 1 of the switch? Even if I don’t actually crimp the connectors at either end of the spare cable, just having it ‘at the ready’ seems smart. Cable is not really a factor in this.
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