[SOLVED] Wiring my house with cat6

[GUnit_Gaming]

In the next week or two I'm going to be wiring parts of my house with cat6 ethernet. Ive never done cabling on this scale before only done patch cables in school but i know the basics of doing a project like this. I guess my question is there anything else i should know before getting into this. My router is a TP-Link Ac1750 and the switch ill be using is a Netgear ProSafe GS180.


The plan is to run 6 cables to various rooms. Three cables to the room to the left of the office, one for a computer and two for an TV & xbox. One cable to the bedroom on the opposite side of the office for a smart tv. Then two cables for the living room, one for an xbox and one for a smart tv later on. The plan is to come off the router into a switch to split it up. From the switch the cables will go out to keystones in wall plates that will be installed during this project. Then into the various devices.


House was built in the 1930s, remodeled and fully rewired in the last 30 years.
Attic has blown-in insulation.
Basement was a crawl space that was dug out and turned into a basement (it was done very poorly and it leaks constantly, so humidity is kinda an issue).
Left bedroom has plaster walls but all other walls are believed to be drywall.


Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. If you have any question let me know and ill try to answer them. I have created a floor plan for a different reason but it will work for this. Layout

 

[lvt]

Can it be done wirelessly?

 

[skitszo]

The point of hardline is no wifi radiation... And no conflicts with device signals. Assuming you.ll not spagetti install. 😉

 

[bill001g]

The network part is as that simple you just run cable where you want and hook them to a switch. I would place a patch panel in central location rather than just crimp ends on the cables. I would run cat6a cable since that is rated to 10gbit. Cat6 cable just costs more than cat5e cable but still is only rated to run at 1gbit so if cost is a issue use cat5e. Be very careful to get quality cable. Make sure you do not buy CCA cable, you want pure copper wire. It also needs have wire size 22-24 so no flat or thin cables either. Copper metal has gotten very expensive so you see all kinds of fake cable being sold because of the costs.

If you use cat6a cable you can use cat5e keystones and patch panel and replace them at a later time when you need 10gbit.

The hard part of the project is getting the wires run without a lot of damage to the walls. It is trivial on some walls that you can get to the top or bottom. You just drill a hole and drop the wire down. Others might have places you need to drill that are hard to get to and insulation makes it harder. They make all kinds of specialized tools like very long flexible drill bits.

Many times these type of projects are more how good are you at filing holes in drywall and painting than network wiring.

 

[gggplaya]

I bought one of these bits, it was incredibly valuable for fishing wires into walls. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00W9SIYXQ It's easiest to drill from above or below, cut a 1gang outlet into the wall and then tie a string to this drill bit and pull the wire up.

I went with 23awg pure copper CAT6 in my house. I wanted thicker gauge wire for POE.

Plaster and lathe is a huge pain for installing a wall outlet. The plaster falls apart and using an oscillating tool to cut through the lathe wood is a huge pain. I would avoid plaster and lathe if you can.

If you need to drill through the floor or ceiling for whatever reason. I find the best route is to run wire through a closet or pantry. No one cares if there's an unsightly wire showing in a closet. I just try to run the wire next to the closest door on the inside so you can't see it. Or as close to a corner as I can get the wire.

 

[kanewolf]

The other thing to consider is any wired cameras or video doorbell you might want. That means cables to soffit areas for cameras.
Pulling cable for WIFI access points is also beneficial. There are some that are designed for ceiling mount and some that can be mounted in standard wall boxes.

 

[GUnit_Gaming]

Can it be done wirelessly?

Yes but signal doesn't travel well in my house, even with a good router. We dont want to have repeaters everywhere. We all agreed having hard lines would just make life nicer.

The network part is as that simple you just run cable where you want and hook them to a switch. I would place a patch panel in central location rather than just crimp ends on the cables. I would run cat6a cable since that is rated to 10gbit. Cat6 cable just costs more than cat5e cable but still is only rated to run at 1gbit so if cost is a issue use cat5e. Be very careful to get quality cable. Make sure you do not buy CCA cable, you want pure copper wire. It also needs have wire size 22-24 so no flat or thin cables either. Copper metal has gotten very expensive so you see all kinds of fake cable being sold because of the costs.

If you use cat6a cable you can use cat5e keystones and patch panel and replace them at a later time when you need 10gbit.

The hard part of the project is getting the wires run without a lot of damage to the walls. It is trivial on some walls that you can get to the top or bottom. You just drill a hole and drop the wire down. Others might have places you need to drill that are hard to get to and insulation makes it harder. They make all kinds of specialized tools like very long flexible drill bits.

Many times these type of projects are more how good are you at filing holes in drywall and painting than network wiring.

The cable that i pick out is Southwire 500ft Blue 23/4 Solid CU Cat6 CMR (Riser) Data Cable. I doubt we will ever need 10gb as long as we live here but we agreed that we are fine with just 1gb for now. Is there a upside to running a patch panel instead of having crimped ends into the switch? Some of the videos i was watching had patch panels but others had just switches and none of them really explained why.

 

[gggplaya]

Southwire is reputable, but some people have gotten CAT5 cable inside their box labeled CAT6. Make sure it's truly cat6 cable in the box when you buy it. I used the same cable in my house, I scraped the wire down and it's definitely solid copper and would only fit into my 23awg crimp ends. So I got the right stuff in my box.

A patch panel is only $25. If you're going to do it, you might as well do it right and make it look professional. Punchdown connectors are easier than crimp ends and it's nice to label the panel. Also I like putting it in a rack with a switch that also rack mounts. Then i install short 6 inch ethernet cables for a clean look.

 

[SamirD]

If you use cat6a cable you can use cat5e keystones and patch panel and replace them at a later time when you need 10gbit.

I used to think this was possible too, but the core of the wire in cat6a is thicker so it won't fit in cat5e or 6 keystones.

 

[SamirD]

Yes but signal doesn't travel well in my house, even with a good router. We dont want to have repeaters everywhere. We all agreed having hard lines would just make life nicer.

with an older house like this, I wouldn't try to run wire myself as this is going to be tricky as you don't know what may be in the walls after nearly 100 years. And all it takes is hitting one thing that was unexpected and you'll need to get a professional and spend a lot more repairing whatever was damaged and then repairing the wall for the repair.

Instead of all this, I would invest in some av2000 powerline adapters in each room. This should get you what will feel like a 100Mbps wired ethernet connection to every room. Plus, installation will literally take 5 minutes per room and then you're done.

If you have coaxial cable in the rooms, and you know where all these wires run and want true gigabit wired speeds, I would recommend moca adapters. They cost more and require a little bit more on the wiring side, but the performance is literally gigabit (or even 2.5Gb with the newest adapters).

I hope this helps and definitely update us with your project.

 

[Ralston18]

And depending on where you live you may or may not be allowed to run your own cabling even if less than 50 volts.

Permits may be required as well.

Check into that before doing anything.