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How hard is running ethernet cable through your house?

10,953 434 March 30, 2011 at 04:27 PM in Desktop Computers
My router is in the basement. My desktop computer is in a 1st floor office. I've really love to run an ethernet cable there. How hard is that? Who would I hire to do this if I didn't want to do it myself? How much more work is it to run one to my living room also (also first floor, across the house from the office, though).
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changkoh
03-31-2011 at 01:43 PM.
03-31-2011 at 01:43 PM.
I did it as a 16 year old and I had no clue how to do it then. I basically got a couple wall outlets. cut out a hole and fished it down with a coathanger. I got about 50 ft cable cut from home depot and the wall outlets came with a disposable punchdown tool for the jacks. Once you know the layout of the house, everything else is easy.

I got a general sense of where the cable would be, cut out the hole in the wall, fished down some string with an alarm clock tied to it. When the alarm rang downstairs, I marked where I heard and cut there.
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DoctorBob
03-31-2011 at 01:43 PM.
03-31-2011 at 01:43 PM.
I get my RJ45 connectors from Home Depot, cable too if I have a coupon, otherwise online.
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brbubba
03-31-2011 at 02:58 PM.
03-31-2011 at 02:58 PM.
If your house is new you should be able to DIY fairly easily. If the house is really old, I might consider hiring a GOOD professional. I saw one old house where the installer ran cable outside the house, down the exterior wall and back into the house!
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someone28624
03-31-2011 at 03:11 PM.
03-31-2011 at 03:11 PM.
Thanks for the tips everyone! I think this might be beyond what I'm willing to do myself.
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MikeBear
03-31-2011 at 07:00 PM.
03-31-2011 at 07:00 PM.
Quote from changkoh :
....
I got a general sense of where the cable would be, cut out the hole in the wall, fished down some string with an alarm clock tied to it. When the alarm rang downstairs, I marked where I heard and cut there.

Well, I'll give you points for originality! I can pretty much guarantee that not very many people would think of stuffing an alarm clock down a hole, and figuring out where the noise is coming from! laugh out loud

I guess your house didn't have any sole plates installed, to bolt the house to the foundation? One good breeze, and away she goes!
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redmaxx
04-01-2011 at 10:12 AM.
04-01-2011 at 10:12 AM.
Quote from greenmeansgoooo :
When I run ethernet I charge $50 a run with a minimum of 2 runs and $5 each face plate. then i charge 5 cents per foot for cat5 or 10 cents per foot for cat 5e. i use a 30' piece of flexible bailing wire if i have to fish through to a second floor. exterior walls are always insurated (except in some garages where the interior wall is) so i sometimes i charge $60 a run if all the runs are interior.

you are better off buying the ethernet wire and jacks yourself as most installers will up-charge on them. if you just need 2 or 3 then lowes is a good place, but if you need more, check out mon0price.
Why Cat5 at all? Confused I can kind of understand 5e, but plain 5 and no 6?
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greenmeansgoooo
04-01-2011 at 11:29 AM.
04-01-2011 at 11:29 AM.
Quote from redmaxx :
Why Cat5 at all? Confused I can kind of understand 5e, but plain 5 and no 6?
i give the cheaper option, as most people dont need anything above cat5 or cat 5e. plus i have near free access to miles and miles of cat5 and cat5e.
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UniformedHorse
04-01-2011 at 12:00 PM.
04-01-2011 at 12:00 PM.
Quote from changkoh :
I got a general sense of where the cable would be, cut out the hole in the wall, fished down some string with an alarm clock tied to it. When the alarm rang downstairs, I marked where I heard and cut there.
I love it!
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greenmeansgoooo
04-01-2011 at 02:30 PM.
04-01-2011 at 02:30 PM.
another way ive seen it done is where one person taps the wall up near the ceiling so that the guy up in the attic knows where to drill.

ir remember one guy that wanted 2 outlets in each room, but he said that at any time only 1 outlet would be used. so i explained the pros and cons of using an ethernet splitter vs. just running a second line. also, told him that since he chose to just use an ethernet splitter inside of one of the jacks in each room, that if he wanted later on he could just add a switch at the main outlet in each room so that both outlets could be used at the same time. the bad thing is if he ever sells that house, and if the next person tries to plug in 2 devices in the same room, neither will work with just the ethernet splitter.
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Last edited by greenmeansgoooo April 1, 2011 at 02:39 PM.
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redmaxx
04-01-2011 at 04:44 PM.
04-01-2011 at 04:44 PM.
Quote from greenmeansgoooo :
another way ive seen it done is where one person taps the wall up near the ceiling so that the guy up in the attic knows where to drill.

ir remember one guy that wanted 2 outlets in each room, but he said that at any time only 1 outlet would be used. so i explained the pros and cons of using an ethernet splitter vs. just running a second line. also, told him that since he chose to just use an ethernet splitter inside of one of the jacks in each room, that if he wanted later on he could just add a switch at the main outlet in each room so that both outlets could be used at the same time. the bad thing is if he ever sells that house, and if the next person tries to plug in 2 devices in the same room, neither will work with just the ethernet splitter.
Gigabit is also out of the question.
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greenmeansgoooo
04-01-2011 at 04:49 PM.
04-01-2011 at 04:49 PM.
Quote from redmaxx :
Gigabit is also out of the question.
i was just talking about a dummy splitter with 2 female jacks on one side and 1 female jack on the other side inside the first outlet. so there is still a regular ethernet run to each room, at least to the first outlet.

on the flip side ive had to fix a couple of screwed up wiring jobs that looked like they were DIY or installed by an installer that didnt know what they were doing. one guy had enough ethernet crisscrossing his attic to wrap around his house 2 or 3 times.
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Last edited by greenmeansgoooo April 1, 2011 at 04:55 PM.
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redmaxx
04-01-2011 at 05:05 PM.
04-01-2011 at 05:05 PM.
Quote from greenmeansgoooo :
i was just talking about a dummy splitter with 2 female jacks on one side and 1 female jack on the other side inside the first outlet. so there is still a regular ethernet run to each room, at least to the first outlet.

on the flip side ive had to fix a couple of screwed up wiring jobs that looked like they were DIY or installed by an installer that didnt know what they were doing. one guy had enough ethernet crisscrossing his attic to wrap around his house 2 or 3 times.
Wait, so it doesn't split four wires onto one jack and the other four onto the other jack?
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greenmeansgoooo
04-01-2011 at 05:41 PM.
04-01-2011 at 05:41 PM.
Quote from redmaxx :
Wait, so it doesn't split four wires onto one jack and the other four onto the other jack?
nope, runs all 8 wires to both jacks with the dummy splitter, so only one jack can be used at a time else there will be collisions and it just wont pull down a LAN IP for either. stupid if you ask me, but thats the way he wanted it.
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someone28624
04-03-2011 at 07:55 PM.
04-03-2011 at 07:55 PM.
My dad is gonna help me fish the wire down to the basement next weekend, but I'm confused at how the cable connected to the face plate.
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G37
04-03-2011 at 10:56 PM.
04-03-2011 at 10:56 PM.
Quote from someone28624 :
My dad is gonna help me fish the wire down to the basement next weekend, but I'm confused at how the cable connected to the face plate.
What kind of faceplate are you using and what 'material' is the 'wall' you are mounting it to?

If wall is drywall, a mud ring is handy to secure the plate and/or jack.

As for pinout of the jack:
http://pinoutsguide.com/NetworkCa...nout.shtml
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