Has anyone run cat 5/6 cable for computer use into existing walls? If so, how were you able to run it between multiple floors in a house? I was planning on getting a box of CAT 6 solid Riser cable to run some in my new place and I'm not sure if I need any special tools to guide the wires?
Running cat 6 cable
- Thread starter Handruin
- Start date
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
I have a little gun that lets me shoot a network cable about 25 feet that I use when I'm screwing around up in a ceiling. I don't know what it's called but playing with it is absolutely the only thing I like about doing any kind of wiring install.
In my house, when I had a house, I did the most retarded thing possible and just tore off two whole sheets of drywall, one on the upper floor and one on the lower floor, both inside closets. It was MUCH easier to get my wires where I needed them to go, and in the end I taught myself how to put up a new sheet of drywall, too.
Anyway, a cable snake will probably wind up being your very best friend. You might also need to get a cable push pole.
Bozo
Storage? I am Storage!
If you have access, you can run plastic pipe up through a corner in a closet. This way you can add or upgrade at a later time.
You can also buy cable that is rated to be installed inside heating & A/C duct work.
Beings both types of cable are shielded, there shouldn't be a problem with the two running together.
You can also buy cable that is rated to be installed inside heating & A/C duct work.
Beings both types of cable are shielded, there shouldn't be a problem with the two running together.
ddrueding
Fixture
In my place I'm tearing down sheetrock everywhere and installing conduit. The last time I did it myself without opening the walls, I got a special baseboard that acted as a conduit.
ddrueding
Fixture
Got a link? That sounds neat.
timwhit
Hairy Aussie
Interesting, maybe I could run Ethernet to my living room this way and get rid of my crappy wifi/powerline networking solution. Where did you buy it?
ddrueding
Fixture
Frys I think? I don't know if it was intended to be baseboard, and it was a fairly cheap plastic, but it took paint and worked well.
The house I moved into doesn't have A/C vents or anything like that so it isn't worth me spending on plenum cable unless there is another reason. The Riser rated should be fine from what I've read. We've decided to gut out one room, so that should make wiring that single room easier. I think it will also give me access to the room above it so that I can push wires up there also. I don't think there is any room to put in a plastic pipe between floors. That does sound like a good idea though. Maybe once the room is gutted I'll see if I can fit a plastic pipe between floors.
I was going to run all the wires as a home run to one central location in the basement. I figured they would have the RJ45 ends put on them and connected to a switch. What's the general rule of thumb for extra cable at the end? Should I leave like 15-20 feet extra per cable? I should have plenty of cable if I'm getting the 1000' spool.
I was going to run all the wires as a home run to one central location in the basement. I figured they would have the RJ45 ends put on them and connected to a switch. What's the general rule of thumb for extra cable at the end? Should I leave like 15-20 feet extra per cable? I should have plenty of cable if I'm getting the 1000' spool.
ddrueding
Fixture
Extra depends on where you are terminating them. If you are mounting a rack to the wall, and it is unlikely to move in the future, I would just leave a few feet. In the rooms will you be terminating to wall jacks?
Yes, I plan to have some kind of rack that will either be from the ceiling mount or floor and the wires will all run to it. In each room, I plan to have a wall jack that the wire will terminate to so I can then plug in regular patch cables as needed.
It sounds like the common trend is to run multiple to each room even if I don't use them all now. So rather than one per room, I might pull 4 and just leave three behind the wall for later or get a wall plate that can handle four runs.
It sounds like the common trend is to run multiple to each room even if I don't use them all now. So rather than one per room, I might pull 4 and just leave three behind the wall for later or get a wall plate that can handle four runs.
ddrueding
Fixture
Multiple per run is a good idea. 4 is a bit on the overkill side, though that is never a bad thing. At one point I found a place that sold a single cable that contained 4x Cat6, 2x Coax, 2x component and some other stuff in a single pull. Interesting, though it wasn't cheap.
Stereodude
Not really a
Oh no you can't. Plenum rated cable is not to be use HVAC duct work. Those are not plenums. It may be OK to run plenum rated cable in cold air returns though you'd have to check with the local community on the code.
Stereodude
Not really a
Yes I have. I had a PVC conduit run from the basement to the attic when I bought the house to facilitate running CAT6 + RG-6 into the 2nd floor rooms later.
Without a conduit you need to cut a hole in the wall on the 2nd floor and get a long flexible bit and the guide for the bit so you can drill through the bottom plate of the 2nd story wall and top plate of the wall below. Then from the attic you drill into the top of the 2nd story wall and in the basement you drill into the bottom of the 1st story wall and you're all set (if you did it right). Home depot sells a kit with the guide, flexible bit, and something else for about $50. I need to get one to run 120V up to my attic for the whole house fan I want to install.
Stereodude
Not really a
I ran RG-6 in the same conduit as CAT6 and haven't had any issues. I don't foresee a problem.
Also, keep in mind it's a code violation to run 120V and low voltage cabling together in a conduit (regardless of it being a bad idea from a signal integrity side).
blakerwry
Storage? I am Storage!
Handy, you didn't mention what kind of wiring you already have installed in the house.
I moved into a home built ~ 5 years ago and found that I already had cat5 phone wiring ran as home runs from each room to a central location. Since I don't use a home phone, I converted this to ethernet. If you're home's not as new you may not be so lucky, but you could have cat3 - which, while not rated for anything more than 10Mbps operation, may achieve 100Mbps with good termination.
I moved into a home built ~ 5 years ago and found that I already had cat5 phone wiring ran as home runs from each room to a central location. Since I don't use a home phone, I converted this to ethernet. If you're home's not as new you may not be so lucky, but you could have cat3 - which, while not rated for anything more than 10Mbps operation, may achieve 100Mbps with good termination.
Stereodude
Not really a
It's not exactly plastic pipe. You want schedule 40 gray PVC conduit. However, if you're running only low voltage cabling you can use the white stuff since there are basically no code requirements for low voltage conduit because low voltage wiring doesn't need conduit. I wouldn't advise using the white stuff though because someone might mistake it for a plumbing drain pipe later on.
You want to use a patch panel. Do not put RJ-45 ends on the cable. That's just lame. However, if you can not resist the urge to be lame please make sure you use RJ-45 ends meant for solid cable, not stranded. You don't need a lot of extra cable just enough to make sure you can get the patch panel where you want it and then you're all set.
Stereodude
Not really a
They're called keystones.
If you're going to go to the trouble to pull one cable you might as well pull at least 2. I ran 2 CAT6 to almost every room in my house except a few that got more than 2. The only rooms that didn't get CAT6 runs were the Dining Room and the bathrooms. 3 bedrooms have 2 each, the Master suite has 4 (2 on 2 different walls), the family room has 4, the library / office has 6, the kitchen has 2, the theater will have 4, the equipment rack outside the theater will have 8. You can't have too many. :cheers:
Thanks for the feedback. Did you run the quad shielded RG-6 or the double? From reading, the quad sounded like the better choice.
I can't do much in the attic of this house. There's only a couple of feet inside and no real way to get in there. This house had the dormer raised and the house is over 50 years old. The best I can likely do is feed the wire from the basement level up to the first and second floor through the one room we're likely to redo the walls in.
Thanks for that info also, I didn't think it would be an issue to have the RG-6 and CAT 6 but wasn't 100% sure. I haven't read up on the code, but I also wasn't planning o doing my own electrical wiring in the house, we were looking to hire an electrician.
The existing wiring is...well, not really existing. As far as I've found there is only one phone line and it runs into the kitchen. There has never been a phone installed or used by my girlfriend for all the years she's lived here. There is nothing that can be salvaged for CAT 5 reuse.
The cable TV wiring is also very poorly done. I haven't yet been able to figure out entirely how it was wired, but the contractor who put it in should lose their license. From what I've seen, it comes into the basement and is immediately split using a 5 way splitter (7 dB loss per port)...but only two splits being used. One split goes into the basement and the other runs inside the ceiling into another room in the basement. The wire is then on a two-way splitter (3.5 dB loss), but only one of the two are used to run upstairs?! It looks like they needed to couple two wires together and just used a splitter instead. Then upstairs the wire runs into the first bedroom which is on yet another splitter. The master bedroom is at the end of the line and the back bedroom has no cable. I guess the guy ran out of splitters to make it there...
None the less, I want to run new cables to each room directly. When the electrician was here yesterday, he was also stumped on the cable layout. He said they also used RG-59 for the cable type in the house. I'm guessing an improvement can be had with a little better cabling.
Thanks once again for the helpful suggestion. I wasn't trying to be lame, I just don't have the same experience cabling a house as you which is why I've been asking.
I went and ordered the CAT 6 spool and that CAT 6 patch panel you suggested. I agree, that does seem to make more sense. Then I can run the cables to that panel and if I need to put the switch elsewhere, I can run patch cables as needed. They will likely be all in the same location anyway.
Stereodude
Not really a
I did not run quad shield. I'm sure it's slightly better but because none of my wiring is used for satellite I decided RG-6 was good enough for OTA or Cable TV since RG-59 is what is typically used there. Also when I bought my first roll of cable the RG-6 was really cheap and on special at Parts Express, so I bought compression ends for RG-6 which are not compatible with RG-6 QS so I sorta locked myself into RG-6. However, if I was starting from scratch I'd might go RG-6 QS since it's not really much more money in the cable or the compression ends.
Keep in mind RCA ends for RG-6 QS don't seem to be very common (for example Monoprice doesn't sell them). So if you want to use RG-6 QS for audio or video cables with RCA ends on them, make sure you can get RG-6 QS RCA compression ends before committing.
Even if you're not doing it yourself it wouldn't hurt to get a copy of the building code just so you can familiarize yourself with what your electrician should be doing. :bglaugh:
Bozo
Storage? I am Storage!
Depending on how thick your walls are, and how many cables you are going to run, you can use central vacuum plastic pipe. (signal or low voltage stuff only) The walls of the pipe are very thin which means you can get more wires inside compared to schedule 40 conduit or water pipe.
Dumb questions
1.) After I run the cables through the walls and into the room, what kind of wall-box do I need for the keystones and wall plate so that it mounts properly if anything?
2.) Should I purchase the Punch-Down keystones or the Tool-Less keystones?
3.) Any reason not to use a 4-Keystone wall plate except for cases where I won't have 4 keystones?
4.) Do I need any special tools for this job if I go with the tool-less keystones? Will I need anything for the patch panel I bought?
1.) After I run the cables through the walls and into the room, what kind of wall-box do I need for the keystones and wall plate so that it mounts properly if anything?
2.) Should I purchase the Punch-Down keystones or the Tool-Less keystones?
3.) Any reason not to use a 4-Keystone wall plate except for cases where I won't have 4 keystones?
4.) Do I need any special tools for this job if I go with the tool-less keystones? Will I need anything for the patch panel I bought?
ddrueding
Fixture
You'll need a punchdown tool for the patch panel anyway, so you might as well get the same for the wall jacks. They are faster once you get the hang of it. I would get some "old work" (remodel) wall boxes to mount the plates to; they have tabs that open inside the wall and hold the box to the sheetrock.
I wasn't aware I needed a punch down tool for that, but that's not big deal. I will buy the punch down keystones, but which of the various tools offered at monoprice should I get to do the punch? The patch panel says it's a 110 type as well as the keystones, so I'm assuming I need a 110 punch down tool? Does it matter if I get an adjustable 110 punch down tool?
ddrueding
Fixture
That is the tool. Adjustable doesn't really matter. Once you get the hang of it you'll never want to terminate your own RJ45s again.
Stereodude
Not really a
1) You don't need any sort of box for low voltage cabling. You can buy an old work plastic ring if you want. I just cut holes in the drywall with a dremel (using a template) that were large enough to clear a 6 keystone wall plate, but small enough so there was still a decent amount of drywall where the screws needed to go. Then I put small plastic anchors in the drywall to hold the screws that hold the wall plates on.
2) I've always used the tool-less. When I first bought CAT6 keystones from Monoprice almost 3 years ago they were the only choice (there were no CAT6 punch-down keystones at the time). Since they're cheaper and they worked fine for me the first time I've continued to buy the tool-less one.
3) No
4) No. The patch panel comes with a plastic punch down tool that while cheap works fine for the job.
ddrueding
Fixture
You could always just strip the entire house. Now that I've worked on my technique, I can do 15' of wall down to the studs in under an hour. Only about 100' of wall left to do.
I had actually used the monoprice live tech support chat yesterday before I saw your response and they recommended the same idea for a 1 gang plastic ring support such as this. At a price of $0.93, I'll buy a few of them to try and also a few of the new construction build units since one of the rooms is being taken apart down to the studs.
I'm torn on going with the tool-less or the punch down...sounds like tool-less will cost me less because I won't need the $20 tool for punch down since the patch panel comes with one for it's own use.
David, I can't do the entire house, lots of it has already been redone prior to me moving in, so there was no consideration for adding networking.
We're demo'ing the one room tonight, it should be fun.
blakerwry
Storage? I am Storage!
Just to throw this out there - the impact tools can actually damage 110 style keystones. There are cheap, non-impact 110 style tools that are easier on the keystones and patch panels.
My vote is to use the included tool and a pair of sharp scissors. If you feel like buying a tool, something like this should be sufficient -
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006BHCC2/
(The Paladin stripper and crimp tools are also good)
http://www.amazon.com/Paladin-Tools-1116-SureStrip-Stripper/dp/B00006HYUY/
http://www.amazon.com/Paladin-Tools-1557-Phone-Style/dp/B0012YNF78/
Here's a good video on how to terminate cat5 at a keystone. The termination at a patch panel is similar. Some keystones/panels may provide color coding for TIA/EIA-568-A while others show TIA/EIA-568-B (and some show both). Just be sure to use the same at each end - there is no benefit to one over the other. The important parts are to end with the cleanest, tightest termination possible. Excess stripping or unwinding will likely result in runs that will not reliably support gbit operation. I'd also recommend pre-made patch cables from the jacks to the devices.
My vote is to use the included tool and a pair of sharp scissors. If you feel like buying a tool, something like this should be sufficient -
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006BHCC2/
(The Paladin stripper and crimp tools are also good)
http://www.amazon.com/Paladin-Tools-1116-SureStrip-Stripper/dp/B00006HYUY/
http://www.amazon.com/Paladin-Tools-1557-Phone-Style/dp/B0012YNF78/
Here's a good video on how to terminate cat5 at a keystone. The termination at a patch panel is similar. Some keystones/panels may provide color coding for TIA/EIA-568-A while others show TIA/EIA-568-B (and some show both). Just be sure to use the same at each end - there is no benefit to one over the other. The important parts are to end with the cleanest, tightest termination possible. Excess stripping or unwinding will likely result in runs that will not reliably support gbit operation. I'd also recommend pre-made patch cables from the jacks to the devices.
ddrueding
Fixture
Just my opinion, but I prefer to use boxes over rings as it gives some strain relief.
Thanks for the info on the tools and the cabling. I'll watch the video when I get home later tonight. I also bought 24 pre-made patch cables like these. The price is cheap enough that making my own isn't worth the time. I decided to match the four different colors with the same keystone jack colors in case I decide to try different vlans down the road, it'll be easier to identify which jack in the wall to use. I'll also be able to tell on the switch which ports go to which color jack.
Stereodude
Not really a
I liked this cable stripper. It worked well for CAT6 and RG-6.
blakerwry
Storage? I am Storage!
One thing I learned during my last big cabling project was that you can connect phones (RJ-11) just fine to cat5/6 patch panels (RJ-45).
So, if you were thinking of buying keystones or a separate patch panel for possible phone use, don't bother. Just use the same cable, keystones, and patch panel for all the twisted pair stuff.
So, if you were thinking of buying keystones or a separate patch panel for possible phone use, don't bother. Just use the same cable, keystones, and patch panel for all the twisted pair stuff.
Stereodude
Not really a
My house had CAT5 installed for the phone lines. I left them alone. But, you are correct that RJ-11 will plug into stuff meant for RJ-45.
Howell
Storage? I am Storage!
Phone wiring uses the middle pair for line 1 and the next center pair for a second line if there is one. This corresponds to the blue and green pair respectively for 568B wiring scheme). You just have to be aware of this on the patch panel side and make adjustments there.
The jack will work in the keystones but they will feel a little loose. The latch will keep them in but they will feel loose
The jack will work in the keystones but they will feel a little loose. The latch will keep them in but they will feel loose
Thanks for the info on the RJ 11 working in the same keystone. That might work out very well. I had already decided and ordered the parts for 4 CAT 6 cables per room and I have 4 different colored keystones all to be in the same wall plate. That just means I can use the same color in each room for phone (say the color yellow) since the majority of the house isn't wired for telephone right now. I also ordered corresponding colored patch cables so that if I decide to play with VLANs I can use a different color for that and know which ports it corresponds to on the switch.
I don't know what needs to be done on the patch panel side in order for all the phones to work on the same line, but I can figure that out later if needed.
We demo'ed the den/office this evening. We'll have an electrician coming this week to get us some new power in a few different rooms and he's actually going to help me run the CAT 6 and RG 6 while he is here.
I don't know what needs to be done on the patch panel side in order for all the phones to work on the same line, but I can figure that out later if needed.
We demo'ed the den/office this evening. We'll have an electrician coming this week to get us some new power in a few different rooms and he's actually going to help me run the CAT 6 and RG 6 while he is here.
Stereodude
Not really a
Be careful you don't end up with something like this: wneddnce:
wneddnce: