Ethernet cable through house

JonLow · 2 Nov 2020 at 08:36

I'm having my house rewired and want to get ethernet cable run throughout at the same time. The electrician is fine with running the cables etc, but not so knowledgeable about the network side. My plan is to have him run cable from where the router will live up to the loft, have a network switch in the loft and from there a cable each down to the various network points. Is that a good/right approach? Am I missing anything?

Thanks for any help

Semple · 2 Nov 2020 at 08:43

Depending on your location, and which direction your house faces, lofts can get particularly warm during the summer, that it may exceed the operating temperature of the switch.

You also need to consider that lofts are dusty environments, so will need to put something in place to prevent a build up of dust and/or insects from getting into the equipment.

jaybee · 2 Nov 2020 at 08:44

It's a good approach as then cable drops can be done down the insides of the walls into each room relatively easily, as opposed to lifting floor boards etc. But to get from the loft to ground floor can be trickier. Depends on the house. Sometimes it is easier to go up an outside wall on the back or side of the house.

JonLow · 2 Nov 2020 at 08:50

Ok, so maybe think about putting the switch in my office (on the first floor). But the general approach is right? Also, I've read a lot about getting one more cable that needed run to each location, in case of issues in the future. e.g. I want one port in the spare room, but having two cables run to that location. Is that necessary or a good idea?

Thanks for the replies

Hawk Tuah · 2 Nov 2020 at 08:54

JonLow said:
Ok, so maybe think about putting the switch in my office (on the first floor). But the general approach is right? Also, I've read a lot about getting one more cable that needed run to each location, in case of issues in the future. e.g. I want one port in the spare room, but having two cables run to that location. Is that necessary or a good idea?

Thanks for the replies

I'd stick to keeping the stuff in the loft - provided you've got easy access to it.

Good idea on having some redundant cables put in - just incase.

sideways14a · 2 Nov 2020 at 09:09

Dont put a switch or anything else active in the loft, they get very very hot in summer.

JohnStewart · 2 Nov 2020 at 10:03

I've recently retro-fitted ethernet throughout my house, running the cables up the inside of the walls to new faceplates, and have a switch in the loft exactly like you are planning.

A couple of suggestions:

1) Run two cables and fit a double ethernet faceplate in each room. The cost of the materials is low compared to the labour cost if you needed to add extra ports later. Even if you only use one at the moment, you always have a spare.
2) Terminate each cable in a patch panel in the loft, ideally using the tool-less keystone jacks. Crimping cables reliably can be hard in a cramped loft with poor light. Using the tool-less keystones gets the job done reliably in minutes.
3) Use solid copper core cable, not stranded and never use the cheaper CCA stuff. The stranded cable is designed for patch leads/crimping and not terminating at faceplates/patch panels. I would use at least Cat 6 or Cat 6a with better shielding for a new install, especially if you are running the cables parallel to mains cables. Cat 5e is good enough for up to gigabit speeds, but the cost differential is minimal and many new motherboards are now coming with 2.5G ethernet ports.
4) Buy quality patch leads in pre-made lengths. They are available for under £2 each and will save hours of effort (and possibly frustration) trying to crimp your own.
5) If not already fitted, get your electrician to install several double power sockets in the loft to power your switch and anything else you might need in the future (NAS?), and an LED strip light. I fitted one with a motion detector so it goes on as soon as I open the loft hatch, and goes off on a timer after 10 minutes of inactivity.

pp111 · 2 Nov 2020 at 12:53

JonLow said:
I'm having my house rewired and want to get ethernet cable run throughout at the same time. The electrician is fine with running the cables etc, but not so knowledgeable about the network side. My plan is to have him run cable from where the router will live up to the loft, have a network switch in the loft and from there a cable each down to the various network points. Is that a good/right approach? Am I missing anything?

Thanks for any help

Just run all the cables individually from your router location. Run two cables to each, just in case. Use cat 6 cable. Don't place anything other than cables in the loft. It can easily get well over 40 degrees in the loft which can really shorten the life of electronics.

You don't need expensive cable for a domestic application. If you are using face-plates then any cable will do. You do not need shielded in a house. Many people have a preference for solid copper cables but this really only makes a difference if you are using long cable runs or something called Power Over Ethernet, which you probably won't be. For the home user it doesn't really matter if the cable is multi core or solid core. Most cable bought in roll form is solid core. It's designed to be used with faceplates but for the home it's fine in all applications.

bremen1874 · 2 Nov 2020 at 13:04

pp111 said:
Just run all the cables individually from your router location. Run two cables to each, just in case. Use cat 6 cable. Don't place anything other than cables in the loft. It can easily get well over 40 degrees in the loft which can really shorten the life of electronics.
You don't need expensive cable for a domestic application. If you are using face-plates then any cable will do. You do not need shielded in a house. Many people have a preference for solid copper cables but this really only makes a difference if you are using long cable runs or something called Power Over Ethernet, which you probably won't be. For the home user it doesn't really matter if the cable is multi core or solid core. Most cable bought in roll form is solid core. It's designed to be used with faceplates but for the home it's fine in all applications.

It 100% does matter whether you use stranded or solid core cable. Stranded cable won't work reliably with faceplate IDC terminals.

Your post really reads as if you're mixing up the difference between solid copper and copper-clad aluminium (CCA) with the difference between solid core and stranded.

Stranded cable will accept plugs.
Solid core will accept plugs and can be used with IDC faceplates.
Copper-clad aluminium is best avoided if you can.

andy_mk3 · 2 Nov 2020 at 13:15

I run a POE switch in my loft alongside another 2 switches downstairs, works perfectly. No issues with the switch in the loft in summer either.

bremen1874 · 2 Nov 2020 at 13:23

no idea what said:
I run a POE switch in my loft alongside another 2 switches downstairs, works perfectly. No issues with the switch in the loft in summer either.

It depends on the loft and the equipment.

A lightly loaded switch will probably be fine. Something like a NAS or DVR with spinning drives in it can be asking for trouble.

You just need to check the device's permitted operating temperature range and be sensible about it.

sideways14a · 2 Nov 2020 at 13:31

Yeah, your loft might be insulated enough to prevent a lot of heat build up - mine, and most others i have been in are not though and ... well the heat in summer is mental.

Armageus · 2 Nov 2020 at 13:37

JohnStewart said:
Cat 5e is good enough for up to gigabit speeds, but the cost differential is minimal and many new motherboards are now coming with 2.5G ethernet port

Cat5e will also do 2.5Gbps at 100Meters, and 5Gbps at "up to" 100Meters. One of the main reasons for 2.5Gbps and 5Gbps to exist was to allow faster speeds over existing cabling even where it wasn't quite capable of 10Gbps

pp111 said:
Use cat 6 cable.

Nope - there is no point to Cat6 whatsoever at this stage - either run Cat5e for cost and ease of installation, or Cat6A for any supposed "future proofing".

If you actually need 10Gbps then at present it's still generally cheaper to go SFP+ and direct attach copper for short distances, or fibre for longer runs.

lee1101 · 2 Nov 2020 at 13:37

I did something similar when I renovated my house, this is the thread https://www.overclockers.co.uk/forums/threads/home-networking-help.18773524/

I ended up terminating all the cable in the office so that I didn't have to go in the loft for any issues. Use a patch panel as well

kirkster · 3 Nov 2020 at 14:52

i do exactly this in my house and have installed a fanless switch in the loft with absolutely no issues at all. My CCTV recorder is also in the loft and works fine. You will be absolutely fine.

Cat5e is where you want to be and will run 10/100/1000 speeds fine. Do not install Cat6 since that is for 10Gig. I cannot ever see the need for that speed in the home. Also Cat6 is more complex to install. Even if greater than 1Gig becomes a requirement (which I highly doubt for a long time yet), technologies such as mGiG and others can get up to 5G down the Cat5e cable.

RandomMonkeH · 3 Nov 2020 at 15:34

JohnStewart said:
I've recently retro-fitted ethernet throughout my house, running the cables up the inside of the walls to new faceplates, and have a switch in the loft exactly like you are planning.

A couple of suggestions:

1) Run two cables and fit a double ethernet faceplate in each room. The cost of the materials is low compared to the labour cost if you needed to add extra ports later. Even if you only use one at the moment, you always have a spare.
2) Terminate each cable in a patch panel in the loft, ideally using the tool-less keystone jacks. Crimping cables reliably can be hard in a cramped loft with poor light. Using the tool-less keystones gets the job done reliably in minutes.
3) Use solid copper core cable, not stranded and never use the cheaper CCA stuff. The stranded cable is designed for patch leads/crimping and not terminating at faceplates/patch panels. I would use at least Cat 6 or Cat 6a with better shielding for a new install, especially if you are running the cables parallel to mains cables. Cat 5e is good enough for up to gigabit speeds, but the cost differential is minimal and many new motherboards are now coming with 2.5G ethernet ports.
4) Buy quality patch leads in pre-made lengths. They are available for under £2 each and will save hours of effort (and possibly frustration) trying to crimp your own.
5) If not already fitted, get your electrician to install several double power sockets in the loft to power your switch and anything else you might need in the future (NAS?), and an LED strip light. I fitted one with a motion detector so it goes on as soon as I open the loft hatch, and goes off on a timer after 10 minutes of inactivity.

Quoted to second the solid advice given here.

Cat5e is easier to run and will be sufficient for a long time to come, you may find the labour cost goes up a bit for CAT6 as can be a pig to rod inside walls. Invest in decent structured cabling (I like Excel), same with your faceplates - the really cheap ones are rubbish.
Double cables to each point as suggested, always run more than you need and take them back to a patch panel. If you can put it somewhere more accessible and in a more hospitable environment than the loft do so - lofts are not great places to be running active equipment.

Don't forget to think about other things you may want networked - eg. CCTV camera locations etc.