Running Ethernet across the House

Marky

Marky

Marky

Soldato
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Hey all,

I've been wanting to run Ethernet across the house for a while now, but just never got round to it. I've recently invested in a server and so I thought I may as well get this done, and then I can have it sit in the loft where it won't bother anyone :p

Just to note at this point, I live in a Second Floor Maisonette, so I own the top half of a house basically :p

So once I have re-routed the Virgin cables to the loft, I will have the router up there with the server, and then run connections out from there. I need to drop down 3 walls in total.

My question is, what type of Ethernet cable should I use? This is likely something I want to do only once, so I want to make sure it's sort of future-proof :p

Also, I assume it's cheaper to buy a drum of cable and cut/terminate myself? (Bare in mind, I will need to re-buy an termination tool, as I can't find mine :p)

If anyone here has done this and has any tips or tricks at all, please let me know :D

Thanks,
Marky
 
Cat6 given the price difference for a spool of Cat6 and Cat5E is so small now, and given you likely only need a 100m spool it makes sense to spend the extra £8~.

Put more cables in than you need, assuming its partition walls and its going to be easy to do the drops down. Get all the gear from a networking specialist company and if will likely cost you under £60 for everything but the patch panel. Also borrow a good cable tester.

Not advising optical as it would be more hassle than its worth for a flat, at the moment.
 
bremen1874 said:
Cat5e or Cat6 solid core UTP. I'd use Excel cable, but any decent solid copper cable will do.

Terminate it at faceplates and use premade network cables from there to the devices.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good plan :)
Would this do? I think 30m would probably do but I’ll give myself a lot of extra just in case.

sideways14a said:
Just watch out for temps in the loft space, they can be massive in the summer.
Click to expand...

Yeah I hear ya! I’ll need to keep a monitor on temps - going to play with some sensors :)

apachegoose said:
Cat6 given the price difference for a spool of Cat6 and Cat5E is so small now, and given you likely only need a 100m spool it makes sense to spend the extra £8~.

Put more cables in than you need, assuming its partition walls and its going to be easy to do the drops down. Get all the gear from a networking specialist company and if will likely cost you under £60 for everything but the patch panel. Also borrow a good cable tester.

Not advising optical as it would be more hassle than its worth for a flat, at the moment.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for your advice :)

Do you have a network company to recommend? At the moment, I’ve fallen on this.

I think I’ll need 30m (haven’t accurately measured just yet), it’s only a small place :p

I’m not in the industry - so is there a manufacturer that is one to look out for regarding termination tool and cable tester?
 
Marky said:
Would this do?
Click to expand...
Shielded cable is just making your life more difficult for no benefit. Keep things simple and buy UTP (unshielded).

You only need a very basic tester for this. The one Screwfix sells would do, but you can buy the same thing cheaper.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/philex-network-cable-tester/93219

The Krone tool they sell would do as well

https://www.screwfix.com/p/philex-auto-trim-idc-impact-insertion-tool/67391

Before you buy a punch down tool check your faceplates are Krone. Most are, but some are 110 and need a slightly different tool.
 
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bremen1874 said:
Shielded cable is just making your life more difficult for no benefit. Keep things simple and buy UTP (unshielded).

You only need a very basic tester for this. The one Screwfix sells would do, but you can buy the same thing cheaper.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/philex-network-cable-tester/93219

The Krone tool they sell would do as well

https://www.screwfix.com/p/philex-auto-trim-idc-impact-insertion-tool/67391

Before you buy a punch down tool check your faceplates are Krone. Most are, but some are 110 and need a slightly different tool.
Click to expand...

That’s the same insertion tool I used to have :D Think I’m going to have to buy another one - I’ve left it at work after cabling the office and it’s been lost :p

Thanks again for the advice, really helpful! I just read that shielded cable is difficult to attach RJ45 to, so I’ll look for a UTP cable.
 
Marky said:
Sounds like a good plan :)
Do you have a network company to recommend? At the moment, I’ve fallen on this.

I think I’ll need 30m (haven’t accurately measured just yet), it’s only a small place :p

I’m not in the industry - so is there a manufacturer that is one to look out for regarding termination tool and cable tester?
Click to expand...

Snip. Just deleted what I previously wrote as I clicked your link; I never knew screwfix were so cheap for Ethernet cable. Just get it from Screwfix as those prices are very low and do it sizes more suitable for you, buy the wall plates, patch panel etc from CPC, Cable Monkey or Amazon depending on price.

As to tester, ahh had assumed you were in IT. Then just buy one of those very basic testers as breman suggested.
 
How many cables are you running for each faceplate per room? i.e. to determine how big a patch panel you want etc

Have you thought about WiFi signal? Do you plan to have a separate AP? Just thinking having the VM Hub otherwise in the loft could create poor signal across your house.

I've used Kenable for a number of years who have been spot on, here's sorta stuff I've used in my house works perfectly and well priced.
 
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Sparx said:
How many cables are you running for each faceplate per room? i.e. to determine how big a patch panel you want etc

Have you thought about WiFi signal? Do you plan to have a separate AP? Just thinking having the VM Hub otherwise in the loft could create poor signal across your house.

I've used Kenable for a number of years who have been spot on, here's sorta stuff I've used in my house works perfectly and well priced.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for the links, that's the best deals I've seen yet! :)

Faceplates:
1 x Single for PC in Front Room
1 x Single for Nvidia Shield/TV in Front Room
1 x Single for Bedroom

I do also have a Nest Hello as a doorbell downstairs - It works pretty well most of the time, but I figured if I can feed ethernet down to the fuseboard next to my front door, I'll put an dongle in or something to improve the signal.

As for Wifi - I have not yet got a plan for that, but it is on my mind. At the moment, I use a Virgin Superhub 3, and the wifi is pretty poor considering how small my property is. I have an ASUS RT-AC86U which I ditched shortly after buying as I didn't have the time to set it up - But I might make use of it for this. I was wondering about putting a feed down into a small cupboard in the middle of the property that holds the water tanks, and see if the wifi is OK. If not, I may have to buy a couple of separate devices to stretch the wifi.

Regarding the patch panel - The server I have is a desktop build, not a rack. I may be upgrading to one in the future, but for the time being I was just going to buy a hub in the loft to connect it all to.
 
Better to run them in pairs. Cable is cheap and extra ports often come in useful.

The only time I'd run singles is it I was having to surface clip the cable.
 
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bremen1874 said:
Better to run them in pairs. Cable is cheap and extra ports often come in useful.

The only time I'd run singles is it I was having to surface clip the cable.
Click to expand...

Yeah that’s a fair point...

The connection to the PC in the front room is just to the PC.
The connection to the TV in the front room will connect to; Shield, TV & PS4
The connection to the bedroom will connect to; TV & Rasp Pi

I was going to get a hub for the connections that require more than one - is it more sensible to do an individual cat cable for each piece of equipment?
 
There isn't only one correct way of doing it.

A single centralised switch is a more elegant solution, but what you're proposing will work just fine.

The additional switches will introduce some potential bottlenecks but they're unlikely to be an issue.
 
Definitely do extra runs per device if you're doing the hard work now. By the sounds of it you should at least run 2 for your PC/desk area, 4 for the TV/PS4 area and 2 to the bedroom. Yes a switch on each one will work, but it's an extra plug, extra device to situate and power - when you're doing the hard work now. There's no harm running extra cables to support each device in the room and it'll look so much cleaner. You also have the concern if 1 cable run fails somehow in the future, you've got a 2nd port still as a failover.

You always end up needing more than you think. I ran 2 to my man cave thinking it would be fine (just my PC) but now I wish I did 4 runs... So instead I had to buy a gigabit dummy switch (as of last week now a UniFi Mini Flex Switch) as over the years I now have my PC, PS4, TV and a temporary powerline plug (for missus work PC)... Wish I had just 4 ports on the wall to keep it neat, use 1 less plug and 1 less device on my desk. :p

Edit: Patch panel wise, you can still do something like what I did as I don't have a rack either. I mounted the patch panel I originally linked to one of the loft beams and put up a shelf next to the loft beam with my server (also a HP tower), switch and router on it. Alternatively you could get something like this patch panel and wall mount it with your runs going to it. I'd just not recommend running the cables from the loft straight to a switch. It really helps you expand later on having a patch panel to centralise it and gives you flexibility, then you just use a few short patch leads to the switch.
 
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I just did mine recently as we moved into an older house with solid walls, went with cat6 solid UTP in the following config/areas

4x behind TV
2x my desk
2x our bedroom for tv etc
2x kid 1 bedroom for desk area
2x kid 2 bedroom for desk area
1x landing ceiling for UAP-nanoHD access point
BT master socket relocated to the loft next to the cabinet
19" 9u cabinet in the loft with a 24 port keystone patch panel & currently 13x cat6 keystone installed
16 Port Unifi Gen2 switch
BTHub 6 with WiFi disabled which I hope to swap out for a UDM Pro + Draytek Vigor 130 soonish
 
Marky said:
I will have the router up there with the server,
Click to expand...

Please don't put your server and router in the attic. It's a fire risk. Equipment in the attic is much more susceptible to ingress or attack of rats, squirrels, insects, and so on. Put the server & router etc in a cupboard under the stairs or something (ensure ventilation). You will likely want to run the cable around the outside of your maisonette so you will need outdoor-quality cable. And run Cat 6a cable so you can use 10 Gb later.
 
Sparx said:
Definitely do extra runs per device if you're doing the hard work now. By the sounds of it you should at least run 2 for your PC/desk area, 4 for the TV/PS4 area and 2 to the bedroom. Yes a switch on each one will work, but it's an extra plug, extra device to situate and power - when you're doing the hard work now. There's no harm running extra cables to support each device in the room and it'll look so much cleaner. You also have the concern if 1 cable run fails somehow in the future, you've got a 2nd port still as a failover.

You always end up needing more than you think. I ran 2 to my man cave thinking it would be fine (just my PC) but now I wish I did 4 runs... So instead I had to buy a gigabit dummy switch (as of last week now a UniFi Mini Flex Switch) as over the years I now have my PC, PS4, TV and a temporary powerline plug (for missus work PC)... Wish I had just 4 ports on the wall to keep it neat, use 1 less plug and 1 less device on my desk. :p

Edit: Patch panel wise, you can still do something like what I did as I don't have a rack either. I mounted the patch panel I originally linked to one of the loft beams and put up a shelf next to the loft beam with my server (also a HP tower), switch and router on it. Alternatively you could get something like this patch panel and wall mount it with your runs going to it. I'd just not recommend running the cables from the loft straight to a switch. It really helps you expand later on having a patch panel to centralise it and gives you flexibility, then you just use a few short patch leads to the switch.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot, I defo will put a few down each run now for sure :)

nightmare99 said:
I just did mine recently as we moved into an older house with solid walls, went with cat6 solid UTP in the following config/areas

4x behind TV
2x my desk
2x our bedroom for tv etc
2x kid 1 bedroom for desk area
2x kid 2 bedroom for desk area
1x landing ceiling for UAP-nanoHD access point
BT master socket relocated to the loft next to the cabinet
19" 9u cabinet in the loft with a 24 port keystone patch panel & currently 13x cat6 keystone installed
16 Port Unifi Gen2 switch
BTHub 6 with WiFi disabled which I hope to swap out for a UDM Pro + Draytek Vigor 130 soonish
Click to expand...

Awesome :D Any tips or things to look out for while you did the job?

Quartz said:
Please don't put your server and router in the attic. It's a fire risk. Equipment in the attic is much more susceptible to ingress or attack of rats, squirrels, insects, and so on. Put the server & router etc in a cupboard under the stairs or something (ensure ventilation). You will likely want to run the cable around the outside of your maisonette so you will need outdoor-quality cable. And run Cat 6a cable so you can use 10 Gb later.
Click to expand...

Hmm... I have been up and down regarding this. I do have some space in the coat cupboard at the top of the stairs that keeps cool that I could use - I've already put a hole in the cupboard ceiling as that was where the cable was going to feed - But I could feed the cables up the walls, into the loft, and then across and down into the cupboard.

I have been up there in the Summer and it does get quite hot to be fair...
 
Awesome :D Any tips or things to look out for while you did the job?
Click to expand...

Well when I said I did it I mean my sparky pulled all the cables chased them into the walls etc then I mounted the cab in the loft and terminated everything. It was all pretty smooth but being rubbish at diy I could probably have made a much better job of filling in the cable chases. I weakened yesterday and ordered a UDM Pro lol.
 
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