Running Ethernet cable through internal wall

Bloodrayne · 4 Jan 2015 at 19:45

Hi all,

I would like to take some of the strain off my wireless and thought that I could drill through an internal wall and run an ethernet cable though (it's not a very thick wall (6" ?)) two questions:

Is there anything that I'm overlooking in this simplistic solution that it going to cause horrible, horrible trouble for me?
What size of drill bit do I need for the Ethernet cable to fit through?

I am sure I've missed crucial factors out, but please let me know and I'll do my best to explain the situation

Thanks!

andicole0 · 4 Jan 2015 at 19:49

Don't drill through electrical cables or water pipes. Get a cable sensor if you're unsure. The drill needs to be as big as the wire or wires you want to pass through. Don't forget always feed at least 2 cables through for future use/redundancy.

Network cable doesn't like sharp bends, Cat 5 is slightly better than Cat 6 in this respect.

Andi.

K.C. Leblanc · 4 Jan 2015 at 19:49

Bloodrayne said:
Is there anything that I'm overlooking in this simplistic solution that it going to cause horrible, horrible trouble for me?

Probably not, unless you drill through a gas main or an electric cable.

Bloodrayne said:
What size of drill bit do I need for the Ethernet cable to fit through
[/LIST]

It will depend on weather your using Cat 5e (which is fine) or the thicker Cat 6 (which is excessive). It also depends if you're planning to just bung the plug through the hole, or if you're planning to just run the cable and then fit your own plugs or sockets.

Bloodrayne · 4 Jan 2015 at 20:01

Thanks - no gas in the village, so that's one thing that can't go wrong... Plan was simply to drill the hole and feed the cable through (if needed I could get a splitter/switch for the other side) - however, I have tended to oversimplify things in the past so thought a double check was in order...

ChrisD. · 4 Jan 2015 at 20:15

Looked into Homeplugs?

Hyburnate · 4 Jan 2015 at 20:22

As you say no gas, I'm going to assume that you're going to be drilling through masonry, 6" is going to be fun for a basic cordless drill...

arknor · 4 Jan 2015 at 20:36

remember the hole has to be big enough for the actual connector on the end of the wire to push though.

just grab an argos value drill for £15 or whatever they are and a pack of masonry drill bits from a pound shop

Unless there is a plug socket/light switch on the wall it's unlikely to have any wires inside and I'd imagine any wires run up from the floorboard directly to any socket/switch.
it's not like your going to run wires through all the walls using loads of cable surely it would be done logically

I used an argos value drill the other day to put some 4inch deep wallplugs into a brickwall for a TV mount and it had no issues

Lumeycom · 4 Jan 2015 at 22:03

arknor said:
Unless there is a plug socket/light switch on the wall it's unlikely to have any wires inside and I'd imagine any wires run up from the floorboard directly to any socket/switch.
it's not like your going to run wires through all the walls using loads of cable surely it would be done logically

Assume nothing. If, and its a big If, things have been done correctly then you can use this little pocket guide to estimate where the cables are buried.

http://niceic.com/en/account/media/17thpg6.pdf

Simon · 4 Jan 2015 at 22:54

Can you go into the floor and under a wall?

Hades · 5 Jan 2015 at 09:50

Simon said:
Can you go into the floor and under a wall?

This is what I would do, if possible. Route the cables under the floor and then channel up the wall at the location you need. Add a faceplate onto the wall to connect to. Much neater.

booyaka · 5 Jan 2015 at 10:01

is the internal wall solid or plasterboard?
As others have said - much neater to go under the floor if possible.

bledd · 5 Jan 2015 at 13:23

arknor said:
remember the hole has to be big enough for the actual connector on the end of the wire to push though.

What? no it doesn't..

Feed the wire through, put an end on it.

Without proper rods for doing it, the best way to do it is to get a coat hanger and straighten it out, push that through, tape the cable(s) to it neatly, and pull it back through.

Gaijin · 5 Jan 2015 at 13:34

I actually did similar yesterday albeit just through plasterboard into a crawlspace. As such it was much more simplified given that I could access the other side and determine that I wasn't drilling into any power/water etc.

Cable connector heads vary in size but for mine (Non-snagless CAT6) I used a 10mm drill bit initially to create the hole and this wasn't quite big enough and required a slight enlargement. I'd say that 12mm should be enough.

I have just run the cable through the wall temporarily. I will fit a socket/fascia eventually but as I was previously running the cable across the floor in front of the top of a staircase, it was a hazard that needed an immediate fix.

touch · 5 Jan 2015 at 13:49

I would stick a face plate on either side of the wall patched together (maybe a double on each side?)

Much neater.
Less fiddly to wire up a faceplate than an RJ45 plug.
Easier to change the length of the cables if you rearrange the room.

Bloodrayne · 5 Jan 2015 at 18:24

Going under would have been a preference - but the flooring on one side has been laid in such a way that getting access to enough of the floorboards is nigh on impossible without removing substantial amount of the floor and/or part of a door frame - I'm not a DIY pro (does it show?) but I think the people who lived here before me didn't stick to best practice when it came to home improvement....

Will take another look at it before drilling though; once every thing has been cleared an alternative may present itself.

Face-plates - surely this is adding complicating when all I'm trying to do is get a wire through a wall? Although I admit that I could just be confused about what you're all referring to.

Simon · 5 Jan 2015 at 20:40

On the difficult side just drill a hole at an angle down into the bottom of the skirting

Pabl0 · 5 Jan 2015 at 21:02

S2KIP said:
Looked into Homeplugs?

Bloodrayne · 6 Jan 2015 at 08:48

Sorry - missed that one; I guess I wanted to keep things as simple as possible and adding homeplugs seemed like another thing that could go wrong.

Do they support gigabit connections? I doubt my external line would ever get near to such speeds, but I have a NAS so it would be good to have quick internal network speeds.

touch · 6 Jan 2015 at 12:03

Bloodrayne said:
Face-plates - surely this is adding complicating when all I'm trying to do is get a wire through a wall? Although I admit that I could just be confused about what you're all referring to.

It's not much more complicated.
IMO it's worth doing.
It's neater than having a random hole in your wall and much easier to change the cables if you damage one or need to change the length.

Quick diagram to explain what i mean:

Grey - Wall
Black - Faceplates
Red - patch cable wired into faceplates
Green - Standard ethernet cables

Deep · 6 Jan 2015 at 14:32

touch said:
It's not much more complicated.
IMO it's worth doing.
It's neater than having a random hole in your wall and much easier to change the cables if you damage one or need to change the length.

Quick diagram to explain what i mean:

Grey - Wall
Black - Faceplates
Red - patch cable wired into faceplates
Green - Standard ethernet cables

It's a lot more effort though.
His method would require a single hole to be drilled where as yours is a better solution overall but does require a lot more effort