So I got a computer for free yesterday...
- Thread starter Cheese7710
- Start date
JerzeyLegend
Well-Known Member
Yes. With a Cat6 cable on a retractable pulley so it goes inside the wall when you're done. Yay, laptops on the shitter. I do it, who else?
Perhaps you can give me some advice in putting one in an existing structure. I'm moving soon and plan to put 1-2 in each room.
Clayto1332
Well-Known Member
Running cable in houses is a bitch. Plus you put two in every room and you are going to end up needing a patch panel to make it look nice. Then what? A rack switch? In your house?
For the love of god go wireless...
TheGurw
Well-Known Member
I ask the homeowner. Oddly, most of the men decline. Their wives are the ones who see the logic
Oh god, renovations. Let me first tell you I hate renovations. Secondly, I don't usually do communications in houses, except for running the cables - there are specialized companies that do the terminations much better than I ever could. So all of this is pretty much based on theory that I learned in school, and very limited experience in the field.
I'm going to assume you are moving into a house, since apartments and condominiums usually frown on DIY renos, even something of that scale.
Your main communications hub is normally next to the main breaker panel/disconnect (usually a panel, most homes don't use disconnects). The panel is usually in the basement, and I'll assume you have that setup to make this easier to explain. All your communications go through this point. Depending on how your setup is, your best bet is probably to set up your modem very close to this hub (there may or may not be a jack nearby for exactly this purpose). If you are moving into a house with a finished basement that has fireboard (gyp-rock, gypsum board, drywall, they're all the same thing) for a ceiling, you're in for a mess and a serious pain in the ass job. If you're moving into a house with an unfinished basement, or one with drop-panel ceilings, your life is much easier.
You're going to want to keep your communication lines at least 2" away from any power lines and 1" from other communication lines (as much as possible, most modems don't allow for this, so just spread them out as soon as you can), so find out where those are in your wall and work out a plan on how to avoid them. If you have the wiring schematics available, you're golden - but don't bet on this being the case, residential wiring rarely has blueprints. Assuming you don't have prints, if you know where the existing raceways are (if any), this should make life easier, since most (good) electricians will simplify their own lives by feeding most cables into one bundled line straight back to the breaker panel - just look in the basement ceiling for a whole bunch of cables travelling across the house in a straight line near the breaker panel. As a last ditch effort, you'll need to give your best guess on how things are wired. If this is the case, move your jacks a couple inches lower than the outlets in the room to avoid the horizontal cables, and a foot or two over to avoid the drop cables.
Feed all your new lines down from the access points straight into the basement ceiling and hook them up to your modem.
For the non-professional, I recommend toolless keystone jacks and cord-ends; the tools used otherwise will cost you upwards of $100 in most cases. Use solid ethernet cable - toolless connections don't work with stranded cable. You shouldn't have an issue with this if you purchase your cable from a DIY store like Home Depot, but check the label anyway. If the label doesn't say, strip the outer jacket and inner lining away to expose the copper, and roll it in your fingers. If it separates, it's stranded, if not, it's solid.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10513&cs_id=1051303&p_id=1044&seq=1&format=2
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/RJ45-Cat6-cat-6-UTP-Tool-less-Plug-Connector-Network-/330577783134
If you need multiple connections in one area, don't try to install multiple keystone jacks at one spot - the connection is the highest point for EMI and you'll experience both a speed drop and high amounts of bleeding interference. Put a second jack in the next stud gap over.
For securing your cable to prevent damage, use less cable, and make it look nice, I recommend the dummy-proof plastic staples. Remember not to allow the staple to put any pressure on the cable, it's only there for support.
http://electrical.hardwarestore.com/14-46-cable-staples/bell-wire-staples-604450.aspx
I think I covered everything. That pretty much only applies to Cat5, Cat5enhanced, Cat6, and Cat6augmented (no such thing as Cat6enhanced, it's just an uninformed name for Cat6a) cables. If you want fibre optic connections installed, you need a professional - I'm not kidding about this, trying to install it yourself is a waste of your money.
TheGurw
Well-Known Member
I'm an electrician. I install for other people. I have fibre and wireless in my own house, so much easier.
Clayto1332
Well-Known Member
Fiber huh? Why?
TheGurw
Well-Known Member
Honestly the only reason I went with fiber is because I happened to have a shitton left over from a job. Seemed a waste to throw away $7,000 worth of cable.
Clayto1332
Well-Known Member
So you have a what, 10 GB internal network? You do anything cool with it?
JerzeyLegend
Well-Known Member
I would try moving all my files at NAS and see how long it takes.
Cheese7710
Well-Known Member
Wow, this thread is giving tons of mixed advice. Well, I guess if I can find a decent amount of CAT6 cable (Maybe 100 feet? I don't need too much) I'll just drill a hole in the ground and lead the wire directly to the router.
Clayto1332
Well-Known Member
I guess the bottleneck would be the speed of the hard drives. It would be as if it were attached to the computer I would guess.
You will have to put the ends on the cable but it isn't that hard. You will need a crimp tool and some cable ends.
WPA2 with AES encryption is encrypted beyond anything anyone has been able to crack. Ever.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Encryption_Standard
Cheese7710
Well-Known Member
I got a friend who has the tools. All I need is a couple of cable heads, cable, and the tools I can borrow.
Clayto1332
Well-Known Member
If you have your parents' approval, go for it.
xHallucinationx
Well-Known Member
I already have a router. That's where I plug my ethernet cable into. I have an exact router like that. Just I have no wireless card in my desktop or laptop.