Hey Redz, I'm an electrician, and have wired around 200 homes. I do Bell/Cable in almost every home I do, and usually do ethernet too, if the homeowner wants. There are a few ways to do this. The way Supercow mentioned is a great method, however it's not really practical for homes, unless you have a 'media closet'.

I do media closets alot in higher end homes. These closets are typically the source for a multi-room audio/video distribution setup, phone lines, cable lines, and ethernet lines. In this setup, all lines are run from the closet to your destination. If you're planning on a locally controlled multiroom audio or audio/video setup (with a keypad in the zones you have music in, where you can change the channel/cd/station, etc), I would highly recommend a media closet. It typically will have ducts running to it from your HRV system to circulate air. I don't recommend running to your main ducting because when you're heating your house you don't want to be heating this room. I don't know if builders use HRV's (Heat Recovery Ventilators, also known as Venmar's, may go by different name in your locality) in your area. You'll want to place it in a cool area of the house, anyway. They should have either 1 x 20 amp circuit, or a 3-wire 15 amp circuit (also called a split plug, where each outlet on the plug is its own circuit directly from the electrical panel).

Media closets are not practicle in 90% of homes because 1: They take up space, 2: they are more specialized, meaning more work and more $$$, and 3: Most homes don't have mutliroom A/V systems. You're not going to have a media closet to house a cable modem, a cable splitter, and a phone demarcation.

Option two is to run all of your ethernet cables back to a central location where you plan on keeping your modem and router. This is typically where your primary computer will be. If you have an office, this is usually the best choice. You'll run your cable/phone line (depends on if you have cable or DSL) from your primary demarcation (where the bell and cable companies hook up their shit, usually around your electrical panel or meter outside) to your internet hub (your office). From here, you run cat-6 to the rest of the rooms in the house, wherever you want an ethernet jack. Everything runs back to your main hub, which is your office. Only problem with this is once everything is run, you are pretty much stuck with it. You have to keep your modem and router at this location. (there is actually a way around this, you can run TWO cat-6 cables to each ethernet jack. If you want to use this method, I'll elaborate some more on it).

Option 3 is what I do in about half the homes I wire, where people do not want to pay the extra labour and material for a specialized ethernet cable install. Running phone and cable lines (Z-wire and RG-6) in a home is pretty much standard. What I do, is instead of running z-wire/phone cable for your phone lines, is run Cat-6. With this method, anywhere you have a phone jack in your home, you potentially have an ethernet jack. It's just a matter of removing the phone jack plate, and installing an ethernet jack instead. The biggest problem with this is that now you must keep your modem and router at your demarcation point, which is usually in a garage or utility room, not the most ideal conditions for electronics. In a utility room it's not so bad, given you build a shelf to house the equipment. The other issue is that specialized electronics stationed right beside an electrical panel can create alot of electromagnetic interference. These two problems are why I do not recommend this method, it's kind of a half-assed way of doing things. Not to mention if you want an ethernet jack, you have to actually swap the phone jack, which is a PITA.

For most homes I highly recommend option two. It's the most practical, and the most end-user friendly. And if you do it yourself it'll be fairly cheap. I can walk you through everything you need to know.

You don't have to do this after the electrical inspection (at least you shouldn't, since it's not considered electrical). We don't here, and Canada's electrical codes are stricter than NEC codes (at least from what I've read of the NEC codes). This may fall under building code though I doubt it. You should, however wait until the electrical wiring is done before doing this. When wiring, I always try to keep at least 1ft away from any electrical wiring. If you have to cross electrical wires, do so at 90 degrees perpendicular. Always stay away from lighting fixtures. When it comes to boxes, I prefer to use plastic electrical boxes, since metal boxes can potentially pick up an induced current, and running seperate grounding to these boxes is another PITA. For these installs I normally use leviton faceplates, as they're the best I've used, and if my supplier is closed I can pick them up at Home Depot. They look good and provide a nice clean look. In most houses this is satisfactory, but if you have more than 7 runs (7 ethernet outlets throughout the house) we can discuss other options. If you have a detached garage I would also recommend a run to it as well.

This is something you CAN do on your own. It typically takes me about 2 hours to wire in a basic ethernet system with 5 drops. I'd estimate it would probably take someone who doesnt do this for a living, about 7-8 hours to do it. Just put a day aside for it. It always helps to have a friend who'll help out, but I do it alone.

edit: after re-reading majik's post, looks like he has a good understanding of it. You must run seperate cables to each ethernet jack, you can't just split 4 lines off of one jack.

 

I would still run the lines using the router as the center of the network. Routers have much greater control if you hook them up to a computer directly instead of complicating things by identifying IP addys. You could even limit the internet to 1 or 2 websites when your kids are grounded.

 

After reading that a few times, I want to do Option 2 for sure, but I don't know how to work with that cable. I mean how do you put the ends on it after you cut it from a spool? We have no need for the landline phone lines, so the other method would work took, but I like to have my modem and router next to my 360's anyways.

Got any recommendations for cable and ends, tools and such? I'm still going to see what it would cost me for the guy that's running the wire to do it at the same time.

 

If you get the wires run I can do it all in a weekend when I can get up there. I already have the crimpers, you would need to get a punchdown tool and the jacks. They sell it all at Lowes, Best Buy, etc.

 

The only problem Java is time will be TIGHT when it comes to this, chances are it'll have to be on a weekday because of how fast they are moving on the house. The framing is done and the sidewalls are all up as of me leaving yesterday, and the foundation was just poured on Wednesday.

I've found a couple of reels of Cat 6 on ebay, prices seem decent, but don't know how much to get. What's a punchdown tool?

1000 Feet of Cat 6 - about $110 shipped.
http://cgi.ebay.com/1000-CAT6-CAT-6-Data-B...93%3A1|294%3A50


500 feet of Cat 6 for $70 something shipped.
http://cgi.ebay.com/500-Ft-Cat-6-Cat6-Ethe...93%3A1|294%3A50


Is this the punchdown tool you were talking about?

http://www.tecratools.com/pages/telecom/punchdown.html



Interesting video. Is it really THIS easy?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...17259493406004


So I'm thinking this.

1 in each bedroom.
1 in the living room.
1 in the dining room.
1 in the kitchen.
1 in the garage.

Total of 7 lines. My router only has 4 slots though, so what else do I need to do?

Is there a panel I should get to terminate these all near the modem/router?


With any luck, I can get in there and get some measurements this week to make sure I'm getting enough cable, I'm just still not sure if I'll be allowed to do it, or even be able to get in there at the right time, kinda why I wanted the guy that runs their wires to do it, so I don't miss the date.

 

Well all you need to do right now (rough-in stage) is to run the wire to the boxes. All of the terminations, connections, etc, are all done once the drywall is up, and painting is done.

http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/ibcGetAttac...amp;appName=IBE

Look at page 180. That will be your finished product.

Mount two boxes either on top of one another or beside each other (leave at least 6" between them for cover plates and wiring). Run 4-6 cat-6 cables to each box. Leave roughly 8" of each cable inside the box, with slack outside of the box as well. Coil up the wire good and leave it in the box. Label each wire with a sharpie marker or a good felt tipped pen.

The reason you want to coil it up good, and leave slack outisde of the box, is drywallers. When they mount the drywall, they use a roto-tool to cut out the holes for the boxes as they mount the drywall, and they'll usually nick the wires inside the box with their bit. Leaving slack outside the box will allow you to pull more (untouched) wire into the box should they damage the wire inside the box already. I typically only leave about 3" inside the box, and leave an extra foot outside of the box, and pull them all in at the end.

I use those wallplates rather than the low voltage panels only because they leave such an unfinished look. In a media closet, sure I'll always use them, but in a finished room, no way. Wall plates are clean and simple.

Don't forget to run a cable/cat-6 line to wherever the cable/phone line enters the house (depending on cable or DSL).

As java said, it's just a punchdown tool and a RJ-45 crimper. The punchdown tool is usually included if you buy a bag of RJ-45 jacks (you don't need a heavy duty professional one like you posted, a small plastic one is all you need). My Ideal RJ-45 crimper was about $80 CAD. 500 Ft. of cable should be plenty (I estimate 50 ft. per drop for an average sized house). Just get your cat-6, and everything else you can get at lowes/HD (all you'll need are 10-12 PVC electrical boxes, and some S1 electrical staples, and screws to mount the boxes. Vapor barrier if you're working with outside walls). The rest can be done any time after the paint is done.

 

Like I said earlier, use the easy way.. Toolless wall jacks. Measure the length of the lines. Then buy the cat6 from lowes or a computer store. Have them cut the cables then put the ends on and with a piece of tape mark them as Master bedroom, kids room, computer room, kitchen..

If you don't want to do toolless jacks, you can have them attatch a RJ45 jack to the end of it which you simply plug into the cover-plate and then run the line back to the room.

I work with wires every day, but I still don't like to do a RJ45 connection. I leave that up to people who do that every day.

However, if you want to do it, you'll need to buy a special tool and a bunch of RJ45 jacks. Theres alot of particulars you need to know about RJ45 and CATV/VI standards.


1. The plug functions as a strain releif for the shielding. Make sure you put the shielding into the plug and then crimp it down so that the plastic around the wires takes the strain of bending instead of the wires themselves.

2. There is a color code, http://www.duxcw.com/faq/network/diff568ab.htm The jack will be opposite unless you're using toolless connections.

3. CATV-VI refers to the material and the pattern of the wires as well as the shielding, not "ethernet cable". The whole point of using CATV/VI cable is that it is twisted pairs inside the cable. This means it reduces the interferance, one line pushes while the other pulls and being that they're twisted, the inductance of the wire helps it along. If you untwist the wires for a length before the plug or the jack then you run the risk of electrical interferance.

4. Crossover cables for computer-computer connections have 2 different ends one looks like this http://www.dragon-it.co.uk/files/rj45straight.jpg the other looks like this http://www.dragon-it.co.uk/files/rj45xover.jpg this is a good page on crossovers http://www.silentway.com/tips/mac/ethernet.html

5. DO NOT run cables close to 110V wires

6. Cross power wires at 90 degree angles

7. Avoid running cables near flourescent light sources

8. Keep the wire distance as short as possible, with the router located near the center of the house

9. Add an extra 6 feet or so of wire. Loop it a few times in wide 1 foot loops. Secure it with zip ties, and this will allow you to move the router around if needed. This is known as a service loop.

10. CatV/VI standards are broken the first time your cable is looped in a diameter less then 1". The cable is then substandard.

11. keep cables as high as possible to avoid problems with water.

I have to inspect my contractors work at the hospital. This is what I know about running low voltage cable in a home. The rest pertains to hospital policies and government regulations.

 

DTN, he won't even have to make any RJ-45 connections. Just put on jacks with a punchdown tool. I should have specified that, but why would you be putting RJ-45 ends inside a box, behind the wall plate? You can't plug into both the back and the front of the wall plate, these aren't like cable "F" connectors where you screw into both the front and back of the plug.

Besides this, you're overcomplicating things. Putting an RJ-45 connector on a peice of cable is not complicated. If a guy at Home Depot can do it, anyone can (not a shot at HD guys, I worked there for 5 years). You simply go on the internet, find out which RJ-45 color code your following (google, first result, and I didn't even spell connector right, http://www.epanorama.net/documents/lan/rj45_colors.html ), strip the end of the cable, sort the wires into the proper order, put them in the connector and crimp it. However as I said, Red'z shouldnt even have to do this, unless he wants to make his own ethernet cables to connect all of his stuff up (which I would highly recommend, I can't even guess how much money I've saved on ethernet cables in the past 10 years by owning a crimper and a roll of wire). If he had a media closet or was using an RJ-45 hub he would have to, but this method is better, as it's cheaper, saves time, and looks clean.

Also Redz, I doubt you will be running all 7 rooms at once, but if you are, you can either use two or three routers if you have some extra ones lying around (simply plug LAN port 4 on one router, to LAN port 1 on the next router to daisy chain them, they just all have to be set to DHCP if I recall correctly), or you can buy an 8 port router/switch like this one http://www.nextag.com/Cisco-Linksys-EtherF...873B6C736C1213C .

 

^^ I should have been saying Coupler Keystone instead of toolless jack. It enables the same cables used outside the walls can be used inside the walls. I'd recommend them to anyone doing their own in-house networking. It makes everything so much simpler.

http://www.computercableinc.com/ccinc/prod...les&id=5675

These are just like the F cables.

 

^^ It's easier to punchdown a jack than it is to put an RJ45 on it.

Jeremy, it's up to you, you can have them run the cable to the boxes into each room and leave the cable there uninstalled, then when I can come up I can teach you how to do it. If we have two punchdown tools we can both probably have your house done in a couple hours. I have an analyzer as well, we can hook that up and check everything out. If you want I can get you a list of equipment you should get, switch, rack, etc.