Wired home network

[philwhite100]

Does anyone on here have a wired home network.
Our BB point is upstairs and i would like some ethernet wall sockets downstairs for when i am on the laptop as wifi is terrible in our home.
I am not really interested in Homeplug type networking to be honest but running ethernet cables around the home so they are out of sight behind walls seems like a lot of work.

[LondonRoad]

Running network cables is the way forward. I know it can be a lot of work but it is permanent.

How much work depends on the type of dwelling you have. I've got most of mine behind walls and skirting boards or inside cupboards and the loft. My next extension to the home network will be to stick a couple of points near the TV to utilise for the Tivo. For that I'll run the cables outside, from the loft and drill a hole through the wall into the where the Tivo sits. It'll follow the route of a downpipe so I'll be able to make a neat job of it.

Another alternative is to use a length of mini trunking. It's not that expensive and imho can look a lot better than having cables pinned down walls or along skirting boards

[philwhite100]

Well i could run a cable through a hole in our upstairs frame where the TV aerial coax was and straight down then through the air brick where the TV happens to be located and that would do fine.

We already have mini trunking for the 5.1 surround speaker cables and it blends in quite nicely so that is also an option

[Graham M]

Most DIY stores will stock trunking in various colours to match wall decoration such as magnolia, most of it will also take paint.

[candy1567]

wat we used to hide the cables was a cable trunking in different colours around the house, we also hid speaker wires in them as well for surround sound at the same time

its called d line trunking, it is a bit expensive but its a one off cost, we mostly got it for the living room

http://www.d-line.co.uk/


Juliex

[Taf]

I have wired 4 rooms using a kit from B&Q. The wiring is not really noticeable, though I think trunking would be. Once it's done, it's done.....

[philwhite100]

Originally Posted by candy1567

wat we used to hide the cables was a cable trunking in different colours around the house, we also hid speaker wires in them as well for surround sound at the same time

its called d line trunking, it is a bit expensive but its a one off cost, we mostly got it for the living room

http://www.d-line.co.uk/


Juliex

This is exatly what i have installed to hide the speaker cables for our surround sound but have them blending in with the coving on the ceiling.
Also not too expensive at B&Q,

[progers]

How old is your house? If not too old, it probably has dry lined walls (breeze block with plasterboard stuck on with an air gap). It's relatively easy to thread your cables behind it; I use curtain wire as a guide to thread though, then tie your cable on the end and pull through.

[LSainsbury]

I've got a 1Gb switch upstairs (16 ports) with a CAT5e cable running up into the loft, through the eves, down the side of the house and into the lounge using the hole drilled for the Sky dish. This connects up to an 8port 1Gb switch next to the TV. This is used to connect up the Wii and the Blu-Ray player to the internet, as well as the laptop when I want to stream iPayer to the TV via HDMI. Our TV dosn't have a LAN connection on it. When we upgrade it, we have the internet ready and waiting.

It's worth doing as it gives more flexability without worrying about shoddy Wi-Fi signals.

[RB2004]

ive got a completely wired home network

basic 2x Cat6 cables to each bedroom, 1 for computer/laptop, and 1 for emerging requirement of a network cable for things like TV, Blu-Ray, TiVo etc..any more than 2 seems rediculas so may as well put a switch in lol if you start needing 3 then chances are you will need more.

Then 1 for the living room, connected to a netgear prosafe switch, for TiVo, Print Server, Computer, and Xbox 360.

All cables go back to under stair cuboard into a Cat 6 Patch Panel.. then on into a 24 port Netgear Prosafe POE Smart switch... bit overkill on that switch because ive also got redundant network cables in place for outside IP CCTV for future use, and running an expandable NAS and things in there so I have a central file store for everything as well as a netgear prosafe wireless access point.

Superhub is running in modem mode behind a Netgear Prosafe VPN Firewall Router.

All 1000 Tbase Gigabit ethernet

So im all future proofed.

But ive used the under stairs cuboard as a kind of central location for everything.. all the telephone sockets in the house are wired back to there in a star arrangement, also got the alarm panel in there, CCTV cables etc.

Maybe some of it seems a bit overkill but im self employed in IT and work from home a lot of the time.

[heero_yuy]

We also have a fully wired network: I rewired the house a few years ago and there are access points under the floors etc and also ducts between floors in a bit of dry lining where I took out a wall a long time ago. I have subsequently routed TV co-ax and telephone feeds to all the rooms. The last job was to run CAT5 cables to the main rooms. All ethernet sockets (and TV / phone) are flush fitted in the walls. Home office has a POE 8 port switch (Netgear) to expand the ports in there as I use multiple ethernet devices, not just PCs. All home run to the understairs cupboard where there is the router (SMC Barricade) with multiple ports and a patch panel.

The modem is in the front room under the TV, this was a home install kit and there wasn't enough co-ax cable supplied to place the modem under the stairs as well. The faceplate in the front room has two ethernet sockets: one for the LAN and the other for WAN (modem)

My current lappy has no wi-fi so I have no need to enable this on the network for the moment. Nice and secure!

[Kymmy]

You may find that the trunking with the speaker cable in might not be suitable for ethernet cables especially if the speaker is via a high power amp..

[Halcyon]

I also have my broadband point upstairs and have either gone through the ceiling or under the floor boards. Make sure to keep the cables away from your electricity ones if possible.
I've then gone down under the stairs to pass the cables to the floor below.
Make sure you dont bend the cables too much and be careful if you are pinning them down as you dont want to damage the cable.

*** Oh and first golden rule, before you install any long length of cable, test it to make sure it works. You dont want to take it all up again. ***

[RB2004]

Yep I also wouldn't put any kind of power line in with data cables


I've got a bundle of cables in my ducting including coax, telephone, network but even those is pushing what should be done. But doesn't seem to be posing any noticeable problems.

Would certainly though avoid it where possible. In my case I've also got 12v CCTV power cables. Which shouldn't be there really. But because it's on a separate circuit and isolated by transformer and is not a fluctuating voltage it shouldn't be too bad.

But definitely avoid mains electrical cables as every time you switch on a light switch or appliance.. Especially things with motors like vacuum cleaners.. It causes electrical interference which will interfere with data cables..speaker cables are probably worst for interference as the electrical current is constantly changing and pulses..

[TheNorm]

Originally Posted by RB2004

Yep I also wouldn't put any kind of power line in with data cables...

Even with shielded twisted pair cable?