Almost done with my home networking project!

[WhiteKnight]

Well, I am 95% done with my home networking project. I set up a simple server room in the basement in a closet, and ran drops to the family run, downstairs office, and upstairs office. There is also a wireless AP on the first floor. Running the wires was a huge pain, but I am happy to say that it all works. All I have left to do now is finish patching up the drywall and vacuum up all the dust and wire clippings. Boy, this sure was a hassle but I think it was worth it.

 

[Zugzwang152]

Originally posted by: WhiteKnight
Well, I am 95% done with my home networking project. I set up a simple server room in the basement in a closet, and ran drops to the family run, downstairs office, and upstairs office. There is also a wireless AP on the first floor. Running the wires was a huge pain, but I am happy to say that it all works. All I have left to do now is finish patching up the drywall and vacuum up all the dust and wire clippings. Boy, this sure was a hassle but I think it was worth it.

I have never heard running cable to be any fun at all. I certainly hope you tested well, because imagine if you have to rip open your walls again to fix a bad cable 😉

 

[BZeto]

So what is the exact layout and hardware used?

 

[WhiteKnight]

I don't have a professional cable tester, but all jacks can get internet and a basic speed test shows expected speeds. As for the layout, I have four drops with two jacks each that all go to an SMC7008ABR 8-router (via a patch panel). On one of those eight jacks, I have an Airport Extreme (already owned before this project, so I figured I might as well reuse it as long as it works) that is located on the first floor. Internet is provided by a cable modem, feeding into the router. I know, it's nothing fancy, but I'm pretty proud of myself for getting it done, the wiring especially.

 

[TechnoPro]

I'm thinking of doing a similar project. What were some of the harder parts of the job? Any pointers for the cable drops?

 

[WhiteKnight]

By far the hardest part of the job was running the wires. I got a 1/2" x 6' flex bit, which is basically just a 1/2" bit on a flexible shaft. If you want more info I can tell you where I got it. It was about $25 plus shipping. That allowed me to cut fewer holes in the drywall, as I could get through a few studs using only one hole. It also has small holes at both ends of the shaft so that you can use it to pull wire once you drill through. I also got a fish tape, which is a severe pita to navigate through long runs, but is very helpful if you just have a hole going through a wall (no open space along the hole, like if you were going between two holes on seperate studs). A lot of the difficulty will depend on how your house is setup. For me, I was fortunate to have enough unfinished spaces (drop space in basement, unfinished water heater closet), that I was able to get at the back of the wall for some of the cable runs, but not all. I was also working with a finished basement. If yours is unfinished, that will make things a bit easier.

 

[dartworth]

Where did you buy your parts and any pics?

Thanks for sharing.

 

[WhiteKnight]

I can take some pics when I get home tonight. Unfortunately I did not take any pics when the walls were open, but I can indicate the opened areas in the photos to show where repairs were made. Of course I can include pics of the router and such. All of the items were purchased as follows:

router, cat5e cable, punchdown tool, patch panel - Page Computer
wall jacks and patch cords for panel - ebay (cctwholesale, they have an ebay store)
wall plates - ebay (FUTUREHOMECOMM)
electrical boxes, keyhole saw, fish tape, misc equipment - Lowes
1/2" x 72" flex bit, rack rails - Lashen Electronics

 

[Night201]

I think wiring is fun. But that's just me. I have to rewire our office soon as well and it's going to probably be about 4 miles of wire in total when I'm done.

 

[imported_Paladin]

Wiring an office is totally different from wiring a house. Offices have raised floors and/or dropped ceilings and are fairly easy to route wire through. Houses are generally not designed for accessing spaces to run wire through. I'm lucky, I'm in a single story on a crawlspace so I can crawl and run wire anywhere. My LAN implementor is getting a two-story house on a slab. She is ignoring my pre-wire recomendations as I told her that you can wire after the fact by wrapping the house just under the eaves and punching through outside walls. (Cheap rather than correct.)

 

[crispytreat]

I started on a similar project this past weekend. We have a ranch style house that is on a slab, so I had to run everything through the attic and down between the walls. We have a finished room above the garage that I an access from the attic, this is where the wiring closet is. I have a total of three drops with two ports each. I am currently looking for a decent 8 or 16 port switch, as my router only has 4 ports.

This was mainly to get a feel for what is involved, and I plan to expand in the future. I purchased most of my items from Home Depot, which really isn't much more expensive then ordering online.