Any practical way of running cabling between floors?

[Locut0s]

We've got a small home network setup right now that I've been meaning to expand for some time. About a year or so back I wired my own room to the router via an Ethernet cable run through the attic. Crimed the cables myself and installed wall plates. I was able to do this with a minimal amount of problems. I had to poke a hole in the ceiling in one spot (in a closet) that will have to be polyfilled (spacking paste for those outside Canada) over and had to drill through a ceiling stud but aside from that it's invisible. Now I'd like to do the same thing with the basement. We currently have WiFi that works in the basement but the signal strength is only so so and it would be nice to hook up my PS3, Xbox and a future HTPC through wires instead of wirelessly. Won't have to worry about bandwidth issues this way, especially with HD content. But this poses a MUCH bigger challenge.

Problem is of course is that while I could drill through the celling studs from above in the attic I can't really do the same in-between floors without ripping out a section of drywall. Anyone know of a potential solution to this? I might eventually just look at cutting out a section of drywall after all if the parents would ever allow that. The hole could be fixed fairly nicely if done well.

 

[Locut0s]

Oh and for those who might recommend power-line networking. I don't think the room I want to network in the basement is on the same breaker box. I don't like powerline networking anyway.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Would you have a problem with running a cable outside of the house from the attic to the basement?

 

[paperfist]

If you have decent sized (height wise) baseboard you can pull that back and using a long drill bit + extension drill at an angle though the wall where the baseboard was and then through the floor located inside the wall. If there is insulation it's going to be tough to snake through floor & walls.

Sometimes homes have a small chase wall that goes up through the center of the house, check in the basement for that.

If you have closets then poking holes through there is the best way to go since no one really looks around in there.

The only other option I know is to chase it up where the soil stack is from the basement through the roof or along side some duct work.

 

[iGas]

If you could try running the wire outside of the house and back down into the basement.

Or, drill through the stud plates at easy access point.

Or, pull it though the return air ductwork if you have it.

We can give you better suggestion/s if we know where the location of the router and structural/room surrounding it.

 

[Locut0s]

If you have decent sized (height wise) baseboard you can pull that back and using a long drill bit + extension drill at an angle though the wall where the baseboard was and then through the floor located inside the wall. If there is insulation it's going to be tough to snake through floor & walls.

Sometimes homes have a small chase wall that goes up through the center of the house, check in the basement for that.

If you have closets then poking holes through there is the best way to go since no one really looks around in there.

The only other option I know is to chase it up where the soil stack is from the basement through the roof or along side some duct work.

Thanks for the suggestion!. Yeah the hole that I poked in the ceiling the first time was in a closet so that's a good idea to try and do again.

 

[iGas]

If you have decent sized (height wise) baseboard you can pull that back and using a long drill bit + extension drill at an angle though the wall where the baseboard was and then through the floor located inside the wall. If there is insulation it's going to be tough to snake through floor & walls.

Sometimes homes have a small chase wall that goes up through the center of the house, check in the basement for that.

If you have closets then poking holes through there is the best way to go since no one really looks around in there.

The only other option I know is to chase it up where the soil stack is from the basement through the roof or along side some duct work.

Good idea of going along the soil stack and then come back down from the attic to the router.

 

[Locut0s]

Oh right running the wire outside isn't really an option because we live in a townhouse and that gets into all kinds of strata issues I would rather not deal with.

I like the idea of running the cable along, around or through duct work though. Will look into this. Actually did a bit of this for the first run of Ethernet cable. However running the cable ALONG or AROUND pipes or ducts probably isn't an option because the pipes and or ducts would probably pass through floor joists that were cut to allow the pipes to pass between floors, but I doubt there would be enough space to pass a cable as well through these holes. Besides which I would be doing that blind behind a wall which would lead me back to square one and needing to cut a hole to see what I was doing.

No external soil stack or duct work to work with.

The only duct that I might be able to run cable inside is probably the furnace exhaust duct and I'm assuming you don't want to drill a hole into this!!

 

[iGas]

Oh right running the wire outside isn't really an option because we live in a townhouse and that gets into all kinds of strata issues I would rather not deal with.

I like the idea of running the cable along, around or through duct work though. Will look into this. Actually did a bit of this for the first run of Ethernet cable. However running the cable ALONG or AROUND pipes or ducts probably isn't an option because the pipes and or ducts would probably pass through floor joists that were cut to allow the pipes to pass between floors, but I doubt there would be enough space to pass a cable as well through these holes. Besides which I would be doing that blind behind a wall which would lead me back to square one and needing to cut a hole to see what I was doing.

No external soil stack or duct work to work with.

The only duct that I might be able to run cable inside is probably the furnace exhaust duct and I'm assuming you don't want to drill a hole into this!!

Code allows you to run low voltage cables through return air ductwork. There should be a return air vent opening on the main floor that run back into the furnace. Fish a line though there if it is an easy access to your router and cut a large square/rectangular (at least 6"x6" for easy access) hole at the bottom to get the other end of the wire out. Then patch it with a larger piece of tin 1" or greater over lapping the hole, and use 1/2" sheet metal screws or self tapper screws & foil tape.

As said above give us the location of the router.

 

[Paperdoc]

I agree with the suggestion to run your networking cable inside the cold air return ducts to the furnace. But when you do, look for cable that has a fire-resistant covering on it. It is not visually obvious, so check the cable type details. They simply contain additives in the plastic insulation that prevents the material from continuing to burn if it gets too hot. In a house fire, one easy way for flames to move quickly between floors is through those open cold air return ducts, so you really do not want to provide a flammable material inside to help that process along.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

I agree with the suggestion to run your networking cable inside the cold air return ducts to the furnace. But when you do, look for cable that has a fire-resistant covering on it. It is not visually obvious, so check the cable type details. They simply contain additives in the plastic insulation that prevents the material from continuing to burn if it gets too hot. In a house fire, one easy way for flames to move quickly between floors is through those open cold air return ducts, so you really do not want to provide a flammable material inside to help that process along.

You could use fire tape if you can't find the specialized cables.