Best solution for hiding network cables?

jhouston

Senior member
Oct 31, 1999
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I want to hide network cabling in my bedroom and living room. I want this wiring to be elevated and run at the top of the walls. I want to avoid internal wiring and under carpet installations. I will be using this solution in conjunction with a home entertainment setup. I was wondering if there were any websites that deal with this subject? My bedroom is 14x15 and the living room is 12x16 and they are adjacent. Is there some sort of ducting or trim I can install to accommodate running cables around the apartment?
I guess what I am asking is what type of cabling raceway is cheap and easy to install?
I found some Belkin products here: Belkin Raceway Products
 

todays

Senior member
May 11, 2000
493
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I would go wireless. Add up the cost of all that extra stuff to hid the wire and then make up your mind. I ran mine in the walls. But, since you are in an apartment. Oh well. The prices should be getting cheaper and cheaper.
 

kw3i

Golden Member
Jan 18, 2001
1,036
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yea dood dont waste your money on that belkin stuff, id either go wireless if you can stand to be at 11 MB/s max or i would just add a jack through the wall on each side, it would be the easiest thing to do imo, and you get to learn to put holes in drywall
 

superchicken

Member
Mar 14, 2000
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actually the real output through 802.11 as of now seems to be an average of 2-3 mbps, unless you are standing RIGHT next to the accesspoint.
 

zision

Member
Jan 20, 2000
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It seems to me that your local hardware mega store would carry similar products for a lot cheaper. Might not have all the fancy extra pieces, but they should at least have some long plastic covers for wiring like that.
 

spidey07

No Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
65,469
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wireless is nice but is limited to 11 mbs (pretty slow really)

SUPERCHICKEN - I have not experienced the pitiful speeds of 2-3 mbs on wireless networks I've installed. Normally get 11 mbs upto a few hundred yards. But then again I'm not using the cheapo home network gear either. I was puzzled by you generalization.

I've done extensive testing here at work on wirless LANs and see very good results from the Cisco and Lucent gear. But when we tried out the linksys/netgear home products it is obivious that these we're not meant for any real amount of thruput. Even going through a door knocked the home products down to 2-3 where the cisco/lucent would just keep humming at 11 just like nobody's business.
 

Quickfingerz

Diamond Member
Jan 18, 2000
3,176
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be creative use the wiring as part of your decorations. In our apt complex, we have the wire hanging in our room and we hang lights off of it. Most people don't tell the difference unless they look at it closely.
 

cavingjan

Golden Member
Nov 15, 1999
1,719
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Check out Homedepot or Lowe's and see what they have in the way of metal conduit. Or, hide it in plain sight. Paint it the same or similar color as the wall. Unless you see a use for wireless in its current state for you in the future, I wouldn't bother.
 

FUBAR

Senior member
Oct 11, 1999
618
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Well, since (nearly) noone read this line:

>will be using this solution in conjunction with a home entertainment setup.

There's this stuff from Panduit that is what you are looking for, now that I look at the website, it's exactly like the belkin stuff. It works good, sticks to the wall and you can open it up to add more cable. The size is big enough so you could shove around 15 cat5 cables in it if needed.

It is a little spendy though, you're probably lookin at a hundred or more.