building a house and need to put cat 5

[computadorka]

so any advice from your experiences?
The selling agent tells me to call a company to have them do it. I can do it myself but I dont know if theres a policy of the builders letting me get into the house while their still working on it.

looking for any house wiring experience stories.

thanks,

btw, if i can do it myself, any tips?

 

[RavinDJ]

I did it myself... then again, the house was already built

As for a new house... I'm sure you could do it (it's easy), but yeah... make sure it's Plenum Rated if you're going b/w floors and all that other crap that you need to follow in terms of rules and sh*t.

Good luck and have fun!!!

I'll post pics of my wiring job once it's done

 

[nomar]

My builder wouldn't let me do it myself. However, my wife works for the builder so I got a great deal. I bought 1000' of Cat6 on eBay - was so much cheaper than I could find anywhere else and it is good quality Cat6.

I ran the head end of all cables into a closet in my computer room. I had them make the closet a few inches deeper to accomodate a rack. They left the cables bare and I wired up the patch panel and the ports on the walls. I used Leviton keystone jacks and plates that I also bought off eBay. The price savings in doing that vs buying from a networking website or Home Depot was enormous.

I used 24 ports throughout the house (including 2 on the deck) but in retrospect, it was overkill - since I now have a 54G network. But who knows, in a few years there may be TVs or other devices that get content from ethernet.

Some pics of my network from the "post your network" thread:
Smart planning - I had the closet wired for Cable (for roadrunner), 4 power outlets, and phone (in case I ever get DSL)

Here's the rack - Pictured are:
1u APC power strip (not in use yet)
1u APC environmental monitor (not in use yet)
1u TrendNet 24 port 10/100 switch
1u Leviton 24 port Cat6 patch panel
2u shelf with surge protector, cable modem, spare router
Monitor and Keyboard
2u APC Smartups 1000
4u media server
and the purple box in the back is my old Clark Connect box.

Since this pic was taken I have gotten rid of the purple box and put CC in the 4u server. I have another 2u server, 1u APC KVM and a 1U APC master switch. (Its nice having friends that work for APC)

Here's the back of the rack

And here's a sexy pic of all those wires

 

[computadorka]

niiiiiiiice

 

[animeguru]

... make sure it's Plenum Rated ...

You need to actually check the fire codes in your area, but most likely plenum is not required. You only need plenum cable in shared air spaces (ie drop ceilings and only if they span multiple rooms, you can look in the ceiling and see into other rooms). Aside from that plenum usually isn't required.

Yes, it does burn slower and puts off fewer toxic fumes than standard PVC, but all the other wires in your walls are PVC, so you're not making any difference.

 

[Excavator]

I used 24 ports throughout the house (including 2 on the deck) but in retrospect, it was overkill - since I now have a 54G network. But who knows, in a few years there may be TVs or other devices that get content from ethernet.

Good call, we're getting DTV/DSL installed here today.
The phone line comes in to the modem and Cat5 goes from there to the TV settop boxes.

 

[nomar]

Originally posted by Excavator
Good call, we're getting DTV/DSL installed here today.
The phone line comes in to the modem and Cat5 goes from there to the TV settop boxes.

Heh MTA - I used to work for CommSoft, who makes some of the craptacular software that MTA uses.

BTW computadorka, have you made any decisions yet? Do you like my idea about the closet?

Definitely check eBay for the patch panel, cat5e or cat6, crimping tools and keystone jacks. (I also bought cabinet knobs and drawer pulls for my new house off eBay - saved a lot of money).

The switch I use is a low-cost TrendNet 24-port but its been great to me in the 8 months I've been using it.

 

[skylab]

Originally posted by RavinDJ
make sure it's Plenum Rated if you're going b/w floors and all that other crap that you need to follow in terms of rules and sh*t.

YOU DO NOT NEED TO USE PLENUM CABLE IN A HOUSE. Anything rated CM or CMG (or better) is fine in single family dwellings according to the NEC (and I am pretty sure I am one of few here who actually own a copy of the current one).

The ONLY place plenum cable is needed is within an environmental airspace such as above a dropped ceiling where the area above the ceiling is used as the return air.

In commercial buildings, and multifamily buildings, you need to use "riser" rated cable such as CMR when the cable is run between floors. Plenum can be used instead. This is not necessary in single family dwellings.

 

[nomar]

Originally posted by skylab
YOU DO NOT NEED TO USE PLENUM CABLE IN A HOUSE. Anything rated CM or CMG (or better) is fine in single family dwellings according to the NEC (and I am pretty sure I am one of few here who actually own a copy of the current one).

Yeah really. I should add that to my sig. Whenever someone talks about running network cable, someone always chimes in saying "Make sure it's Plenum rated!"

 

[computadorka]

hey nomar,
where can I get that type of rack. You got a model or something I can search for maybe on ebay?

thx

 

[computadorka]

Originally posted by nomar
Heh MTA - I used to work for CommSoft, who makes some of the craptacular software that MTA uses.

BTW computadorka, have you made any decisions yet? Do you like my idea about the closet?

Definitely check eBay for the patch panel, cat5e or cat6, crimping tools and keystone jacks. (I also bought cabinet knobs and drawer pulls for my new house off eBay - saved a lot of money).

The switch I use is a low-cost TrendNet 24-port but its been great to me in the 8 months I've been using it.

Yeah, I like your setup. I need to get some dimension specs on that rack plus stuff going in it, so I can see which closet can accomadate.

I guess I got to get in good with the builder when the time comes and see what I can do.

That networked tv is something I havent heard of. I have heard of the networked fridge and stuff. Those 24 ports can only come inhandy for stuff like this, plus maybe a security system with web accesible cams and stuff.

Thanks for the advice, Im gonna research a good rack like yours.

 

[nomar]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3082573167&category=20316

how about this?

What I have is a 42u 2 post rack. There are holes on the bottom to screw into the floor but mine is just free-standing and it is fine.

Since I have friends that work for APC and get a lot of products, I could have had an enclosed rack or a 4-post rack. I'm glad I got what I did though. The enclosed racks are huge. The 4 post would have required more room also. As it is, my closet is 29" deep and everything fits fine.

I also bought the 4u server case and the 2u server case off eBay.