wiring house for home networking.

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antok86

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How much would i be looking to spend to have about 5 rooms(3bed rooms and 2 living areas) wired with cat5. how much do these usually run?

Second question......im assuming all the wires from the room all go to one location which is connected to a switch?
 
depends where you live, where the rooms are, if just 1 floor and basement easy.

very very vague question.... normally 100ish a drop

yes, all wires go to your wiring closet, add cable modem or whatever broadband, router, and switch and you are set.
 
marley1 said:
depends where you live, where the rooms are, if just 1 floor and basement easy.

very very vague question.... normally 100ish a drop

yes, all wires go to your wiring closet, add cable modem or whatever broadband, router, and switch and you are set.
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yea its just one floor..who do i look for to do this type of service if i were to look up in teh yellow pages
 
most electricians will install low voltage structured data wiring.
 
do they usually supply the jacks/wiring? or is it cheaper i just supply those. or do different installers work differently
 
I'd ask around with local workers, nobody here can really give a good answer, too many variables.
 
If you want to save money just do it yourself. Look up boxes of Cat5e and jacks, everything is really easy to do. Are you asking because you don't know how to do it?
 
okay if you are first floor only housing, do you know how to use tools?

what you would need to do is make a hole in drywall the size of a low voltage box, drill down into the beam into the basement and snake wire up and down.

Electrician will work
Also call a Phone System/Security Installer as they will do it
Or can do craiglist.

If you can do it yourself not bad, hardest point will be to get into the beam
 
it depends if your doing it yourself which will be much cheap or having someone do it.

i recently did my house while we had the upstairs floors up for heating pipes. 4 runs to each bedroom, 4 to lounge and 2 to garage, ran cables through the 1st floor and either up walls or down walls depennding if it going to an upstiars or downstairs room, all ran back to under the stairs.

total cost was:
£40 for a drum of cat5
about £50 for a 24 port panel and 24 ports with faceplates (12 doubles)
£5 in plasterboard boxes
several hours of my time
 
Also you can check with an alarm installation company, they run low voltage wire as well.

I'd also suggest running cat6 wire and running at least one spare to each drop, it's easier to run extra cable the first time than to add it later.

If you feel comfortable and are good with your hands, then I suggest running it yourself.
 
Proceed with caution when having an electrician do voice/data cabling. Better to call a computer or phone guy...
I've cleaned up a lot of messes done by electricians, alarm guys, etc.
 
jeffmoss26 said:
Proceed with caution when having an electrician do voice/data cabling. Better to call a computer or phone guy...
I've cleaned up a lot of messes done by electricians, alarm guys, etc.
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I concur. I've run across this many times in my line of work. Not that all electricians can't do a good job, just they're electricians, they do electrical stuff. Look for a company that does data cabling exclusively if you can afford it.
 
Antok86...

Don't know where you're located but checkout Monoprice.com for all your needs - they sell 1000' Cat5e/6 spools, keystone jacks, wallplates, crimp tools, etc... everything but low voltage boxes, which you can pickup from home depot relatively cheap (6pk for $6). A stud finder is a great tool to have for cross/support beams in between studs (if coming from the top). I would estimate your total parts cost would be under $200 including a stud finder and auger drill bit and with this cost you'll be able to add more lines the the 4-5 you want to add (continue reading below)

Personally, single story homes are easy especially if you have attic/basement(foundation) access. How easy is it going to be to run? well depends on if you like to get dirty and if you're good with tools.

Most important piece of advice I can give because I've done this a few times is this;
1) methodically plan your drops - i.e. location; where you want the jacks to be... if you can use the same stud if a wall is shared with a room you're adding lines in. It might help to pick up a framing book or research general framing requirements/techniques. Knowing that studs are 16" apart with cross/support beams staggered every 4-6 feet in between.

2) Plan for the future - if you only have one computer in a certain room consider adding a second drop. If you're dropping a line in a living room with a directv receiver, ps3, htpc... drop 2 extra lines (total of 5) to make room for future peripherals. Sure it's easy to add a switch there but what for, you're already drilling wholes and running wire whats the big deal of adding a few extra lines.

3) Labeling - god, I can only go on with horror stories of my carelessness and not labeling wires. Sure 2-4 lines aren't so bad to keep track of but 10+ is a headache. Purchase a thin sharpie and write on the jackets of the lines. Write a few inches inward to avoid accidentally stripping the jacket when you terminate the lines.

The rest is really easy - patience and determination will help you. If you live in a fairly old home with plaster walls be careful when cutting your low voltage boxes out... can break/chip. Drywall is easier to patch then plaster. Brick walls will be very difficult and I do not suggest you trying to tackle a job if all your walls are brick. Stay away from drilling in support beams and most importantly, if at all possible avoid drilling into studs because the risk of nicking a electrical wire is no bueno - however this can be avoided if you stay between studs
 
yes and also if you are doing it yourself you can save some money by buying pre terminated cables from monoprice and using their keystone coupler so you dont need to buy tools.
 
There have to be people like me in every city who specialize in voice/data cabling and can do a good job :)
The best jobs are when the electrician just installs the boxes and conduit stubs and lets me do my thing.
I've seen all kinds of abominations where they run cat 5 like romex and loop it from box to box...not fun!
 
Well when comcast came to our house they said it would costs thousands to rewire it because all our old cable adds interference to the line. It's not cheap if someone else does it. I did it for about $250 and still have a giant spool of cat 6 and rg6 quad shield left over. Sometimes you just need to get creative. In one part it was easier to run the cable in a gap between a chair rail and the beams than drill holes in the beams to pull cable. Pics:



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I did a google search for a cable installer in my area. Ended up with a company that specializes in theater installs. They installed 5 drops for me. One in each bedroom and one in the living room. The lines were all dropped down from the attic and gathered in the master bedroom closet which is also the location of the coax junction box, allowing me to place the cable modem and router at that location.

I would have preferred to do it myself but I am not at home and I couldn't argue with the price: $350.
 
Shadowspawn said:
I did a google search for a cable installer in my area. Ended up with a company that specializes in theater installs. They installed 5 drops for me. One in each bedroom and one in the living room. The lines were all dropped down from the attic and gathered in the master bedroom closet which is also the location of the coax junction box, allowing me to place the cable modem and router at that location.

I would have preferred to do it myself but I am not at home and I couldn't argue with the price: $350.
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what does the main drop in the closet look like? mind posting a picture?
 
No, as I am working overseas. However, you're not missing anything. There is a hole in the wall with a plate over it to make it neat. There are multiple lines coming from the hole, each terminated in RJ45. 5 lines...6 actually, forgot about the gaming loft, aren't enough to bother with a patch panel, rack, etc.
 
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antok86 said:
okay thanks guys. my home uses dry wall. do i still need to use this type of low voltage box? http://cache.smarthome.com/images/25431.jpg ive seen this kind at lowes.
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No, you need an "old construction" low voltage box. What you linked is a new construction box, and installing that in an existing wall will be a pain. The difference is that an old construction box has a tab at the top and bottom that hold itself against the existing drywall.

That may not make much sense now, but ask for it one at Lowe's and it'll make more sense.
 
It's a combination of the two (at least all of the ones I've seen). It's going to be open like the first one, but have the tabs like you can see on the second.
 
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