Running ethernet cables through existing walls in home

You need a drill, fish rods, a stud finder, a drywall saw, a single gang low voltage ring and appropriate wall plates, keystone jacks, RJ45s and termination tools. YouTube it. I bet there are a ton of videos. Simple to do. The hardest thing is finding the right spot in the top plate in the attic to drill through to get down into the wall cavity.

ETA: Use a credit card and a level to draw the cutout for the low voltage ring. It's the perfect size.

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The hardest thing is finding the right spot in the top plate in the attic to drill through to get down into the wall cavity.

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this!!!!

you need something visual like an electrical wire dropping from the attic to a known outlet or lightswitch to be sure you're dropping the ethernet at the right place.

everything else is pretty standard. buy all your wallplates, keystones and cables at monoprice. they sell pre-terminated 100ft runs of cat6 for like $5. just get everything you want at the same time so you only pay shipping once.

for the outlet you need to determine:
- how many ethernet connections (i would get a minimum of 2) on the plate. just get a ton of each type (2, 4, 6..) because they're like 49 cents each
- get the little 'twist in place' adapter to make it super easy to screw in your wallplate
- get EXTRA keystones. you will always need more than you think
- get lots of ethernet in different sizes (1', 2', 3', 100'..etc) because you can never have enough (remember you will need to plug in at the keystone for each device)

ethernet cables are incredibly cheap (like 19 cents for the small lenghts) and an incredible pain later if you are one or 2 short. just get a ton.

you can get it on a spool and crimp your own but personally i dont think its worth the investment if youre just running a couple rooms

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you can get it on a spool and crimp your own but personally i dont think its worth the investment if youre just running a couple rooms

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Just use the pre-terminated on your runs from wall to device or patch panel to switch.

Not hard to punch the lines down in the jacks or a patch panel

How tall are your ceilings? Do you have fireblock studs? I found out the hard way that they can be frustrating. Easy thing to do is run your fish tape or pull rod up one of your existing coax drops and see if it stops below attic height.

If you don't have them, it's cake as described. Much easier with a friend (if they tap the fish tape or pull rod against the drop plate, it's easier to find where to drill).

You may wish to try a powerline Ethernet adapter. I have a set installed in my house and its magic. I run my Roku box via ethernet at the tv vice wirelessly. Amazing upgrade from wifi. No effort to install. Just plug into wall receptacles.

You can read up.

For instance


LINK

I recently bought a power line adapter. Works pretty well and I'm getting more than double the download and upload speed than wifi. Getting about 10-20mbps down slower than hard wired, almost the same upload speed.

I was sorta wondering if running an ethernet cable through the attic would be worth the trouble.

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i did this for my tv.drill through the top plate. Drop a string with something heavy like a bolt tied to the end. cut a small hole in the wall . i used an old wire hanger with a hook bent on the end to fish the string through the hole. Tie the cable to the string and pull it up through the top plate. reverse the process for the other end.

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I tie a fairly heavy nut to the string then use a high power magnet I picked up at Harbor Freight on the outside of the wall to drag the nut to my outlet hole, no fishing required.

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Do you have fireblock studs?

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These are a bitch



Depending on the age of the house or location of the wall, those top plates can be a bitch to drill through. I almost burned up a 20v Dewalt trying to get through it. A more powerful electric drill would be beneficial to use. I did this for an HDMI cable and subwoofer wire.

I had a grand idea to run ethernet to all the bedrooms before I did this. I quickly changed my mind and just installed access points in the house on the ceiling. Only required running ethernet from my media closet to the point in the ceiling where the AP would be installed. Much easier than drilling down the wall, and I still get fast signals in the areas where it was needed.

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You need a drill, fish rods, a stud finder, a drywall saw, a single gang low voltage ring and appropriate wall plates,

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this. its pretty easy for the most part IF you can get to the top plate of the wall you are coming out of/going down through.

if you have fire blocks in the walls....you have problems

What a dumbass