Running a network cable under the house

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Running a network cable under the house

NZGamingIcon

66 posts

Master Geek

#243695 26-Dec-2018 14:36

Greetings

One of the rooms in my house currently has no network port, and currently I've got a cable running across the house about 20 metres which gets in the way when vacuuming etc. and is a headache.

I intend on running a cable that goes from the router under the house and into the room. However I have no idea what I need to buy for it, and what tools I need for the job.

At the moment, I'm guessing I'll need to buy:
1x 20m CAT6 cable
1x RJ45 jack
1x network plate/cover

Tools for the job:
electric drill
Some sort of crimping tool? (to connect the cable to the RJ45 jack)

Alternatively I can pay a data cabler to do the job, but would like to do it myself as a learning experience.

Would appreciate some advice.

Cheers.

1 | 2

3226 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2150715 26-Dec-2018 14:39

or a drill bit big enough to fit the jack through , roll back the cable and drill the hole at each end.

CPU: AMD 5900x | RAM: GSKILL Trident Z Neo RGB F4-3600C16D-32GTZNC-32-GB | MB: Asus X570-E | GFX: EVGA FTW3 Ultra RTX 3080Ti| Monitor: LG 27GL850-B 2560x1440

Quic: https://account.quic.nz/refer/473833 R473833EQKIBX

antoniosk

2358 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2150717 26-Dec-2018 14:50

If you're going to doing this much work, consider:

1. putting a dual port faceplate in each room and thus

2. two sets of 6a cabling, + spare on either side of at least 5 metres. Unless you know the underside of your house intimately, you'll find all sorts of interesting features you need to get around and will appreciate the slack!

3. 20mm flexi conduit or similar, to protect from cats/rats/mice nibling on your hard work and ruining it. Plus no danger of damaging the cable with rogue ties under the house.

The whole job will be a LOT neater and tidier, and you won't have any horrible cabling sticking out of the wall etc.

________

Antoniosk

chevrolux

4962 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#2150719 26-Dec-2018 15:00

Cat6a is a waste of time in a home.

Go grab a Cat6 patch lead and just buy keystone couplers so you dont need any special tools.

You will need to drill a bigger hole, but will make it far easier than trying to terminate a patch lead for the first time.

k1w1k1d

1519 posts

Uber Geek

#2150721 26-Dec-2018 15:11

If you have carpet you can peel back a little and drill a hole through the floor between the skirting board and smoothedge. You can then use a premade Cat6 cable and push the carpet back to hide the entry hole. Saves going to the trouble of making leads and drilling holes in the wall etc.

May not satisfy the purists, but it is quick, easy, and works.

cyril7

9058 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#2150725 26-Dec-2018 15:38

Hi as Sam says, forget cat6a, just use cat6, for a single run like this using patch lead's and coupler keystone's is a reasonable solution if you have no suitable tools and perhaps limited skill to terminate correctly and not compromise performance.

Cyril

Gurezaemon

~HONYAKKER!~
1353 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#2150734 26-Dec-2018 16:05

And if you're pushing a premade lead through a drilled hole, make you you tape the clip thing on the top of the cable down so it doesn't catch on absolutely everything.

NZGamingIcon

66 posts

Master Geek

#2150740 26-Dec-2018 16:33

k1w1k1d:

If you have carpet you can peel back a little and drill a hole through the floor between the skirting board and smoothedge. You can then use a premade Cat6 cable and push the carpet back to hide the entry hole. Saves going to the trouble of making leads and drilling holes in the wall etc.

May not satisfy the purists, but it is quick, easy, and works.

So it's a single cable that goes from the router straight to the computer? no jacks etc.? I'll probably do this as it seems simple. I might cut the connector off on one of the sides of the cable, just to keep the hole as small as possible. I should be able to figure out how to connect a new RJ45 connector to the cable.

Cheers.

Equinox IT

Cloud spending continues to surge globally, but most organisations haven’t made the changes necessary to maximise the value and cost-efficiency benefits of their cloud investments. Download the whitepaper From Overspend to Advantage now.

k1w1k1d

1519 posts

Uber Geek

#2150788 26-Dec-2018 17:47

Wouldn't bother cutting a connector off just to have a smaller hole under the carpet. It just makes extra work and a possible source of future faults. You can always pack the hole around the cable with something if you want.

raytaylor

4014 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2150789 26-Dec-2018 17:52

Here is a tip for a tidy install using data wall plates using pre-terminated patch cables.
You can just go to any computer store and buy a 30 metre cat6 cable. Measure the floor distance and have a look under the house to ensure there are no obstructions. If its clear to go direct I suggest getting the length + 5 metres to be super safe.

1) bang a nail down through the floor / carpet - leave it sticking out.
You want it to be about 10cm to the left/right of a stud and about 5-10cm out from the wall.

Measure the distance from the nail to the wall. Eg. 10cm.

2) Go under the house with a battery drill and 12mm drill bit or one that is larger than the plug on the end of the cable.

Find the nail sticking down through the floor, measure 10cm + 5cm further in the direction of the wall.
You are now under the wall.
Drill up into the wall.
Poke a bunch of cable up into the wall. At least maybe a metre.

3) Remove the nail from the floor and dispose of it.

4) Cut an oblong hole into the wall / GIB for the wall plate. It needs to be below the first dwang / horizontal stud so you want it near the floor or at the same height as your power outlets.
Start about 3cm to the left or right of the stud. Not in front of the stud.
Cut horizontally towards the stud. When you hit the stud, reverse and go the other way.
Then cut vertically. Be careful though because you dont want to cut the hole bigger than it needs to be.
You want to be able to insert the flush box into the hole, and screw it against the stud.
The hole is the same width as the flush box, but not quite as high.

5) Fish out the cable through the hole. Use a coathanger or something similar to hook it and pull it out.
Feed the cable through the back of the flush box.
Insert the flush box into the hole and use a couple of screws on an angle to screw the side of it to the stud

6) Use a Female<>Female Data jack faceplate. Plug the cable into the back of the faceplate, push the excess back into the wall and screw the face plate on to the data jack.

The faceplate should be slightly bigger than the hole you cut in the wall so it will cover it up nicely and look quite tidy.

Ray Taylor

There is no place like localhost

Spreadsheet for Comparing Electricity Plans Here

Jase2985

13457 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#2150794 26-Dec-2018 18:02

wouldnt bother with the wall plate if your not concerned by looks, just go down by the skirting board either at the floor, or the top of the skirting through the plaster and down through the bottom plate and out under the house.

run the cable with the ends on it, and fill the holes with some sealer to seal them up good.

huckster

842 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#2150804 26-Dec-2018 18:42

I have learnt something new today.... the term dwang!

:-)

shk292

2853 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2150863 26-Dec-2018 21:33

I bought a couple of these dual-outlet wall boxes https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/ITPMDW88D/Dynamix-FMT-DUAL-RJ45-CAT5E-DUAL-PORTS-WALL-SURFAC

Then, a Cat 5e patch lead of ample length, cut both ends off and ran this under the house. Drilled a hole just big enough for the Cat 5e cable where I wanted each wall box to be, poked the cable through and wired each end to the box. Was easier than I was expecting. One tip I picked up beforehand was never to drill through carpet, so I just lifted the edge of the carpet where I needed to drill.

raytaylor

4014 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2150871 26-Dec-2018 21:59

shk292:

I bought a couple of these dual-outlet wall boxes https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/ITPMDW88D/Dynamix-FMT-DUAL-RJ45-CAT5E-DUAL-PORTS-WALL-SURFAC

Then, a Cat 5e patch lead of ample length, cut both ends off and ran this under the house. Drilled a hole just big enough for the Cat 5e cable where I wanted each wall box to be, poked the cable through and wired each end to the box. Was easier than I was expecting. One tip I picked up beforehand was never to drill through carpet, so I just lifted the edge of the carpet where I needed to drill.

That is a good way to do it without needing to buy a cable crimper.

You can combine it with this tool https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/TOLPSK0026/ProsKit-8PK-CT001-Pro-UTPSTP-Cable-Stripper-Stripp which will do a good enough job of punching down the wires on to the terminal block.

Ray Taylor

There is no place like localhost

Spreadsheet for Comparing Electricity Plans Here