Need help re: wiring the house

[Paddy]

I am in the process of rewiring the house. At the moment I have cat 5 cables running into most rooms and after 3months it is starting to annoy the wife

I am going to try and run cables through the wall cavity, but due to the 'dot and dab' nature of their construciton this may not be possible.

I intend to use cat6 cable as there is not much difference in cost and it will presumably help keep my options open (as well as boosting the geek factor! )

The plan is as follows:

• Two lengths of cable running from the office to the 'patch room'
• Two lengths of cable running from the bedroom to the 'patch room'
• Two lengths of cable running from the lounge to the 'patch room'
• Two lengths of cable running from the garage to the 'patch room'
• Two lengths of coaxial cable running from the lounge to the attic

In order to do this I will need

• 2x cat6 4port wall outlets (or one 8port outlet) for the patch room
• 4x cat6 2port outlets - if possible, three of them to be chrome/silver (the one for the garage can be nasty white plastic)
• 100M of cat6 cable
• 32 RJ45 connectors
• A crimping tool and continuity tester

In the patch room I will make link cables from the 2x4port (or 1x8port) outlet to the router.

The next problem is that my router (netgear dg814) is only four port. I do have a netgear hub (fe108) sitting around so it would be nice if I can link the two together.

In the future I will replace the NICs and perhaps the router to allow gigabit speeds.

In addition to this i will

• run two lengths of coax (one input, one output) from the sky dish to the receiver in the lounge via the attic - (atm it is run externally and it looks fugly!)
• Connect the output coax in the attic to a booster switch type box that will allow my to split the cable
• Run a length of coax into the study
• Run a length of coax into th bedroom

To do this I will also need cable, connectors and faceplates.

-----

It looks quite complicated but I think I have managed to get my head around it. I was planning to buy the parts from RS but their site is proving difficult to navigate as i can't find the right keyword for searching.

If any of you can offer advice on do's and don'ts, suggest alternatives, or find part numbers on the RS website i'd be much obliged!

My masonry drill bit is quivering with anticipation!

[Paddy]

Cheers for editing my Poll Dil!

[az]

I think Cat6 outlets don't have RJ45 sockets in their back, which means: You won't need as many plugs, but you may need a special tool for hooking the cable to the outlets. BTW, I don't think you will easily find fancy outlets, just spray paint them (I've never done this myself, but I see no reaso why it should not work).

And yeah, the RS site, as most electronics retailers' sites, is pretty bad. I always use Reichelt, as they're both cheaper and easier to navigate, but they're in germany (and in german), so may end up being more expensive for you - you may want to drop them a line and ask about conditions when buying from the UK.

There are too many cables on RS, and my technical english is not good enough to give you any advice, sorry. They're found in Cable & Connectors -> Networking/Communications -> Ethernet Cable & Connectors, or Cable & Connectors -> Cable (easier, I think). Or use the crappy search

AZ

[Fat Tone]

I used to use RS every other day in my old job: Great service, great range, great delivery, good techincal advice, free trials/demos (presumably only if you are a big enough customer) but NOT great prices. You pay a lot extra for the service, but you could at least use them to specify the kit for you

You'll probably find Farnell or CPC to be a lot cheaper.

Be careful where you use the hub in your topology.

I'm sure I've seen brass-plated patch sockets somewhere...but I like the idea of painting them. I've seen big variations in the style of the pastic one too.

And my most important bit of advice: get a quality pipe/stud detector before firing up that drill! I can still hear the NTL cable guy's cry of "OH SHIT - WATER" on installation day

[Fat Tone]

@Andrea - it's time you posted a poll!

[Taz]

Have you not considered a wireless network

[Paddy]

I've thought about the wireless option, but I can't guarantee enough bandwidth to make it a viable option. It would be a nice addition, but I want the static hardware hard wired.

Be careful where you use the hub in your topology.

I was gonna wire the second point in every room though the hub - that way the first point would go the switch.

[Enak]

Hows about this (RS Parts)

Double Cat5e Faceplates - 409-8411
100M of cat6 cable - 419-5433
32 RJ45 connectors - 408-6777
Crimping tool - 445-5713
Punchdown tool - 197-952

You'll be able to get all this stuff cheeper elsewhere...

The patch panel will have punch down terminations, so you only need the connectors for making patch leads.

Stick to 568A Standard for your colour coding.

[Paddy]

can i use cat6 cable with my standard nic, router, faceplates?

Are the cables wired the same way? Is it just a shielding issue?

Cheers for finding the parts Kane!

Tony, you suggest I look at Farnell or CPC?

[Paddy]

CPC and Farnell seem to have problems with their website atm

[Fat Tone]

oncecall.farnell.com - it's working now.

[Paddy]

cheers! Moseying on over now

[Paddy]

link doesn't work for me... is this it? http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/home/homepage.jsp

[az]

http://onecall.farnell.com

AZ

[az]

Addendum: It says "[...] exclusively for the Higher Education and Research Institutes throughout the UK." Don't know if you can buy there, or what the difference is to Farnell InOne - I'm guessing mostly prices.

AZ