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How much to wire house with Ethernet cables?

AllHokage

Yes it could.

 

So for the basic wiring all I need is some wall ports, Ethernet cable and a router? 

 

Nothing else (guess this guy had like some major stuff going down in his closet)...

For basic wiring, you'll want:

 

Cable on a reel (solid, which most reel cables are)

Wall plates + Backpanels

Keystone jacks for the wall plates

Cable sheath stripper

Punch down tool

Small pair of snips (to cut cross section in Cat6 cables, and trimming)

Patch cables (for connecting from wall to PCs, switch and so on)

Switch for the central network location (where everything connects). Generally, I would connect everything to a Gigabit switch, then connect the Switch to the router using two cables.

 

For switch size, I would consider how many devices will be hardwired to it, then get a switch with twice as many ports, or as close as you can get. So, if you have 10 devices hardwired, go for a 24 port switch. Unless you specifically need QoS and VLANs (or other, more advanced management) on the network, just go with an unmanaged Gigabit switch. 

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It's easy to run wires yourself. Lets say 40m of wire costing around 23 EUR. Then 3(i recomend buying more if you are making those cables first time ever) of RJ45 plugs costing around +-1 EUR. Then 3 wall plugs which are ~5 EUR. Then you need 1 tool to make RJ45 plugs which prices start at 6 EUR for the cheap ones. It all comes to min of 35-40 EUR. Prices can be different.

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Yes it could.

 

So for the basic wiring all I need is some wall ports, Ethernet cable and a router? 

 

Nothing else (guess this guy had like some major stuff going down in his closet)...

 

Yup, a crimping tool and the rest is inexpensive little things... but they add up.

 

I would suggest not to tie the cable down too tightly, just enough to keep it in line.  Don't go on my word for this, I could be wrong.  I am thinking if you leave the runs just loose enough, you will be able to replace the cable without ripping your walls apart if a cable gets ruined/damaged.  You would just tie the new cable to one end of the old cable (at a socket), then pull on the other side; effectively re-wiring that run.

 

Sounds logical, but I have never done it before.  :(:D

 

Someone correct me if there is a better way to have a redundancy.  ;)

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Edit: Made a double post...

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I'm in Perth, have double brick walls. I called a sparky out to do it for me for a few reasons. Firstly it's technically the law in this country to have someone who is licenced to do this work. You can debate that all you want and do it yourself, I really understand and I agree. But it's the law. Secondly I didn't have the tools, I don't have the massive drillbit or the drill required to drill a big enough hole through a brick wall. I also had approximately zero idea what I was doing. Lastly I needed him in to do some other work and the quote which included both the cabling, clipsal wallplates and labour was reasonable. Cheap enough that I was willing to pay it to avoid crawling through the roof.

 

As for the work itself and the cost? Well I asked for Cat 6 because the runs were in a house (we're talking 15-30m not 100m) and I didn't want to do it again. With Cat 6 and the short lengths I figured that I should be able to get 10Gbps later if I wanted it. Also when I looked up the prices of cabling myself the cost difference was basically nothing so why not? I asked for a quote which was split into three parts. The first part was the other work I needed done (I needed some new powerpoints), the second part were the 5 cable runs inside the house and the third was a single run to an external building. For the 5 runs inside the house (each were one port, if I could do it again I'd change a couple of them to 2x) he quoted $600AU. For the one to the external building he quoted $350AU. I didn't do the one to the external building (I ended up using powerline) but I went ahead with the rest.

 

So effectively the cost including labour was about ~$120AU per location if you exclude the location where all of the points converged. Is that kinda expensive? Well maybe, I figure that most of it was labour. When I costed it myself beforehand when I wanted to DIY it worked out to be ~$60AU per location. Also compared to the other options $120AU isn't bad. An AC1200 NIC is currently about $70AU, an AV500 powerline kit is about the same and an AC1200 media bridge is about $130AU. Worse still those devices IRL run at a fraction of the speed of true Ethernet and weren't as cheap when I did this. So all things considered it wasn't that bad.

 

Would I recommend you do it? Yes, it's 100% worth it. Once it's done you don't have to really think about it anymore. You can buy a new PC or any piece of consumer electronics and not have to think about how you'll connect it to your network. And given your house is being built now? Yes, seriously, do it now. Doing it after the fact is not easy.

Fools think they know everything, experts know they know nothing

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I'm in Perth, have double brick walls. I called a sparky out to do it for me for a few reasons. Firstly it's technically the law in this country to have someone who is licenced to do this work. You can debate that all you want and do it yourself, I really understand and I agree. But it's the law. Secondly I didn't have the tools, I don't have the massive drillbit or the drill required to drill a big enough hole through a brick wall. I also had approximately zero idea what I was doing. Lastly I needed him in to do some other work and the quote which included both the cabling, clipsal wallplates and labour was reasonable. Cheap enough that I was willing to pay it to avoid crawling through the roof.

 

As for the work itself and the cost? Well I asked for Cat 6 because the runs were in a house (we're talking 15-30m not 100m) and I didn't want to do it again. With Cat 6 and the short lengths I figured that I should be able to get 10Gbps later if I wanted it. Also when I looked up the prices of cabling myself the cost difference was basically nothing so why not? I asked for a quote which was split into three parts. The first part was the other work I needed done (I needed some new powerpoints), the second part were the 5 cable runs inside the house and the third was a single run to an external building. For the 5 runs inside the house (each were one port, if I could do it again I'd change a couple of them to 2x) he quoted $600AU. For the one to the external building he quoted $350AU. I didn't do the one to the external building (I ended up using powerline) but I went ahead with the rest.

 

So effectively the cost including labour was about ~$120AU per location if you exclude the location where all of the points converged. Is that kinda expensive? Well maybe, I figure that most of it was labour. When I costed it myself beforehand when I wanted to DIY it worked out to be ~$60AU per location. Also compared to the other options $120AU isn't bad. An AC1200 NIC is currently about $70AU, an AV500 powerline kit is about the same and an AC1200 media bridge is about $130AU. Worse still those devices IRL run at a fraction of the speed of true Ethernet and weren't as cheap when I did this. So all things considered it wasn't that bad.

 

Would I recommend you do it? Yes, it's 100% worth it. Once it's done you don't have to really think about it anymore. You can buy a new PC or any piece of consumer electronics and not have to think about how you'll connect it to your network. And given your house is being built now? Yes, seriously, do it now. Doing it after the fact is not easy.

I'm in Perth as well and have double brick  :D

 

Anyway thanks everyone for the help!

Might add this later...

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If you're doing it while building the house, you could use plastic conduit (example), enabling you to easily run the cables once the walls have been build, and upgrades (e.g. newer cable, more cables in one room) and fixes are easier as the cables easily slide through, and won't get caught up.

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For basic wiring, you'll want:

 

Cable on a reel (solid, which most reel cables are)

Wall plates + Backpanels

Keystone jacks for the wall plates

Cable sheath stripper

Punch down tool

Small pair of snips (to cut cross section in Cat6 cables, and trimming)

Patch cables (for connecting from wall to PCs, switch and so on)

Switch for the central network location (where everything connects). Generally, I would connect everything to a Gigabit switch, then connect the Switch to the router using two cables.

 

For switch size, I would consider how many devices will be hardwired to it, then get a switch with twice as many ports, or as close as you can get. So, if you have 10 devices hardwired, go for a 24 port switch. Unless you specifically need QoS and VLANs (or other, more advanced management) on the network, just go with an unmanaged Gigabit switch. 

Ok, If I'm only connecting 4 devices do I still need a switch?

Might add this later...

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Ok, If I'm only connecting 4 devices do I still need a switch?

I would go for an 8 port Gigabit switch for that. They're inexpensive and allow for some expansion. 

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I would go for an 8 port Gigabit switch for that. They're inexpensive and allow for some expansion. 

My router has 8 ports so is there a point?

Might add this later...

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My router has 8 ports so is there a point?

In that case, no, you might as well just stick with the router. 

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For basic wiring, you'll want:

 

Cable on a reel (solid, which most reel cables are)

Wall plates + Backpanels

Keystone jacks for the wall plates

Cable sheath stripper

Punch down tool

Small pair of snips (to cut cross section in Cat6 cables, and trimming)

Patch cables (for connecting from wall to PCs, switch and so on)

Switch for the central network location (where everything connects). Generally, I would connect everything to a Gigabit switch, then connect the Switch to the router using two cables.

 

For switch size, I would consider how many devices will be hardwired to it, then get a switch with twice as many ports, or as close as you can get. So, if you have 10 devices hardwired, go for a 24 port switch. Unless you specifically need QoS and VLANs (or other, more advanced management) on the network, just go with an unmanaged Gigabit switch. 

A cheap tone probe would not hurt to add to that list

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Stuff- Epicgear defiant (solderless swappable switches), g600, moutned mic and other stuff. 

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My router has 8 ports so is there a point?

 

I recommend adding more ports. At least have one ethernet cable in each room

"In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity."
- Albert Einstein

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A cheap tone probe would not hurt to add to that list

 

This. 

 

Especially when doing this in-wall work, get a testing tool - or maybe even rent one if possible. That way you can find bad cables (extremely rare) and messed up connectors (not rare, but also easier to fix than re-running cables). The tool will also help with identifying cables later on. 

 

Also, even though it is not necessary for gigabit, get Cat6e. This sounds like a new house, so, in 10 years in the future when gigabit internet service is normal, you'll have the cabling to handle all that traffic well (using 10Gbit).

 

I would also just, while you are there, run 2 cables to each wall plate.

You don't need to use it or plug those cables into a switch now, but, in the event you do want to, say, run multiple networks, need more bandwidth, run a straight line from a tv box to a media server, etc etc you will be able to. It also allows you to plug 2 items into one wallplate instead of buying another switch if you need to plug in 2 items. 

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