Home Ethernet Help - what to buy?

[Nitefly]

Hello

I’m intending on installing a home Ethernet kit to my office - a hard wired connection from my router to my computers in the office. The wire will run through the walls and under the floorboards, no problem.

Ideally, I would like flush / neat wall connections at each end (I.e. something I plug the router into at the wall, and then something that I plug my computers into at the wall in the office).

This seems really dumb, but what do I actually need to buy for this? ‘Packs’ of bits to that effect don’t seem readily available and if I buy bits separately I think I might need to chop wires to mount them to the wall plugs etc.

Any advice whatsoever on the best way of achieving this would be helpful. Ideally, I’d want two connections in the office which I think makes it a bit more complicated....

Cheers.

 

[Deleted member 77746]

You just want ethernet faceplates with backboxes. It's no different to changing electricity sockets or adding them.

Show us a photo of these "packs" you been buying please.

 

[SoundsGood]

I put a couple of these in recently. If I was doing another I'd get this stuff

Solid core vs stranded CAT5 was recommended when I looked into it and not CAT6 as is a pain to work with.
You might want shielded cable if you are running it near power cables.

 

[Deleted member 77746]

^^ WOW that's pretty good price. Double ethernet run at x25 mtr perfect!

 

[robj20]

I wouldn't bother with shielded just not required in a domestic setting.
Don't go cheap on the cable be it cat5 or cat6, something like Excell.

 

[bremen1874]

I wouldn't want surface mount boxes or angular industrial faceplates at home.

I sank my backing boxes and used faceplate surrounds that matched the mains sockets. I also used deep backing boxes (47mm?) to allow plenty of room for the wiring. The faceplates I used don't stick out as far as the ones pictured above so you lose some space behind.

 

[a1ex2001]

I wouldn't want surface mount boxes or angular industrial faceplates at home.

I sank my backing boxes and used faceplate surrounds that matched the mains sockets. I also used deep backing boxes (47mm?) to allow plenty of room for the wiring. The faceplates I used don't stick out as far as the ones pictured above so you lose some space behind.

Depends where they are for me, if they are well hidden behind furniture etc then why go to the expense/mess of flush mounting them when nobody will ever see them? If you change the room layout and/or decorate then you can bury them at that point.

 

[the-evaluator]

Depends where they are for me, if they are well hidden behind furniture etc then why go to the expense/mess of flush mounting them when nobody will ever see them? If you change the room layout and/or decorate then you can bury them at that point.

I'd still do it even behind furniture. If you shove a piece of furniture in front of a surface mounted pattress which has an ethernet cable connected you may well find that the furniture has to sit quite a long way away from the wall.

A 32mm pattress plus straight ethernet face plate and cable would mean that the back of the furniture needs to be about 80mm from the wall. That's too far for my liking.

None of my ethernet sockets are visible unless you realy go looking for them, but they're sunk back into the plasterboard.

 

[a1ex2001]

I'd still do it even behind furniture. If you shove a piece of furniture in front of a surface mounted pattress which has an ethernet cable connected you may well find that the furniture has to sit quite a long way away from the wall.

A 32mm pattress plus straight ethernet face plate and cable would mean that the back of the furniture needs to be about 80mm from the wall. That's too far for my liking.

None of my ethernet sockets are visible unless you realy go looking for them, but they're sunk back into the plasterboard.

Plasterboard I agree I would sink, I was assuming solid walls and having re-wired our entire house sinking every socket through the victorian plaster and into the brickwork it isn't a casual job and the filth is unimaginable!

 

[WJA96]

I'd still do it even behind furniture. If you shove a piece of furniture in front of a surface mounted pattress which has an ethernet cable connected you may well find that the furniture has to sit quite a long way away from the wall.

A 32mm pattress plus straight ethernet face plate and cable would mean that the back of the furniture needs to be about 80mm from the wall. That's too far for my liking.

None of my ethernet sockets are visible unless you realy go looking for them, but they're sunk back into the plasterboard.

That's why I use the CCL 4000 vertical/side entry surface mount boxes. They extend no more than 27mm from the wall and the way the cables go in they are much better protected than anything else I've seen.

Cat6 CCS 4000 Series - Vertical Outlets | Cat6 Modules & Outlets (cablemonkey.co.uk)

 

[the-evaluator]

Plasterboard I agree I would sink, I was assuming solid walls and having re-wired our entire house sinking every socket through the victorian plaster and into the brickwork it isn't a casual job and the filth is unimaginable!

I'd still sink them in. It isn't that time consuming and looking at my setup it'd really annoy me if the TV unit had to sit that far out from the wall because I didn't sink the socket in.

 

[WJA96]

I'd still sink them in. It isn't that time consuming and looking at my setup it'd really annoy me if the TV unit had to sit that far out from the wall because I didn't sink the socket in.

Most people would consider cutting into the plasterwork a major job. If we opened up all the walls when we ran cables in it would be incredibly expensive to do retrofits on most people's houses. We'd have to quote to make good plasterwork and refinish the walls. If you're talking about 2-4 cables in trunking along the top of the skirting board vs. chasing out the wall and running the conduit inside the wall then the difference in cost for labour would be enormous. If you have a TV mount that is under 27mm I'd be shocked.

 

[the-evaluator]

Most people would consider cutting into the plasterwork a major job. If we opened up all the walls when we ran cables in it would be incredibly expensive to do retrofits on most people's houses. We'd have to quote to make good plasterwork and refinish the walls. If you're talking about 2-4 cables in trunking along the top of the skirting board vs. chasing out the wall and running the conduit inside the wall then the difference in cost for labour would be enormous. If you have a TV mount that is under 27mm I'd be shocked.

It's all about context. We had our living room decorated last year which included a new ceiling, flooring, skirting boards, walls reskimmed and so on. In that context a few extra chasings in the plasterboard and a bit of time with an SDS drill is fairly minor.

A few years ago I helped my brother to install some ethernet runs and we went for recessed boxes and it wasn't that much extra work. I get that it'd cost more over surfaced mounted boxes.

It's all about the end finish that someone wants. I didn't want surface mounted boxes (though I would use the ones you linked to) and as we were having the room gutted anyway it was the perfect time to get the finish we wanted.

 

[Dg834man]

Was doing this very thing yesterday, we are lucky enough to have a crawl space under the floor so no chasing required all fed in to the cavity from underneath. Wouldn't do it with surface boxes looks terrible but totally depends on your circumstances.

 

[WJA96]

Was doing this very thing yesterday, we are lucky enough to have a crawl space under the floor so no chasing required all fed in to the cavity from underneath. Wouldn't do it with surface boxes looks terrible but totally depends on your circumstances.

You’re not in the UK I suspect! Most houses built in the UK in the last 50 years sit on a concrete plinth and cavity walls with plasterboard linings on the inside. If the builders prepared them properly they have ample scope to run cables in the walls. Sadly, the builders seemingly do everything they can to make it hard to retrofit anything and as a result running cables ‘properly’ usually means cutting into plasterboard and chasing out channels so most folks either go external (often in tubular conduit) or run cables on the surface of the wall (often in box conduit). Neither is perfect, but for a limited number of cables it works and it’s cheap.

 

[robj20]

Our crawl space is deep enough to kneel up in no crawling required so handy for running cable's, the old access for the back boiler is perfect for then running the cables from they're their straight into the first floor and loft.
I have zero cables on show, minimum of 2x network in each room, 6x for the livingroom, 4x master bedroom.
I just do it each time I decorate a room.

 

[batfink]

That's why I use the CCL 4000 vertical/side entry surface mount boxes. They extend no more than 27mm from the wall and the way the cables go in they are much better protected than anything else I've seen.

Cat6 CCS 4000 Series - Vertical Outlets | Cat6 Modules & Outlets (cablemonkey.co.uk)

This is what I would do (and did). Much easier than sinking them into the wall and they look great. All the cables come out underneath and look very neat, even the ones that aren't behind furniture look good.

 

[Dg834man]

Certainly in the uk central scotland, its always worth checking there's usually a pull out board at the consumer unit if you do.

 

[MTA99]

This is what I would do (and did). Much easier than sinking them into the wall and they look great. All the cables come out underneath and look very neat, even the ones that aren't behind furniture look good.

I third this. I've just installed 2

 

[bledd]

Make sure you use Excel or CCS modules and patch panel (and cable).

Makes a big difference compared to cheap modules.