LITTLEBLACKDOG.COM

Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2003 8:23 am Post subject: Network stuff

Going to wire my entire house with Cat 6. I would also like to buy a small patch panel and a cable crimper to put the RJ-45 ends on. And I suppose I will need some wall jacks.

Has anyone bought any of this stuff online for a good price?

Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2003 9:16 am Post subject: Re: Network stuff

squashman wrote:
Has anyone bought any of this stuff online for a good price?

Depends on who you ask. Network addicts will tell you not to skimp on equipment such as cables and connectors - it's all about quality. It's kinda like buying any tool/material at the hardware store. Sometimes you find a deal, sometimes you get what you pay for. If you skimp and buy cheap nails, they're more likely to bend and brake. *shruggs* Sounds like a fun project you have going there. Ever thought of going wireless and saving yourself the trouble?

Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2003 10:02 am Post subject:

I ran some Cat 5 in my house. I haven't bought anything for it. The cable vendors at my company hooked me up with a leftover spool of Cat5 and some wall outlets. I already have some punch down tools (work bought them).

My next project is Wireless in the house.

Leg Humper Joined: 16 Jan 2002 Posts: 5483

I have purchased all my toosl from microwarehouse.com
I got me one of these (you wont need it for your purposes)

but heres the cripping toolkit I have.
It comes with a punch down tool, a crimping tool (for both RJ45 and RJ11), a couple crimps to get you started, a wire stripper, and most importantly a little cable tester to be certain you have wired your cables properly.

I've made hundereds of cables, and wired dozens of offfices/homes using these tools, and I would recommend them.

The stuff is kind of expensive, maybe look on Ebay. I think I have some extra wall plugs laying around I could sell to you pretty cheap.

Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2003 10:45 am Post subject:

I got my wall plates at the local hardware store, and my crimper off of Ebay. I usually go to home depot for my cat 5 cable. You don't really need plenum unless you'll have a ton; plenum is safer because you won't die of inhaling toxic fumes if your house catches on fire but hopefully that won't happen and you aren't likely to run enough wires to make it an issue.

Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2003 4:09 pm Post subject:

I would go with Cat5e, myself. It's a couple cents more expensive, but it's already set up for gigabit networking so if you decide to go that route in five years when it's cheap, you can without ripping out your wiring.

Butt Sniffer Joined: 06 May 2002 Posts: 1579

Webster wrote:
I got my wall plates at the local hardware store, and my crimper off of Ebay. I usually go to home depot for my cat 5 cable. You don't really need plenum unless you'll have a ton; plenum is safer because you won't die of inhaling toxic fumes if your house catches on fire but hopefully that won't happen and you aren't likely to run enough wires to make it an issue.

yeh, i usually got to home depot too.

Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2003 11:36 pm Post subject:

actually, I grabbed 500 feet of cat 5e from homedepot for like $40, some wall plates, and even cat5 plugs. Then I just followed the directions. just clip the cable, follow the color coded directions on what wire to put in what slot, punch it down, and pop it into the wall outlet. Of course, I already had cable to run from the jack to the switch, so... Smile

but basically, homedepot had it all

Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2003 11:43 pm Post subject:

I told the guys who built our house to put CAT5 cabling from all rooms to the laundry room. Then I put a Netgear switch there. Works great. Happy-oooo Happy-eeee

Cat 6 cable? Is that better or worse than Cat 5? Cat 5 is gigabit capable and if Cat 6 is not I would go for the Cat 5 stuff. As long as your building you might as well build for the future.

/Akely

Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2003 11:58 pm Post subject:

Akely wrote:
I told the guys who built our house to put CAT5 cabling from all rooms to the laundry room. Then I put a Netgear switch there. Works great. Happy-oooo Happy-eeee

Cat 6 cable? Is that better or worse than Cat 5? Cat 5 is gigabit capable and if Cat 6 is not I would go for the Cat 5 stuff. As long as your building you might as well build for the future.

/Akely

well... if you are BUILDING a house, sure, go for having it installed!!!!

thats easy enough, most of us have to deal with running it ourselves, the long way around Sad

Butt Sniffer Joined: 06 May 2002 Posts: 1579

fathertyme wrote:
but basically, homedepot had it all

ya might just want to check out the prices, squashman. one advantage is that you can get odd measurements from open spools, instead of just getting a huge spool of it.

Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2003 1:15 am Post subject:

fathertyme wrote:
Akely wrote:
I told the guys who built our house to put CAT5 cabling from all rooms to the laundry room. Then I put a Netgear switch there. Works great. Happy-oooo Happy-eeee

Cat 6 cable? Is that better or worse than Cat 5? Cat 5 is gigabit capable and if Cat 6 is not I would go for the Cat 5 stuff. As long as your building you might as well build for the future.

/Akely

well... if you are BUILDING a house, sure, go for having it installed!!!!

thats easy enough, most of us have to deal with running it ourselves, the long way around

Sorry, old dude. Did'nt mean to gloat. Smile

In houses over here all cables are run in plastic tubing. That means it's easy to draw ne caples. There are pull-wires laid into the tubes just for that. Is it not so in the States?

/Akely

EEps · Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2003 2:31 am Post subject:

Nope...we're not allowed to be that advanced! Sad Smile

Some home owners who know what they are doing might do something like that. It sure would make running cables a whole lot easier than ripping holes in the wall, finding the firebreak, making a hole through that, and fishing the wire(s) through without snagging on something...

Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2003 2:41 am Post subject:

actually, I've heard of that tubing being put in some newer houses, and even in some remodelling. From what I've heard tho, its a PAID upgrade. Something you have to request.

Seems allot of construction these days is aimed at with cost analysis in mind. not saying its shoddy, but if the contracter can find a way to skim a few bucks off his costs, then thats what he'll do. Plus, the cost of land is so bad in some areas that the house actually is the cheaper part of the deal. Unfortunately, all that adds the the cost.

If I ever get a chance to build a house (which is unlikely, land is hard to find within a 100 miles of a major city), then I'll go with the tubing, the cat5, and I'll pay the extra to have everything WELL above code (go ahead, put those studs a little closer together... hey, why don't you use the GOOD insulation instead of that cheap crap. How about ceder siding instead of that plastic shit...

Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2003 4:21 am Post subject:

I'd rather wire it myself. You ever seen the wire monkey's they hire? I've seen smarter guys hold will work for food sign than some of these guys pulling cable. Teeth are also an option.