Printer-friendly version
Author:
Blog About:
Taxonomy upgrade extras:
Well, ever since I moved it has been a battle to get sufficient signal to get on line. I have been using the Hot Spot on my phone but that gets expensive and I worry that the phone will melt. :) The house has "Clear" and my wifi works very spotilly. So, today I bought 50' of CAT 5 cable, measured 40', bought 50' and should have bought 60'. Sigh. I wish I had asked one of the men to do it but noooo miss independence had to get blisters, and sore knees of her own. Somebody spank the girl!
When I send this I will install the cable ends and hope that improves things. Wish me luck.
G
Comments
Best of luck, Gwen. WIFI can
Best of luck, Gwen. WIFI can be wry problematic at times. There are plces that have WIFI or internet access like restaurants and libraries. You can use either.
May Your Light Forever Shine
Never buy under 500 ft of cable...
Even if you think you only need 5'... you'll use it at some point...
Network cable
I originally had 10m of Cat-6 (slightly thicker than 5, so more resistant to abuse) between my router and computer, but when I moved it elsewhere in the room discovered it wasn't long enough... so bought a 15m length, then had fun extracting the original from under skirtings / door frames / between floorboards and replacing it with the new. Cables don't go as far as you think because when measuring directly, you tend to forget the vertical distance from router / computer to floor, plus the weaving necessary to get it where you want without impeding door closures or causing unsightly (and dangerous) ridges in the carpet.
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
I do it for a living...
Okay, cabling is just a part of my living, but anyway - yes, always put more than you need. It may seem a waste, but better to trim than to patch. You also never know what people might do.
For an example, I ran four cables that were to go to two places under an elevated building. Then the customer changed their mind, and suddenly, I had to make those cables go another eleven feet. Luckily, I had measured an extra _twenty_ feet over what I was pretty sure would make the distance.
Yes, that was something like an extra $6 of cable, but with several issues like that, the customers would rather spend an extra $100 on waste than not have what they need.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Easier in the long run
To run them down from the attic through the walls, if you have access that is. Since computers are usually located next to wall outlets just go to the opposite side of the bay the electrical service is in, and be sure the cable is rated for that usage. I picked up a fish tape cheap at one of those roving tool shows along with one of those long bits the cable and sat. TV installers use. Haven't had to use the bit yet. Finish it off with an RJ-45 wall plate, available at pretty near all hardware and home supply stores or at Radio Shack, and you have a nice neat setup.
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
Minimum recommended distance
Minimum recommended distance for parallelling high voltage electrical (considered to be 110 and above) is 1 foot for ethernet and phone (low voltage electrical) from outlet feeds, and two feet from fluorescent light fixtures and feeds.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
No problem then
Standard construction in the US is 16" bays, and the electrical wiring is anchored to the stud, so going to the other side of the bay will give more that 12" seperation. I'm just wondering, this minimum distance isn't required yet, just 'a good idea', right? Because I have seen new construction that wasn't that way. AC power, cable TV (or A/V feed), and phone & internet lines going down the same bay to a common wall box. Now that seemed a bit much to me, yet the city inspectors signed off on it before sheetrock was put up.
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
Unfortunately
The "National Electric Code" corporation (yes, it's a corporation, not a code) doesn't seem to believe in 'induction' in voltages under 100 volts and 15 amps. So, no inspectors seem to give a crap.
The specifications for wiring were developed by AT&T more than 30 years ago (you can find them online), and IBM extended them for UTP cabling when they came up with the Token Ring topology.
Anyone who has picked up a telephone, hit one button, and then heard a hum on the wire is a victim of induction. That hum is the 60 hz (or 50 if you're in the UK) cycle from the mains power. I've caught electricians running 440 volt 3 phase down the holes I drilled for (and ran!) my cabling. The homeowner forced them to re-run the cable and eat the cost - it was damned obvious it wasn't their set of holes. They bitched about having already cut the cable, and not having the extra six feet to move it.
Morons also put their cable dead center in the middle of my six inch bundle of phone/data wiring, because it was 'more convenient' than actually thinking and moving it over two feet.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
yeah...
You really do have to watch these people, or they'll stiff you in any way they think they can possibly get away with and the inspectors will let them get away with it as long as they don't think it'll set your house on fire.
It's very VERY rare to come across any truly honest electrical/data contractors. Shoot... Any truly honest anyone, it's just more ridiculous how many building contractors and subcontractors get away with it.
This coming from a girl who's worked for both a cement contractor and a roofing contractor. I know what goes on when the homeowner ain't lookin!
Abigail Drew.
In my case...
I'm in a first floor (UK usage, second floor US usage) rented maisonette (so obviously can't go drilling through walls or fixing 8P8C sockets to the wall). Bizarrely, although the external phone line from the pole is anchored to the building at the front, it's then routed all around the side of the building and half way around the back before entering in the master bedroom through the sealant between window frame and wall. The router's located in the bedroom (although I have phone extensionsm, the attenuation on ADSL is lower the closer the router is to the main socket), so then have the cable running under the skirting (which is conveniently positioned slightly above floor level - not normally noticeable due the place being carpeted), between floorboards in the hall, before running behind the sofa and around the corner to my computer desk, located next to the front window in the lounge (living room).
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
Wire-mold
I'm running two Cat-5 cables in a wire-mold (about 20 feet of wire-mold and 30 feet of Cat-5 each) along the wall between my router and television and sat-TV box, each of which want a broadband connection. Mind you, neither of these are high usage applications but they fit nicely in the 1/2 inch wire-mold. I just have it laying along the wall, but it could be mounted to the baseboard with double-face tape or Command Strips(R).
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann
Since you seem to insist,
consider yourself soundly and convincingly spanked. Now get your shiny hiney back online post haste. I miss talking with you!
Cathy
As a T-woman, I do have a Y chromosome... it's just in cursive, pink script.
I did get the cable run...
But now I can not see well enough to make it up; just part of my declining vision. So, I think I'll go buy 75 feet of made up cable and use my cable as a pull wire.
Orange/white, Orange,
Orange/white, Orange, Green/White, Blue, Blue/White, Green, Brown/White, Brown.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.