Installing wired network cable with walls being replastered?

ChuckMountain

bsod wrote: »

just use what you've got, it's a home installation for a bit of telly, not a corporate skyscraper. Go into any big office, and you'll see network cables crammed into desks, and crisscrossing all sorts of transformers and wiring.

I don't the OP will have issues from interference etc.. However if he uses stranded into solid core it will not be a good connection and even if he gets it working may fail over time.

Keep_pedalling

ChuckMountain wrote: »

No you want to avoid the cheap ebay CCA (Copper clad aluminium) cable as its cheap and not to spec and should not be sold as CAT anything. Use proper copper cabling to avoid any issues.

Whoops! I hastily posted that as an example and did not notice the CCA bit no wonder it was so cheap. Would probably work OK for a short run, not the 100m that cat5 was designed to do though.

Big_Graeme

The skirting board solution is about the best bet, just slide two cable runs in where the plaster finishes.

Invest in solid core cable and decent boxes and the jobs a good 'un.

victor2

We had an extension built and all wired up for a smart TV and 5.1 speaker system. OH's requirements were simple - no visible wires. Achieved that by mounting a power socket, RJ45 socket and antenna plus HDMI cables behind the wall mounted TV. The other end of the HDMI, antenna and two extra power sockets plus RJ45 are located behind the unit containing the amplifier and PVR. Speaker cables all run behind the plaster and skirting boards to the relevant points.
CAT5e cable runs through the walls to a wall mounted double RJ45 socket in the "old" part of the house where the router is. Back boxes are used so that only the faceplates are raised from the finished wall. For the two cables that pass through, a faceplate with blanking plates and slots cut in them to let the cables through were used.
Everything is out of sight and works a treat. TV has wireless, but preferred to use a cable as we were cabling everything else in anyway.

Who knows what the future holds in terms of communications, but CAT5e is more than enough for the likes of Smart TVs today. CAT6 is the latest standard, but wireless is becoming so well established, and that surely has to be where the future lies?

fred246

Just doing some real time tests on my homeplug network for fun and interest. I have got Talktalk 38MBPS broadband (37.6MPS on testing). Mixture of 200 and 500mps homeplugs ie 200 in reality. I went round the house putting a HD picture on iplayer. I got 5 pictures running totally fine, no buffering. Also had a 720p video on a tablet and daughter playing on mobile. No probs whatsoever. I then tried 4K videos on my PCs. Slight bit of buffering on two PCs. You don't need much broadband if you're happy with HD. Want 4K and things get more difficult. I don't think my homeplugs are causing too much trouble. Could get faster 1200BMPS if they were. To ethernet my house would cost a fortune in cable and redecoration. Homeplugs are not perfect but well worth considering.

JustAnotherSaver

Out of interest is there any reason why a plastic back box can't be used when locating in to brick work?

I bought metal ones but the plastic cat 6 faceplates i have are bigger than the back boxes.

The screw holes line up perfectly fine, but the outer edges of the faceplate are much bigger than the framework of the back box.

Everything i've googled shows metal & only metal back boxes being used when locating in to brickwork but to me at the end of the day you're still using rawl plugs & screws regardless.

If anything i would imagine plastic back box being better in a damp wall because at least it wont rust.

I can't find my plastic back box yet which is annoying but i know i have one somewhere.


Also i bought in some solid cable. I've no idea how this is supposed to be easier to work with. In a straight line yeah, but not when you wont be working in a straight line. The cable is quite rigid.

victor2

The metal boxes are designed to go in the wall beneath the plaster layer. Hence the faceplate is a larger size, as only it sits on top of the plaster. The plastic boxes are designed to go entirely on top of a plastered wall - after it is finished.

Fightsback

An alternative is to use surface mount boxes and screw them to the skirting board and drill a small hole through the floor boards where you are going to mount it. This can also be done after the plasterers have left.

NB metal gang boxes are zinc coated to arrest the rusting process, plastic gang boxes are for dry lined walls, stud walls or surface mount.