OK, so I have been going back and forth about whether I want to pay someone to do this or if I should do this myself. I want to have a few Cat6 cables run in my finished basement, nothing too crazy. I already have 300ft of Cat6 4-pair Riser Rated Solid UTP. I also have a pair tester as well as fasteners to secure one of the cable runs to the wall/ceiling (my basement is finished so I will need to run one of the Cat6 wires along the ceiling/wall as I don't want to cut into the ceiling, this will be about a 100ft run). What else do I need, does the list below look correct:

- CAT 6 RJ45 plug for round solid UTP cable
- Modular Crimping Tool or Cable Stripper?
- Wall plate
- CAT 6 Keystone Jack

As I have never done anything like this and am not exactly handy, it is a little intimidating, but I am up to the challenge, especially if I can save a few hundred bucks.

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Looks about right, though make sure you are consistent between solid and stranded cable (here's a bit more on that). You'll want some of these for making the ends of your cables (didn't see that in your links).

I did the same thing recently, though I have an unfinished basement so it was easy for me, and I bought all my parts from Monoprice (though your site linked seems comparable). I used stranded instead of solid cable.

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Thanks Alex. I don't even know if I would use that company I linked to, was just using them more as a reference. Unfortunately Monoprice is on the other side of the country from me, so depending on what I buy from them shipping charges can add up quickly, take up to 4 days to get, and negate any price savings.

I plan on doing two cable runs. Each run will have one end that will be connected to my router/switch in my utility closet. The other end will connect to a wall plate. So if my understanding is correct, I would use the Crimping Tool on one end of the table and connect to the RJ45 plug, this would be for the end connected to the router/switch. For the other end I would connect to the Keystone Jack and then to the wall plate (do I use the Crimping tool or a cable stripper for this, not really sure exactly what the difference is?)

I will pick up a dummies guide to running cables so I don't ask too many stupid questions! Thanks for your help.

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Damian

DIY WHS - 12.5TB and growing, too many gadgets to list

Did you read the MediaSmartServer blog today?
Blog - http://www.adigitalhomeblog.com
"Like a midget at a urinal, stay on your toes!" - Lieutenant Frank Drebin

You will most likely be able to do this no problem. No need to be intimidated by it. Sometimes it takes a bit of perseverance to fish the cables, other times it goes very quickly.

You might want some lubricant, depending on whether you have any tight spots to pull the cables through. I'm not a professional, but I have done a significant amount of wiring in my house, mostly without opening up walls and ceilings. I've run Cat6, electrical, and coax. I find the lubricant is especially useful when you're pulling a long cable through a drilled hole. Maybe this won't apply to your situation. Here is an example of what I use. The container is way more than you need, so in a pinch a little K-Y might actually work too (seriously!).

This might be obvious, but be sure to fully uncoil the cable before trying to pull it through any holes. Otherwise it will kink and drive you nuts (and could damage the cable if it really kinks badly and you're pulling hard).

Also, a trick to save work in the future... If there is any chance you might want to run another cable later on, pull a string through while pulling the cable. I usually make the string about twice the length of the run so it never has to come out. I just coil it up and tuck it away somewhere.

Using different colors makes it easy to identify what is what later on. Clearly marking each end with a Sharpie works too. This will be important especially at the end where multiple cables end up (e.g. network switch), but is also useful at the other end for identifying what is what down the road if you end up taking a cable out of service (e.g. move equipment to another room) and then move back again. Or if you sell the house, whoever comes after you will have a much easier time.

You might want a fish tape. It is a lot easier to push a steel fish tape through a wall/ceiling/floor -- you can't exactly push floppy cables.

You'll need something to secure the cable in places too, especially if you're not running it in the walls. I use coaxial "staples" that are fit the network cables well (pic below). They use a single nail and a plastic piece holds the cable down. Don't miss with the hammer because you can ruin the cable. These nail-in types work well in wood and drywall. You'll need something a little different if you're going into masonry. Oops, just re-read your post and see that you've already got this covered. Well, maybe somebody else will find it useful.

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dlaflamm - great, thanks!!! I actually took off work on Friday, so I am hoping to get this done then. I will report back if I run into any problems. Once again, thanks everyone.

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Cheers,
Damian

DIY WHS - 12.5TB and growing, too many gadgets to list

Did you read the MediaSmartServer blog today?
Blog - http://www.adigitalhomeblog.com
"Like a midget at a urinal, stay on your toes!" - Lieutenant Frank Drebin

Another option is to pop off the baseboard (or crown molding) and run the cable behind it. You can go to the trouble of cutting the drywall and drilling holes in the studs or just create a enough of a groove in the drywall to allow the baseboard to fit flush to the wall. The backside of most baseboard has a slight indentation but probably not deep enough for the cable especially CAT6. If you go this route make sure you know where to nail when reinstalling the baseboard. A nail through the cable won't be "helpful". I ran cable behind the crown molding in my office to reach one outlet and it worked great. I wish I would have used CAT6 but didn't even think about it at the time. Now I have to find the energy to redo it.

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The good thing right now is there is no crown molding in the basement. That is why I plan on running the main line along the ceiling/wall corner. I got the Cat6 in white so it should pretty much blend in with the wall color for the time being, and then down the road I can cover up with molding. The big cable run will be a little less then 100ft, I will be running from one end of the basement where the utility closet is to the other end, and then drilling up directly to the room above where my network wall plate is. The other cable run should be easier, as I am running the Cat6 into the tv room in the basement which is right next to the Utility closet. I will try and take some pics and post

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Cheers,
Damian

DIY WHS - 12.5TB and growing, too many gadgets to list

Did you read the MediaSmartServer blog today?
Blog - http://www.adigitalhomeblog.com
"Like a midget at a urinal, stay on your toes!" - Lieutenant Frank Drebin

From your descriptions, you'll have no trouble with these runs. I had two more thoughts after posting last night.
If you're running cable near an electrical cable, don't bundle a network cable with it -- I read somewhere this can create interference and cause network performance problems. I have crossed over power cables with no trouble, but I do try to leave slack. I suspect it takes more than a perpendicular crossing to interfere -- probably a parallel bundling would be problematic. I don't know for sure and prefer not to find out the hard way.
Also, if you have a place to tuck it away, you might want to leave an extra loop of cable on each end. If you have to re-crimp or something it is much easier when you have some slack to work with.
Good luck!

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What is this punch down tool for that I keep reading about that needs to be used with the Keystone Jack?

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Damian

DIY WHS - 12.5TB and growing, too many gadgets to list

Did you read the MediaSmartServer blog today?
Blog - http://www.adigitalhomeblog.com
"Like a midget at a urinal, stay on your toes!" - Lieutenant Frank Drebin

Its used for punching the wires into the receptors.

Check this out, might explain it better. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHy8mtW9eak

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Brilliant, so looks like I will need one to get the wires in, will add to my order.

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Cheers,
Damian

DIY WHS - 12.5TB and growing, too many gadgets to list

Did you read the MediaSmartServer blog today?
Blog - http://www.adigitalhomeblog.com
"Like a midget at a urinal, stay on your toes!" - Lieutenant Frank Drebin

The outlets I used are from Que (purchased at either Lowes or Home Depot, I don't remember) and each package included a little plastic punch down tool. I wasn't using CAT6 so I'm not sure if that matters.

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Something else I think you should consider is running two cables to each outlet. You never know when you'll need an extra even if it's only temporary. It's only an incremental cost/effort but IMO well worth it. You don't have to plug each cable into a router until you need it so if you don't have extra ports on your router/switch just let the cables lie until you need them.

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The ones I ordered from Monoprice, as well as ones I've bought from HomeDepot/Lowes are the same, no need to purchase a punchdown tool.

And I agree, err on the side of too many wires, otherwise you'll have to buy a switch to put there if you want to expand connectivity.

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Alright, so deep breath, one line run and certified!!! Since this was my first time doing I took a little extra time this morning before I started, watched a few youtube videos and did some reading online. I just did the run from the utility closet to the tv room. Running the wiring was pretty easy, I just took out the wall plate in the tv room where the cable line was, and snaked the Cat6 through there. A bedroom closet was directly behind the tv room, so the wire went through there to the utility closet. Here is where things got interesting. It was pretty easy to intall the Keystone Jack but I ended up having to do a few times. One time I realized the cable stripper cut through one of the pairs. Also, the Keystone Jack gives you the option to install under T568A or T568B (I think it is just a matter of how you align the green and orange wires). Well, I installed under the T568A settings, but after reading online I read the T568B was the common choice, so I went and switched it.

This is where it got interesting. After getting the Keystone Jack set up I moved on to the RJ45 plug. I installed it and used the pair tester, only to get the red light indicating a reversal for all pairs . I reread the layout of the pins to make sure I had aligned correctly, chopped off the RJ45 plug, and started again. I attached a new RJ45 plug, ran the pair tester, and again all red lights. At this point I actually started to write a desperation post on this thread for help, but decided to take a deep breath and give it one more try. I had a print out from a website (http://www.lanshack.com/cat5e-tutorial.aspx) that had the pin layout for the RJ45 that I was going by but thought what the heck, let me confirm. I checked out wiki and a few other websites only to find out that the pin layout from the website I was using was backwards . This explained the red lights on the pair tester. I set up a new RJ45 the correct way and two minutes later all green lights . I am too exhausted to run the second wire, so I will hopefully do that tomorrow. For now I just have a piece of tiramisu with my name on it...

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Cheers,
Damian

DIY WHS - 12.5TB and growing, too many gadgets to list

Did you read the MediaSmartServer blog today?
Blog - http://www.adigitalhomeblog.com
"Like a midget at a urinal, stay on your toes!" - Lieutenant Frank Drebin