I need to run an ethernet cable from my basement to my room upstairs. Any suggestions on how to do this? Should I go through the walls, or just through the floor? Should I just drill holes? How do I make sure I'm not drilling a electrical cable? Any other ideas? TIA

Go wireless ;)

I'd just drill a hole in the floor (one little hole next to the floorboard) if you're talking just one floor. For two floors, run it up under the stairs.

wireless sounds good to me

(plus it will make it easier for the feds to snoop on you)

screw the feds,


go wireless!

think about this


wireless + laptop

=

posting on AR15.com while taking a shit
(what i'm doing right this second)

woo hoo!

wireless is not that great an idea, some people I know go around wardriving. I don't wish to explain it too much, but if you go for wireless, encrypt it to death.

Fishing between studs?  OK, how is he going to get through the subfloor?  A little lesson in construction, a level is built, subfloor is placed and walls set on top of that.  

Cut a hole in the drywall where you want your jack to go.  I do this where the cover plate will be touching the top edge of a base board.  If using surface mount phone jack style boxes, skip previous step.  Pry quarter round and base board loose from wall far enough to get drill bit down.  Using a Diversy bit or spade bit with extension, drill a 1/2 inch hole against the drywall through the floor, and subfloor.  Use a coathanger or piece of wire to fish the wire back up through the floor and connect to jack.  Reinstall baseboard and quarter round.  (A diversy bit is a 5 to 10 foot long drill bit.  It has a very thin shaft and the last 4 inches are actually the drill portion.  These bits are very expensive, so a spade bit will probably work best for you, unless you know an electrician, alarm installer or someone else [loke me] that happens to have one or more)


I have phone jacks and tv hookups in every room of my house.  One of the benefits to having had your own alarm company.  BTW, that includes the TV and phone in the bathroom.

What's to "explain" about war-driving? People drive around with wireless network cards installed on mobile computers, looking for unsecured networks. Sometimes accompanied by "war-chalking", leave chalk marks of success and hints for others, similar to the Gypsy runes of old. Only it's "Unsecured Network here! Cool stuff, root shareed, runs XP as admin" nowadays, instead of the old "Mean dog! Talk to housewife about work, scour money and smokes!"

Just secure your network: firewall, unusual names, off-the-beaten-path internal IP numbers, etc etc...

Wireless is the way to go.

go wireless and tell us where you live....

run the wire dude

OK, it's dirty, hot, messy, but a lot less patching than cuttin' a bunch of holes. (It's how I routed my hi-speed ISP coax and 18 pair bundled phone line cable to the 2nd floor)

1) Go into your attic, and find the pipe chase to the basement...it's usually near the bathroom, and is (usually) a big hole clear through from the basement to the attic (It has the vent stack (DWV) and water pipes running through it). This is the easy way to drop a rope to the basement.

2) Go to the basement, and atttach cable to rope. Make sure you tie off in the basement with enough (at least 1 1/4 distance) cable tp hit your connection point - nothing like pulling a wire and having it be short at the startin' end! [rolleyes]

3)Then, pull your cable up from the basement, and pull enough extra to stretch over to where you want to "drop" the cable in the wall.

4) find the "cap plate" for the target wall, and mark location - remember, studs (vertical framing members) are usually 16" on Center, so you've got a 14 1/2" cavity to play in.

5) mark route for cable from pipe chase to intended hole in cap.

5) drill hole in cap plate

6) drill holes in rafters (small ones only - too big and your house goes boom) - make sue they're at least 1 3/4" from the top or bottom to prevent accidental nail-throughs.

7) drop cable into hole (see note * below)

8) punch small hole in wall, where desired position of cable jack is.

9) fish for cable (this is the part that sucks - (* if you attach a plastic shopping bag to the end of the cable with electrical tape, you can (usually) find it easier with the fish tape, clothes hanger wire hook, etc. you're trying to grab it with.)

9) attach cable to jack after appropriate stripping of insulation and cussing over finding it in wall cavity.

10) plug in computer

11) log on to AR

12) Pop open beer

13) enjoy! [beer]

It is slightly more complicated than that but not really, I just don't want to go giving everyone the software and hardware to go do it with.

Or, go to the spot in the room where you want the wire to come out and fire down in to the basement with your AR.

i herby withdrawq my recomenndation for wireless and will instead recommend this plan


excellent thingking oslow

Easiest - If you have closets near enough you can just drill  and run in the closets.  

Next - You can get corner cable ducts that don't look too bad if closets aren't convenient.

Next - through the walls as above.  Can be messiest but the final job is probably the best.

Wireless - Friends of mine have wireless.  Both have encrypted the heck out of it just to keep people off their networks, let alone tap their data, or dump spam through their systems.  One when hooking up the first time got into two neighbors networks.  Did a little scouting trip and found 15 networks - 5 were unencrypted, and he got in, 8 were encrypted but not changed from the default off the shelf and he got in.  Only 2 had had any changes made to the encryption scheme. Drawbacks are cost, security, speed and changing technology.  If you do it all at once changing tech won't be a problem, adding stuff in a few years might be impossible.  Plus it is easiest.

Systems using existing electrical and phone lines are available.  Not inexpensive, not as fast as dedicated hardwiring, can sometimes have security holes depending on telco and powerco systems.  Next easisest to wireless.

I almost went with this route and wired my house with ethernet outlets.  Until I saw how much of a complete PITA it was going to be.  Then I went to the store and priced cables and outlets.  Finally I just said screw it, bought a $100 wireless router and $50 card for the laptop.

Good call.

Wireless is definitially the way to go.  It's amazingly convenient being able to take the laptop anywhere in the house, even outside on a pretty day.  Defenitially consider wireless.

Just be sure to turn on the built in encription and you'll be fine.  WAR-drivers are looking for fools who never bothered to turn on even the most basic of the security features.  

That is what I am doing right now.

Hmm, yeah I had thought about going wireless, but I didn't really want to spend the money. I know all about security, though. How well does the signal go through two floors?

Pussies.  Lay some cheap rags where you want the hole, fire a .45 or .44 through it.  Voila, instant hole.

Or do what I did, just drill thru.  Peel back the carpet and drill thru the underlayment.

Liberty,
 Don't know about your situation, but I priced out the cost of running cables from my basement (where my router was going) to the main floor and the second floor, along with ethernet outlets, one on each floor.  It was actually cheaper to just buy a wireless router and card.  

For desktops which don't move around, I still like wires, but for notebooks wireless is what you want to do.  My Linksys wireless router blasts through two 1930's era construction (i.e. seriously thick and stout) floors very reliably.

I normally use my laptop on a wireless router located in the downstairs office.
I get a very good connection anywhere downstairs but on my bed (located one floor up and 70'over)the connection sucks.
I don't have a booster and am not hip on them yet.
As far as running a line to the basement...Tango7 nailed it.
If that don't work out you will be cutting and patching drywall (at all plates and fire blocks), or you could use some of that plastic chase channel (preferably in closet space).

is war driving legal?

if not, shame on you

Too much info guys! [:O]