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Re: Recommendations for pulling CAT6e wires in an existing home.. DIY or hire someone
Good stuff IPCamal has written here...thanks!
Good stuff IPCamal has written here...thanks!
Recommendations for pulling CAT6e wires in an existing home.. DIY or hire someone?
- Thread starter le0pard
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- cat6 cat6e ethernet pulling cables
Re: Recommendations for pulling CAT6e wires in an existing home.. DIY or hire someone
Running wiring isn't very hard to do especially if you are dealing with a one story house with an unfinished basement ceiling and/or attic access. You can save a lot of money doing it yourself and I always consider hard work to be a "character builder."
As a first-timer, I wired ~450ft to two outlets (7 cat6 total) for my family room and living room around 8 months ago and learned a lot about my house in the process.
Just yesterday, I installed another 200ft to an outlet in my office and around 80ft for a wireless access point in my ceiling. I believe it took around 5 hours due to it being my first time finding walls from above, drilling into header plates, etc.
Today, I ran another 150ft of cat6 to the soffit over my garage and installed my first IP camera. It took almost 2 hours total.
I still have my son's bedroom and my living room that need wired up. After that I'll be rewiring the electrical in 6 rooms to get rid of the old two-conductor, ungrounded wiring.
Definitely buy your wiring from Monoprice. I bought some from Home Depot the first time, but I got Monoprice the 2nd time around. I can tell a big difference in the quality. Both were solid--not stranded--but the Monoprice cat6 is thicker and stiffer.
If you decide to go at it alone, I'd be happy to answer any questions or give pointers.
Running wiring isn't very hard to do especially if you are dealing with a one story house with an unfinished basement ceiling and/or attic access. You can save a lot of money doing it yourself and I always consider hard work to be a "character builder."
As a first-timer, I wired ~450ft to two outlets (7 cat6 total) for my family room and living room around 8 months ago and learned a lot about my house in the process.
Just yesterday, I installed another 200ft to an outlet in my office and around 80ft for a wireless access point in my ceiling. I believe it took around 5 hours due to it being my first time finding walls from above, drilling into header plates, etc.
Today, I ran another 150ft of cat6 to the soffit over my garage and installed my first IP camera. It took almost 2 hours total.
I still have my son's bedroom and my living room that need wired up. After that I'll be rewiring the electrical in 6 rooms to get rid of the old two-conductor, ungrounded wiring.
Definitely buy your wiring from Monoprice. I bought some from Home Depot the first time, but I got Monoprice the 2nd time around. I can tell a big difference in the quality. Both were solid--not stranded--but the Monoprice cat6 is thicker and stiffer.
If you decide to go at it alone, I'd be happy to answer any questions or give pointers.
Re: Recommendations for pulling CAT6e wires in an existing home.. DIY or hire someone
Keep in mind that what home Depot and Lowe's sell is most likely copper-clad aluminum (CCA) wire. That will work fine for most data-only applications, but is NOT recommended for any current-carrying devices (PoE). Monoprice sells pure copper Ethernet, which is physically heavier, thicker, and designed to carry the current from distant loads like cameras.
That is not to say CCA won't work - it probably won't ever give you any trouble... But, if your going to install new cables which you know will be used for PoE devices, spend the little extra it costs for pure copper and do it right.
http://blog.showmecables.com/copper-clad-aluminum-vs-pure-copper-cables/
Keep in mind that what home Depot and Lowe's sell is most likely copper-clad aluminum (CCA) wire. That will work fine for most data-only applications, but is NOT recommended for any current-carrying devices (PoE). Monoprice sells pure copper Ethernet, which is physically heavier, thicker, and designed to carry the current from distant loads like cameras.
That is not to say CCA won't work - it probably won't ever give you any trouble... But, if your going to install new cables which you know will be used for PoE devices, spend the little extra it costs for pure copper and do it right.
http://blog.showmecables.com/copper-clad-aluminum-vs-pure-copper-cables/
Re: Recommendations for pulling CAT6e wires in an existing home.. DIY or hire someone
Looking at my old Coleman cat6 that I have, it looks like the only difference is that the Monoprice cat6 has a thicker sheathing.
I don't believe they are pushing out CCA--or at least not anymore. You'll definitely find a lot of CCA on the lower priced stuff on Amazon. I'd shy away from the box stores anyway unless you find a deal. There's no reason for paying $80 for 500-ft when you can buy 1000-ft for slightly more.
Looking at my old Coleman cat6 that I have, it looks like the only difference is that the Monoprice cat6 has a thicker sheathing.
I don't believe they are pushing out CCA--or at least not anymore. You'll definitely find a lot of CCA on the lower priced stuff on Amazon. I'd shy away from the box stores anyway unless you find a deal. There's no reason for paying $80 for 500-ft when you can buy 1000-ft for slightly more.
Re: Recommendations for pulling CAT6e wires in an existing home.. DIY or hire someone
UPDATE for those who care:
I never ended up paying anyone to run the cables. I already purchased 2000+ feet of CAT6 cable and the parts needed to run the cables myself. I spent between 4-6 hours in the attic one weekend and got 2 separate runs to different upstairs rooms in my house. Running the cables through the attic was extremely uncomfortable (had to be kneeling down or laying down and it was extremely hot up there). In addition to the blown insulation being a pain in general.
Also I dropped these lines in at the corner on the ceiling of the rooms for IP cameras, so no need to run them down the walls. And that in itself was extremely difficult due to the pitch of the roof (the space was so small, reaching all the way to the edge was no fun).
I stopped after these 2 runs and said I would hire someone else to do the rest, but have not done it yet. I am glad I tried to do it myself, but it was a lot more difficult (and uncomfortable) than I thought it might be just due to the cramped space in our attic.
I cant imagine having to do this to all of the locations I wanted to, perhaps someone who does this professionally would have better techniques or tools to make the job a lot easier, but I definitely have respect for people who can do an already finished house!
UPDATE for those who care:
I never ended up paying anyone to run the cables. I already purchased 2000+ feet of CAT6 cable and the parts needed to run the cables myself. I spent between 4-6 hours in the attic one weekend and got 2 separate runs to different upstairs rooms in my house. Running the cables through the attic was extremely uncomfortable (had to be kneeling down or laying down and it was extremely hot up there). In addition to the blown insulation being a pain in general.
Also I dropped these lines in at the corner on the ceiling of the rooms for IP cameras, so no need to run them down the walls. And that in itself was extremely difficult due to the pitch of the roof (the space was so small, reaching all the way to the edge was no fun).
I stopped after these 2 runs and said I would hire someone else to do the rest, but have not done it yet. I am glad I tried to do it myself, but it was a lot more difficult (and uncomfortable) than I thought it might be just due to the cramped space in our attic.
I cant imagine having to do this to all of the locations I wanted to, perhaps someone who does this professionally would have better techniques or tools to make the job a lot easier, but I definitely have respect for people who can do an already finished house!
Re: Recommendations for pulling CAT6e wires in an existing home.. DIY or hire someone
Yep fish rods and fish tape make world's of difference.
bababouy
Known around here
Re: Recommendations for pulling CAT6e wires in an existing home.. DIY or hire someone
Would that happen to be the Greenlee FP24 by any chance?
Re: Recommendations for pulling CAT6e wires in an existing home.. DIY or hire someone
Or one of these?
http://www.cableorganizer.com/fiberglass-rod/telescoping-pole.htm
Or one of these?
http://www.cableorganizer.com/fiberglass-rod/telescoping-pole.htm
Hey everyone, I am new here and been reading the wiki to learn about my options and plan for my setup. In evaluating the DIY or Pay-a-Pro method, I have source a couple quotes. This quote look reasonable? I am in a 3400 sq ft 2 story home. Box is on main floor with all connections in master bathroom closet. All rooms are wired with cat5e but some rooms are terminated with just phone jack. Most rooms also have coax. Looking to place 6 cameras around the house and one near the front door.
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fenderman
Staff member
- Mar 9, 2014
- 36,892
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150 per drop is reasonable (in wall). There is no reason to run coax for cameras so unless you have another reason for it, drop it.
Thanks for the feedback Fenderman (yes in wall for 150 each). Went ahead and purchased Blue Iris through you guys (thanks for the $10 discount!). Now I just need to figure out actual cameras. I went ahead and snagged a La View ( Hikvision OEM ) 1080P Video Doorbell WiFi IP Camera deal that Matt posted recently for $70 as I wanna test that out. But I would like to add some quality cams around the house for daytime and nighttime coverage. I understand location and use will vary for all cameras and there really isn't a one cam fits all suit, but I was intrigued by another La View product: LV-PTK66802 (https://www.laviewsecurity.com/files/datasheet/LV-PTK66802.pdf) - any of you guys have experience with it? This vs say a beloved starlight cam?
fenderman
Staff member
- Mar 9, 2014
- 36,892
- 21,408
it will not perform well at night..if you want to stick to hik look at the hikvision low light thread and some of my posts about the new hikvision cameras coming out with low light sensors.
Thanks. Any reason to be OEM loyal in your view? IE: just mix the best blend of cams that suit my needs with Blue Iris and my own Windows NAS, regardless of OEM since im not locking myself into a specific NVR.
fenderman
Staff member
- Mar 9, 2014
- 36,892
- 21,408