Wire my house with Ethernet? (using wireless now)

[Kdar]

Lately I was thinking to wire my house with Ethernet cables, have a Ethernet connectors on the wall in few rooms (where tv or computer are most often used).

Probably the speed and connection will be better, and maybe I can store my router and stuff somewhere in closet, far from view (maybe can store a server there someday, for different files).

Do you think it is good idea? I am using wireless router now, in the middle of my house.

[Easy Limits]

Yes, it is a good idea. We did this to our house when it was being built, before the sheet rock went up. We ran CAT 5 to every room.

Since your house is already finished you could run CAT 5 under the house.

[flyingsliverfin]

well... some (older) desktops dont have wireless capabilities. Like the one im using right now... (reason #1 to do it)
my house has ethernet cables, and its pretty fast. my mom likes to plug in instead of using wireless because where she works is almost out of the range of the router... (if you ever expand your house; reason #2)
personally i like using cables over wireless, but wireless can be far more portable :( we have a bunch of laptops in our house (sometimes up to 5) and a desktop all connected to the internet at once. the desktop (mine :D) uses a cable, and the laptops all use wireless. every1 else complains about speed. :D

[Kdar]

Yes, it is a good idea. We did this to our house when it was being built, before the sheet rock went up. We ran CAT 5 to every room.

Since your house is already finished you could run CAT 5 under the house.

I probably will do it though attic.
Do you know how far should the Ethernet cables be from AC wires?

Another reason I am thinking to do it, is that with plans to build HTPC, someday later, I want to be able to stream HD movies from a server. And I heard wireless could have a problem with this.

[Khakilang]

Definetly wire is better and more stable if done properly.

[kerry_s]

you might also want to look at ethernet over power, you won't need to run as much wire & it's movable. i use it for internet tv from upstairs to the living room downstairs, wifi barely reached there & never good enough for streaming.

http://www.netgear.com/Products/PowerlineNetworking/PowerlineEthernetAdapters/HDXB101.aspx

ps: it can work with a router to, so you can split 1 plug to 4. if you use another wireless router, you'll get 4 hard lines & another wireless access point.

[3rdalbum]

you might also want to look at ethernet over power, you won't need to run as much wire & it's movable. i use it for internet tv from upstairs to the living room downstairs, wifi barely reached there & never good enough for streaming.

http://www.netgear.com/Products/PowerlineNetworking/PowerlineEthernetAdapters/HDXB101.aspx

ps: it can work with a router to, so you can split 1 plug to 4.

Good idea in theory, but I've had terrible trouble with it in my house. I can't get 3 adapters to stay in sync; one or two will always drop out. I can't get a connection from one end of my house to the other end on Homeplug either.

It really depends on your electrical wiring, from what I've been told; so see if you can borrow some adapters from someone else before making this decision. Alternatively, wire your house with Cat 6 and you'll be okay.

[wsims2]

I just finished wiring 3 rooms in my house with cat5. The main purpose was to stream HD content from my server. Obviously file transfer is much faster, making backup quicker. It was a pain, but well worth it IMO.

[oldsoundguy]

I wired up with cat 5 and had rodent damage occur. So, I went wireless using plug in ISA cards in the desk tops. Work great. The new N systems are really fast! (but I have a super G .. works for me!)

There are 3 Linux machines, one xp machine and two PDA's all working on wireless mode!

[kerry_s]

Good idea in theory, but I've had terrible trouble with it in my house. I can't get 3 adapters to stay in sync; one or two will always drop out. I can't get a connection from one end of my house to the other end on Homeplug either.

It really depends on your electrical wiring, from what I've been told; so see if you can borrow some adapters from someone else before making this decision. Alternatively, wire your house with Cat 6 and you'll be okay.

very true, the house always plays a big part. ours is a 2 story town house, we have concrete block walls, which is why bad wireless at distance, our power lines seem to be very good though i have tried the adapter in every room with out problems. i currently only use 1 set just for the tv, i had 6 at 1 time for every system in the house, but gave the rest to my son to do his house cause the layout is hard to run wire.

[hobo14]

With 1 Gb/s broadband on the horizon, I'd go cat6 for future proofing if I were cabling my house.

I have no idea what it costs though...

[gsmanners]

CAT6 is the most widely available type of cable at this point. A nice 100 ft cable will run about $15 depending on where you shop.

Gb routers are on the horizon, and you might get lucky and find one about $100 if you keep your eye on Newegg and various other retailers. Well, the pricing is kind of up in the air on those at the moment.

[xpod]

I had our last property wired for Internet in most rooms by the time we moved but the WAF was just too much of an issue here at the new place.

[Tristam Green]

My house has Cat6 run through the walls acting as phone lines - they terminate to RJ45 female ports in the walls, with four lines being used in each port.

All I really need to do is to cut them off the phone box outside the house and rewire the pairs to a proper switch, and I'll be set :D