Wired networking in an apartment

[pentium]

I'm moving at the end of the month to another place (two level duplex that was originally a single house) and I'll have to rebuild the network again. Goal is to supply a single line to all three bedrooms as well as two lines to the living room.
The old palce has carpet so I could tuck it under the edges but the new palces has hardwood all over the house with the exception fo the kitchen which is linoleum. Apparently the past tennants (the ones before the ones that are moving out) ripped the place apart before they left (and didn't pay several months worth of rent) and the landlord spent several grand repairing the walls and everything so drillign holes to run cable through the walls or ceiling is absolutely out of the question. All I can think of doing is using velcro or those plastic mounts with the sticky pads that let you put a zip tie through them and secure a bundle of cables.
Might anyone else have any better ideas?

[Mad_Professor]

Re: Wired networking in an apartment

This depends on how fast you want your local lan to be, are you doing mass file transfer to other computers across your lan, gigabit might be good for that or are you pc/console gamer and general user of the internet? 100mbit wired works here also powerline networking works too. If you're just a general user then what's the problem with wifi?

Unless you already got the cat 5e/6 cables the only way to keep them out of sight is to mount them near the base board and follow door edges and window sills closely. Tap a nail into baseboard/sill/edge but leave enough so you can lay the cable then wrap the nail over it. This can be done by bending the head of the nail towards the wall this will retain the cable. You could also get that plastic strip housings with termination boxes like you see in portables at school or cinder built construction for fire alarms and data.

Powerline networking might be a good solution if you want a solid connection but no wires runninng about. I would buy a set to test to make sure it works well on the current electrical in the new duplex.

You could get one for your router then one for the living room and share that by a small switch and then put one in each bedroom. The powerline networking can sync up to 16 other powerline devices.

Modem > router > powerline > switch/device

If the living room is down stairs and bedrooms are upstairs but close together you could get away with buying 3 powerline device, one for router, one for LV and one for the bedrooms which is then connected to switch and from there actual cat 5e/6.

or put your modem/router in the LV room then connect the powerline device and buy 3 more for the bedrooms.

It's kind of hard for me to design a good network without knowing the layout of the duplex.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...E&PageSize=100

list of powerline devices, there a bit expensive but see this as an investment, because you can simply unplug and go. If you need to rearrange a room, you can simply unplug from one outlet and plug it on the other side.

If you move again, simply unplug and move.

I hope this give you some ideas.

[Mad_Professor]

Re: Wired networking in an apartment

Also if you do go the method of running it near the baseboard and come across a doorway that cross into room you need to wire up. Send the cable to the floor then pull it towards the door frame, make the cable lay flush to the floor but make sure the door sits on top of it, don't put it in the frame or hinged section known as a door jam. If this not possible, the door sits to close to the floor or you have a T-molding, then you could try running it through A/C duct work, you will need to change to plenum cable if you do that, this assume you have metal/insulated ducts not the flex tubing kind. Otherwise force it into the door jam and take the risk of damaged cable or fried NICs.

when you move again, and you need to rip it up, you can remove it and patch the holes with wood putty and sand a bit, but when I've done this, it barely leaves hole noticeable.

Also be-careful you can pop or break a baseboard off if you hit it hard enough, generally I tap-tap-tap it in.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Wired networking in an apartment

I have run through vent ducts before by cutting the pictured spacer out of 3/8"-1/2" plywood.
Remove the vent grill.
Run cable.
Install grill with spacer under it [and cable through the gap] using longer screws.

[japlytic]

Re: Wired networking in an apartment

Powerline networking can be a bit tricky, and in most cases, each room has is independently metered.
I believe that energy meters would stop powerline networking signals from going beyond the metered room and therefore, would reduce interference for other rooms.

[Mad_Professor]

Re: Wired networking in an apartment

When you mean metered, you mean the termination of the service feed? I can't see why they would want to individually meter every room in the duplex, that doesn't make sense. It terminates at a transformer due to the windings causing inductance, problem is transformers are usually mounted on a pole or in a box underground depending on where you live. Powerline networking doesn't have that kind of reach, by the time it gets to the first pole the signal is degraded 50%.

I think you're confusing Broadband over Powerlines with Powerline networking.

What powerline networking is, in a nutshell it's essentially encrypted wifi being sent over your copper wires in your home. Powerline networking sends the signal over the neutral line because they are all tied to the bus bar in the subpanel or main load center. Usually the neutral is not impeded making it ideal for networking. The quality of your wiring is a big influence on how well the devices perform. Should there be a loose neutral somewhere or it's not tighten down in the panel could cause the signal to degrade causing the performance of the device to be subpar, not to mention the electrical interference could play a factor in it.

I still think powerline networking is a good solution, but actual wired copper based networks are superior to anything else like wifi or powerline networks.

[pentium]

Re: Wired networking in an apartment

I'm already wired for gigabit. There's a 16 port that chills out with the modem and router and another 8 port gigabit switch in my room.
Can't really do stuff in the vents. There are tennants downstairs and if the city housing inspectors see that, we are liable for a crap ton of fines (you are not allowed to run cables through vents as they pose a fire/smoke hazard, regardless of what they are carrying). We also can't go downstairs.
Also, I'm really iffy about nailing or screwing stuff into the walls as the landlord is still on edge after spending thousands to repair the place the last time.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Wired networking in an apartment

Obviously I haven't seen the layout so I dunno what downstairs has to do with it.
I'll press the "I believe" button on that one..

(you are not allowed to run cables through vents as they pose a fire/smoke hazard, regardless of what they are carrying).

Well that's just stupid. - Whoever made that law/rule is a moron.
Aren't running power, they aren't going to cause a fire.
-
If they going to smoke it's because the place is burning down -from something- else and they're going to smoke no matter where they are.
In fact if anything being in the vent duct would delay that from happening...
-

[ratdude747]

Re: Wired networking in an apartment

Well that's just stupid. - Whoever made that law/rule is a moron.
Aren't running power, they aren't going to cause a fire.
-
If they going to smoke it's because the place is burning down -from something- else and they're going to smoke no matter where they are.
In fact if anything being in the vent duct would delay that from happening...
-

i disagree. remember that ducts are metal. the edges are sharp. what happens if a mouse chewed it and wire hit duct? short city!

i would never run wires in a duct. too much potential for problems.

[Mad_Professor]

Re: Wired networking in an apartment

I figured inspections would be a problem. You can still run them just as long as you keep a label around from the box or a receipt to show proof that you bought plenum utp cables.

It's better not to run them and save you and your landlord a ton of fines.

But since you are iffy about doing nailing then powerline networking and wifi is your only other options. Newegg has acouple of 500mbps adapters for use too but they are generally more expensive.

The lazy way would be f*ck it, lay them on the hardwood floors and cover them with thick rugs. Maybe buy those cord protectors used to protect extension cords. They are typically black and made of rubber and you push the cord into the middle which are then held in by the lips. It will leave a hump in the rug, but it's better than nothing.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Wired networking in an apartment

i disagree.

Of course you would.
You don't have significant worldly experience and an "I can't" attitude.

If you have rodents in the [metal] vent ducts eating wires then you'll have them in the [wood] walls eating wires too.
[And the place is already a FAR bigger health hazard than running CAT cable through a vent.]
For that matter they'd hit the wires running along the base-boards or on the back of the PC long before either one of the above.

Sharp edges inside an assembled duct are no more an issue than sharp edges inside a conduit run.

Network cables don't carry enough voltage or current to cause a fire.
If they tried the NIC would go before the wire did.

Much more likely to cause a fire with the 5v in a USB or PS/2 cable than with CAT.
It's a no-brainier to figure that out.
- And we all know how common that is....

The potential for problems [other than political] is Nill, Nada, ZIP.
.

[ratdude747]

Re: Wired networking in an apartment

Oh you're right.
The duct tape catches on fire all the time!

from experience, i know that that means nothing.

here's how:

In a shop class a few years back, I used a rotational mold machine for plastic. it would rotate molds around while thermoset plastic cured to make what the mold dicteted. the molder were made from 2 pieces of aluminum. to seal them, the teacher had me use duct tape. this molding machine was hot enough to cure the plastic powder and melt most plastics... the duct tape was softened, but not melted or burned.

if your cable came close enough to the furnace and it was a cold enough day, then I would expect to see some heat damage...

by the way, i was referring to the sharp edges on the vents you were running the wire into... nasty pressure points there!

remember there is a difference between "can do" and "should do." I am not a "can't do" person, I just consider risk before i do things... I am not a gambler.

[NxB]

Re: Wired networking in an apartment

The only thing I can see happening to the CAT5 is it getting dry and brittle from the heat. Does your drywall catch on fire? Its right at the duct opening.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Wired networking in an apartment

HEY!!
That cell phone is goona cause the gas pump to explode too!!
-
Some politician made a law so it MUST be true!!!
.

[Scenic]

Re: Wired networking in an apartment

seems like ratdude didn't quite get pcbonez' irony/sarcasm.. (?)

[skystormfarms]

Re: Wired networking in an apartment

Scenic is right

[smason]

Re: Wired networking in an apartment

Well that's just stupid. - Whoever made that law/rule is a moron.
Aren't running power, they aren't going to cause a fire.
-

It's not that it can cause a fire, it's that if it burns IN a fire, and it's not plenum-rated cable, it can give off very toxic gas.
And can actually spread a fire that would otherwise be isolated by non-combustible material.

We have to use plenum-rated cable for runs in the drop ceilings of office buildings, because the space above the ceiling tiles is considered a plenum.

That said, I have a few runs of cat 6 in my cold air return. (plenum rated, but might still be against code)

[Pyr0Beast]

Re: Wired networking in an apartment

You can check how the cable would react to heat by lighting it up with a lighter. If it extinguishes itself it would be good to go.

Voltages in LAN networking are not high and powers are low. Not much of a fire risk anyway.

[skystormfarms]

Re: Wired networking in an apartment

You can check how the cable would react to heat buy lighting it up with a lighter. If it extinguishes itself it would be good to go..

thats more dangerus than running a cpu w/o a heatsink

[Pyr0Beast]

Re: Wired networking in an apartment

As in a way - you might get burned ?