Installing Ethernet network interface cards (NICs) provides only half of the connections needed for computer-to-computer communication on your home network. Now you need to let the NICs communicate with each other. You accomplish this connection via Ethernet cable.
The permutations and combinations of your cable runs depend on the physical layout of your home, of course. The ideal way to run cable in your home is to find a way to lay the cable in a straight line between the concentrator and each computer on the network. Sounds easy, doesn't it? Good luck! The opening through which you wind and wend the cable is called a chase. The chase may be inside a wall, in a hollow space above the ceiling, along the baseboards of a room, or in a combination of these opportunities. If you're lucky, you can find a straight-line chase between the concentrator and each computer.
Cabling within a room
If you put the concentrator in the same room as one of the computers (or if all the computers on your network are in the same room), you don't need to drill holes in walls or floors. Put the concentrator next to one computer. Connect the closest computer to the concentrator with a short length of cable. Then run a longer piece of cable from the concentrator to the other computer(s). Run the cable along the baseboard, not across the floor.
Cabling between adjacent rooms
Cabling your network is easy if your computers are located in adjacent rooms on the same floor because you only have to drill one hole between the rooms. Put the concentrator in one room, and run one length of cable between the concentrator and the computer. Run another section of cable through the wall to the computer in the other room. You need to drill only one hole, as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Cabling between two adjacent rooms requires one drilled opening.
Cabling between nonadjacent rooms on the same floor
If your computers are on the same floor but aren't in adjacent rooms, you need to do a bit more work. The most direct and efficient cabling route is a chase along your home's beams. Most houses have beams between floors that run straight through the house, either from front to back, side to side, or both. You can usually expect a clear chase from one end to the other.
The logical way to access the chase is to drill a hole in the ceiling or floor (depending on whether the chase is above or below the level you're working on).
If you're reluctant to drill holes in the ceiling because the blemish would bother you (even if you paint the cable to match the wall) then use closets or walls to get to the chase.
Keeping your drill holes in the closet
Wiring through closets is a great way to hide the side effects of cabling. If you have a closet in every room that holds a computer, you're in great shape. It's less important to clean up the hole and touch up the paint when you work in a closet, unless you're some kind of decorating fanatic. If every room doesn't have a closet, don't worry — you can still confine the cabling to the corners of the room.
Drill a hole in the closet ceiling or floor of each room that holds a computer (one room also holds the concentrator). Choose between the ceiling or the floor, depending on the location of the chase.
Bring the cable through the chase to each computer. You can use a fish (a tool specially designed for fishing cable that is sold in hardware stores) or a coat hanger you've untwisted (the hook at the end grabs the cable).
Of course, a portion of the cable has to run between the closet and the computer or concentrator. If you have enough clearance under the closet door, run the cable under the door and then attach it to the baseboard with U-shaped staples as it moves toward the computers. If you have no clearance under the closet door, drill a hole in the bottom of the doorjamb to bring the cable into the room.
Cable that's all walled up
For any room that lacks a closet, bring the cable into the room from the chase at a corner. If the cable enters the room through the ceiling from the chase above, bring the cable down the seam of the walls that create the corner (and paint the cable to match the wall). Then run the cable along the baseboard to the computer. If the cable enters the room through the floor from the chase below, run the cable along the baseboard to the computer.
 | Here are a couple of other schemes to consider if all your computers are on the same floor. |
- If your computers are on the second floor, run the cable across the attic floor (or crawlspace above the second floor). Then you can drop the cable down a corner to each computer.
- If your computers are on the first floor, run the cable across the basement ceiling (or crawlspace). Then you can snake the cable up to each computer.
Cabling between floors
If your computers are on different floors, you have more work to do. You need additional cable because your cable length measurement must include the height of the room in addition to the horizontal length required to reach the computer. Here are some tips on what to do if you have a multilevel home network on your hands.
- Basement/second-floor room arrangement: If you have one computer in the basement and another on the second floor, you need sufficient cable length to make the trip to the concentrator. Putting the concentrator on the first floor instead of next to one computer may be easier because you may have a problem finding cable that's long enough to span from the basement to the second floor.
- Stacked room arrangement: If the rooms are stacked one above the other, you can run the cable through the inside of the walls, near a corner. Use openings around accessible radiators and pipes, and use stacked closets when you can. If the stacked rooms occupy three levels, put the concentrator in the middle level. If you're moving between two floors, put the concentrator on either floor.
- Kitty-corner room arrangement: If the rooms are on opposite ends of the house, in addition to being on different floors (as far away from each other as humanly possible), you have to use both walls (or closets) and ceilings. For the vertical runs, use any openings around pipes that are available (houses with radiators usually have lots of space next to pipe runs.) If no pipes are available, use the inside of the wall. For the horizontal runs, find a chase above or below the room.
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