Comments on: How to Install an Ethernet Jack for a Home Network – Part 3

By: Bob Jackson

Bob Jackson — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:53:42 +0000

Riser cable is also known as "plenum" cable. Please see my answer dated April 1, 2010 at 6:36pm in the comments section to another reader's question on this topic. The short answer is you don't need plenum or riser rated cable for pulling cables through walls. Riser cable needed for it's fire-resistant properties when pulling cable within air conditioning ducts or plenum spaces.

By: Trey

Trey — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:58:40 +0000

Great tutorial!!! I am planning to run cat 5e cable at my house soon. I will be running cat 5 from the main floor down to a unfinished basement. My question is about the different type of Cat 5e cables. What is the difference between CM (in-wall rated) and CMR (riser rated)? I looked on monoprice and didn’t know which one to buy.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10233

Any help will be appreciated.

By: Bob Jackson

Bob Jackson — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:44:48 +0000

I’m running a “flat” LAN network – all devices are in the same subnet and no VLANs. If your switch is plugged into a LAN port on the WiFi router then you should be good. I assume you have a simple unmanaged switch. Check your router DHCP lease table to see if the switch devices are pulling an IP address. You could have a bad Cat5e cable, too. Use a standard Ethernet cable – a crossover cable will not work. Also check the Netgear Support Site.

By: Duane

Duane — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:59:10 +0000

Do you run multpiple computers on the same domain? I have a Netgear wireless router to a Netgear switch but can only see those computers that are hooked directly to the wireless router or using the wireless signal. Would this be a setting in the Netgear wireless router or does the wiring need to be some form of a cross over type?

Thanks

By: Bob Jackson

Bob Jackson — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 09:22:55 +0000

Plenum wire is needed when cable is run inside an air duct – a rare situation outside of commercial buildings where the entire crawlspace is the duct. Search the comments in this series for more details. Your situation where the cable simply crosses the air duct is fine with standard cable.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 01:54:28 +0000

Great article, i found it very helpful. I just ran 3, 60 foot runs of Cat5e frm my router to entertainment center by dropping wires from the main floor down to an unfinished basement. During the run, all three wires cross over 2 air ducts. I did not buy plenum wire. In this situation, do I need to use plenum wires and what is the risk if I just use regular Cat5e riser wire.

By: Isaac

Isaac — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 11:08:03 +0000

Ugh, I am so sick of the wifi in my room! My PC is brilliant but the wireless internet dongle completely lets it down. I wish you were my dad Bob.

By: Bob Jackson

Bob Jackson — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 13:53:14 +0000

Please see the explanation at the bottom of this page: “Are the connectors for category 5e and category 6 different? Why are they more expensive?“. If you’ve mixed Cat5 jacks with Cat6 wiring and want to ensure the full performance of a Cat6 network, remove the Cat5e jacks and punch down Cat6 jacks.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 18:08:53 +0000

Great review! I’m curious, is there a difference for Cat 5e and Cat 6 when selecting the keystone used? I want to run Cat 6 for future proofing but I don’t know if I need specific keystones. Thanks!

By: William V.

William V. — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:39:53 +0000

Thanks for the web site, Bob!
I am getting ready to run some cat 6 from my router to several rooms and this has helped me.
I ordered parts from http://www.monoprice.com
Again thank you for taking time to do this site!
regards,
William V.