Need for whole home Ethernet?

[mlg321]

I have a new project I'm working on and I'm pondering whether Ethernet to each room is needed. We are doing ceiling cat6 drops for WiFi access points and I'm trying to justify running cat6 to wall jacks for each room. There are only laptops going to be used and most of them don't even have Ethernet ports in addition to mobile devices. The only reason I can think of is future VOIP phones or possibly a printer that is not WiFi capable. Thoughts?

 

[System Error Message]

Although devices are moving towards mobile but ethernet ports are still the best for low latency and bandwidth intensive applications. Less things go wrong on ethernet than they do on wifi and while thin laptops may not have ethernet they usually have a usb/thunderbolt adapter. Even phones can have ethernet via MHL. Having ethernet does work as a good backup option if wifi fails.

What exactly do you do? If its a hotel service, ethernet could be used with IPTV, projectors, etc. A lot of places will wire 2 ethernet ports per room

 

[Easy Limits]

I put CAT5e and ethernet jacks in every room of my house 10 years ago before the sheet rock went up. To this day, I think to myself that was one of the smartest things I ever did.

 

[sfx2000]

I put CAT5e and ethernet jacks in every room of my house 10 years ago before the sheet rock went up. To this day, I think to myself that was one of the smartest things I ever did.

Had a friend do something similar recently with a new house build - no regrets for him..

Just a tip - drop two cables into the box - just in case... and since the cable is already there, that can be used not only for ethernet, but also for PSTN - which can come in handy for a DSL plus Voice/Fax (e.g. Home Office perhaps).

 

[AdvHomeServer]

I have a new project I'm working on and I'm pondering whether Ethernet to each room is needed. We are doing ceiling cat6 drops for WiFi access points and I'm trying to justify running cat6 to wall jacks for each room. There are only laptops going to be used and most of them don't even have Ethernet ports in addition to mobile devices. The only reason I can think of is future VOIP phones or possibly a printer that is not WiFi capable. Thoughts?

Plan for the unknown as opposed to your views today. Especially if the costs to install are lower today than they will be down the road. I would put 2 drops of cat6 in all rooms, but on opposing walls so you can plug in without running wire across the room.

Wired is far more reliable than wireless and performance is better. Media should use wired whenever possible.

 

[coxhaus]

Wire is the way to go. You will probably end up with devices in rooms that don't really move around which would be better served using a LAN drop. Do you have kids or grandkids which play games? A LAN drop is much preferred. I would add some wire what ever is in your budge. If you have to cut maybe the guest room. If you have the money wire in every main room not the bathrooms.

 

[Cloud200]

Think of it this way,
If you want to run the cable now it will cost you roughly the same to wire the entire house vs adding in 1 or 2 runs later on.
You can use the lines for pretty much anything.
I have a few HDBaseT converters in my parents house. It allows placing all the cable boxes in a central location in the basement instead of by the TV.
Baby monitors can run over Ethernet and are far more reliable than when using WiFi.
Want to put a game console in a guest room? Be thankful that you ran cables direct. Lag and gaming is just painful.
There are even some thermostats that run over POE. I would much rather cut up one wall to dig out and re-use a cable than run through the entire house for something like that.

 

[sfx2000]

If you want to run the cable now it will cost you roughly the same to wire the entire house vs adding in 1 or 2 runs later on.

Esp. if one is working with a contractor - pulling cable is the major part of the cost, the materials are cheap relative to the labor...

 

[gatorback]

If you can run monofilament (fishing line) in addition to the cat 5, that allows you the option to pull another wire if needed.

 

[Cloud200]

If you can run monofilament (fishing line) in addition to the cat 5, that allows you the option to pull another wire if needed.

That's only true if you:
A. Already are running cable to that drop.
B. You ran the cable inside of conduit without too many bends.

 

[L&LD]

If you can run monofilament (fishing line) in addition to the cat 5, that allows you the option to pull another wire if needed.

That's only true if you:
A. Already are running cable to that drop.
B. You ran the cable inside of conduit without too many bends.

C. And you don't mind slicing up the wiring already there.

 

[Cloud200]

C. And you don't mind slicing up the wiring already there.

As an example of what pull string really looks like:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-6-500-ft-Pulling-Line-56110/100660172

Mono-filament wire will literally act like a razor blade on the current cables inside the conduit.

 

[sfx2000]

If you can run monofilament (fishing line) in addition to the cat 5, that allows you the option to pull another wire if needed.

Not a good idea - better to do the pulls the first time - I've seen people do this, and the second pull, like others mentioned, cut and caused more problems...

Pulls are mostly labor, not materials - so best to be like Noah and put in two...