I want a Ethernet wired network in my home but have no real idea what the best way to wire this is, are their any wired network for dummies books? Do you wire it like a ring main? Or send out separate wires to each box? How do you wire it all to your router?

Separate wires to each box.

In the olden days there was a thing called Token Ring network which was like a ring main, but you don’t want that.

You will need an ethernet punchdown tool to press the wires on the cable onto the connectors behind your wall sockets.

Well the difficut/expensive part will be routing ethernet cables under the floor or through walls and terminating them in neat sockets, preferably integrated with mains power sockets.

What is it you’re trying to achieve?

I once ran a cat 6 through an air brick up the outside of a house as it was just easier to do it that way to get full speed in an attic conversion.

Luckily I’m having the floor ripped up and the skirting so running wires shouldn’t be too much of a problem. I just want to run Ethernet to a couple of tv’s and I’ve got a Mac mini acting as a media server and a my cloud drive with all my music on. Currently I do it through powerline adaptors but just thought while I’ve got the opportunity to wire it properly I should take it.

So how do I run the cables from my router as I only have 4 Ethernet outs, I presume I run one cable to something that’ll then connect to all my boxes?

You need a “network switch”. Just buy one with as many ports as you need, and plug all of the cables into that, plus one cable to the router.

Simplest would be to buy ready made cables, of the right lengths for each room. Then just plug them into the computers etc. Would work fine, though not quite as neat as wall sockets.

Worth running a few extra cables, while you doing the work. You will probably want them for more devices in the future.

Yeh the cable itself is pretty cheap, cat5 should be fine but put cat 6 in for future proofing.

If you’ve already got the floors up, put the cable in, you don’t need to terminate it properly but it’ll be there if you need it in future.

CAT5e is plenty future proof. CAT6 is pointless for a home install, it’s more expensive, difficult to work with and has to meet all manner of criteria to be actually a CAT6 installation rather than a CAT5 network with posh wires.

Do you actually need a wired home network? If you’re often transferring large files between rooms then there’s a benefit, if you’re merely sharing an Internet connection I’d go Wi-Fi.

Wifi for slinging HD and 4k movie content about?. My tin foil hat is getting hot.
Ethernet all the way.

If you have HD going around then great, it’s good for a lot of shared usage too.
WiFi tends to fall down when too many people are doing too much around the network. I prefer wired but with the likes of NetFlix and Amazon Prime WiFi is doing very well.

Though still if I was doing it a solid 8 port switch and cables run around would be nice. Again CAT5 is all you need https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2013/04/ask-lh-whats-the-difference-between-cat5-cat5e-and-cat6-cables/
Once you get over 100Mbit other things are likely to be slowing you down and it’s still damm fast.

It’s a good idea when you have the access.

I wouldn’t go nuts but worth having where you put fixed things like TV, desktop computer, etc. I’d also be planning for better wifi – at the very least getting an access point towards the middle of the house, maybe more if it’s a bigger house or the construction means poor signal. The faster wifi standards don’t penetrate walls and floors so well so ideally you want to be fairly close. Get cables to a few points in the ceilings so you can put an access point there later.

Get cables to a few points in the ceilings so you can put an access point there later.

If you are doing this, I’d also recommend getting a Power over Ethernet switch as well, ‘good’ access points can be powered via the network cable and it makes installs a lot neater as you don’t need a power socket close to your wifi access point, which can be a pain if it’s on the ceiling! While these access points come with their own power injectors usually, it saves another thing to plug in and wiring mess.

I’d also recommend picking a cubby hole somewhere (cupboard / loft / under the stairs etc) to act as the central point for all of your kit – somewhere that you can run all of your cables back to, put your switch etc. I’d have a pair of cables going from there to wherever your internet router is, and a pair going to each room where you want sockets. This gives you some future expansion and a back up in case something goes wrong with one of the cables.

I’d probably put cable drops to every room if I had the chance – even if you don’t plan on having them all connected up to start with, you always have the option for the future, and it’s pretty likely that more and more devices will need connections in the future.

Guess it depends what your long term plan is. We have 4* cat5e and twin coax to each major room / location to support AV traffic. We also have some locations set up for ubiquity access points so we should have a strong structured and wireless network without contention. All runs back to a couple of comms cabinets that hold the various home automation server, broadband, heatmiset hub etc and a big PoE switch

Ethernet every time cat 6 is faster, i was surprised how much faster. Just need to be careful when installing no tight bends etc and a network switch with Poe
2 cables to each point also good idea
Network switch doesn’t have to have every output Poe but make sure it’s gigabit
Net gear I find quite reliable

TBH cat 5e is probably enough. It’s gigabit so unless you need to be streaming 4K tv or more it’s fine

Streaming 4K needs about ~20Mbps, say 30 to be on the safe side. You could shove three of those down one 10/100 connection before you need to worry about Gigabit. A good Wi-Fi router would handle it even (my Sky Hub craps out about about 20Mbps so is on the edge of being capable, but I have no need for 4K). A fast Virgin cable connection is going to be around 100Mbps, even if you factor in a 10x increase for future proofing you’re still in the realms of CAT5e Gigabit Ethernet.

If you’re installing CAT6 in a home network, you either live in a machine plant or need your bumps feeling.

If you’re installing CAT6 in a home network, you either live in a machine plant or need your bumps feeling

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