How i Installed Network Sockets in an Old House | No More Wifi 

If you ever need to replace that cable, you'll have to re-chase that area, so a super easy solution is to put a plastic pipe or box in the chase and feed the cables through it. That way, after you've repaired the chase, if you ever need to replace those cables you can attach the new ethernet cable to the old one and simply pull it through, saving you from having to rechase the wall in the future.

A few things I would consider: - Use the highest spec Ethernet cable you can afford now, it will save you from having to replace a cheaper one when it will no longer be able to keep up with the evolving standards - Use cable conduits whenever possible - Use cable rated for in-wall installation. Abrasion and fire resistant, zero smoke, zero halon etc. It might save you & your family - Avoid routing the cable where it could get in contact with water. Water and electricity (even low voltage) are not good bed fellows - Install 1-2 extra cables on the same route, even if not required or connected for now, you'll thank yourself later - Be careful with the bend radius, do NOT bend the Ethernet cables in sharp 90 degrees (or more) corners, make them as round as possible, at least a few centimeters radius. At the frequencies these cables operate with, sharp bends will affect the EM waves and will unnecessarily degrade your signal - Lay the cables in a "hub & spoke" pattern (i.e. point to point connections from your router or switch to wherever your to-be-connected devices are), do NOT think you can "daisy-chain" them - For anything more complicated than just a few connections, consider installing an Ethernet patch panel, it will make your life easier - Like somebody else wrote, try to keep Ethernet cables separate from power lines. Consider PoE as an alternative for low power devices (e.g. cameras, routers, switches etc.) - Absolutely test them (even with the cheap 10 pounds tester) before completing the installation & wall repair.

I've never been so thankful for drywall...lol I did this in my house but was lucky to be able to run it from a closet upstairs in my office that fed down to the ceiling of the basement then follow plumbing back up to the main floor. A second line went up to the attic and connected to a switch that ran to all devices like a Roku in both bedrooms. Took me a couple of hours with almost no mess to repair. It is so much better than having to count on Wifi (and much more secure)

Great video, very informative, i recently fitted a security light thanks to the help of your channel , i plan to change a single electric socket to a double socket next thanks to your videos, which are very helpful, to people who know what they want to do , but not absolutely sure how to do it themselves, your videos are a great help

CAT6a CAN carry higher speeds, for example if you were to kit out your house for 2.5Gb networking. CAT5e & CAT6a both more than capable of full Gigabit speeds. We tend to run CAT6a anyway nowadays as the cost increase on the cable reels is minimal at the scale we do this. CAT6a is also shielded and has more twists per foot which helps mitigate interference and cross-talk between the wire pairs. Love your videos as always, gives us DIY-ers confidence to do it ourselves!

Like from me. So good to see someone who is working with solid walls rather than Americans with plasterboarded walls.

Thank you for posting this, i live in a period property and wasn’t sure of the best way how to route my cables, this has been invaluable mate! Cheers

Blimmey, clear concise informative video. No waffle / blah blah or drama. Well made, makes me want to watch other videos by you even if I have little interest in doing the work. Thanks and well done 🙂👍

Avoid blow-out when drilling through the walls by reverting to drill from hammer action before drilling through. Avoid blowing the plaster from around the back-box outline by drilling further in from the outer square or initially use a smaller bit for better results. Score around the inner square with something sharp!

Great content - one piece of advice from me, never run just 1 cable. Always 2. The back box isn’t any bigger, the effort is pretty much the same, yes the cable cost is more but that’s negligible for the effort, but crucially if one of those cables is damaged, you’ll be thankful you ran the other. Where you will have one device plug in, there’s generally a good chance there’ll be 2. Eg tv + media box, desktop computer + printer etc

In older houses like this that have solid brick walls, if they still have the original plaster on the walls, you'll usually find that you can dig quite deep directly into the inner corners of the room and a single cable will fit there, sometimes there is space for 2. This also means you can route the cable along the ceiling edge, and down the inner of a wall leaving you with minimal chasing out. It's not the best way to do it, but sometimes it does help things along.

Good video about the practicalities of running the cable (the hard bit). Making terminations is the easy part! for any more than a couple of sockets I would start thinking about running the cables into a patch panel and putting up a network cabinet somewhere out of the way. That way you can hide everything neatly away behind lock and key.

I totally get why you didn’t cover it because it’s overkill for most.. but a much better way of doing this is run ALL the CAT cable back to a central point and install a patch bay and network switch. Then you can have point to point network anywhere or just stick it all into the switch and have everything connected to everything.

Since I usually live in single story homes, I like to run a single cable from the modem to a decent switch or small rack in a central coat closet,. I then put an appropriate diameter piece of conduit with brush grommets, through the ceiling in the closet into the attic for the ethernet cable runs to pass through. It takes much longer doing it that way but for me it's worth the extra time and effort. I try to plan ahead so I left pull lines going to the boxes so I could more easily add more later if need be. I luckily have 8 PoE ports powering mesh wifi drops with ethernet backhaul around the house mounted to the ceiling in bedrooms, living room, and my shop in the garage. Along with a few 10gig fiber runs to the office and entertainment center and at least 1 Eth run to each room. Took a while but everything is hidden and tidy. Can always add a sub switch in a room, if needed later, but having everything in the walls already makes that a trivial adjustment. Good video with some decent solutions for older homes and multi level dwellings.

Dude's a top g! Recommendations, instructions are well described and concise

Always showing us how to save money by doing it ourselves thank you ❤

One thing that appears to have been overlooked is the mention of bringing back all cables to a central point near the router so that you either a) connect the ports direct to the router if the number of sockets are =< the number of ports on the router (which in that case the socket next to the router should be a 4 gang to act as a patch panel), or if the number of sockets is > the number of ports that a switch will need to be fitted. This video is really more about how to install sockets and chase walls out than how to actually network the house.

Very interesting thank you so much. Here in Australia we call the black box a r-out-er so was confused at first when you called it a route-er. Thank you for all the training you give us much appreciated.

Great video. Couple of observations. In 2023, I would not be using Cat5E. I would be using Cat6A as a minimum. And when running the cable through as chases where it will be recovered with plaster/filler, i would run the canle though some conduit so you can re-pull a cable with ease later if you need to without opening up the wall again.

Thank you very much for the helpful video. I was worried about chasing the cable in the walls as it seemed daunting. I ended up running them around the outside of the house instead. Will certainly use your method once I get around to decorating front room

I’ve been trying to think for months and easy way to get cabling into my loft. Now I “think” you’ve cracked it with the stack pipe boxing idea! Just need to check the exact location!

Mate, it's a really great video. I've been looking for something like this for quite a while. Your video was clear and easy to follow.

This is a gem, and a familiar Norfolk accent to boot, subscribed

Thanks for this video, complete newbie but wanting to sort out house out for this

Ethernet cables can be used for different applications, for example a TV connection, a phone connection or a PC connection. The connector on the router will be different according to the intended application at the other end of the cable. Since that initial designed application can change, plan to install a patch panel. I would prefer to put conduit into the chased out channel for future development or to anticipate future accidents - wife hanging pictures and putting a nail through the ethernet cable.

So cool, memories from my networking days; tbf I was trunking my new PC to my TV to tidy up the cables and cat6ing my other half's PC did pop in my head, currently it's running a loose cable round the back of the sofa.🤔✌

Lol this guy is brilliant, so easy and straightforward to understand 👍

A few years ago I helped a mate run an ethernet cable to his home office. We simply went out the wall, up the outside using conduit and into his office. Took about an hour.

Great video! You make it look very easy. Thank you so much to help us make things for ourselves. It could be worth mentioning you can use switches to connect devices on the same floor and using the cable from the router up to each switch as the core link.

Great channel and. Finally some 1 can explain how to do it properly 😊😊

Regarding doing chases in such manner, I would have ran a cable hose from the socket up to the floor space above before filling that chase with bondo to cover it up, making it easy to replace the cables in case one goes back.

Another great video Thanks You make it look so easy!

I've used Powerline ethernet adapters & ethernet switches in the rooms i needed a network connection; this saved a lot of hassle with drilling, cutting and chasing wiring up and down the house. Works a treat.

Great video very informative and helpful. Would like to see how to run power to a garden shed/ workshop

I've run ethernet cables and also used homeplugs, which use existing electrical cables to send the signal. Ethernet cables are more reliable but when homeplugs work they are so easy to install. Also I'd avoid Cat7 cables if you need to make connections to the back of the sockets - the cores are much thinner than Cat6. I used 'burial standard' Cat6A shielded cable - it was the best option for speeds and 'connectability'. Although it's quite thick so slightly bigger holes needed for feeding it through. Cat6A allows up to 10Gb/sec with no loss of speed up to 100m of cable. Should be future-proof and allow lengthy runs in a large house. Thanks for the video.

Not a bad video. One thing to keep in mind is the length of the cable run. The spec normally says 100m max. I always run 90m max from sockets end to end, allowing 10m max for both your patch leads, then you're ok. I'm not sure if your cable tester just do a continuity test or if it can test cable lengths. Most cases, most runs should easily get under 100m unless you are running to a out house. Otherwise, good video.

You should use some conduit on your wall run so future work to the cabling, running extra cable or upgrading what’s there etc is possible and easy. I’d also advise you to run two cables even if you only plan on using one. Network cable is cheap and you’ve done all the hard work already.

Good to see Adam Peaty’s found a new line of work since he quit competitive swimming 👍

The man can do wrong!! Great video ❤

I love the little yellow tool, I've always had a big clunky stripper or snips in a rush, that tool looks ace. As always, a damn good video Cameron, hope the old house is coming along nicely.

I find ur videos brilliant I love doing my house my self all ur video always come in handy to watch make notes from 👍

Good video as it shows how easy it is. I would recommend you install shielded cable, I replaced all my old CAT5e cable with shielded CAT6 (specifically S/FTP) and found my network speeds improved by a noticeable percentage. I ran a cable up into my loft, connected it to a gigabit switch (industrial grade rated for high temperature operation) and then ran cables down into each bedroom.

This video is so helpful. Thank you.

I like your videos, very practical. I would recommend having both wired and wifi in your home if you can. I would recommend a wifi mesh system, which will give you the effect of a single WiFi throughout your home. This will give you good WiFi speeds too even without a wired network. If you have cabled network in your house then even better as you can get a Mesh system that supports "Backhaul" as the Mesh devices will offer full speed WiFi and route the traffic down the wired network rather than across the wifi mesh. The latest Mesh systems use WiFi 6E, which lets them transmit traffic through the mesh even faster than your wired network. Other advantages would be if you are going Smart Home and IOT things and getting a Mesh system that support that.

You make it look very easy I will be doing this

Thanks for another well explained and easy to follow how to video.

Thank you so much for uploading the video. Very informative.

Very useful information mate!

If I had the tools and knowledge 5 years ago when I bought my 1930s flat I would of trid this. My solution ended up being using a flat 5e cable and routing it along the skirtings and tucking it into the carpet because I'm a classy guy. Far from ideal but this is a great solution especially as home plugs are not great and old wiring isn't ideal either

I used to install many home network systems with cables going back to an AV/IT rack. However, many homeowners weren’t installed in using it unless for static hard-wired devices such as smart TVs, printers or NASs. Even laptops they always preferred to use wi-fi. Equally, I’ve had clients who insist on WAPs that can handle their incoming bandwidth. I.e, if they’re paying for 300MBs they want that through their wi-fi

Subscribed and thumbs up. Thanks for great vids

Another great video. A general comment worth noting that data cables should be kept a minimum of 50mm away from mains cables. Induced noise can effect data transfer performance. The ethernet cable connection tool has several names; IDC, Krone Punch Down Tool, Punch Down Tool - and probably many others

Great idea, but you should have used a pvc conduit pipes inside the wall plastering to make cables easy slide or to replace cables when you have to

In Germany I don't run CAT5e or CAT6 cables any more as the prices don't differ too much from CAT7. So I'm installing future-proof CAT7 with Cat6A Keystone module which also deliver 10Gb Ethernet flawlessly over a longer distance - especially when you immure the cable into the wall.

Don't be afraid of going outside the property. It's very easy to drill a hole from the inside to the outside. This lets you get the cable all the way around to the other side of the house, or indeed directly into the loft space where cables can come down from above in the upper rooms.

Cat 6E is the boy for this in conduit so easy to upgrade

Very good instructions!

My house has weird stuff in the bricks that affect WiFi. I had to run cables and repeaters to cover other rooms. However, I planned the distribution and I did it properly with far less damage to the masonry walls than you did. I also made sure that when I was going into a floor space above the ceiling, I had removed the floor boards first and checked for pipework or electrical cabling BEFORE drilling upwards. It’s important to remember your potential audience and provide appropriate caveats in the video.

absolutely great job and you could use Wi-Fi less destroying the wall but the film movireally nice

very nice mate, thankfully our wifi is okay

great video. I live in an old 1900 mining terrace and the floors are all really uneven. How about a floor leveling video? I would love some nice wood floor in my living room but have avoided doing at as its 2 rooms knocked into one and the floor is very uneven

Perhaps you did, but it's not clear in the video. But you should have used conduit pipe in the space you made for the chase to run the cable through. It means that if ever you need to change the cable (For example if you wanted to change Cat6 to a new standard) you can just pull the cable through. You've made it a tougher job for yourself just sticking the cable into the wall with filler.

Brilliant video ✨

Should always run 2 cables even if it is only for one port at the time, you never know if it might fail in future and you don't want to re-do the wall chasing

I’d have loved to see how you finished the wire in the chase off. did you secure the wire with something into the wall and then fill it or did you use some sort of conduit to hold it in place

I replaced the single coax in 3 rooms, years ago with some thin coax + cat5e which isn't thick and work side by side. It is now on it's 3rd WiFi system. Running 3 x 2.5gbe WiFi 6 APs delivering 1200mbps.

nice video n good information. like n watch from Hindustan (India)

@theEnjoyed this, well done. The only thing I would have recommended would be resessed cable ducting in the channel chase you made. This would then give you a degree of future proofing if you ever need to replace the cables, or add new ones.

Once again another great video!

Great video, Thank you!

Great video, I love see this.

Great vid, just what I needed. Do you have a link or what size is the "bigger" sds drill bit that you used? Where can I buy it?

Great video. I'm thinking of doing some ethernet as well. That said, bad wifi is always cheap wifi, or insufficient wifi. There are great mesh systems out there now that cover the entire house, and if you want really really good wifi, get a pro brand like Ruckus, arguably the best in my opinion. Yes, you'll pay more for good gear.

I pull re-usable cable pathways (using HDPE duct) for Future-Proofing, in some countries Comm cable use Orange color, others require White for communications Cabling. Dura-Line is one Brand name.

I've just moved to an 80's bungalow and was anticipating a relatively simple path for adding network points and the like. Well the internal walls are Stramit compressed straw panels and are horrible to work with it seems for an average DIYer like me. Apparently there are voids in them for cables. I've had a couple of light switches off and they're a horrible mess, the knockout box screws barely doing anything. Straw, frickin straw!

Interesting, never done any chasing, my house it stud wall/plaster board (Australia) Also we rarely, if ever use wall boxes, just a mounting bracket that attaches to the plaster board.

Great video and great tipps in the comments

How do you deal with the wooden braces in todays modern dry wall rooms with the battens behind the plasterboard when trying to run a cable up a wall into a room above. I ask as ive been told I cant run an arial cable from downstairs to upstairs because of this thank you

Superb video 👍👍👍

Ideal solution is to run 1 single cable from that spot to a patch panel somewhere in the house and route all the cables to that patch panel, have a dummy switch that just splits up the router connection to the other routes and you're golden, never need to move nothing. Reason I suggestion to put it elsewhere because of the fact house is 1970's meaning it ain't plaster where you can easily make a hole for the cables to go through.

I like this guy.

Fascinating to see the process of installing cable, it's actually illegal to do it yourself here in Australia and it must be done by a registered cabler.

Great video, just a quick question, I know nothing about this sort of stuff especially drilling. If you are using the test for seeing if there is wires/pipes behind the wall, is it definitely a case where there wont be wires or pipe on the other side? Thanks

I'd approach it in 3 ways. 1. Can I use mesh/powerline? 2. use the fastest cable you can and always run an extra in case someone chews through it. 3. I'd ideally run a patch panel into the loft so you can then patch to other rooms from the loft if needed. Really nice video! If you do this a lot I'd have a push tool as it snips the ends for you.

There is a lot missing from this video, especially a basic network diagram showing how you would use a network switch to connect the sockets together. In most cases, using a switch will greatly simplify the install and reduce the amount of cable needed. In my case, I put the switch in the loft and ran the cables down to the upper floor rooms using the gap in the stud wall. Only a single cable joined the router to the loftspace, which I did by going through the outside wall and up the back of the drain pipe into the soffit (and therefore, loft space). The main cable between the router and loft switch is therefore easily replacable should it ever needed to be upgraded. I also put cables in conduit where possible and left in a length of strong string (builders line) in case I want to pull any addtional cables through them in the future (much cheaper than putting in a second CAT6 cable as others have suggested).

4:20 completely threw me when you're talking about getting the box straight but its blatantly crooked on the screen. Then I realised the camera must be crooked 🤣

I've run weatherproof Cat 7 ethernet cables from my virgin hub via a ethernet switch to the outside, up to our bedroom and around the side of the house to our sons room. Another switch box means his Xbox and laptop aren't reliant on iffy Wifi that far from the hub (it was actually non existent) and a third is in our room. Our TV boxes use ethernet which means we have a good signal where we need it most. It also means that if the WiFi dies we still have the telly and laptops. However with the advent of mesh networks I've gone one step further. I've installed three eero mesh pods so far with two being backhauled and I'm waiting for a fourth which will also be wired. This will completely cover our house in WiFi as three of the four pods are hard wired. My recommendation is to disable the WiFi on your ISP router and put it in modem mode. That stops any signal clashes and now we have every device that has an ethernet socket hardwired and all the devices such as our phones, Hive thermostat and echo devices that are wifi only have a full strong signal. Then there's the speed issue. We now have the proper speed from our ISP that we pay for whether wired or wireless. I like what you did and I find it fascinating but in reality it's either a job for when a property is empty and being refurbished or if you have a very understanding partner. I have neither 😂

Great video , but how do you confidently deal with the Floor upstairs when its not planks for flooring, but those large sheets of mdf type boards ? it means almost lifting a whole 8x4 sheet ??????

some skirting boards come with cable channels too, handy for horizontal runs in a room

If your going to run a cat cable you only need an old router to extend your internet. You'll get additional wifi signal, separate network for the kids and more than 2 extra ports to use. And a cable tidy 1cm square will save all the drilling/DIY. Make it far easier to change or upgrade the cable in future.

Nice Video

We have 4 BT HomeHub6 discs around our home, which provide wifi perfectly around the house through thick walls of our 200+yr old property over 40 metres, cabling seems like overkill

Great video as most other ones on the subject are installing in stud walls. I'm just about to do this in a bungalow which has solid interior walls. For me it would be really good to see more on how you repair the wall damage after fitting the wiring as that's the bit I'm most lost on and most worried about doing well. All we get is "use some easyfill to repair around the sockets ... and some bonding to repair any chasers" but I have no idea what "easyfill" and "bonding" is :/

😂man has them tools I never ever considered. Bob Vila would have never put me thru this.

Dunno if you mentioned it or not, but was there some kind of channel in that chase going up to the top floor? Rather than bogging in your cable, you could have a plastic channel in case you later decide to run another cable through it, or replace/upgrade the cat-5e cable.

Query for you- do you have to use the same cable for the plug and terminals? I have an outside cat 6 cable that is wired into poe switch and runs through the wall and router. I wanted to use a plug and sure it is wired correctly. So basically camera to plug and then plugging in ethernet lead from router to plug inside house. Could not get it work at all. Only by removing the plug and directly from switch to camera will it work. Or is it using the poe switch? Thanks and love the videos

Hiya, I want to start getting some tools together for renovations. I don't own a drill currently. If I buy an SDS drill can I use that for all drilling (e.g. normal holes for putting up the likes of curtain poles etc) or do I need to buy a hammer drill for that purpose?

The little circle box where the ONT connects to does that have to be there? If so what's the dimensions? Even better what's it called? 🤔

Great, thanks.

If your going to do all that effort as opposed to Ethernet over mains, I would bring all the cat 6 ports back to a patch panel in a cupboard somewhere and use an ethernet switch. Remember cat 5/6 can also be used for phones & other low voltage signals , so if you have a main BT socket you can run that back to your patch panel then have the phone in whichever room you wish. also get a proper punch down tool. Cuts the cables as you install them into the socket / patch panel. And just to be clear NEVER JOIN THE CAT 5 CABLES WITH BLOCKS / WIRE NUTS / WIRE CONNECTORS. The number of times I've had to deal with structured cabling installed by electricians who think because it has an electrical connection it is fine...