DIY Networking for a Future Proof and HIGH SPEED Home! (Smurf Tubing and String Pull Trick!)

[@rickpoole1274]

You should use the wall plates with jacks rather than just have the cable going through the plate. Using a plate with a jack allows you to change the length of the cable going to the equipment easily. Just having the cable go through the wall plate limits your options later on. Plus, if you ever damage the cable going to the equipment it is easier to replace a patch cable than to have to patch in a new length of cable.

[@farmitzdugan]

100% I literally came down here to comment the exact same thing.

[@moorebid5380]

Can't think of one good reason not to have keystone jacks and wall covers..

[@brianhopkins5251]

yes, this a 1000 times this.

[@onefuriousfox6558]

I agree x10...have done a significant amount of networking myself, and have never looked back after learning keystone punchdowns.

[@cooperw22]

100% agree! As a data technician.. they are setting up for problems down the road. Should install key connectors.

[@largepimping]

Guys, it looks like you're going to have CAT6 "patch cables" coming out of your walls. If so, bad idea. Run your *solid conductor* CAT 6 inside the walls to an RJ45 jack, then run a *proper* CAT 6 patch cable (stranded conductors) to the device. Yes, do this on both ends. Not sure what the perceived benefit is of "connecting directly" as you say around 26:05, but I'm assuming that the thinking is that "fewer connections" is going to increase the signal integrity. You're not going to have faster gigabit (or even 10 Gb) connectivity by skipping a couple RJ-45 male-to-female connections, so there's zero benefit. But having those cables come out of your walls is only going to cause trouble in the long run.

[@TheDamian418]

This.

[@brianhopkins5251]

100% this

[@redmatrix]

Yes, plus it looks tacky. Why even have smurf j-box connecter that will be hidden, yet have a solid copper pig tail going to the TV.

[@joephillips6634]

Interesting. Never knew this. I've done it both ways and generally works just fine but good to know

[@Tritium21]

This is 100% correct. I've had to be the one to make that correction after the fact, and even though it was in raceway, i still wished ill on the mother of the previous installer.

[@MikeHeath]

Terminate the ends with a keystone jack and plug a patch cable into the wall and to the device. That makes so much more sense and is more professional than terminating the wire with an RJ-45 plug hanging out of the wall. The prong on the RJ-45 plug will break over time and then you have to recrimp the cable.

[@jtkilroy]

If you want to get 10g over plain Cat6, the fewer connection points the better, I'd leave off the patch panel.

[@dlmac]

I second this. Keystone jacks are also easier to terminate, imo.

[@velcroman98]

Patch panels are the way to go

[@gordiehattrick]

@@jtkilroy Max run on 10Gb Cat6 Ethernet is 330 feet, he should be fine in a residential building.

[@Robin-xe4yz]

they're never gonna saturate 10g anyway

[@eturnus732]

I know lots of others have jumped in but you should 100% be using wall plates/jacks. The wall plate makes it so the cable in the wall is set and doesn't get moved or manipulated ever. It is just the "right" way to do it. Also as a FYI the middle piece in CAT6 or crossbar is to keep the cable pairs in the cable separate.

[@jjjacer]

Also since they are using solid wire it will not handle being moved around as much as stranded which is used in patch cables, sure it works but moving stuff around and bending and flexing them can damage them over time, and they dont like being kinked as much. also if the cable end gets damaged you got to re-crimp a new end instead of just swapping out a few feet of patch, so more of a time waste although doesnt matter as much as a home user but can lead to frustration down the line, especially given the the modem/switch are going to be in an attic space and not out in the open.

[@TimDousset]

You will want to avoid running CAT cables parallel to any power to avoid electrical noise. In a perfect world, you'd only cross a power run at 90 degrees. It's also a little unusual putting an RJ45 connector on the end of a permanent run like that. Normally, you'd terminate into a Keystone RJ45 socket and use a patch cord from the wall to your device.

[@GageDrums]

I think like he said in the video he was just demonstrating how it's done.. But yes, agreed. They should definitely use keystones on the wallplates! Much much cleaner look

[@fuckthisksksjjksdfjd]

At least use shielded 6a cable if you do run the wire near electrical.

[@MikeHeath]

@@fuckthisksksjjksdfjd Even if you have Cat 6a, do NOT run data lines parallel to high voltage AC. Even if it doesn't interfere with the date signal, it can induce a current in the date cable and run your network equipment.

[@CDArena]

If you rum shielded, ground the shield on one side to a communication ground separate from your electrical ground. (And any lightning protection ground). In a professional network you want a grounded equipment rack for your router, switches, and modems - the rack ground doesn't need to be expensive, just separate.

[@stephensaines7100]

@@fuckthisksksjjksdfjd Shielding, unless you use steel sheathing/conduit, only blocks electrostatic noise, not induced electromagnetic noise. Induced interference from adjacent power lines is almost a moot point, especially with twisted balanced lines, and digital signals at that. The concern is more for safety and isolation of heat and/or mechanical issues.

[@dwmca1620]

USUALLY, signal/data wiring should cross power lines at right angles to minimize power noise interference into the signal/data lines.

[@nuzzlefutz]

This was true back in the day with Cat3 cabling, however CAT6 twisted pair standard does an excellent job at rejecting interference from everything including power. As someone that has worked inside data centers for over 20 years I can't tell you the amounts of CAT6 ran next to bulk power runs under the floor I've seen.

[@toddhenning8304]

No need to worry until the modem converts optical to electrical. Then yes could be a concern.

[@crisnmaryfam7344]

This is still best practice. Granted newer cables have more shielding. Many youtube channels have proven its still not quite adequate. This is why you still see "faraday cages" inside certain electronic devices. Ever read that electronics warning inside every device in America "this device complies with XXX and must accept signals from XXX "

[@mohammedsaleh795]

@@nuzzlefutzsame here. 15+ years of running network cable right next to electrical without any conduit either. Worked just fine. If you want to take the extra step you can always get shielded twisted pair.

[@dwmca1620]

Thank you, I retired before knowing about Cat 6. I appreciate the feedback

[@homesteadandhighways]

Hey guys, take a few minutes and go watch KZbinr Essential Craftsman’s spec house videos on this. Episode 100 and 132. It shows the “rough” stage and the finished part. Yes - you want keystones at the wall ports, and you’ll want a proper network rack, Jordan, to terminate in a modular keystone patch panel. I use a Ubiquiti network stack (APs and cameras) for my house. Love it. Don’t forget cat6 in the ceilings for the APs! Please don’t use a full mesh system. You have open walls - take advantage of running cat6 until your arms hurt. Keep it up, guys!!

[@ThePistophchristoph]

BINGO, this, do overkill while you can, your future self will thank you, like I said in another post I ran PoE security cameras and automated blinds Cat6 drops

[@_JamesBrown]

I came here to make this comment

[@Evan-lg1xp]

AT&T technician here 👋 Good work dude. All new builds from good builders have Smurf tube running straight to the panel (structured media enclosure). This makes it soooo much easier for us. The better it's strapped down and secured the easier the pull is. House is really coming together.

[@legoboy-ox2kx]

Agreed! I do GFiber installs and I hate when new construction puts the main lines on the side of a garage or a similarly bad spot and doesn't run a conduit for the data lines.

[@scottmalone9161]

If you're wanting to keep the male ends I'd recommend having strain relief caps on the cables. In all honesty, having a wall plate that either terminates in a female punchdown or a male-male passthrough would be the best practice. That way you can purchase premade cables that are much easier to replace and are designed to be more responsive to movement than that cable you purchased which is meant for install in walls. Lastly, unlike electrical, network cabling can't just be unscrewed at the termination so if you need to redo the end it has to be cut off. Because of that it's important to have extra slack in your line so that you can reterminate easily without having to pull an entire new line. Other than those notes great work!

[@Redalert9r9r]

Usually there are instances where you can have it coming through the wall into a flexible wall grommet but that's usually in a network closet where you have more than 6 lines going into the wall from a switch or other device. But yes best practice is to leave some extra length in the line so that if you do need to re-terminate the line at any point from random instances of damage, mother nature, or moving the location of the LV box then you will have extra slack to do so. I would also recommend having tubing through the wall if you don't want to have extra few feet of wire because then it will make running a new line easier later on. also the Kline crimpers have a wire cutting / stripping feature on them as well. cutting is tight up towards the hinge and the little notch down below the flat surface is for stripping. The cutter/crimper that Jordan bought is for Key stones but you need a specific brand with that specific brand of keystone crimper, alternatively you could get a punch down tool from Home depot or Lowes and use any keystone you like without any issues. Keystones are usually used in instances where you either need to extend a line (using a biscuit box) or at a patch panel. they slot right into the back of the patch panel and are used mostly in bigger scale network rooms. Granted I have a few patch panels at my house because of how many things we have plugged in.

[@JonathanSwisher117]

Came to comment exactly this as well! Always leave a service loop just in case for the future.

[@SeattleMK2GLI]

Man.. Paul was BORN TO BE a KZbin personality. He is seriously so great at this. Thanks for today's lesson, Paul!!

[@helmanfrow]

1. Make sure to strap that smurf tube down tight. Unlike rigid conduit it can flex and stretch while you pull, making the job a pain. 2. 19:24 Glad to see you using the right box adapters. Make sure you seat the adapter ALL THE WAY DOWN on the tube, which is like 3 or 4 clicks. If you snap it to just the first click you leave a gap between the leading edge of the conduit and the mating edge of the connector. This gap can snag your cable or fish tape. 3. 20:08 If you want to get fussy then there are tables online specifying acceptable proximities for parallel power and Ethernet. For the most part, however, Cat.6 cable is good at rejecting induced interference from power cables except in extreme cases. Running it in close proximity for a foot or two (in this case) will (likely) not cause any issues but best practice is to put as much space as possible between parallel runs, and to cross only at ninety-degree angles. 4a. Run drops to the ceilings for your WiFi APs 4b. Run a drop or two to every wall whether you think you'll need it or not. You can lay the cable on top of the spray foam if necessary and terminate only when you need it. 5a. 22:00 this cannot be overstated: You must always match your connectors to your cable and then your crimper to your connectors. 5b. Every connector will be suited to a particular a) conductor gauge, b) cable OD and c) type of conductor (solid or stranded). Reputable dealers will list these in the marketing materials. You cannot, for example use Cat.6a connectors with Cat.6 cable (and vice versa) because the conductor gauge and OD of the two cables are significantly different. 5c. For PoE applications you should probably avoid pass-through connectors because they can sometimes arc at the ends. Use load bar connectors instead. 5d. All that said, 22:06 ABSOLUTELY use keystone jacks mounted in wall plates! Having a wire hanging out of your wall is just plain sloppy! 6a. 23:34 The twisty part in the center is the _spline._ It's there *not* for strength but to maintain the internal spacing and overall twist of the individual pairs. 6b. 23:40 The difference in twist pitch is the product of some complex mathematics designed to reduce interference between the pairs. 7. 23:59 I have a technique for untwisting the pairs with the smooth outer edge of my electrician's scissors, which lets me straighten the cables as I go. Everyone has their way.

[@helmanfrow]

I probably would have used shielded cable because I'm crazy like that.

[@piyono]

Another reason to terminate your cables to keystone jacks is that solid copper cable (the stuff in your walls) is less flexible than stranded cable (the stuff in patch cords). It is intended to be installed and then left alone. Patch cords are then used to make the final connection to equipment.

[@laialbert]

Whenever possible, you want 12in between electrical and low voltage or to cross at perpendicular. What you don’t want is to have long runs run in parallel immediately next to each other as the high voltage can induce interference or current in the low voltage.

[@n8zimphotography]

Conduit and a vacuum looks way easier than the time I ran Cat-5e through air ducts in an HVAC system using remote control cars on a rental property.

[@aussie2uGA]

Now that sounds like a great time regardless of the outcome!

[@StudPack]

😂😂 would’ve made for a great video though!

[@brianhopkins5251]

That's actually pretty genius too.

[@kc9scott]

My house has a short section of horizontal duct, with vertical duct before/after it. I just used a battery powered toy car, no RC, tied a thread to it, and dropped it down in from above. It went across to the other vertical, fell down into it, and out the bottom.

[@lukashsk]

I would use CAT6A, the shielding makes a difference in longer lengths - at least the ones you might be pulling to the future house .. or overdo it and pull another fiber to the house as well to have a good backbone 🙂

[@lylewaters6161]

Both cat6 and cat6a come in shielded or non-shielded. Most installs are UTP (unshielded twisted pair). There are many different versions of STP (shielded twisted pair).

[@route_switch]

I would have absolutely went with Cat6A UTP instead of just Cat6. It'll work for now, but they may regret it in the near future. I also agree that keystones are needed to terminate those connections.

[@guytech7310]

@@wojtek-33 " handles 10Gbe at least up to 300ft." No, only about 180 feet. Issue with fiber is DIY terminations. You need special equipment to terminate fiber. 10G will become more widely used with switches become more affordable.

[@guytech7310]

@@wojtek-33 Not always possible to pre-terminate fiber, and difficult to determine cable length when cable is running through walls & ceilings. I know because I've run a lot of cable. Most people would prefer cabling over wifi, but that isn't an option since very few homes are wired for ethernet. Most custom homes have some ethernet cabling, unless its for an older person that doesn't use the internet. Once the cost of 10G\2.5G equipment come down in price people will buy. Just like in 1990s when 1G came out. It was when the cost of 1G equipment came down people started buying it. At this point I don't think its possible to by a switch outer that does not support 1G.

[@mrmotofy]

​@@route_switchIn a home there's no real benefits from 6A in 99.99% of em

[@spydermag5644]

I wired up my basement and used Cat 6A. After connecting all of the RJ45 ends I tested each cable and made sure that I was connected at 10g. I had to replace the ends of two cables out of 10 runs.

[@gszdallas]

Wherever you expect to have multiple pieces of equipment, I would run two or even more Ethernet cables to a single wall plate. For example, you may have a printer you want to share across the network, and a computer, and an IP phone, etc. It is much easier to troubleshoot direct wired connections to a main intelligent switch, than to run multiple small switches wherever you have more than one piece of networked equipment. Wire is king! 40 years from now it will work as well as today. Fast and secure.

[@TheBrownSys]

Yes! There's also a bandwidth limitation for each cable that should be considered. Adding another cable can hypothetically double the bandwidth at that location depending on the scenario.

[@rakmar2631]

For the temporary run for the workstation I guess a direct cable is fine but at least for the TV run please look into using keystones. Really makes the whole thing look a lot cleaner once finished. I'm also curious if you guys have thought about what you're going to use for wireless, be it just an all in one box or if there will be plans to use a multi access point setup so the garage/apartment and the main house later have a seamless transition without losing signal. I also find having an outdoor access point to be nice for streaming outside but I also have bad cell service outside.

[@DavidNitzscheBell]

Ubiquiti, right?

[@DrD6452]

@@DavidNitzscheBellThat's what I would recommend.

[@TheBrownSys]

@@DrD6452 I second that!

[@baxtronx5972]

A decent router gives you 200-300ft. Should be good with a single point of connection. How often do you see the neighbor's wifi showing up at your house?

[@tburda823]

Utility pole replacement was a cool bonus clip, never actually seen it done all the way through.

[@danwake4431]

i was just about to close the laptop for the night, i refreshed youtube one more time and there you were. keep up the great videos guys we love to watch them all. also i thought you guys were going to run power underground from across the street?

[@brianhopkins5251]

same!!!!!!!!!

[@robertroy8803]

IIRC Jordan wanted to look into it and see how much it cost...I'm assuming it was pretty expensive and not worth it.

[@Saki630]

i like watching this series. Its great to see three guys make it up as they go without fear of doing something wrong and also not trying to make the fanciest most expensive home ever.

[@gszdallas]

I would not put any equipment in unconditioned space, even if it designed for higher temperatures (it just won't last as long). Keeping the fiber equipment close to the rest of the network equipment will be very helpful later. Also, we have not seen the other end of the Ethernet connections yet, but you will love having a patch panel bringing all that together in conditioned space that is easy to reach. .

[@symposes]

I learned the vacuum trick on the first major lighting job I was apart of. We were replacing a bunch of old concrete poles along a walkway, a good thousand feet in total. When we were getting ready to pull the string in, my coworker said we needed a plastic bag to pull the wire. The look on the faces of the people in the cafeteria when we asked for a bag, was priceless.

[@ToddT-ck5ub]

After 25 years doing LV I still hate passthrough connectors. If the cable does not cut perfectly you can have a cable that will not click in correctly then you spend hours troubleshooting a device that has no internet. I would also prefer to have your Fiber modem accessible for troubleshooting, but that's me. I also agree with wall plates and jacks. On a positive note the basics of crimping an RJ45 was excellent. Thank you for another great video!!

[@gdave44]

I just spent half an hour and a trip into the attic to track down just this. Odd part is that it worked, for over a year. It stopped while I was changing other cabling, so I spent time scratching my head to figure out what I changed to cause the outage. Finally, I went back to basics, ran my cable testers and just happened to notice a 1/32 of wire was sitting proud keeping it from fully engaging. I'll still stand by pass through connectors, I'll just be a bit more careful of my QC when terminating them.

[@legoboy-ox2kx]

I know that pain haha. My crimpers also don't have the blade to cut the wires on a passthrough so I just have to line them up and hold them in place if I only have a passthrough.

[@clbfromsc]

Hey guys! I sent over some HVAC tools this week, I hope you got them. It's just a few things for working with flex and insulation, but it should make it a little easier on the main house build. I grew up around HVAC working at our family business with my dad and It makes me smile seeing you guys doing the same thing. However, I'm in Telecom now working as an Infrastructure Planner! We install a lot of fiber and Cat6 here and for the main house depending on where your fiber run needs to go internally, and the length of the run, you might want to consider running something like a 12.7mm inner duct instead of the ENT tubing you used in the garage. This will allow your fiber installers to inject the fiber instead of having to pull it. They can use a less expensive cable (without sacrificing quality of signal) because the tensile strength requirement is decreased for injection applications and it's WAY faster. That's how we install all of our fiber here at the University (underground and inside the buildings) and we are actually experimenting with doing it the CAT cabling as well.

[@umchoyka]

Also may want to consider buying a run of Plenum rated cable for the connection(s) into the garage. I'm not sure about your local code, but here we have to have continuous fire separation with attached garages and that includes penetrations for wiring and cabling. Plenum rated jackets for cable will prevent flame spread in the case of a fire in the garage.

[@gdave44]

CMR will also provide the continuous fire protection. I do note they're using just CM, so there's still a point. Plenum is really only necessary where you're running cabling through air flow areas. Common in commercial since drop ceilings are commonly used as air returns.

[@umchoyka]

@@gdave44 True, CMR would be sufficient in this case probably.

[@kyakukid1]

Saw a notification but was not able to watch until now. Got excited about seeing Stud Pack build the network portion of the house using CAT6. I already know you're reading the comments about what to revise. They definitely know what they're talking about regarding using wall plates. Try to stay away from electrical components due to EMI electro magnetic interference and possible RFI Radio Frequency Interference. This will cause your data transport irregularities. Fiber is unaffected by these issues due to its transport being light. Not sure if you plan on using a dummy switch to trunk everything but its worth a look.

[@brianhopkins5251]

$5 says when the fiber company comes, they now have a "new" style box that isn't anything like the old version.

[@stephensaines7100]

Boxes will be backward compatible but use a new faceplate. When the CAT is pulled through with the string installed, make sure they pull a new string behind it to pull anything back through the conduit and/or another needed cable, fiber or otherwise.

[@REXOB9]

I was just going to comment that a future network box may be different.

[@snide3]

Running twisted pair takes me back. I have ran and terminated 1000s of feet of this on my last ship. While it may be monotonous, it is so satisfying to have all of it complete and testing good. Great video, gentleman!

[@andrewclark8627]

Network engineer here. As most of the comments have pointed out doing keystone with boxes is the best way. Also a patch panel on a little data closet for your modern, router and panel would be great. Depending on how in depth you want to go with wireless and wired connections managed switch to isolate cameras and iot would be good. Never run Ethernet parallel with power. 90 degrees intersection of you have to

[@randalwc]

You can run parallel for 6 feet but yes they should avoid it if they can. Also since you mention cameras...in the ip cameras the ends only will be fine as the end will have no movement inside the camera mount. Anything else 110 blocks or keystone jacks is an absolute must.

[@LetsRepair]

This is why I love this community, just a bunch of studs helping each other out!

[@willroberts5454]

Be aware there is a limit to the bend radius of the fiber. Where the Smurf tube enters the building and makes a 90 up the inside wall may be too tight of a bend. You can measure the bend radius in the existing fiber box on the old house to see if your 90 is too sharp.

[@randalwc]

It will be good, the fiber they bring in has a really small diameter so the bend radius will be fine.

[@Edu_Kate]

Tip: when unrolling hose from a spool, roll the spool (like a tire) as you pull out the hose. You won't have the kinky 😆 problems. I learned that w/ running drip irrigation lines. I got to see them replace my utility pole in my back yard several years ago. It took days prep. First, Asplund came into the neighborhood to trim trees (70yo neighborhood, there were a lot of volunteer trees). Then they parked the auger truck on plywood boards on my neighbor's back yard. They didn't bother pulling out the old pole, they cut it off at ground level and drilled a new hole next to it for the replacement pole.

[@coldhardwick]

You can use that Klien crimper to strip the cable, but only like a half inch. Then use the little string inside the wire to pull it down the rest of that 1.5" or so. You can use nippers or scissors to cut that jacket off. That way you don't accidentally nick those wires while your stripping. Additionally, once you've pulled through the RJ45 connector, you can twist that excess and then just crimp/cut at the same time. Makes it much faster and less to sweep up. Also, I agree with what others have said. You should use those wall plates rather than that direct connection thing.

[@richardflanigan9475]

15 years construction and over 20 years in networking and I work for one of the big recognizable companies currently…Been running Cat6e for over 13 years in my old home… I put Cat7 in my new place 2 years ago. It is better to add punch down plates at the outlet. The solid wiring isn’t as flexible and the connector will loosen / break and stop working over time. Patch cables are stranded which is more flexible and the connectors offer strain relief as well. The wiring is all tested / rated so there is almost no signal loss. I used Cat7 patch cables on my Cat6 network as it is reverse compatible. It’s smart to move the Cat cabling away from your 120… it will distort the signal. I only use the combo boxes at the TV locations. The wired connections for my computers are all separated in their own box.

[@umchoyka]

Be wary of the bend radius requirements for fibre-- it's unlike copper cables since the optics of the glass fibres require smoother transitions. May want to double check with your ISP before closing all of that in.

[@Seris_]

fiber can be bent a lot more than you would think without breaking. I'd keep the bend no smaller than a softball and it'll be fine

[@umchoyka]

@@Seris_ It *can* be, but if I were them I'd still confirm with the ISP or whoever is doing the pull. I design large scale IT systems and our spec aligns with TIA guidelines which requires between 10 to 20 times cable radius for your conduit sweep. From the ISP's perspective, I would probably not warranty the installation if installed in what is provided here.

[@tibbymat]

@@Seris_it’s not about breaking, it’s about the light loss over the distance of the bend. When fiber is bent, it opens up the edges of the glass and light escapes. The tighter the bend the more light escapes, the longer the bend, the more the light escapes.

[@kendavis8046]

DANG! This series is very entertaining! Thanks, to the entire Stud Pack crew. And obviously, you get an upward thumb.

[@SACC_]

Love to see networking content!

[@helmanfrow]

23:34 The twisty part in the center is the spline. It's there not for strength but to maintain the internal spacing and overall twist of the individual pairs.

[@_Funtime60]

Why would you NOT use a keystone. It's so much nicer looking, more versatile, and easier.

[@C.J.33]

How fitting is it that I am at the point of my little reno where I'm going to be doing CAT cables (Never done them before), and yall put out a video on the subject. Like it was destined or something haha. Love the video and the trick with the bag. Used to doing it with fish tape but through a conduit that is perfect! Honestly never would've thought about doing that with a plastic bag. Learning multiple things through this vid, thanks guys!

[@redmatrix]

Here's a tip: When pulling cable, go ahead and pull another string along with it, so when you are done, you have a pull string ready for the future, already in the conduit.

[@neadomtucker]

YES!!!!!!🎉

[@houseman2414]

100% agree. Pull string is almost free. Leave a small roll in the boxes in both ends, pinched or tied off, of course. The only exception I would make for that is a longer/difficult fiber pull (mine was 220ft underground with a total of 360deg bends) where you will absolutely not be pulling anything else in the conduit without pulling the whole thing out (to avoid damage).

[@gregdherrman]

Have been waiting for this episode. All great stuff and appreciate keeping the fiber tech in mind. A couple things…I would’ve rather seen you come down to an LB for the NID on the side of the house as service provider may have changed NIDs since the house was installed. The other reason is that that maintains water proof integrity of the box. If you keep current setup, make sure to Lexal to keep water out of the box. Also with the feed-thru connectors, it sometimes helps to trim at a 45° angle. The pair separator in the cat6 is to prevent crosstalk across pairs. It’s nice to share some knowledge back with you all with as much as I’ve learned from you. Looks great and looking forward to next video.

[@glennevers4952]

Pre Camera planning with Cat6 (Power Over Ethernet - POE) 1) ALWAYS loop an outside run of temporary loose CAT6 to your camera location to test the field of view, mount the camera on an outside ladder, 2) Use good over hang protection to keep rain & snow from hitting the camera lens, 3) Use white painted flat aluminum 1-2" wide metal brace support that slides in with soffit, use stainless steel screws to hold soffit pieces in place, 4) Keep Camera away from spot lights that attracted bugs and spider webs that will eventually obscure your view. 5) Motion detect during testing, your camera placement height may make peoples videoed faces undistinguishable. PROPER CAMERA HEIGHT IS CRITICAL.

[@MakeitZUPER]

I hope you're going to be using cameras with POE. Your kid is smart to decide to have hard wired systems. The more the better. With more and more "smart" tech going into simple items, he's better off saving as much Wi-Fi as he can. I have my Wi-Fi in three frequencies. first for the home automation gear, the second is for the laptop/tablets and the third is for cells and other accessories. All my tech is independent of the cloud or any subscription services now and in the future. I hope he sets up a Home Lab/VLAN/firewall with a server or two for his security systems (1 for each building), a network for the office and another possibly for the home theater AV storage.

[@dysgregulated]

I am an ex-IT (gone into software engineering) and done more than a few ethernet runs. Love seeing the vacuum trick. Agreed with others on using wall plates for cat terminations. I also recommend that you future-proof yourself and put in at least cat 6a, though in my opinion you should go straight to cat 8, though it will cost a bit more, that will support pretty much any RJ45 based networking gear for many years, any of cat 6a, 7, or 8 can support 10 GbE (and technically also cat6, but only for shorter distances). You can also use 2.5GbE hardware with cat 6 just fine, though, so I wouldn't call it a "must have".

[@mrmotofy]

Cat 6 will run 10Gb for like 185', which is plenty for 96% of homes

[@twostep1953]

Wow... brings back memories... I'm retired now, but made so many of these before you could buy them pre-made. We started with coax for computers, just like cable-TV but with bayonet-nut-connectors (B.N.C.) First thing I would do is put connectors on the end of the 1,000-foot bundle and test it before I left the store. This video is a simple installation, but for a home I would bring in the cable from the outside to a central point in the home and install a break-out box (same as you would for phone-lines in an office), then have "home-runs" to each of the rooms. Yes, ending in an outlet; you can even put a router in that room and have more than one device (computer, Xbox, TV...). And I would do the same with cable-TV wiring. This minimizes the wiring in the house (there is a limit to efficient Ethernet cable length) and gives you a central point for trouble-shooting. In a perfect world, you have two outlets in a room; one for each side of the bedroom door to closet door 'line' so you aren't running a cable around three sides of the room - or up and over a door. For cable, you need a re-transmitter (not my area of expertise) to strengthen the signal before you send it down a bunch of cables. For Ethernet (hardwire to the Internet outside), you want a Switch; which directs "traffic" to the correct device in a way that minimizes slow-downs (a switch is a smart router, but everyone calls them a router now). Of course, with cable-TV today, it comes in on coax-cable and goes to what Xfinity calls a router. (Showing my age...) That is a brouter! It is a bridge (changes from coax to Ethernet type of cable) and a router (really a switch), plus provides Wi-fi. In my house, this is on a shelf just above the 'door' / opening between the living-room and the hallway to the bedrooms (hallway side of wall). That puts it up high, in a central position. Normally, don't even notice it but I can look at the lights without getting on a step-stool. Instead of having a bunch of wires run under the eve (sic?) and down my outside walls for each room, I have one wire from the outside go into the attic and connect to the brouter at the central point. From the brouter, you connect to the switch, which connects to the breakout box sending wires to each room (don't need a switch if your brouter has enough ports). Don't forget to put in an electric outlet for the brouter and switch. In a new build, I would advise you to put in at least one wired phone outlet. They run on a tiny bit of electricity sent down the wires by the phone company, and work even if your cell-phones die. And for 911 you don't have to provide an address.

[@helmanfrow]

19:24 Glad to see you using the right box adapters. Make sure you seat the adapter ALL THE WAY DOWN on the tube, which is like 3 or 4 clicks. If you snap it to just the first click you leave a gap between the leading edge of the conduit and the mating edge of the connector. This gap can snag your cable or fish tape.

[@johnh9748]

T568A and B are the same revisions. They are denoted as such for the purpose of building cross-over cables. Newer switches automatically cross cables, but when the 568 standard was put in place, you had to build cross cables to uplink between switches. If you use the same standard on both ends of a cable, it is a straight-through cable. If you use opposite standards, it is a cross-over cable.

[@JimmyA78]

Don’t forget a really high quality POE switch for your cameras and access points. I have the Ubiquity Dream Machine Professional w/ 2Tb hard drive for all recordings. It’s amazing if you pair with Ubiquity G5 Dome and G5 Bullet for exterior. Run cat six for your doorbell camera too! Don’t rely on wifi

[@GT500Shlby]

We always use the jacks, it’s cleaner and more resilient, because the tabs on the cube ends always breaks. We also use CAT6A now and a patch panel in the IT closet. The conduit we get is orange and already has a pull string in it.

[@briankowald6465]

How about the roof? Seems like it would be good to take advantage of the cooler weather to put on the roof before it gets colder and nastier.Even if you guys hire roofers, I hope you do some of it and show how its done.I would like to see how to install a metal roof. I've done plenty of shingles. It brightens my Friday when I see a new video. Good to see Rad again.

[@billyhaddock5540]

Cool way the pole guy's did to pull-out the old pole and installed the new pole. great job Stud Pack on getting stuff done for cable.

[@frankmortensen7651]

Great job running the smurf tube guys, the long easy angles are so important for fiber, and makes pulling so much easier. Those ridges will be a pain so be sure to have a nice smooth transition from the string to the wire or its going to snag even on the smallest bend! Also... For sure guys, use that connector at the walls, for so many reasons its better. Along with the many good reasons others have mentioned, you dont want some cheesy wire hanging out of your walls, with a wall plate it will be a clean professional look. As for what to do with the smurf tube coming from the box in the wall, like others said you do not want to run parallel to to the 120 ac, your cat6 is unshielded. Put in a stringer a few feet down up against the outside sheeting so you can make a nice easy angle away from the power wires. I was also taught that wherever the cat6 comes close to power, you can use the same tape that you used for the vents to help shield away any magnetic interference, just to be on the safe side.

[@JerryDodge]

Before continuing much with watching the video, you're gonna want to wire up for WiFi access points here and there.

[@davidwayneprins]

can't help but chuckle at the shop vac/pull string technique. About 25 years ago I helped a friend install both a hot tub and a security camera in his barn for his wife's horse. We used this exact trick with three inch conduit runs and a cotton ball. Kept adding increasingly heavier string until we finally attached #6 Romex or cat 5 type cabling. Yes, I now know that Romex in conduit is taboo but at the time we were dumb twenty somethings.

[@Killerx91122]

Hey stud pack, for the cameras if using POE do not use pass through specially in Houston humidity outside. I have seen them corroded and short out. Also using jacks and wall plates for TV is a good idea. Another good idea always run 2 cables to the TV spot. The second cable can be used for many things. One common thing I do is use it instead of hdmi and use the cat6 to hdmi converter. Or if you have a smart tv and say an Apple TV you can have home runs for each. Definitely worth the time while everything is open.

[@LinkyearBE]

Hello, I have been following your channel from Belgium and for quite some time. I have a small comment to make regarding the network. Using category 6 is not recommended at all. Cat 6 cable is standardized for Gigabit Ethernet and is backward compatible with Cat 5E, while having stricter crosstalk specifications. You need 6TPe/ble (6A) or 7. Cat 6A is designed for transmission speeds up to 10 GB per second. These cables allow the use of protocols supported by class EA for the implementation of the 10G Base-T Ethernet standard. Cat 6A cables withstand a frequency range of up to 500 MHz and are compatible with PoE and PoE+ standards. PoE+ to connect several self-powered devices such as small outdoor/indoor cameras without having to remove electrical cables. They also have stronger resistance to interference. Category 7 cables are high-performance data transmission cables, built for a speed of up to 10GB per second over a distance of 100m, and can support a frequency of up to 600MHz. They are compatible with cat 5e, cat 6 and cat 6a cables, and have individual and collective shielding, thus complying with strict crosstalk requirements. And great video as usual :)

[@mollyvivian578]

Love seeing your subscription numbers grow every week! Well deserved for the quality and content of both your videos and the helpful comments.

[@bkrich]

Get some strain relief boots for the patch cables so you don’t break the little plastic clip when pulling. If one cable goes bad, just use that bad cable to pull a new one.

[@tcpguru]

I’d recommend cat8 over cat6 where you’ll have more data flows like tvs, workstations, wireless access points, between switches. Maybe use the cat6 on cameras. The pass through connectors are a personal favorite as well but when you are using these cables to connect exterior devices do not use them there as water likes to penetrate anything it can and may find its way in and down the cable. Also if are using hard wired cameras/poe cameras the pass through connectors with some cameras can cause camera failures. If you gents are thinking about keeping the house long term and if the walls are still open maybe slide some fiber between tvs or at minimum leave your fish line especially if you are going to have a closet for audio/video distribution through the house.

[@Metallikatzz]

Like mentioned before. cat cables should be perpendicular to power cables to limit cross talk/noise. You should also terminate the wall into a Cat6 keystone jack. You should also leave a few loops at termination locations in case you need to terminate it again or move it slightly farther in the future.

[@connecticutaggie]

Love Kline crimper tools. I have not used their RJ45 tool but it looks really nice. Having a great tool saves a lot of time and frustration.

[@halewilson]

Cat5/Cat6 comes either shielded or unshielded, if unshielded wrap tin foil around the comm wire where electric wire runs parallel to it. Thanks for the vid!

[@50sKid]

I wouldn't run the cables straight through like you did, I would terminate them in female sockets in the wall like you originally intended to do. The reason is, ethernet cables do go bad. It's happened to me several times. Who knows why, but personally I like having the option of switching out the cable from my computer to the wall.

[@evan-edstrom]

Former IT guy here. - Avoid running cat5/6 parallel to power, but you can get away with a few feet no problem. You can upgrade to a shielded cat5/6 to help with the problem. In this case though, aren't you pulling fiber? The wonderful thing about fiber is that it is immune to EM interference. I'm not sure how your ISP does it, but we have fiber which runs all the way from outside into the ONT which is inside of the house. Might be worth a call to the fiber company. - I'm not convinced T568-A vs T-568B makes a practical difference, but as long as you're consistent go for it! - The plastic core is not really for strength, it ensures a consistent spacing and uniform twist with the twisted pairs which is essentially what makes the difference in performance between CAT5e and CAT6. If you work with CAT5e, you'll notice it doesn't have the plastic thing. - I usually treat the low voltage like the electrical rough, leave them coiled up in the wall and terminate once the drywall is painted. I'd strongly recommend the female connectors in the wall. As long as they are rated for CAT6, you won't see any drop in performance. It's just a little too easy to damage the wire coming out of the wall, and then you have no recourse. Having a connector is cleaner and helps with longevity.

[@gregmorris7624]

I don't think I've ever seen a video that you've made that was not good!!!! I honestly enjoy watching your videos makes my day!!!

[@lostreb]

This is a video I'll be coming back to every time I'm getting ready to run and terminate anything as a refresher as to what to do and what to not do. I'm far away from anything remotely close to young, and I know there is no way I can remember all the tricks and hints you guys gave us. Also, there is an additional ton of information in the comments that I'm sure will address any additional questions I might have. Since I recently had a power pole replaced in front or one of my houses, I was fortunate enough to watch these power workers at work. (Yes, I asked several silly and stupid questions, but they were quite patient with me...at least to my face. I'm sure they got a lot of laughs at my expense when I wasn't there. I expect that. But, how else do you learn? Just for the record, I have learned they do have a lot of tricks to extend pole life.) Thank you again for another informative and great video!!!

[@helmanfrow]

In the last house I wired up, I ran smurf tube from every room to the attic, which I used as a huge junction box. The wires then ran to the main wiring panel via a large rigid conduit. This will allow the future installation of fiber or other cables when required.

[@DanCrack-j7q]

Fellas love watching you guys from down under ... been working with fibre and utp cable for decades ... I agree with most comments here and you should seriously consider terminating to keystone jacks and using patch cables.... we always run duel runs to each wall plate (cable is cheap and easier to put redunacy in now).... the plastic in the middle of the cat6 cable separates the wire pair's to provide a better signal and this is the main differnce between cat5e and cat6 ..... Cat6A is what we normally use now but for your runs cat6 will work just fine and will easily carry a 10gbe signal upto 55 meters (cat5e will carry 10gbe but only about 10 metres reliably) i cant imagine you will go over 55 metres in any of your runs so cat6 will work just fine for 10gbe ... any faster than 10gbe will need fibre runs anyway

[@rickjames-z5g]

I hope you don't forget to add ceiling and wall speakers while everything is still open.

[@tyrehester5550]

For cameras you need POE cable; power over Ethernet it eliminates the need for a separate power cable. Lots of camera systems have gone to using USB-c cables also. Lots of new technology in camera systems. 🙂 can’t wait to see your final walkthrough.

[@rackjabbit1]

Beauty of fibre is that it is not subject to electrical interference. No need to separate them. CAT 6 twisted pair although is resistant to electrical interference but best to separate from higher voltage electrical.

[@brianhopkins5251]

ok that is one slick trick with pulling the string.

[@bullyakker]

It sucked!... Like, Literally! hahaha

[@TacoXL]

If running cat parallel to power aim for at least 12" away. If crossing the two, 1 inch is fine. Terminating into the same box is fine. And you absolutely should use keystones and a patch cable! I would go back and fix that.

[@kawikasmith4089]

Anyone else notice the “Aaaalllriiight” that subtly in the background every time they do something lol 😂 I love it, need shirts with the stud-pack alright lol

[@garbo8962]

Know that you are in warm Texas but you should always use an expansion fitting on every outdoor PVC conduit run. Have seen 2" PVC shrink enough during cold weather & ground settlement to pull the conduit out if the 2" male adapter and pulling 4/0 wire out if meter terminals. Great top of the line quality job that you guys are doing

[@Merescat]

Need to watch the video of the electrician that helped with the install, they addressed that every thing. He has his own channel and talks about the PVC conduit expansion.

[@Will-Beninger]

Hey StudPack, Love your videos & long time fan. Glad you called it out at the end but wish you had showed the testing portion. Tester for your cables is CRITICAL to make sure that all your wire pinouts are correct (no wires swapped) as well as ensuring you have good wire contact & signal on the cables. Crimping tools are imperfect and on various cable installs that I've done you may need to do a couple extra crimps just to get that good contact. The danger if you don't do this, most devices will auto-negotiate and just fall back to lower speeds based on the wires that are there & working. You paid to put in CAT6, you should get a full CAT6 speeds! Similar to others, I've run a LOT of cable over the years and I've even had to go back and clean up other installers work when they run cable straight out of the wall like you're doing. Running to a female jack in the panel is the way to go from both an aesthetic when you're not using it (no cable just dangling) as well as giving you the flexibility to use any length of cable you want from that jack to your device.

[@TokeAboutIt]

If you're running that specific type of category cable (Ethernet) next to any type of high voltage cable ideally you'd want to run them perpendicular to each other to minimize cross talk or space them 12 inches or so apart. Getting the conduit for the low voltage cable secured to the 2x4 across from your high voltage cabling would work, however ideally I'd recommend getting another low voltage box and move both the box and conduit to the 2x4 across from your high voltage cabling in the space behind where you plan to put the TV. Either option will work; the latter would just better minimize that cross talk, and provide a more stable signal in your cable run. Really enjoying these videos guys, keep up the great work!

[@rellt5498]

I would run some lines to the ceilings also for wireless access points. That way you could have a good wireless signal anywhere within the house with your cell phone, laptop, tablet etc.

[@phylliscage]

I always smile when I see a post from Stud Pack! Love you guys.

[@krsl8062]

that segway into the Ag1 sponsor, had me rolling

[@jacexiong]

I thought i would just watch to get some info.. didn't expect to learn an awesome trick. Thanks guys!

[@Rgj_j]

SVP, Silicon Valley Power, decided to replace the utility pole in my backyard. On the day five workers showed up. One had a spade and scoop each with a ten foot handle. He then dug a new hole next to the old while the others watched. The boss told me it was faster to dig by hand then to lay down plywood and bring in an auger. They then used a pulley and tackle to attached to the old pole to lift the new pole and drop it in the hole. The others jumped onto the new pole and moved the electrical lines from the old pole to the new. They then cut off the top of the pole down to the phone lines and took it away. Some time later the phone company came and moved the phone lines to the new pole, cut the pole off just above the cable lines and took away then chunk. Then the cable guys came and moved the cable line, removed the remainder of the pole and filled in the hole. It was a well organized dance, very impressive. (Except for the cable guy. The cable shouldn’t lay on the roof of my shed. But he left his xl bolt cutter and the next guy who fixed the drooping cable forgot it too so I can’t complain.)

[@thasen42]

I’m always excited to see your next video is posted. I love watching this project moving forward. Great work gentlemen! 😊

[@tristanmeade]

So that string you cut out of the cat 6 cable has a purpose. You're supposed to pull that down to strip the outside layer off a little further past where you cut. This prevents you from using cabling that has damage to the twisted pair from using your stripping tool.

[@TheBrownSys]

YES! This was the episode I was most excited for (I'm in IT). I would reconsider that location for the modem. You are going to need/want to reboot it fairly commonly, anytime the internet goes down that's the first step is to reboot the modem and/or router. It's also not great to have electronic devices (especially critical ones like this) in an unconditioned space. Not sure if that is the case in this situation but heat is bad for electronics as is very high or very low humidity. If it's just temporary until the house is built you are probably fine. However I wouldn't put it in a hard to access place. I also do not understand the choice to use the male end in the office. Add a keystone jack on the wall. To my knowledge there is no reason not to.

[@1packatak]

Agree on the modem. I’m no expert but have had issues that required reboot/replacement. Climbing into that attic area with be a pain!!

[@piyono]

100% agree. You wouldn't tuck your electrical panel in the crawlspace, right? You need easy access to your equipment for service and maintenance.

[@vman2kay]

it should be okay to keep the ethernet cable next to a power cable. Ideally you would keep it at least 1ft away or cross over electrical lines perpendicular to each other (90 degrees) to reduce interference. However if you aren't running electrically noisy devices like motors on those lines/circuits you probably wouldn't notice any issue. Also if you got shielded cable you should be resistant to that electrical noise provided it's terminated properly (grounded).

[@mikeinmaryland]

In the commercial work, world, our data company always ran 2 wires to each box back to their data rack. They’d often show up with 10 or more boxes and pull them together. One box, two wires. This is why the cat wire has a declining foot length printed on the blue cable shield. If there’s a plan for a data closet/room in the main house run your fiber to that area. Otherwise consider the space under the stairs to be the data closet. So Fiber to the closet, cat6 from the closet/rack to everywhere else.

[@BlahBlah-em2ed]

Finally a builder that understands running network cable in a house.

[@DozIT]

That Klein pass thru tool will also strip the cable, and does it very well. For untwisting and straightening cable, a trick is to use a piece of the jacket you stripped off, put it on one conductor and wind it in, that separates the pair, then squeeze the jacket when pulling it off the conductor. Quick, easy, and resourceful. When you’re doing an office with 72+ terminations you start to employ tricks like that to maintain sanity!

[@ITBlanka]

20:32 if you are running shielded cables the interference should be minimal, as long as low amperage equipment is running. Otherwise follow as many as possible is the tip from the other comments.

[@ITBlanka]

23:40 you are not using shielded cable, so other tips from the community comments are well put.

[@jackcoats4146]

I like to pull the string, then tie a knot and a loop in the string, and pull that through, and attach the string at each end. That allows the string to stay in the pipe, and it can pull things both ways over multiple pulls.

[@dashrb5]

Yes, this! If your Smurf conduit is 50' long, put a 101' long string in there. Leave the extra 51' at one side or the other, let's say at the INSIDE of the garage. Permanently tie both ends to something solid--NEVER EVER UNTIE THEM. Make a little loop/knot as Jack mentions. When you need to pull fiber from the outside to the inside, first pull the excess 51' of string to the OUTSIDE, attach the fiber to the little loop, go back INSIDE, and pull the string and fiber to you. Since there is an extra 50' of pull string, you can pull it back and forth (like a tug of war) as many times as you need to pull future cables. In other words, the string is NOT a single-use tool. It stays permanently inside the conduit and is used over and over. This is why you need string to be twice the length as the conduit. It isn't too late to do that--just use your existing 50' string, to attach your new 101' string, and pull it into place. Leave all the excess inside the garage where it will stay dry. Leave a little note on the OUTSIDE end of the string to tell "future you / fiber contractor" to NOT UNTIE THIS STRING -- instead, pull the excess to the OUTSIDE, then attach the target fiber cable.

[@markw365]

That braid is to split the jacket, you just pull it and it will slice through the jacket. That white piece in the middle is to ensure the twist of the individual twisted pairs, that's the main difference between Cat-6 and Cat--5/5e is the amount of twist and that they twist the pairs around the other pairs with that plastic carrier bit. This lets the cable work at up to 550mhz vs 350mhz. As for terminating, you should use what are called Keystone connectors which snap into the face plates and use a punch down tool. Make sure to terminate them all the same, usually 568B.

[@bjnorton8029]

Correct. You strip the jacket, then use the pull cord to strip the jacket back even further. It’s quite likely the cable stripper nicked one of the conductors which can cause slow data transfer.

[@Bob-qu5ux]

I need to get that app that will gage my gut health after doing my (best) work on the throne. I really appreciate how you guys are thinking a few steps ahead of the next group of installers (Fiber Optic or Insulation) Very neat termination of the Cat 6.

[@ziegle9876]

Basically, Cat6a cable comes into two flavors in terms of shielding types: shielded twisted pair cable (STP) and unshielded twisted pair cable (UTP). Cat6a shielded twisted pair cable has a shield in cables to prevent electromagnetic interference (EMI) or radio-frequency interference (RFI) from affecting the performance of the cable. It also prevents cable signals from interfering with surrounding cables and equipment. Properly installed Cat6a shielded cables automatically curb EMI and crosstalk, helping to ensure data integrity and high-speed performance. The Cat6a shielded cables must be grounded to work. Note: if you choose shielded cables, there's no mix-and-match; everything connected to a shielded cable must also be shielded and grounded (like couplers, jacks, or even network controllers). You can't connect the shielded and unshielded cables. If I did an install, and did not go 100% fiber optic for legacy reasons, I definitively would ONLY install STP.

[@gregbartgis8270]

Love watching you guys, Thanks for showing what those line guys do every day and night

[@davidwostrel]

Nice ad transition! That was clean.

[@CinemaSasquatch]

My Like Button was screaming just as I hit it. I always thought those connections would be complicated. You made it look so easy.

[@marlinstudio.]

When unwinding cable, conduit or pipe/tube from a reel. Mount the reel on a pole (horizontally or vertically). Pull the tube/cable etc from the reel. Unwinding it from the side will twist the cable/conduit/pipe/tube.

[@Moccy.]

​ @StudPack - Sysadmin/Network guy here - just adding a +1 to everything that has been said already. Generally speaking, in-wall wiring should be solid-conductor and terminated on both ends to a keystone block (a punchdown type termination) which is clipped into a wall plate, or a keystone patch panel. You then test/verify/certify the run, and should never need to touch it again. Then use prefabricated stranded-conductor patch cables to the switches/endpoints - they are much more tolerant to flexing and much easier to replace. It's analogous to using copper/pex in-wall, and flexible braided hoses for toilet/sink hookups - even though it's not gonna move for most of it's life, it's much more maintainable if you ever need to swap out the faucet. I find at the network switch side of things, using slimline cables between the patch panel and switch ports also makes maintenance a lot easier. That being said, it's not uncommon to terminate solid conductor directly to RJ45 - it's not the end of the world, and sometimes a more practical option, like if you're running some exterior grade cable to security cameras, and don't want an inline termination before the device that you now need a more expensive waterproof housing for. Few other points to reiterate : - Nothing wrong with using plain cat6 (as opposed to cat6a) for 10Gbit on short runs (

[@Mixiter55]

Fellow network admin. I kep hitting thumbs up hoping it would count more on this.