Say Hello to High-Speed: Hardwire Your Basement Internet Like a Pro!

This video will show you how to hardwire the internet to your unfinished basement and avoid Wifi issues or the need for a booster. You’ll see strategies for running your Cat 5e or Cat 6 cable from your router to a signal splitter in your basement, and running cable throughout your basement space to where you need it. You’ll also see an approach to retrofitting hardwired internet into a finished room. All in under 5 minutes!
I’m finishing the basement in our 40-year old home, and videoing each step along the way in a future Maker Space. I am NOT a pro - just a self-sufficient DIYer finishing my basement on a budget. I've leveled the concrete and converted an old garage door threshold into an exterior door and window, completed framing and pulled wire for electrical. Now I’m installing hardwired internet prior to hanging drywall. I could totally hire a pro to come in and do this for me, but why hire it out when I can build it on a budget myself???
Links to Products Used for wiring the basement:
Ethernet Wall plates: amzn.to/4bLmSMX
Unmanaged Ethernet Switch: amzn.to/3OMmfsx
50 ft Cat6 Cable: amzn.to/3OO5ddx
Dewalt 20V Drill: amzn.to/46WNwie
Tape Measure: amzn.to/41mnaEU
Dewalt 20V Impact Driver: amzn.to/3O62HyL
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Music: Giants Were Here by SLPSTRM
Link: artlist.io/roy...
00:00 Introduction
00:38 Finding a route from router to basement
01:08 box and ethernet wall plate
01:46 To internet hub
02:31 To unfinished Maker Space
03:01 Retrofitting finished room

[@Airick29]

Hey, just a science teacher and not an IT person, most modern computers support a hard wired 1Gb/sec network signal and many ISPs also support this speed as well. Therefore you have to make sure that the wiring you use supports that speed. Make sure your cabling says Cat5e or Cat6 on the side. Most stuff in stores bought brand new will be this. However, if you borrowed some old stuff or had a spool laying around, it might be old Cat5 which will only support up to 100 Mb/sec. Also, make sure your basement switch supports gigabit out of all 5 ports. Most new switches bought from the store anymore will have this, but there's a lot of older stuff still floating around in used equipment that will not support the speeds you're used to.

[@mancyclediy]

Absolutely true - You HAVE to check what's printed on the cable - I was lucky to have some 5e already on hand!

[@dariosantacruz]

Who’s going to sell you something less than cat 5 in 2024?

[@dariosantacruz]

Great job. I am an IT adjacent guy who knows how to hardwire a house and who had to last year and let me say that even tho I know how to terminate cables, use punchers to terminate the other type of rj45 wall plugs and how to manage a switch I love that you kept it simple and unintimidating. Could you have used better hardware? Of course but this is more than enough for 95% of people out there and for most people who will dare to do it themselves. Kudos to you to make an easy to understand and complete guide. I will for sure subscribe. Keep up the great work.

[@mancyclediy]

Hey man! Wow - your feedback was incredibly encouraging, and I really appreciate it. THANK YOU!

[@DavidM2002]

I did this to my house during a renovation a little over 20 years ago. It was the best thing that I did. I would offer a couple of suggestions. 1) run 2 cables to each location. It takes very little extra effort or cost. 2) run cable up into the attic so that you can have wired security cameras. Run those cables out to the corners of your house and install the plate inside the house; not outside. The cameras are fairly cheap. 3) make sure that you buy a POE switch. That's Power Over Ethernet and that power is there to power your cameras. Some larger switches will have perhaps 24 ports of which maybe 6 will be POE. They are pretty cheap. 4) Go with the Cat 6 or better. When I did mine, Cat 5e had just arrive on the scene and it cost more but it was well worth it. 5) Depending on your site, run cables to your garage or shop. I did and now I have cameras mounted out there. Plus I can have a smart TV plugged into my home network for media or internet. Way better than Wifi if there is any distance to the outbuilding. My garage / shop is 22 x 24 and I put an outlet in each corner.

[@mancyclediy]

Thanks for the suggestions - REALLY like the idea of running cable for cameras and workshop. Thanks for sharing!

[@jonmayer]

Instead of the old work electrical box, get yourself a low voltage box (they are usually orange in color). They are fully open in the back and still allow that professional look, but it's much easier to run a cable through them.

[@mancyclediy]

YES - GREAT suggestion! What you've described sounds like the box I used while retrofitting the finished room (toward the end of the video). It was WAY easier to use. Thank you!

[@xanokothe]

Good job, do not forget that you are going to need to access the switch in the future Also, use the best ethernet cable available. Maybe external ethernet cable is not needed, but the "best" ones are just a bit more expensive and if you want to upgrade your ethernet from 100mb to 1Gb then to 2.5Gb or 10Gb you can still use the same ethernet cables

[@mancyclediy]

Good call - thanks for sharing!

[@LordFlubber-pd1tw]

This was incredibly helpful, thank you!

[@mancyclediy]

Glad it was helpful! Good luck!

[@alanrkanter]

Rather than drilling big holes, learn to install a connector to the cable. Keystone type jack systems make this pretty easy.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

That solves one problem, but if you need to later add another cable, it can be more of a pain. That being said, that is a bit on the big side, a smaller one would have worked just as well, even without adding the jack later.

[@mancyclediy]

Good call!

[@awdhootkanawade]

I have seen some wall plates having built in wifi access point with ethernet passthrough, maybe they are better option as a endpoint in a network

[@mancyclediy]

I've never used those, but it sounds like it would be worth checking out. Thanks for sharing!

[@awdhootkanawade]

@@mancyclediy Tenda W6-s 300 Mbps Tplink omada ac-1200 Both are POE so keep the injector ready 😁