Townhouse network cabling plan newbie

6 years ago

I’m buying a 3-story townhouse (no basement) in a few days and getting comcast xfinity. The only cable outlet I recall seeing is in the 2nd floor LR. There’s a third floor laundry room I am planning to use to store all of the networking equipment.

Does this plan sound reasonable? Split the coax at the 2nd floor outlet and run coax up to the attic, traverse laterally to the laundry room, then run the coax down to the laundry room, and terminate in a wall plate. Coax goes to cable modem. Ethernet goes from cable modem to gateway to switch (all in the laundry room). Each Ethernet cable I want to run goes from switch up to the attic, traverses to the appropriate place, and then goes down to wherever I want an Ethernet wall port.

Planning on buying 25’ steel fish tape, 1000’ cat 6e unshielded riser cable, Klein tools wire cutter/crimper/stripper, rj45 ends, female Ethernet wall plates, 2-way coax splitter.

Is there anything completely wrong with this plan? Does splitting coax degrade signal quality at all? Does running coax over long distances pose any problems? (up 3 floors, up to the attic, across the attic for ~20’, and down one floor to the laundry room).

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Comments (5)

mtvhike
6 years ago
Make sure you get RJ6 coax. Why not just run the coax from the 2nd floor connection to the attic and then down to your network closet (no splitter)? If you're going to make your own Ethernet cables, also get a tester.
Seabornman
6 years ago
You will only be able to fish down to top floor from attic, and you may find it difficult, if not impossible, to fish in exterior walls, because of insulation and lack of access at eaves. I'll ask the obvious: why not wireless?
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Alex Dedo
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks for the input.

@mtvhike: Only reason for wanting to split the coax would be to keep a coax outlet in the LR for a future buyer who wants cable TV there (I only need internet). Will look for at RJ6 and an Ethernet tester.

@Seabornman: I am hoping I can run everything on the interior wall that I share with the unit next to me (this is where the coax outlet is). I have been wondering how I would get Ethernet down to the first floor. As for wireless, I would rather have wired connections wherever possible — at the very least to the main TV in the living room, to our desktop computers, and to the wireless access points I plan on installing (one on each floor).
mtvhike
6 years ago
Sorry, I meant RG6. RG6 and RG59 are both 75 Ohm cable and use the same connectors, but RG6 has less loss.
wdccruise
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
None of this is necessary. Just buy a Comcast/Infinity-compatible router such as the well-regarded Motorola MG7550 for $150 (skip the monthly Xfinity router rental fee) and attach it to the coax on the second floor. If the signal doesn't reach everywhere needed, buy a mesh product such as the Netgear Orbi. You can plug ethernet cables into Orbi devices if you want.

My 4K TV -- and computer, phone, and Sonos speakers -- is connected over wi-fi (50 Mbps FiOS) in a two-level townhouse and it works just fine.

P.S. Don't overbuy Internet speed. WSJ determined that 50 Mbps download is plenty for households.