[TAG] Wiring a house with ethernet

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Benjamin A. Okopnik (ben at linuxgazette.net):

> I agree with Rick that you should be pulling Cat6 if you haven't yet
> bought a spool of Cat5; I disagree, however, that you should pull lots
> more cable. Instead, pull some 200- or 400-lb. test fishing line along
> with your cables, 2x (plus a bit) the total length of the run; every
> time you need to add a cable, just pull it from the opposite end of the
> run using the fishing line. 

Actually, do both.

The fishing line technique is great when it works.  It's maddening when
you find out belatedly that something's not clearing a snag, and the
only way you're going to fix it is by poking holes in your sheetrock.

> Yes. Again, I agree with Rick that you should use a top-quality,
> "automatic" crimper; and again, I disagree that a fox-and-hound (a.k.a.
> toner and amp) is a good answer to determining whether the connection's
> been properly made.

It's _not_ a good answer.  A good answer is to use a patch panel, and
_that's_ what I was recommending.  As I was saying, one of the
advantages of same is they're more foolproof:  It's much more difficult
to screw up with a punch tool than with a crimper.

Only people with a _good_ crimper tool and a lot of experience
eventually arrive at low error rates.  I'm good enough that I often
don't test my cables at all -- but that's admittedly hubris.