Running Ethernet cable through an older UK house

uglymusic

I'll put this in digital because that is what it is, I guess.

There are well over 20 devices siphoning off wi-fi bandwidth in this house. And sometimes, it all gets a little much.

My ISP's Fritz!Box router can run a mesh network, but I know the heavy consumers of bandwidth should be connected via Ethernet. So I've been reading up about cabling the house.

I don't suppose anyone reading this has cabled their house? 

cj66

Before you cable up, remember the modem/router can get "full" of device addresses, which can slow it down significantly. You can set it to auto-delete these e.g. once a month.

In an older house skirting boards, under floor, cornice etc. are your friends.

uglymusic

In theory, there should be at least 250 IP addresses (most routers reserve a few addresses because they don't like seeing all of those IPs being used by others  ).

I have read that your average home router doesn't like having more than around 30 devices running concurrently - that's not connected, it's the number being used at the same time. I can't see us hitting that limit (it may not even exist for the Fritz!Box and there are only two of us. Thelonious doesn't use his iPad much ). That limit may get tested if I go ahead and add home automation, but that's some way ahead if it happens at all.

I'm currently working out where I'm going to run the cables. I'm eyeing up our disused chimney, for example. And It looks like the patch panel will go in the loft. It feels like both a fun project and a bit of a challenge.