We are building a new house and want to make it as accessible as possible for teenagers and for parents who want to use the internet all over the house. Do we hardwire cables knowing they will probably be out of date in a few years? Is wireless the way to go? I would love some suggestions.
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Terry Chapman
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How Do I Wire a New House for For Internet Usage?
Comments: 6 Responses to “How Do I Wire a New House for For Internet Usage?”
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Wireless has been the way to go for a number of years now. Smart phones and tablets don't even have wired Internet connection ports. New laptops like the MacBooks for the last few years have also come without a wired network port. In addition, all computers sold for the last several (10?) years have built-in wi-fi.
All that is needed today is to have a good wi-fi hub and connect all of your devices to that. Often that wi-fi hub is provided by your ISP -- like a cable modem box or DSL box. I prefer to not use their wi-fi, but instead plug in an Apple Airport Extreme base station to that. But for most users, the box that comes with your service is fine.
I worked hard to wire a house up for networking back in 1997. Then I moved in 2009 to a new house that had ethernet cables running to every room. The timing was terrible as I never used the cables since I was all wi-fi at that point.
Thanks, Gary. About 10 or 12 years ago, we put wireless in our office to move larger CAD files and it was so slow we went back and added cable. My question springs from that experience. Enjoy your newsletter. Keep up the good work.
There is a potential use to consider by running a few wires around the house. It can make it easier to create separate networks or to create different WiFi access points for different purposes.
Terry: Sounds like maybe you were using a slower or older quality wi-fi system. Today's standard wi-fi is fast enough that unless you are doing specific technical work, you won't notice. Homes across the world regularly stream multiple HD videos to computers, tablets and TVs at the same time.
Douglas: True. But those are not typical uses. I categorize myself as a "pro" user and I can't think of a use for that. If I wanted another wi-fi network that was separate from the one I have, I still wouldn't need to run a cable anywhere.
Depending on the style of construction, it can be difficult to use WiFi extenders or ad-hoc networking to extend a WiFi connection. Network cabling is pretty inexpensive when properly sourced and if the walls are already open, running a few extra wires can be helpful.