Running ethernet cables through your walls transforms a messy tangle of visible cables into a clean, professional network installation. While the prospect of cutting into walls and drilling holes might seem daunting, with the right tools and techniques, this is a DIY project within reach of most handy homeowners. This comprehensive guide walks you through the process step by step, from planning to final testing.
Tools and Materials You Will Need
Before starting your installation, gather the necessary tools. You will need a stud finder to locate wall studs and avoid drilling into them. A drill with various bits including a long flexible drill bit for navigating wall cavities is essential. Fish tape or a fish rod helps guide cables through walls. A drywall saw or oscillating multi-tool cuts neat holes for wall plates. Cable cutters and a cable stripper prepare cables for termination. A punch-down tool is required if using keystone jacks.
For materials, purchase sufficient ethernet cable with extra length for routing and service loops. Cat6 solid-core cable is recommended for in-wall installation, as solid conductors perform better than stranded over long runs. Keystone jacks and wall plates provide a professional finish. Low-voltage mounting brackets eliminate the need for electrical boxes. Cable clips and ties help secure cables in place during installation.
Safety equipment is important. Wear safety glasses when drilling and cutting. A dust mask is advisable when working in ceiling spaces. A head torch frees your hands when working in dark areas. Knee pads make extended work in ceiling spaces or on floors more comfortable.
Consider the specific requirements of Australian homes. Older brick veneer construction presents different challenges to newer stud-framed houses. Access to ceiling spaces varies significantly between single and multi-storey homes. Rental properties may require landlord permission and have restrictions on permanent modifications.
Planning Your Cable Route
Successful installations begin with thorough planning. Start by identifying the starting point (typically near your router or network cabinet) and the end point (the room requiring connectivity). Consider the easiest path between these points, which often involves routing through ceiling spaces where accessible.
Use a stud finder to map the wall where you plan to install the outlet. Mark stud locations and identify any obstacles like fire blocks (horizontal timbers between studs) that might impede cable routing. Locate existing electrical and plumbing runs to avoid them. Drilling into a water pipe or electrical cable causes far bigger problems than rerouting your ethernet cable.
For multi-storey homes, identify how you will get cable between floors. Options include existing conduits (sometimes used for TV antenna cables), drilling through the floor plate into wall cavities below, or routing through external conduit on the building's exterior. Each approach has trade-offs between difficulty and aesthetics.
Calculate the cable length needed by measuring your planned route and adding extra for inevitable diversions around obstacles. Add another 20% as a safety margin. It is far better to have excess cable than to come up short partway through installation. Having to splice cables mid-run or purchase additional cable delays your project and adds connection points that could fail.
Preparing and Cutting Wall Openings
Mark the location for your wall plate, typically at the same height as electrical outlets (around 300mm from floor to outlet centre in Australia). Use a level to ensure your marks are straight. The wall plate cutout is usually rectangular, and low-voltage mounting brackets include templates for accurate marking.
Before cutting, verify there is nothing behind the wall at your chosen location. Use a stud finder with deep scan capability to check for pipes, wires, and studs. Some installers drill a small pilot hole first and insert an inspection camera or angled mirror to visually confirm the space is clear.
Cut the wall opening using a drywall saw or oscillating multi-tool. Score the paint line first with a utility knife to prevent the paint from peeling beyond your cut line. Cut carefully to avoid making the hole larger than necessary. The low-voltage mounting bracket will cover the hole edge, but it requires enough wall material to grip.
If you encounter a stud at your planned location, you have two options. Move the outlet location to a clear space between studs, or drill through the stud if regulations and structural considerations permit. Drilling studs should be avoided where possible, and if necessary, holes should be centred and not exceed one-third of the stud width.
Running Cable Through Wall Cavities
With access holes prepared, the next step is feeding cable from your starting point to the outlet location. The easiest approach uses ceiling access to drop cables down into wall cavities from above. Locate the wall cavity in the ceiling space by measuring from a reference point visible both inside the room and in the ceiling space.
From the ceiling space, drill down through the top plate (the timber at the top of the wall) into the wall cavity. Use a long drill bit to ensure you break through into the cavity. Some installers tie a string with a small weight to the drill bit before withdrawing it, leaving a pull string in the wall cavity.
Fish tape or fish rods help retrieve cables through wall cavities. Feed the fish tape down from the ceiling and have a helper catch it at the wall outlet location using a hook made from a bent coat hanger. Attach the cable to the fish tape and pull it through the wall. Alternatively, push the cable down from the ceiling while the helper guides it out of the outlet hole.
For walls without ceiling access, you may need to cut additional access holes to navigate around obstacles like fire blocks. These access holes can be patched and painted afterward. Sometimes routing through an adjacent room's wall or via the floor space below provides an easier path than multiple access holes.
Terminating Cables and Installing Wall Plates
With cable successfully routed, terminate the ends for connection. At the wall outlet, leave a service loop of around 300mm of cable behind the wall plate. This extra cable allows for future re-termination if a connection fails or if you want to relocate the outlet slightly.
Strip the outer jacket of the cable to expose the twisted pairs. Be careful not to nick the insulation on individual wires. Untwist pairs only as much as necessary for termination, as excessive untwisting degrades signal quality. For Cat6 cable, maintain tight twists as close to the termination point as possible.
Punch down wires onto keystone jacks following the colour code printed on the jack (typically T568A or T568B). Use a proper punch-down tool rather than improvising with a screwdriver. The punch-down tool cuts excess wire while seating the conductor in the contact. Verify wire order before and after punching down to avoid crossed pairs that would cause connection problems.
Snap the keystone jack into the wall plate and install the plate onto the mounting bracket. The plate should sit flush against the wall with no visible gaps. At the other end of the cable, terminate to a patch panel for a professional installation or directly to an RJ45 plug if connecting directly to equipment.
Testing Your Installation
Never close up walls or consider an installation complete until you have tested the cable run. Basic testing involves connecting a device and verifying connectivity, but this only confirms the cable is wired and can pass some signal. Proper testing requires a cable tester that verifies all eight conductors are correctly connected and can identify common faults.
Ethernet cable testers range from simple continuity checkers to professional certification testers. For DIY installations, a basic tester that checks for opens, shorts, and crossed pairs is adequate. These testers cost around $30-50 and pay for themselves by identifying problems before you close up walls.
If your tester identifies faults, the most common issues are crossed pairs (wires punched down in wrong positions), split pairs (wires from different pairs punched down together), and opens (a wire not making contact). Re-examine your terminations carefully, referencing the colour code on your keystone jacks. Re-punch any suspect connections.
Once connections test good, verify actual network performance. Connect a device and run speed tests to confirm you achieve expected speeds. Use our cable finder recommendations to ensure you have quality cables that will perform reliably for years.
Finishing and Cleanup
With testing complete, finish the installation professionally. Patch any access holes cut for fishing cables using drywall patches. Sand patches smooth and repaint to match surrounding walls. Vacuuming thoroughly removes drywall dust and cable cuttings.
Label cables at both ends for future identification. A simple label maker or hand-written labels on masking tape work well. Note the cable destination (e.g., "Living Room A") at the patch panel or central location. This documentation proves invaluable when troubleshooting future issues or making network changes.
Document your installation with photos showing cable routes before closing walls. Note locations of any access holes or unexpected obstacles encountered. This documentation helps if you later need to add cables following similar routes or if future renovations require knowledge of concealed cabling.
Consider future needs when completing your installation. If there is any chance of adding more cables later, install conduit or leave a pull string in the wall cavity to simplify future cable pulls. The marginal additional effort during initial installation saves significant time compared to completely re-fishing cables later.