Home Network Wiring: Bulk Cable, Plugs and Patch Cords

Wiring a house once, properly: 1000 ft pull boxes of solid copper Cat5e, Cat6 and Cat6A in CM, CMR (riser) and CMP (plenum) jackets for the in-wall runs; RJ45 plugs and strain-relief boots for terminations; multi-packs of patch cords for the panel; and Cat6A patch cables from the wall plate to each device.

The order that works

Plan the drops, choose one category for the whole house (Cat6 vs Cat6A settles it), pull solid bulk cable with the right fire rating, terminate on keystone jacks, then patch. Step-by-step: how to wire your home network, running cable through walls and terminating Ethernet.

Start here: our guide to outdoor vs direct burial Ethernet cable.

Common questions

How many drops does a 1000 ft box cover? Typical home runs are 50 to 100 ft, so one box wires roughly 10 to 15 drops with slack to spare. Measure the actual path, not the straight line.

Solid or stranded for in-wall runs? Solid. It holds signal over long runs and punches down cleanly into jacks; stranded is for patch cords that flex. Details in our guide to solid vs stranded bulk cable.

What to pull, and where

Where it goes What to use Why
Horizontal runs inside walls and ceilings Solid conductor Cat6 or Cat6A Solid holds signal over distance and punches down cleanly
Patch cords at each end Stranded conductor, standard gauge Stranded flexes without work-hardening
A riser shaft between floors CMR rated cable Code requirement, not a performance one
A plenum air-handling space CMP rated cable The strictest flame rating; check with your inspector
Outside, above ground Outdoor CMX with a UV jacket Indoor PVC cracks in sunlight
Buried in the ground Direct-burial cable, gel-filled if wet Water wicks along an ordinary jacket
Runs that will carry PoE Standard 23 or 24 AWG, not slim Thicker conductors run cooler and drop less voltage

More common questions

Solid or stranded: which do I need? Solid for anything permanent that gets terminated into a jack or patch panel and then left alone. Stranded for the patch cords that plug and unplug. Using the wrong one is the most common mistake in a first home install.

How many drops should I run to each room? Two is the usual minimum and four is not excessive in a room that will hold a desk or a TV. The cable is cheap compared with opening the wall a second time, and a spare drop is the difference between adding an access point later and not.

Do I need a patch panel? Not strictly, but it makes the difference between a wiring closet you can work in and a bundle of cable you dread touching. Terminate the horizontal runs onto a panel and use short patch cords to the switch.

Further reading: Cat5e vs Cat6: Which Do You Actually Need? · What Ethernet Cable Do You Need for 2.5G and 10G?