On Sat, 24 Dec 2011 08:04:38 +0000, Chuck Banshee wrote:
This is my first time installing cat5 cable in my house and I am unsure
how to connect to RJ45 jacks that I need to put in the wall.

I wish to thank everyone for their heart-felt advice!

OVERALL DESIGN:
As a summary for others coming after me and finding this thread, the
right 'way' to wire the home network is to use a 'star' configuration
where the cable from the outside antenna ultimately stops at the wall
plate where you will be placing your Ethernet switch (which was
incorporated into my home broadband router in my case).

From that central wall plate, you then connect additional cables
radiating out to the various other desired locations, e.g., one cable to
the game room, another cable to the upstairs bedroom, etc.

Lastly, you connect your Ethernet switch (in my case, it was my home
broadband router) WAN side to the antenna cable, and its LAN side
(typically four ports) to each of the other connections (e.g., game room,
upstairs bedroom, kitchen, etc.).

CHOOSING CABLES:
For outside buried use, you need gel-filled cable as normal 'outside'
cable is expected to be hung in the air (selecting 500 feet of the wrong
cable was a major mistake of mine). For plenum use, you need plenum
cable. And for indoor use, almost any cable will work.

My mistake was two-fold. First, I bought from Home Despot (as Jeff tends
to call it), which cost me more for outdoor cat5e than it would have for
gell-filled outdoor cable. Second, I bought 500 feet of one type,
assuming it would work for all types.

In hindsight, the better method (from a cost/functionality perspective)
would have been to buy a short length of outside gell-filled cable for
the outside runs, another short length of plenum-rated cable for any
plenum runs (I didn't have any plenum runs), and another set of short
cables for inside runs (which could have used any of the other cables).

CHOOSING 568-A or 568-B:
There are two 'standards', 568A & 568B, which initially confused me in
the beginning until I finally realized electrically, there is absolutely
no difference between the two standards (why they even exist is beyond
me).

The wiring is EXACTLY the same (electrons are colorblind). If you removed
the outer colored covering on each of the copper wires in both A & B
cables, you'd find there is absolutely no difference between the two
types: the only difference is the color of the insulation. So, either
cable will work in all cases!

The only rule to follow is to pick one of the two standards (I chose B)
and then wire "both" ends of any one cable to "that" standard.

MAST MATERIAL:
Again I made a major mistake on my mast material. Cost-wise it was a
disaster compared to what it should have been!

What you 'want' is a single length of inexpensive galvanized steel tubing
for the mast plus an equal sized length of tubing for the cable going
down the mast; but the problem is that ten feet is as long as you can get
at Home Despot for any tubing whatsoever. Putting three feet into the
ground only leaves you with 7 feet at Home Despot lengths.

You 'can' buy multiple threaded metal conduit in various lengths up to
ten feet at Home Depot, which is probably what I should have bought.

Instead, I purchased various lengths of 2 inch and 1.5 inch galvanized
water pipe to bring my mast length to about 19 feet, of which only about
16 feet were sticking above the ground.

The advantage of the thicker water pipe was strength (over electrical
conduit); but the huge disadvantage was cost & weight.

My cost for mast components alone was well over a hundred dollars (2-inch
pipe, 2-to-1.5-inch reducer, 1.5-inch pipe, 1.5-inch-to-1-inch reducer, 1-
inch pipe, pipe cap) at Home Despot plus a 2-inch-to-3-inch plastic
conduit bushing from Ace Hardware Supply to hold the 2-inch mast portion
into the 3.5" hole plus similar lengths of plastic conduit to fit down
the sides for the cable to run inside.

The weight matters because I maintain my antenna simply by pulling the
mast out of the ground and laying it flat to work on the antenna. It's
doable; but it's heavy (I'm guessing over fifty pounds).

ANTENNA PARTICULARS:
My 19 dBi flat-panel antenna & 600 mW Bullet M2 radio turned out to be
overkill for what I needed. The WISP AP I chose is about a mile (or so)
away - and with the Ubiquiti Bullet M2 set at maximum power, the signal
strength was -65 dBm (about 400 picowatts). I'll likely need to lower the
output power on the radio.

Aligning the antenna side-to-side turned out to be surprisingly trivial.
I simply twisted the free-standing mast until the signal strength was
best. It was 'that' easy. It took only an inch or so of twist to bring
the signal down so the center point was very easily determined in less
than a single minute.

Since the signal strength was almost too good, I didn't even bother to
align the antenna vertically (i.e., in the up and down direction). I
never knew alignment was this easy!

However: S far we haven't had high winds so I don't yet know if the heavy
mast will act like a weather vane, twisting in the direction of the
wind ... so I 'do' have a backup plan of bolting it down at the bottom
with L-shaped galvanized steel legs to prevent twisting if needed.

I also have a backup plan of switching antennas from a flat plane to a
wire mesh dish style, which will cut down on wind resistance. I guess
I'll look for a 14 dBi wire mesh antenna (since I don't even need the 19
dBi I already have).

WALL PLATES:
here are three different colors for wall plates. Bring a wall plate from
the electrical outlets with you to match (I bought the 'wrong' almond
color by not knowing about this).

ASSESSMENT:

In the end, I made a LOT of mistakes (most of which have been pointed out
in this thread - that's how I knew I made 'em!) which I'd hope the next
person doesn't make.

The WISP was perfectly willing to put in the entire setup for $400. In
hind sight, it cost me just about that with materials and tools, so I
didn't save a dime. Nor did I save in time (it took me a few days).

However, I learned a lot; I have some neat new tools; I buried the cable
(whereas the WISP would have strung a line to the house in the air); I
entered the home neatly (whereas the prior WISP drilled THREE holes
trying to get inside the house, each an inch from the other!); I ended
the run neatly at a wall plate (whereas the prior WISP left a dangling
cable on the inside of the third drill hole); and the star network center
was in the center of the house where I wanted it with no wires hanging on
the walls (the prior WISP entered from the outside directly where the
cable reached the house).

Given the cost was about the same for 'my' admittedly flawed installation
versus the prior WISP's professional (but cost-cutting) installation ...
I still suggest others do their own installation.

The only thing I'd do differently is that I'd read THIS thread and NOT
make the same mistakes I made. The result will be a BETTER installation
than that which my prior WISP did professionally - at about the same cost
(i.e., you're just not going to save money over what the WISP charges!).