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've installed a WISP antenna 75 feet from the house & will be routing
the outdoor cat5 cable into the middle of the house (another 25 or so
feet) - but I have a few 'design' questions I'd like to ask those more
experienced than I am.

Pictured here is what I have in the wall in the middle of the house:
http://picturepush.com/public/7212874
or
www1.picturepush.com/photo/a/7212874/1024/Anonymous/cat5-questions.gif

I'm not sure if it's best to route the wire all the way from the antenna
to the middle of the house (about 75 feet to the house and another 25 or
30 feet zig-zagging to the crawl space and then up to the newly drilled
hole at the wall).

I'm going to put a wall plate at the wall in the middle of the house; but
should I also put a wall plate where the wire enters the house?

Does breaking the line into sections degrade the signal?

If I do put a wall plate at the entrance to the house, I'll likely put
the POE (power over ethernet) at the wall inside the house (otherwise it
will go in the middle of the house next to the WRT54G router).

When I put a wall plate in the middle of the house, would you add a
second female jack (just in case for future use?). Or does that also
degrade the signal?

In summary, I'm not sure if I should strive to keep the line intact and
how I should terminate it.

Any advice?

Your description is somewhat vague, but I can give you some general
guidelines.
Assuming you're running standard 802.11 ethernet, it makes some difference
whether you're running 10Mb, 100Mb, or gigabit ethernet.
Faster requires more care.

In general, you can have exactly one device at either end of the wire.
You can have plugs and sockets in the wire, but only one device on
either end....not in the middle...at the ends of the wire.
You cannot tap a device into the middle of a wire. Devices have to be
on the ENDs of the wires. Doesn't matter if the unused end of the wire
is disconnected...the extra wire can't be there.

You can have two sockets and a jumper wire. Remove the jumper to use
the connector in the middle of the run, but that disconnects the rest of
your system.

If one of those devices is a router, you can use one router port to continue
the run while you use another router port to "tap" the signal.

What do you mean by "terminate"?
You don't "terminate" the line as in impedance matching. That's done
inside the devices you connect to the END of the wire run.
If, by "terminate" you mean, do I solder it or use screw terminals, that's
a different issue. Should be instructions with the socket you use.