# Running ethernet down stairwell wall?



## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

You can run it along the stringer, outside the wall & use wire mold to cover it. That way you don't have to drill.


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## clawlan (Nov 29, 2015)

Guap0_ said:


> You can run it along the stringer, outside the wall & use wire mold to cover it. That way you don't have to drill.


Don't think that solution will get approval from the wife. Everything is finished so I'd have to drill anyways to get from office into stairway.


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

Then forget about the stairwell. If you don't want to have the ISP move the modem downstairs then just drill a hole in the floor of your office & run the wires down there. Tell me a little more about your network, cable modem, FIOS, router, TVs, etc....


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

I can be done the wall down stairs has a double top plate the wall above has a single plate and there is at least one joist flush with the staircase to work around.


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

A lot more cable will have to be used if you go the stairwell route.


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## clawlan (Nov 29, 2015)

Guap0_ said:


> Then forget about the stairwell. If you don't want to have the ISP move the modem downstairs then just drill a hole in the floor of your office & run the wires down there. Tell me a little more about your network, cable modem, FIOS, router, TVs, etc....


Basement is underground so can't move where it comes into the house (not to mention AT&T charges a ton to re-lay fiber). I technically could drill through floor but again, basement is finished so I'd have to open up the ceiling which wouldn't make sense if I could just fish it down a wall. Also, the office is carpeted and I don't want to drill a hole through it. 

My WAN is 1gbps fiber which runs through a residential gateway to a switch(soon to have a pfSense firewall in between). From there it branches to several PCs, server, NAS, IP Cameras, printers, game consoles, media streamers and a couple UAP-AC-PRO APs. 

My plan is to move all the networking gear (gateway, switch, patch panel, PoE, router, etc) and servers into a rackmount server enclosure in the closet under the stairwell in the basement. Hence my thinking of punching through the office wall (shared with the stairwell), down a couple feet, then punch through into the closet under the stairs.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)




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## clawlan (Nov 29, 2015)

Nealtw said:


> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsuP-Dx_m0w


Yea, i'm familiar with those, but they don't drill a big enough hole for running a half dozen network cables through. Definitely my fallback idea though.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

clawlan said:


> Yea, i'm familiar with those, but they don't drill a big enough hole for running a half dozen network cables through. Definitely my fallback idea though.


Ah, drill more than one hole?????????????.


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## clawlan (Nov 29, 2015)

Nealtw said:


> Ah, drill more than one hole?????????????.


With flex bits?????????? At most you can get 2 holes (one in each corner) else you'll never get fish tape through.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

Cut an access hole in the closet close to the ceiling and drill 12 holes. That drill doubles as the fish tape.


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## clawlan (Nov 29, 2015)

Nealtw said:


> Cut an access hole in the closet close to the ceiling and drill 12 holes. That drill doubles as the fish tape.


That could work. Thanks. :devil3:


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

There is no magic. Either you drill or you go wireless with an Amp2400.


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## clawlan (Nov 29, 2015)

Guap0_ said:


> There is no magic. Either you drill or you go wireless with an Amp2400.


Oh I was definitely planning to drill, I was just wondering if the structure of the wall that is shared by a stairwell is going to be any different than a standard wall where all I need to worry about is the floor plate and possibly a firebreak.


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

There will probably be a subfloor under the bottom plate which should be a problem either. If there is carpet on the stairs, you should be able to find a way to hide the cable behind the carpet & drill through the tread &/or through the stringer. I've seen telco wires run that way.
Drilling through the carpet in your office & through the ceiling downstairs, as I suggested before, shouldn't be that hard.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

Guap0_ said:


> There will probably be a subfloor under the bottom plate which should be a problem either. If there is carpet on the stairs, you should be able to find a way to hide the cable behind the carpet & drill through the tread &/or through the stringer. I've seen telco wires run that way.
> Drilling through the carpet in your office & through the ceiling downstairs, as I suggested before, shouldn't be that hard.


If there is a closet below the stairs it will be wall above wall, no need to deal with the stairs.


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## clawlan (Nov 29, 2015)

Nealtw said:


> If there is a closet below the stairs it will be wall above wall, no need to deal with the stairs.


Meaning my thinking of into shared wall, through bottom plate, and back into closet should work? I know it's probably hard to visualize with my poor explanation. Unfortunately, I'm an even worse artist.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

clawlan said:


> Meaning my thinking of into shared wall, through bottom plate, and back into closet should work? I know it's probably hard to visualize with my poor explanation. Unfortunately, I'm an even worse artist.


I posted that picture of the framing just visualize the floor and bottom plate 
Just stay away from the joist flush with the stair side of the wall and it should be easy to go from wall cavity to cavity they are up to 1 foot apart so some sort of long drill is needed.


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## rsjanca (Jan 9, 2018)

I did something similar and didn't run into any out of the ordinary problems. Just make sure you've got a long enough flexible bit to get all the way through.









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