regular celings are often a mess. I ran a wired switch to my own ceiling fan (previous one was an RF switch....seriously, how lazy must an electrician be to install a stationary RF switch for something as immobile as a ceiling fan). Up the walls is no problem - across the ceiling? BIG problem. I replaced a LOT of drywall (The joists were against me, running parallel to the joists would have been cake)

Here's some random hints for you. Drilling/Cutting a large hole (3-4") in the wall near the baseboard and up near the ceiling will help you run from the ground up. Circular holes are easy to patch because there is never a "right side up", otherwise mark "up" on the area you wish to cut, before you cut. Learn to patch drywall, you will be doing a lot of it, it is not hard. If you do drill through Joists, get a right angle drill, far less damage. Take pictures of measurements of where stuff is run so you can redo this if necessary (fiber, home-automation, etc. Run more cables than necessary (wire is cheaper than labor, and always pull a cable with an extra string attached (to pull more cable in the future).

I'd shoot for baseboard removal. If you can find a run that works from one end of the house to the other, wrapping around doorways, you may be able to so this with minimal effort.

When I started doing this, I didn't know shit. I wish there was a comprehensive site offering details, but honestly, I'm far too lazy to put one up. I think you can pvt msg through this interface. If you pvt msg me, you can email me a rough drawing of the floorplan and I'd be glad to give you pointers!

Lizard_King

Canoehead

Maxwells_Nylon_Hammer

It honestly is not that hard. You get the wires into the walls, then snake them up or down a level. In a rough basement, you can drill straight up into the floor, unfinsihed attics have a similar access to the tops of walls. I first start by connecting the basement to the attic in the setups, with a nice FAT channel, and running multiple CAT6 lines. I do branching from the attic, making drops into different rooms. Fishing the wire is the easy part, once you know you are into the right wall channel (hole in the wall in the same space beteen joists as hole in the wall cap/floor). If dropping a line down to a hole, a beaded chain like used on a ceiling fan pull is GREAT. Avoid power lines, but you can use their general layout an as example.

In smaller apartements, you want to try to tuck the wires into the baseboards and run them around walls. Do not cross doorways with the wires. Plenum rated cabling can be used in duct-work, but I don't recommmend it.

Don't get me wrong, I like wireless for portable devices, but even A,G and even N is too slow (even at close ranges) for media streaming. While Gigbit wiring won't give you 1000Mbps, you are going to be beating wireless speeds for quite a few more years.

Lizard_King

Canoehead

Hvedhrungr

SigmundTheSeaMonster

BigViper

Also, from the review this thing is only N. Supposedly one of the limitations of N routers is that the compatibility mode to b/g really hurts the N side...So keeping this N only would theoretically help it out.

MrMaestr0

Lizard_King

Mr Torben

Hvedhrungr