Home Networking Cable Guide: Cat6, Coaxial and What to Lay Before Plastering

Almost every homeowner who skips structured cabling regrets it within two years, usually while looking at a Wi-Fi extender plugged into a corridor socket. Network cable is cheap; running it after plastering is not.

Why wired still matters in a Wi-Fi house

Wi-Fi is a shared radio medium and Indian homes are built of concrete and brick, which is close to worst case for signal. The practical answer is not more powerful Wi-Fi — it is wired backhaul to two or three well-placed access points. That needs Cat6 in the walls, decided before plastering.

Cat6, Cat6a or Cat5e?

Insist on solid-conductor pure copper for in-wall runs. Copper-clad aluminium is widely sold, is noticeably cheaper, and fails on longer runs and with power-over-ethernet devices such as cameras and access points.

How many drops, and where

• Two drops behind the TV — TV and set-top box or console.
• One drop per bedroom, near the desk or bedside.
• Two drops at ceiling level in the corridor or living area, for Wi-Fi access points. This is the one most people miss and the one that matters most.
• One drop at the work desk, plus a spare.
• All returning to one central point — a small cabinet or a deep enclosure near the meter or in a utility area, with a power socket in it.

A 2BHK typically needs 6–8 drops and a 3BHK 10–14. At roughly ₹25–45 per metre installed, the whole job is a small fraction of the electrical budget.

Put the router in the right place

The most common Indian networking mistake is the router sitting inside the meter cupboard by the front door, because that is where the fibre arrives. Bring the fibre to the cupboard, then run Cat6 from there to a central access point location. A router in a metal cupboard behind a concrete wall is a router working at a fraction of its capability.

Coaxial, CCTV and doorbell cabling

• RG-6 coaxial for cable TV and dish — still worth running one to the TV wall even in a streaming household.
• CCTV — modern IP cameras run on the same Cat6 with power over ethernet, so plan camera positions as network drops rather than separate cabling. Analogue systems still use RG-59 with a power pair.
• Video doorbell / intercom — a Cat6 drop to the main door serves almost every current system.
• Keep data cable separated from power cable — a parallel run alongside mains in the same conduit induces noise. Cross at right angles where they must meet, and use separate conduit.

Terminate properly

Use keystone jacks in modular plates at the room end and a patch panel at the central point, rather than crimping plugs directly onto solid cable. Solid conductor is designed to be punched down, not crimped, and directly crimped plugs on solid cable are the single most common cause of intermittent home network faults.

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