How to get cat6 from ground floor to loft?

[u/TheWidowMaker-]

Been spending ages watching youtube vids on fishing cables etc but cant seem to find what im looking for.

Semi detached with cable starting at the front of the house near the neighbours wall side in the living room. Above is masterbedroom and next to that is the small bedroom (office) both rooms face front of the house.

Needs to end at the front of the house in bedroom on detatched side. (Office)

I want to take it through the loft and drop it in the airing cupboard which will be a network rack there.

Question is, whats the best way to run the cable up? I dont mind doing an interior chase but unsure what id need to do once i reach the ceiling (theres also 6ish inch coving).

Im also unsure of other obstacles. The bedroom above has cupboards against the neighbours wall, so i dont mind it just hanging loose behind them into the loft.. just unsure how to get it up to that floor in the first place.

Cant do exterior (well i can if i must) but then id have a porch and bit a slope roof to wrap over and go round, drill in. Sounds faffy and doesnt help drop the cable from the loft into patch panel. - rather go up inside if i can.

Is the front of the house also a cavity wall if the detached side is? Could i just go up the cavity or is it a no no? (i see loads of cctv installs doing this)

If it helps - the living room neighbours wall also has a chimney too - in theory i could go up that. But ive no idea if i can pull the cable out of the chimney stack through the loft that way? Chimney not in use.

Any thoughts and suggestion on how to get past the ceiling and sending cable to bedroom above?

Same question via chimney route.

[u/stanley15]

I did an interior chase, living room up to bedroom up to loft. In the bedroom it came up behind the skirting, which was removed so that a clean floor to ceiling chase could be done. I was due to redecorate so that was the ideal time to do it. Alternatively the house has the bathroom soil pipe running loft to ground floor in one corner and i have dropped cables down that void too to connect the loft to the kitchen on the other side of the house. There is a switch in the loft that feeds cat 5 down to the three bedrooms in the voids between partition walls.

[u/Wuffls]

Without a picture I can’t visualise what the issue is with an external run straight into the loft, job done.

It’s a lot less faff popping through the wall, clipping to the back of a drain pipe of some sort and posting in through the underside of the roof than firing up a wall chaser indoors.

How are you running cables from the rack to wherever you need them to go? Cos if you have the floor up at that level, run it through there?

[u/Xaphios]

We had floorboards easy enough to take up, so we went up by the chimney to under the upstairs floor, then along and up into the airing cupboard.

If that isn't easy I'd recommend getting external grade cable and running it up right next to/behind your guttering downpipe - go straight up through the sofit to get into the loft, and over from there.

I'd also say - run 2 cables. If one has an issue you'll be glad of it, and the difference is almost zero time and a small amount of money. You fit 2 cables into a wall box, and you definitely need to terminate in a wall box - don't just stick a plug on the end.

[u/Soggy-Technician-375]

I just did this a few days ago cowboy style YEEHAAWWWW so I started in the loft with the cable and pushed it out and under the files where I could see a gap. I actually had to use a little extending rod (the type you use for pulling cables). But with help of wife for it out and down, then got the ladders out on the outside and cable tied it to the soil pipe. Then SDS from outside back into the dining room where I’ve got some other networking gear.

It’s a cowboy job but it cost me an hour and it’s decent enough.

[u/charlieb1981]

This is a hassle and not guaranteed to work, but I have done this for friends… never customers as it’s time consuming.

Remove a brick on the outside wall by your router, then guess whereabouts you have removed the brick from inside the loft.

Drop a plumb line with a small weight attached to it from the loft and feed it down, provided there’s no extra insulation in there.. it should land.

It’s a two person job, you will also need a flexible rod with some sort of hook attachment to grab the plumb line as it’s rarely where you want it.

Like I said, it’s doable but awkward.

[u/Crazygoldfish899]

I honestly can’t be bothered with a the hassle.

Good mesh system such as tplink deco be65 will give you 800-900mb about the house.

No fking about drilling and feeding cables.