Running cable through heat vents
 

Well I live in a finished house and my roommate got a computer, and wants to see if I can hook her up to the network.

Getting a wireless router and two wireless cards isn't a financial option, so barring massive structural damage to the house the only way I can see to get the cable to her room is through the duct.

Is this even an option? Will it get too hot? Her room is above and beside mine in the house, and it would be extremely simple to get the cable to her room through the vent.

Cure my ignorance.

Ace... as long as the cables are fire retardant this shouldn't be a problem (i.e. you don't want them to spread a fire from one room to another).

I know from personal experience that wiring is easy through the duct work, but in my case it has always been in the COLD-AIR duct work, instead of the heat vents.

Do you have a cold-air return to your furnace? If so, I would recommend that route. If not, I really see no problem with it as long as the cable can take the heat...

The worst that you'll have to worry about is some signal degradation if the cable gets really hot. Just make sure if you put the vents back in that you're not pinching/stripping the cable, otherwise it shouldn't be an issue.

Are you positive that your ducts are connected? You don't want to have to go past the heat strips (if you have electric).

Is it possible to go under the house and through the baseboard? Or through the attic and behind the crown molding (if you have any)? I've done it this way many times. Just be careful taking the molding down and you should be fine (no major structural damage). In fact, an ethernet port is a good thing in a modern house.

http://www.triteandtrue.com/ethwireing.jpg

Not a bad idea although I have not had any problems with useing heat ducts in the past. One note is that you should be careful with any bends or twists the wires make. Most Cat5 is somewhat thin wire inside and could break if you are not nice to it.

Be mindful of punching holes. HVAC ducting is not at all inexpensive.

Wireless cards can be had for $10/ea on the cheap. Routers aren't much more.

Use plenum version of cat5 for any airspace. It is fire retardant.

You can use the duct work but you have to use plenum cable, it's fire resistant and when burned isn't as toxic as the non-plenum cable.

exactly what I was thinking... four about $30 you can go wireless router and card... be on the lookout for sales.

I did this for my setup at the beginning - tied the cable to a tennis ball... rolled it down the duct and retrived it at the opening into my room. I had about 200 feet of cat5 to work with, and was passing it about 15 feet down the hall from the router.

Cat 5 Plenum cable is not exactly cheap. If you are not sure it is plenum grade cable don't use it.
Look for sales and specials on wireless sets.

For the easy solution, I'll echo the suggestions to just look for a sale on wireless equipment.

If you really want to go with a wired network--I personally would, but I regularly move large files across the network, so need the bandwidth--then I'd take Vanblah's advice and try to run it through the attic, walls, and crownwork, to make it as nice and professional as possible. If you're going to do it, do it right.

Out of curiosity, would running it through the ducting not require shielded cable?

You don't need a router to do wireless either... you can just use the ad-hoc wireless option.

No but it does require plenum cat 5, which is fire retardant and doesn't give off toxic gas when burned