The nice thing about installing hard wired internet is that you are able to get the maximum speeds throughout your home or office, without the negative health effects that are caused by WiFi Radiation. It is a bit of work, but if you can afford it it will be worth it in the end.
Although it can seem complicated, installing hardwired internet is a pretty basic process. It is something anyone can do with this guide and a few tools. So even if this project seems overwhelming, just relax and know that it is simple and we will walk you though the process.
So in this article first we will briefly define what hard wiring internet means, and then we will get to explaining the process step by step. And towards the end of this article I will show you a common mistake, something people think is hard wiring internet, but isn’t. And it will actually dump a bunch of dirty electricity onto your home wiring. Okay let’s get started!
What Is Hard Wired Internet?
A true “hard wiring” of internet means that your internet is not transmitted wirelessly through the air, but is sent through computer cables (a.k.a. “Ethernet cables”) to the various rooms in your home or office. And since the reason that most people hard wire their internet is to reduce RF Radiation (a form of EMF Radiation), it makes sense to use “shielded” Ethernet cables which help protect you further from EMF Radiation.
Hard wiring means installing Ethernet cables through the walls of your home or office to Ethernet jacks or outlets as shown in the picture on the left. The idea is to have outlets like the one shown in each room of your home, where you want to be able to access the internet. Then when in the room, all you have to do is run an Ethernet cable from your laptop computer (or other device) to this outlet. Then “wala” you have internet!
If your home is already built getting the Ethernet cables running through the walls can sometimes be challenging. The scope of this article is to teach you how to set up the hard wired internet within your home, insofar as the computer devices and what connects to what are concerned. I won’t have space in this article to get into mechanics of how to put the Ethernet cables in your walls and Ethernet outlets. I will be doing a more in depth article on that subject in the future. In the meantime a pretty decent article I found on the basics of this is called “How to Install an Ethernet Jack for a Home Network“.
The Step By Step Process To Set Up Hard-Wired Internet:
Hard-wired internet is typically faster than WiFi, and it is more reliable. With WiFi you don’t always get the top speed your system is capable of, especially if you are in the other end of the house from your router. But with internet traveling over Ethernet cables, you always get the amount of signal being sent by your router (or very very close to it). You just don’t have the interference and signal loss associated with WiFi.
If you have ever worked on hard-wired internet, you know what I am talking about. What it lacks sometimes in convenience it makes up for in reduced Radio Frequency (RF) Radiation and performance! Okay now it is time to get down to the nitty gritty, roll up our sleeves and get our wired internet network setup!
Step 1. Turn Off Your WiFi
How to turn off your WiFi will be determined by the make and model of your modem and/or router. The difference between a modem and a router is that a modem connects to the internet, while a router connects devices to WiFi. So to turn off your WiFi you need to find your router.
Often times you will have a two in one unit meaning it is both a modem and a router. And once in a while you will only have a modem by itself. If you only have a modem with no router you do not have WiFi, so there is nothing to turn off. However if you have a modem/router two in one unit, you have WiFi and need to turn it off.
Below is a diagram I found on RouterIP.net that details out what I have been describing above:
To find out if your unit is a router/modem combination, this information will typically be clearly stated on a sheet of paper in the box, or on the box itself. If you cannot find it you can call your provider and ask. They will be able to tell you.
To turn off your WiFi, first look for a button directly on the unit. Some units make it that simple. If you do not find a WiFi button you will need to connect a computer directly to the router to turn the WiFi off. For specific instructions on how to turn off your WiFi you can call your internet provider. Also, you most likely will be able to find instructions on Google. To do this go to Google and type in your router’s name plus the words “turn off WiFi”.
Step 2. Determine How Many Ports You Need
Okay, this part is kind of fun I think. You basically draw a simplified version of your floor plan for each floor of your home or office, so that you can think through where in each room you many need access to the internet.
For example do you need to have internet access in the kitchen? If you do will you need it by the table, or over by the kitchen counter?
The same is true of a room like a living room. You will need to run internet to your TV. But will you need ports near the chairs and sofas around the room?
And then you just follow this pattern and think through each room, and draw a port in each spot where you decide you will need one. This will tell you how many ports you will need and help you plan which walls you will need to run the wires to.
Step 3. Figure Out What Switch You Need
By “What Switch”, I mean how large of a switch or how many ports. A switch is a device that the Ethernet cables (going to various parts of your home) connect to. The switch sends your internet signal through the Ethernet cables plugged into it. One end of these Ethernet cables plug into the switch and the other end connects to an outlet in each of the rooms you provide internet to.
In the image below you will see a regular modem (not a modem/router combination) wired into a switch. You can plug the cable coming from the modem into any of the various ports on the switch. The switch then sends the internet signal out all of the other ports that have Ethernet cables plugged into them.
You need one Ethernet cable for each device you want to connect to the internet. So if you have one room that you are running internet to, and you have one two port jack you are installing in that room, you will need to run two Ethernet cables to that room. So now is where all the planning comes into play. You need to figure out which rooms you want to wire internet to and how many Ethernet ports you want in each room, so you can figure out how many Ethernet cable you need to plug into the switch. If you have an 8 port switch and you need to plug 10 Ethernet cables into it, you need to get a bigger switch. I hope that all makes sense.
Here is some examples of different sized switches:
- Netgear 5 Port Switch
- Netgear 8 Port Switch
- Netgear 16 Port Switch
- Netgear 24 Port Switch
- Netgear 52 Port Switch
Step 4. Set Up Your Base Station
Now that you have planned out each room of your house that you plan on running internet to, you know what walls you will put Ethernet outlets on, and how many Ethernet cables you will be running. You also know how many ports you need in your internet switch. Now you need to plan out where the best place for your internet base station to be to be is. Your base station is where you want your internet switch to be located. This image below is from www.fiber-optic-cable-sale.com. This kind of gives you a visual of what your internet network will look like (except you won’t need the router):
The reason why the location of your switch in your home is so important is because it is from this point that you will be running wires to the rooms where you want internet. For example if your internet modem is clear on one end of your home, that may not be the best place to run Ethernet cables to the rest of your home from. It might be better to either run the coaxial cable that brings internet to your modem to a more central part of your house, and then locate your switch and run all your Ethernet cables from there. Or another option might be leave your modem in the far corner of your home, and run one Ethernet cable to a more central location where you locate your switch, and have that then be the base station from where you run all the Ethernet cables to the rest of the house.
Step 5. Running The Ethernet Cables
As I stated above, since one of the main reasons to hard-wire the internet throughout a home is to protect your family from EMF Radiation, I highly recommend that you use EMF shielding Ethernet cables. You can get some of the internet signal wanting to leave the Ethernet cables and radiate into your living space, causing EMF Radiation. High quality EMF shielding Ethernet cables will help reduce this significantly. Here are a few examples from Amazon of EMF shielding Ethernet cable:
Cat6 Shielded Solid PVC Cable – Blue – 1000 FT
The extent of this article is to show you how to set up the hard-wired internet network inside your home, insofar as the electronic devices and what associates with what are concerned. I won’t have space in this article to get into mechanics of how to put the Ethernet ports in your walls and Ethernet outlets. I will do a more detailed article regarding that matter later on. In the meantime a pretty decent article I found on the basics of this is called “How to Install an Ethernet Jack for a Home Network“.
If for some reason this whole process just seems too overwhelming or expensive, there is a less expensive option that works just as well, it is just not as aesthetically pleasing. Many people do this in the beginning and then work on the rest room by room or a little at at time. This option is running the Ethernet cables from the switch along the baseboards or taped to the wall or floor, rather than putting them within the walls. Then you just plug one end directly in your computer or other device instead of wiring it into a wall mounted Ethernet outlet. Again this will not look near as professional, but it will work just as good.
Step 6. Do The Finishing Touches!
Now you have live internet carried by Ethernet cables to all of the rooms in your house where you need it! Great job! All you have to do now is to plug everything in. In each room go through the room and run Ethernet cables from your computers and other devices to your in-wall Ethernet outlets. Or if your did not run the Ethernet cables within the walls, then just plug the ends of the cables into your PC, laptop and other devices.
The next thing that is important to do is to go through and turn off all of the WiFi or Bluetooth devices that you have the Ethernet cables plugged into. You don’t want them on and constantly searching for WiFi connections. This will go a very long way towards reducing the RF Radiation in your living spaces. You will also want to use an external (wired) mouse and keyboard. You are going to all this trouble to reduce EMF Radiation, and anything wireless in your house is emitting RF Radiation (a powerful form of EMF Radiation).
The Wrong Way To Hard Wire Internet
I get asked about installing hard wired internet all of the time. The most common question I get is if using a power-line internet port, such as this Netgear model I show on the left, is a safe alternative. This is not the same thing as hard wiring your internet. A power-line internet port is a device that runs your internet signal over your standard electrical wiring. Although this does work fairly well, and is a much cheaper route to take, it causes the wiring in your home to emit massive amounts of dirty electricity, which is a dangerous form of EMF Radiation. So please don’t do that. Hard wire your internet instead!
Below is a short video where I install some of these power-line ports to run a video baby monitor. I use the D-Link model power-line ports. I then test the circuits with a meter and show you the massive amount of dirty electricity they cause! Yikes!
A Good Hard-Wiring Alternative
Let me start this section by qualifying the title of this section. When I say “good”, I don’t mean “best”. By far the safest and best way to go is to hard-wire your internet as I describe in this article. A really bad way to go is to use those power-line internet ports I talked about at the very beginning of this article. Those put off tons of dangerous dirty electricity as I show in the first video in this article.
So what I am going to talk about in this section is somewhere in the middle, but more towards the top. I have tested this method multiple times in multiple scenarios and this is the next safest option to hard-wiring your internet. Again if you can hard wire it, do that. But if for some reason you are not able to hard wire your internet, then this will be almost as good (at lest so far as your internet itself is concerned). What am I talking about? I am talking about getting yourself a Wifi Router Guard. Please take a quick second and watch the below short video where I test one with a meter. It is short but worth watching!
The best place to get one of these is by going to this link: Wifi Router Guard. With a WiFi Router Guard you still have the limits of WiFi. And you won’t get your full speed possible by WiFi. But as long as your home is not super huge you will be able to upload and download and watch videos via WiFi on all your devices. And the router guard blocks 90% to 95% of the RF Radiation. Based on my testing with the meter it makes your home very safe as long as you keep your router in a place where it is at least 15 to 20 feet from where anyone is spending very much time in your house. For more information on this router guard see the “WiFi Radiation Protection Items – My Top Picks!” page of this website.
Final Thoughts!
Again by way of summary, the fastest, safest and most reliable internet option is to hard wire your home or office internet, period. If that is just not possible, then a somewhat close second would be putting your WiFi router in a Wifi Router Guard. A WiFi Router Guard is definitely a less expensive router to go as well. But please don’t go the power-line internet ports route. All you are doing there is trading one cancer causing form of EMF Radiation for another.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article all the way to the end! I appreciate it very much. I hope that this article benefited you! That is always my goal. If you have found anything in this article helpful at all, please share it on each of your social media platforms. Also please email it to friends and family. These things really help us spread the word!
Thank you again for reading this article!
