Retrofitting lines (LAN, COAX, etc.) in OKAL wooden prefab house

Hello everyone :)

first of all, yes I have already tortured the search but still haven't found the right information I need :)

My wife and I have fulfilled our dream of owning a home. On 31.08.22 we will receive the keys and then we can really get started ;) The house was built in 2014 (first occupancy 2015) and is an Okal Haus prefabricated house in timber frame construction, basement with a white tank and built from concrete and otherwise relatively well thought out. But we have one problem! The house has almost no network sockets! This is actually a problem for me and I would therefore like to retrofit Duplex Cat7 in EVERY room (except guest WC and bathroom). Personally, I am at war with WLAN and only use it when absolutely necessary. Stationary devices, like TV, PC, console, etc. should in my opinion simply be connected via LAN.

My idea is now as follows:

Supply the attic via the loft and also connect it via patch panel and 10Gbit switch (Zyxel XGS1250-12) (not every room will get 10Gbit but for example the office will, furthermore a Fritz Repeater 6000 is planned for the loft to cover the garden and the rest of the house. It has 2.5Gbit Ethernet.)

Supply the ground floor and basement via the basement. Also via patch panel and 10Gbit switch (Zyxel XGS1250-12). A Fritzbox 7590AX provides the internet and the Asustor NAS is powered with 2x 2.5 GBit.

Connection between loft and basement via a supply shaft from the heating room directly to the loft via fiber optic. In addition, a Duplex CAT7 will be installed as a backup or as a telephone line for the fax in the office.

So far no problem. I have laid network cables all through houses many times in my life but up till now only in solid houses. How do you do all this smartest in a timber frame house? The sellers explained to me that between basement and ground floor there is a concrete ceiling, all other ceilings are made of wood. My approach would have been to drill a hole for the socket and then a smaller one in the ceiling. Drill through the beam to the loft and try to fumble the cable using a pulling aid through the two holes. I can easily imagine that the wall would lose quite a bit of stability if you make a groove like in solid masonry. But now the question, does it actually work that easily? I did not want to lay empty conduits in this case because the cables lie loose in the wall and if something really breaks, you can use the old cable as a pulling aid. I also wanted to retrofit coax for Sat in some rooms at the same time, because not every room is supplied with it either. However, I will only do this where it makes sense. The heating doesn't need Sat :D

To my knowledge the wall is constructed as follows: Plaster -> drywall -> chipboard -> insulation -> chipboard -> drywall -> plaster.

It is also important to mention that these are only interior walls. All other walls will remain untouched. The cables go straight up and should not go through the intermediate beams.

I hope you can help us! We did not want to make a major construction site out of the house but timewise it can take a bit longer without any problems, since we currently live rent-free and if we can only move in there next year then that's just how it is :) The main thing is everything is finished and to our wishes and we don't have to tear open the walls again in 2 years because we got the idea to hang a TV in the guest room and the network + coax is missing!

Makes me blush but … I actually believe that Cat cables are the new telephone cables in private homes. You basically don’t need them. Except for special cases like NAS sync or professional gaming. And even there it’s developing in the right direction. Wifi works great with the right components. And new standards are being actively worked on by the IEEE. Manufacturers also implement them quickly.

Makes me blush but… I actually think that Cat cables are the new telephone cables in private homes. You don’t really need them. Except for special cases like NAS sync or professional gaming. And even there it’s developing in the right direction.

Wifi works great with the right components. And new standards from the IEEE are being actively developed.
Manufacturers are also implementing them quickly.

That is your attitude and for the normal case I would agree, but exactly these application areas I have. NAS, as said, is present and is used properly. I also game, so WLAN is generally my enemy :) And I also have a bunch of devices. Just what is now found in the smart home area is anything but nice. If I take only my living room TV area, I currently count 9 devices connected by cable. Whether all of them really have to be on the LAN is debatable. The fact is that I would not be happy with WLAN and DLAN, since even 1Gbit on my PC is already not enough or restricts me.

Therefore, I ask for ideas on how I can most easily and cleanly get network cables into the walls without having to tear down or renew the entire wall. I simply assume that the prefabricated stud construction is usually built on the same principle.

I believe that Cat cables are the new telephone cables in private homes. You actually don't need them at all.

You can do a lot via WLAN, but for good coverage you need access points and these have to be connected to the network via LAN. Additionally, every device connected via LAN relieves the WLAN. From my point of view, a combination of both systems is the best solution. You don’t need to go overboard with LAN, but supplying a few strategically chosen places with LAN helps immensely. Additionally, the old wisdom: Nothing is more future-proof than a sufficiently dimensioned empty conduit!

Just a guess: Position the hole saw and drill a hole for the network socket (usually at around ~40cm). Then, just below the ceiling, open the wall vertically above it (cut out a 30x30cm drywall and possibly behind it existing chipboard/OSB board with a small circular saw (with depth stop!)). From there, lead a cable pull aid from top to bottom. I have often had success, when mineral insulation is present, with thin rectangular cable duct pieces or slightly flexible empty conduit, which you insert into the hole and pull simultaneously with one hand (i.e., pressing it against the wall from the inside). The usual pull aids mostly fail and get stuck in or on the insulation. In the upper hole, you then have space to make the ceiling breakthrough. Reinstall the cut-out panel(s) layer by layer, don’t forget the vapor barrier, if present! Or install revision flaps, but then perhaps not quite as many ;-)

P.S. Starting a discussion for or against WLAN is not productive if the OP is aware of it (which can be assumed from the inquiry) and explicitly asks how to lay cables ;)

I believe the most important thing would be to know the wall structure, right? Is there, for example, an installation level?

Helpful tools in this case would be an endoscope camera and strong magnets.