Cable entry cosmetics - plasterboard

[Ron Lowe]

Hi, all.

I wish to bring a cable ( cat6 ethernet ) in through through the plasterboard, to plug into a wall-mounted Wireless Access Point. I'd like to minimise the visual impact, so I don't want to have a faceplate and patch lead, which would be near as big as the WAP itself. So I'm looking at simply bringing the cable through the plasterboard, and crimping the RJ45 onto the cable directly ( I have the tools ).

What's the smallest and neatest way to cover the entry hole?

'Nothing' is an obvious option: just drill / poke a neat hole and pass the cable through, and be done with it. Bodge with filler and paint over as necessary.

Is that the best?

[cj]

Hi Mount the WAP over the entry hole in the wall ? Or if you know an aerial fitter or Sky engineer borrow one of their wall guides ,these are a small plastic plug which fit into a 8mm hole and have a

20mm cap which fits flush to the wall.(Like a flat mushroom with a hole in the middle) sizes vary but all the fitters I have met carry 2 or 3 different ones, HTH CJ

[Harry Bloomfield]

cj wrote on 01/09/2008 :

Champagne cork with a hole drilled down the centre for the cable, painted up to match.

You may need to DIY (drink it yourself).

[GMM]

How about a wall grommet as used for tidying up the entry point for a TV aerial? Called a cable tidy wall grommet or some such, it's basically a plastic plug that pushes into a 10mm hole with a 7mm hole through the centre.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Id recommend a larger hole and use decorators caulk..

[meow2222]

the caulk drops out quickly due to the slightest cable movement. Silicone is better, though as it cant be sanded youve got to get it right

NT

[Dave Liquorice]

That probably depends on how much you squidge in and how neat the hole isn't. Anyway it appears there are several variations on a cable grommit for holes in walls that would be far more suitable if mounting the WAP ona pattress over the hole is too much work.

Decorators caulk can't be sanded either at least not the flexable stuff for the cracks between wood and plaster work. Big advantage of decorators caulk over silicone is that it doesn't skin in the blink of an eye and is thus easier to smooth with the wet finger.

[Ron Lowe]

No, it's not too much work. It's just that the WAP mounting bracket mounts the WAP very close to the wall, so it's not really possible to bring the cable down behind it to the LAN port on the bottom. Another issue is the severe bending radius: cat6 cable is somewhat less flexible than cat5.

The cable entry grommets are the solution I have decided upon for this application. It will provide a very neat solution.

Thanks to all.

[Dave Liquorice]

Cut a groove in the pattress to take the cable behind the mounting bracket.

A google indicates that the static installed minimum radius is about 4 x dia so something above 20mm. Make the pattress an inch thick with good sized hole and there you are. To bring the cable back up into the WAP port just use a 50mm dia semicirular loop. One has to pay attention to the relative positions of the port and the groove...