Anonymous

Drill:
My cordless drill stopped working after about the 3rd hole I had drilled (even at 45F). I had to rent a "normal" drill and beg the contractor to let me use his generator. NEXT TIME: use a corded drill from the beginning.

Wall Boxes:
It took me much much longer than I expected to mount the wall boxes. By the time I leveled and positioned the box, it  probably took me 10 minutes each. I didn't use "electrical boxes", but rather just the frames used by tel/cable outlets. My thinking was that I would have more room to leave extra cable and/or fold in the ends. NEXT TIME: Put the boxes on well ahead of time.

Media Twist:
After that things went relatively smoothly. I found the MediaTwist much more cumbersome to work with than "normal" round Cat5. It kept twisting around itself (hard to explain). If I pulled out 20 feet of cable from the reel, and then let go of the end - it would totally twist itself in a giant knot.  Maybe it was just the cold. NEXT TIME: Only time will tell. Everything I have read tells me that basic Cat5 is easily damaged (i.e. pulling too hard or tight radius turns) and that the MediaTwist cable is
less susceptible to damage (esp. pulling). (I was very careful not to bend it too much - the only problem is at the boxes where you have to stuff the ends back in so they are out of the way of the drywall guys.)

Electrical:
It was impossible for me to stay away from the electrical wires. In some places I had to go as close as a couple feet (parallel), and I had to cross (at 90 degrees) on a couple runs. I hope I am okay. I would say that electricians take the easiest route - right down the middle - which sometimes takes the only route, leaving nothing for low voltage wiring. I did the best I could, hopefully it will be okay. NEXT TIME: talk to the electricians ahead of time - tell them what you are
doing and try to get them to route cable with your runs in mind.

Routing:
Everything I read says put your wire in the basement and feed wire up from the central location. I didn't do that. I started at the
top and fed down. I found this much simpler (i.e. gravity, plus I didn't need to move the ladder as much). I taped a Cat5/Cat3/RG-6 together and fed them, then I went back and added my second Cat5. It worked perfectly (except when it got too cold for the tape to stick).

RG-6:
I discovered yesterday (too late to do anything about it) that there are different grades of RG-6. I absolutely hate interference (esp. "ghosting") so I should have used "Quad-Shielded" RG-6. NEXT TIME: RG-6 "Quad Shielded"

Labeling:
Because the forecast called for cold temperatures later in the day - I took a shortcut and never labeled the ends of runs. I'm
going back when the weather breaks to label - hopefully I will get it right.
NEXT TIME: Pre-make labels ready to stick on. Then it is done.