Advice for setting all of my networking equipment in a metal box in a closet wall

kathayes · Apr 29, 2014

I moved into a house where all of my cable, internet and other equipment is inside one of my bedroom closet. The closet has a small metal storage box in the wall where tons of wires, cables and other stuff are coming out of, and the box is way too small. I want to pay someone to make a larger hole in the wall and I want to place a larger metal box in the wall to contain everything.

1. What is the name of the metal box I am referring to? Anyone have any suggestions where I can buy one?

2. Can anyone give me any suggestions for what to do and not to do with a setup like this? Example: is it a bad idea to place the cable modem inside the metal box for some reason?

3. Should I consider moving the equipment out of the closet in the bedroom and into another location?

Thanks for any info and advice!

Zooshooter · Apr 29, 2014

You'll probably have to hire an electrician to take out the old box and put in the new one. You can search for either "junction box" or "networking cabinet". A networking cabinet is what you actually want but you may find a junction box that will work for what you want.

kathayes · Apr 29, 2014

Why do you suggest an electrician to take out the old box and put in the new one? Even if it stays in the same closet and I simply want the box larger, do you still think I should get an electrician to do this?

Thanks.

bill001g · Apr 29, 2014

You likely only have a single electrical outlet in the box and as long as you turn off the breaker you can likely replace the panel yourself. You will likely have to take a large section of the wall out to get to remove the wood that is likely around the box. It is mostly lots of tedious messing with dry wall the network part should be easy.

They make plastic cable distribution boxes. Still it is not a good place for a wireless modem/router. Normally you would place a dumb switch at this location and put your wireless devices elsewhere. You could put a modem/router in the box and not use the wireless I guess.

Pooneil · Apr 30, 2014

You need to pull the current box out of the wall and see how much space you have to expand into. Then find the size box that will fit your needs within the expanded space available. Depending on the box in there now, there most likely there is room for a taller replacement. If it is more than a box designed for standard 4 inch walls, there may be room for a still deeper box. Expanding the height will require cutting dry wall and nailing in a new header.

It is not difficult but take your time, think every thing through. You can even set up a simple mock up to practice on building your skills, if you feel it will help. One of the great things about working on drywall in a closet is if you make a mistake, it is reltively easy to make an acceptable patch.

kathayes · May 5, 2014

I’m thinking of two ways of approaching this:

A.) cutting through the drywall to make it larger and putting a larger junction box in there, but moving the wireless equipment somewhere else, into another room

B.)moving EVERYTHING to another location, junction box, all wires, wireless equipment, etc.

Generally, how complicated is it to COMPLETELY move everything that is in the junction box to another location in the house, all the wires, cables, etc? I would definitely need an electrician for this, though just curious if this is a bad idea to even consider for one reason or another? It seems like all of this stuff would be better in my office instead of a bedroom closet where it currently resides.

Thanks!

bill001g · May 5, 2014

You would end up tearing the house down to get to the wiring. It is likely stapled to the joists so you can't just pull the wire back. You would have to run all new wire and even that would be lots of holes to cut and studs and headers to drill though.

You can get by with a simple switch in the junction box and put multiple wireless AP where ever you need them.

kathayes · May 5, 2014

Do you mean I should look into adding a new switch to the junction box? By switch do you mean a hub?

Thanks!

bill001g · May 5, 2014

They do not make hubs any more but yes a switch and all it does in effect is let traffic go between any combination of ports.

boosted1g · May 6, 2014

Can you take a picture of the box.
The box might be framed into the wall, but if it is a "structred media" box with peg holes all down it then it is probably just screwed into the stud(s) with the door attached on top. You can always take a stud finder to find out if there is a wood frame at all at the top or bottom.

Relocating it could be an issue if everything is stapled down as others have said, and even if it is not stapled down and just inside plastic conduit tubing, you would be at the mercy of the legnth of the cables as far as where you could relocate it to. Then you also have factors like fire braces on external walls.

Does the box have power outlets in it or not?
You may only have room to expand upwards as you may not have enough power cable in the wall to expand downwards.

If the cabling is punched down to a patch panel you will have to rip all of the wiring out (carefully so that no wire pieces get stuck in the panel) and redo it in order to replace the box with something bigger. It is not difficult, its just tedious punching down a bunch of cat5.

Here is a pic of my structured media box

Pooneil · May 6, 2014

I am with the pros on this one. Don't move wires unless you need to. Wireless access points can, and should, be placed anywhere you need them. Think of them as separate from the wire junction equipment, including the router.

kathayes · May 7, 2014

Here are some pics of the junction box, and all of the cables and equipment. I understand what the cables for the modem, router, cell phone extender, DirecTV internet box and the hub/switch are for. I have absolutely no idea what all those cables coming out of the junction box that lead no where are for.

Thanks for any info/suggestions!

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