Your home already has wired internet, you just need these 5 things to make it work

Published Nov 5, 2026, 5:30 PM EST Monica J. White is a journalist with over a decade of experience in covering technology. She built her first PC nearly 20 years ago, and she has since built and tested dozens of PCs. PC hardware is her main beat, and graphics cards and the GPU market at large are her main area of interest, but she has written thousands of articles covering everything related to PCs, laptops, handhelds, and peripherals. From GPUs and CPUs to headsets and software, Monica's always willing to geek out over all things related to computing. Outside of her work with How-To Geek, Monica contributes to TechRadar, PC Gamer, Tom's Guide, Laptop Mag, SlashGear, Whop, and Digital Trends, among others. Her ultimate goal is to make PC gaming and computing approachable and fun to any audience. Monica spends a lot of time elbow-deep in her PC case, as she's always making upgrades, testing something, or plotting out her next build. She's the go-to tech support person in her immediate circle, so she's never out of things to do. Whenever she has spare time, you'll find her gaming until the early hours and hanging out with her dog. Are you tired of your unstable Wi-Fi connection? So was I, so I took a bunch of devices off my Wi-Fi and saw great improvements in network stability. But I get that wiring up every single room in the house isn't feasible, no matter how much you might want to. Fortunately, your home might already have the networking infrastructure you need to achieve this Ethernet utopia: You just need the right tools to make the magic happen. An Ethernet cable tester could reveal a network you didn't know you had Those mysterious wall jacks might be more useful than you think The good thing about networking gear is that most of it is relatively cheap. The bad thing is that many networking upgrades are a giant waste of money, and that's despite the low cost. Perhaps counterintuitively, that's why I think it's a good idea to buy a cheap Ethernet cable tester. It'll help you find out what you're already working with before you dive deeper into this project. Take a look around your house for Ethernet wall jacks, old telephone sockets, or a central wiring cabinet. You might be surprised to find that your home already has Cat5e or Cat6 cables running through the walls, even if nobody has ever used them for networking. The problem is that they might not be connected to anything, or they could be terminated incorrectly, and that's where this tester comes in handy. It'll help you check whether the wires are connected properly, and it'll quickly spot problems like broken connections or crossed pairs. A few RJ45 keystone jacks could turn old phone lines into Ethernet Your unused telephone wiring might actually be Cat5e Here's something you might not be aware of: Just because a cable was originally installed for a landline telephone doesn't have to mean that it can't handle Ethernet. Some homes have Cat5e or Cat6 cables running to their telephone sockets, even though regular phone service doesn't need all four twisted pairs. If that's what you've got, you might be able to replace those old RJ11 sockets with RJ45 keystone jacks and turn them into proper Ethernet ports. You'll need to terminate all four parts using the T568A or T568B wiring scheme, and you may need a punch-down tool, though. One catch, of course: The cables need to run point-to-point. No daisy chaining. A cheap Ethernet switch can bring all those wall ports to life Sometimes the cables are there, but nothing connects them A cheap Ethernet switch is honestly one of the best upgrades you could get yourself, but in this scenario, it only works if you've struck gold and discovered that your house has Ethernet cables running to whichever room you need them in. Except, what if the wall ports still don't work? There's a good chance those cables all lead to a central wiring cabinet or closet, where they might be connected to a patch panel or simply left dangling. If that's the case, all you might need is an inexpensive unmanaged Ethernet switch to bring everything to life. Connect your router's LAN port to the switch, then connect the individual room cables to it using short patch cables if there's a patch panel involved. And voila—say goodbye to Wi-Fi dead zones. MoCA adapters can make your old TV cables useful again Your coaxial outlets might be hiding a high-speed network If your house doesn't have Ethernet cables running through the walls, not all hope is lost. Those old coaxial cables that were originally installed for cable TV might just be your ticket to a wired network. All you need is a pair of MoCA adapters, which let you transmit network data over existing coax wiring. Connect one adapter to your router's LAN port and a nearby coax outlet, then connect the second adapter to another coax outlet in your home. Assuming everything is connected and compatible, you've got yourself a makeshift wired connection without running any new Ethernet. Powerline adapters can turn electrical outlets into network connections You already have wiring in nearly every room, so why not use it? If all else fails, there's one type of wiring that (I assume) pretty much every room in your house already has: electrical wiring. And yes, you can actually use it for networking, too. What gives? Powerline adapters transmit data through your existing electrical circuits, so all you need is a pair of them to get started. Plug one directly into a wall outlet near your router and connect it via Ethernet, then plug another one into an outlet wherever you need a wired connection. If it sounds too easy, then you won't be surprised to learn that there's a catch: powerline performance depends heavily on your home's electrical wiring. Older installation may struggle with this. Your walls might already have all the gear you need Wiring up your home is great; it removes a lot of internet problems you may have otherwise been eager to blame your ISP for. (Honestly, same.) I managed to switch to Ethernet all around the house for less than $50, and using the tricks above, you should be able to as well. NETGEAR 8-Port Gigabit Ethernet Unmanaged Switch (GS308) If you have the Ethernet cables but not so much the ports, you need an unmanaged switch. Netgear's 8-port solution is plenty enough for most homes.