hardware I used for this part:

• 1 ReplayTV
• 1 G4 400mhz
• 50 Feet Cat 5
• 2 Cat 5 jacks for the wall mount units
• Wall mount unit

Why not WIFI?
This is a good question. You can do this with something like AirPort Express. AirPort Express would be a lot simpler to set up and would extend your Apple Airport range. I personally didn't do WIFI, as you'll see in the next question.

Why HardWire?
First thing I looked at was the ethernet specs on the ReplayTV and the Mac. The Replay has an Ethernet port 10/100Mbps and my Mac has the same. I wanted to transfer the files as fast as possible due to the file size of one hour of video which is about 3 gig. The second thing I looked at was if I could pull the wire though the walls in my house. In my house, it was simple because I have an attic to pull the wire up through. If you have a house that would be hard to wire or if you find this step hard, you should just get yourself an AirPort Express. 54Mbps is not bad, but it will just take longer to pass the files from the ReplayTV to the Mac.


The Connection

Time to do the hard work. I started with the jack in the living room. I already had cable and phone to this wall, so I thought it would be the best place to add the ethernet jack.

I took off the wall plate and removed the wires from it. I then took the coax cable and attached some strong string to the end of it. Then I went to the attic and pulled the coax up though the wall. Once I got to the end of the coax, I attached the Cat5 (ethernet cable) to the end of the coax. Now I went back down to the living room and pulled on the string to pull the coax and the ethernet cable back down the wall. I now had both the ethernet cable, the coax cable, and the phone cable coming out of the hole in the wall.

On to the Jacks

I went with Leviton Jacks system becouse I find it simple to use and upgrade. Their system is a very plug-and-play approach to wall mount wiring. I stared by snapping into the wall plate the three connecters I would need (Phone, Cat 5 , Coax). From there, it was a matter of connecting the cables to the snap-in jacks. This system gives the tool to help with the Cat 5 and phone jack but not the coax (it should already have a connecter on it).

Time to attach the wall plate back to the wall and connect the coax, the phone, and the ethernet cable that will go to the ReplayTV. (Note I would not plug the ethernet cable to the ReplayTV until after you have finished the other end of the in-wall wiring.)

With the living room finished, I went to the computer room and found another jack that I could do the same setup as I did in the living room. The only difference this time is that I used the other end of the Cat 5 cable from the living room. Now we have our very own Cat 5 connection from the living room to the computer room.

Testing Time:
For the true geeks out there, get out your ethernet testers and go to town. For the rest of you, try using two computers and see if they can talk to one another. If the cables work, you are all set for PART 3 (coming soon). If the cable does not work, I would first look at the jack and check to see if all the wires are set up correctly. After checking that, if you still have a problem, check the Cat 5 cable.

Coming soon: Part 3 software and the Mac!!! (Finally we get on a Mac. This has to be the longest thing I have posed without using the words Mac, OSX, Apple..... ok, now I feel better.)