I want to put my wireless router in my loft so i get the best range in and around my house. What do i need to do in order to wire up the electrics?

Current electrics I have in the loft:

Aerial signal booster which has all points running down to all rooms in the house. This has a fuse box before it reachs the aerial booster.
Electric light swtich for bulb.

I suspect that the light switch oulet is used to power the aerial booster.

I see a few options:

Use a plug downstairs and run a extension lead from the study downstairs upto the loft.

Take the power from the aerial booster and split it again to use as a point for the router.


My concerns are that i do not want anything to burn out or spark (wont know somethings caught fire in the loft till the house burns down)so want to do this properly.

I would like to put some sort of fuse also so they it cuts the supply before does any damage.

Hope this seems clear, if not please ask as i am no electrican, just woud like to do it myself than pay some1.

cheers

If you decide to take it off the lighting circuit I'd use a 3amp fused socket off it. Not sure if it's to regs to take socket power off the lighting circuit but that will avoid any problems if anyone decides to stick something more power hungry in the socket in the future. The router will consume very little but if it uses a power transformer they can sometimes go haywire.

Taking a spur off the mains circuit below would be the ideal solution though. Off the light circuit is dodge DIY.

If the tv amp is already coming off of the lighting circuit then don't add to the load. Run an extension lead.
Its not really a good idea having the tv amp on the lighting circuit although its not breaking any regs.
Trace the cable from the amp and see if it goes to the light or dives downstairs at some point and just looks like it goes to the lights as both cables enter the loft from the same place .

Thanks guys for replies. I really dont want to take a extension cable from downstairs up to the loft if i can avoid it.

Will have a look to see exactly where the power source comes from for the loft light and tv aerial booster. The fact that there is a fuse box between the booster and where the cable goes under tells me its a proper job, so if the booster were to overheat it would shut down the supply.

This is the kinda thing i would like to do.

Gonna take some pics if that helps.

Just a thought, but will you get any benefit from putting your router in the loft anyway?

If you do go ahead with it though, I'd be with gsm1 and take a spur off the mains sockets below the loft. Depends how much clearing up/re-decorating you want to do ;)

Thanks guys for replies. I really dont want to take a extension cable from downstairs up to the loft if i can avoid it.

Will have a look to see exactly where the power source comes from for the loft light and tv aerial booster. The fact that there is a fuse box between the booster and where the cable goes under tells me its a proper job, so if the booster were to overheat it would shut down the supply.

This is the kinda thing i would like to do.

Gonna take some pics if that helps.
Check out the size of the cable feeding the spur for the TV amp. If its coming from the power you will quite easily be able to tell the difference in size of cable from the light just on a visual inspection. If this is the case then you need a bit of 2.5 twin and earth and a switched fused spur with a surface pattress and run a cable from the feed/supply side of your TV amp power to the new spur and away you go. P.S. Don't forget to use green sleeving on the earth conductor.

I put my router in the loft at first. Great until there's a problem! Then you're up and down the bl**dy ladder like a yo-yo .... Really think about it first!

Oh, and I took a spur off a lighting circuit. Plenty of juice for a router and no way am I going to put anything else on it ...

Dave

dont spur off the lighting if you can help it.. but as mentioned it MUST be fed via a fused spur with the smallest fuse you can get in it. No more than 6A.
The other thing to bear in mind is it most likely wont be protected by an RCD.

also being pedantic.. P.S. Don't forget to use green sleeving on the earth conductor. It NEEDS to be Green and Yellow, I believe it changed in the regs sometime in the 80's

David

Get a sparkie to run a 2.5 cable either from your ring main or from the fuse board you could run a rcd and put a twin socket in the loft then no probs.

I have seen loads of lash ups from the lighting circuits in peoples lofts including a shower on 1.5 flex and it worked LOL..

One other way i would do it for my selve would be to tap into the shower circuit and downfuse a spur to 2.5

One other way i would do it for my selve would be to tap into the shower circuit and downfuse a spur to 2.5

And that isnt a bodge??

Can you imaging trying to bring 6 / 10mm into a FCU / Spur?

David