El Pescador said:
I just rewired by replacing every Ethernet Cat 5e cable under my roof - from installing a new 1-foot Cat (6E) between Westell Wirespeed modem and Netgear RP614v2 wired firewall/router through 3-foot Cat (6E) from router to adjacent PC, 10-foot Cat (6E) from router to PC in same room, and two 50-foot Cat (6E) from router to distant PCs in two separate rooms - from the source listed below:
http://www.pcmicrostore.com/CBB.aspx?q=b:1598;pl:1
Their service was superb and their delivery fees reasonable.:squareeye
El Pescador
Good recommendation and good pricing, however you really won't notice much of a difference in the LAN between CAT5, CAT5e or CAT6. I would just go with whatever is cheaper really. The only time you would need to think serious about cabling is if you were going Gigabit, which isn't yet cost effective for the home user.
Personally, I would recommend this router...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833124010
It is $13.00 cheaper than the After Rebate Price on the other router, and you don't need the "Speedbooster" for now since you aren't wireless. I have tried both, and have actually gotten a more reliable transfer rate consistency from the WRT54G. This is the ONLY wireless router I setup both at home and for clients.
The only difference between the two, obviously is the Speedbooster technology which is 35% faster, but as I mentioned before, these haven't been very reliable.
Just to make sure no one gets annoyed by this post, let me add "In my opinion"
And as far as the router setup goes, take the ethernet from your modem and plug it into the "Internet" port on your router. Then, one by one, plug in your PC's into the remaining 4 ports. Here is a glimpse at the back of your router, notice "Internet" is on the far left next to the "reset" button.