About a year ago I moved the internet modem to the living room from the hall closet. We were not getting a good enough signal at the back of the house. I have several types of monitoring systems that are connected to the modem and they need to reach from the garage to the back bedroom and to the hot tub on the front patio and greenhouse behind the house.
The shelf I used was cobbled together and mounted on the post that will be covered with manufactured stone.
Modem in Living Room
I had in mind to buy a plexiglass shelving unit to enclose it. But they seemed to be very expensive and not exactly the size I needed. The backs were transparent and I would have to treat that in some way since the cabinet is mounted right to the 2×4 post framing. I wanted the cabinet to extend past the sides of the post enough to allow for the edges of the stone to be covered but not too much.
Extends about the right amount
I found an inexpensive glass door cabinet on Amazon and ordered it. I put it together and cut openings for the power outlet and cable entry at the back. Unfortunately my measurements were a bit off but the extra opening came in handy later when I was connecting the power and modem cables.
Outlet located higher than my measurements
I could only use one of the two shelves the cabinet included. Although there was not enough room for both shelves in the cabinet the bottom and one shelf provided enough space for the modem and the various hubs my systems use. I drilled a couple more holes in the back of the cabinet underneath the shelf to thread the cables to the modem.
Cables threaded through cabinet back
Unfortunately while cutting the rear openings I did not protect the front of the cabinet so I’ll have to touch it up.
Marred the front of the cabinet
It still looks much better than the temporary shelf.
Internet cabinet
Now I can put on the rest of the backer board and eventually start the stonework.
Across the room
The equipment fits in the cabinet and the signal still reaches the corners of the house. And the cabinet fits perfectly under and between the track lighting. A good solution for organizing the equipment.
Under the track lights