Plenum cable is also available there for about twice the cost. I had no need to fish wires through the walls, so non-plenum would work fine. Again, all items were available at Home Depot. The plates come in a variety of configurations, holding up to eight jacks per single plate. If only two computers are to be connected, a hub can be avoided through the use of a crossover cable.
Hubs are available from the usual PC hardware sources.
Techniques Running the Cat5 cabling is similar to running other types of wiring within the house, with a few notable exceptions. The noise immunity and high bandwidth of the cabling depends on the tight twisting of the pairs, which requires some special handling. You have to be careful not to kink the wire, bend it too tightly or pull too hard on it, all of which have a tendency to untwist the pairs. Doing this step usually involves convincing the wire that it wants to go where you want it to. Simple aids such as a straightened coat hanger and electrical tape help a lot.