With the right modems, you can run ethernet over any spare length of twisted pair or coax.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HomePlug
(edit: just noticed "ethernet over power" mentioned in another comment here. Same thing)
I have the cat5e throughout the house but in a ring topology as it was wired for phones only. RIght now I just have two points connected end to end. Next step is to think of a clever way to use the 2 unused pairs to support another 100BaseT and create a fake hub and spoke topology. This G.hn standard might be a good way to get even more performance out of this setup.