Suggestions how to organise my network clutter

[michty_me]

I severely need to tidy up my home networking kit so I'm looking for suggestions on which equipment to buy to get it all enclosed in one unit.

All hardwires lead into the large termination box mounted to the wall at the bottom, I'm thinking a small cabinetbetween the two shelf arms to house the modem, edgerouter, Switch (I have a unifi switch 8-150W switch I think laying around so will likely use that too), CCTV NVR.

I'm also thinking on buying different colour cables to differenciate which is which.

Another though was remove the large box and use the panel mount but have a cabinet lower down to the ground, There should maybe be enough length in the cable to do this. Any further suggestions to sort this out? The shelf above sticks out 31cm so ideally don't want it jutting out much further than that if possible.

 

[Deleted member 77746]

The cheapest way - get yourself an ikea lack and turn that bad boy into a rack.

You then would have a table top to put stuff on as well as a rack mounted cab.

I can confirm they work because - I have one!

Also - the legacy website

LackRack - Eth0Wiki

wiki.eth0.nl

 

[michty_me]

The cheapest way - get yourself an ikea lack and turn that bad boy into a rack.

You then would have a table top to put stuff on as well as a rack mounted cab.

I can confirm they work because - I have one!

Also - the legacy website

LackRack - Eth0Wiki

wiki.eth0.nl

Haha, I actually just binned one of them not so long ago!!
I'll maybe get creative in the back of the cupboard!

 

[Rroff]

A wall mounted rack cabinet is how I'd go personally.

I got fed up of having a large sprawl of stuff recently and binned off anything larger for a setup in a 10" rack cabinet rather than the previous 19" and mess.

 

[michty_me]

A wall mounted rack cabinet is how I'd go personally.

I got fed up of having a large sprawl of stuff recently and binned off anything larger for a setup in a 10" rack cabinet rather than the previous 19" and mess.

Ah nice, got any photos? A 10" rack sounds interesting.

 

[Duke]

Another vote for a 4U comms cab mounted up on the wall out the way.

 

[Rroff]

Ah nice, got any photos? A 10" rack sounds interesting.

It is a bit of a work in progress currently - I bought another one of these (another of my setups)

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To replace my main setup.

 

[bledd]

I would keep it as it is, but get shorter cables. Screw in a couple of spacer blocks and then screw a large piece of plywood over the whole lot to cover it. Then paint it.

Keep it all flat wall mounted. Keep an easily accessible switch so you can toggle the power on and off.

A cabinet is ghastly.

At home I use a lackrack, but it's hidden at the top of a recessed storage cupboard.

Personally, I'd reduce it down to modem, router, switch.

 

[michty_me]

It is a bit of a work in progress currently - I bought another one of these (another of my setups)

imgur.com

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imgur.com

To replace my main setup.

That does look a lot simpler and smaller footprint. However, I've just measured my NVR and it is around 12" so won't fit in something that size.

I would keep it as it is, but get shorter cables. Screw in a couple of spacer blocks and then screw a large piece of plywood over the whole lot to cover it. Then paint it.

Keep it all flat wall mounted. Keep an easily accessible switch so you can toggle the power on and off.

A cabinet is ghastly.

At home I use a lackrack, but it's hidden at the top of a recessed storage cupboard.

Personally, I'd reduce it down to modem, router, switch.

Hmm, not a bad shout actually.
I'll maybe consider doing that, or build something I can slot over the top of everything and slide out if I need access. Got me thinking now!

 

[Rroff]

That does look a lot simpler and smaller footprint. However, I've just measured my NVR and it is around 12" so won't fit in something that size.

Yeah I had to replace a lot of stuff - but for me wasn't a big deal as a lot of it was coming up on needing replacing due to age anyhow.

 

[Deleted member 77746]

That does look a lot simpler and smaller footprint. However, I've just measured my NVR and it is around 12" so won't fit in something that size.

Hmm, not a bad shout actually.
I'll maybe consider doing that, or build something I can slot over the top of everything and slide out if I need access. Got me thinking now!

I would 100% combine those devices. And place them in a lack rack

Depends if cost is an issue to you ofc.

 

[michty_me]

When you say combine, you mean get a modem/router combo?

 

[Deleted member 77746]

When you say combine, you mean get a modem/router combo?

It’s what I would do then offload that to a 16 port switch.

You might be ok if all that was in a rack. You could just stick them on 19” rackmount shelves.

 

[michty_me]

It’s what I would do then offload that to a 16 port switch.

You might be ok if all that was in a rack. You could just stick them on 19” rackmount shelves.

I always ran combos before but got fed up of janky software, Poor modem performance or wifi performance so decided to split them.

I wonder if I could just have a shelf under the shelf for everything to get it up out the way. Another option I suppose.

 

[Deleted member 77746]

I always ran combos before but got fed up of janky software, Poor modem performance or wifi performance so decided to split them.

With Wi-Fi you use APs not use the WiFi on the router. You turn this off.

 

[michty_me]

With Wi-Fi you use APs not use the WiFi on the router. You turn this off.

Yeah I understand that but that was my reasoning for splitting them. I never found a combo unit that had a decent modem with decent router functionality. One side was good, Other poor. I had tried Asus, Netgear, Billion, Linksys and TPLink.

 

[Deleted member 77746]

Yeah I understand that but that was my reasoning for splitting them. I never found a combo unit that had a decent modem with decent router functionality. One side was good, Other poor. I had tried Asus, Netgear, Billion, Linksys and TPLink.

I find that very strange as I’ve used combo my whole never and never had a problem with any model at all. Not even the ISP supplied ones.

Always turned off WiFi and used APs though. Always 2x around sections of the house.

 

[michty_me]

I find that very strange as I’ve used combo my whole never and never had a problem with any model at all. Not even the ISP supplied ones.

Always turned off WiFi and used APs though. Always 2x around sections of the house.

I'm a bit unsure if my line is a bit finicky with certain modem chipsets. The Asus mediatek chips would sync my line around 15mbps lower than a broadcom chipset. My Netgear router sync was great but developed a fault where it would generate massive errors after a week or so uptime so I swapped to the Zyxel which also uses broadcom and its been solid for years.

 

[Deleted member 77746]

I'm a bit unsure if my line is a bit finicky with certain modem chipsets. The Asus mediatek chips would sync my line around 15mbps lower than a broadcom chipset. My Netgear router sync was great but developed a fault where it would generate massive errors after a week or so uptime so I swapped to the Zyxel which also uses broadcom and its been solid for years.

Ah got you that explains it.

 

[SpellowHouse]

I think having stuff on the wall like that is the best way. It takes up very little space. A rack will fill that space and won't look any better unless you tidy up the cables, which you could do with the existing setup.