Check my home network plan for mistakes

[UberTiger]

We're doing a home refurbishment and at the moment the ceilings have been taken down on the ground floor exposing the beams.

Upstairs hasn't had the new floor layed yet and is just wooden planks.

Before the builders finish the 1st floor this week by laying the new floor, I'd like them to route some cable for a basic home network setup for security camera's and networking.

I plan to have the router in the lounge, connect the router to a new RJ45 wall socket, have that cable run through the ceiling and then through the floor of the 1st floor airing cupboard into a network switch stored in there.

Cables will then run from there out to a front IP camera and a rear IP camera (which I believe I can power just from the CAT5e cable if it's POE?)

Also run a cable from the switch out to a new socket in the garage, and hook that up to the IP camera box to store the footage locally and allow us to view it.

I may also run one cable into the top bedroom for a hardline connection to a smart box, the walls have already been finished in the other bedroom and office, so I'm not fussed about running one there now.

Can anyone see any issues with this or suggest any improvements?

Thanks!

EDIT: Updated diagram
https://i.imgur.com/DkFrww4.png

 

[Sparky__H]

Look really good.

Make sure you run at least two lengths of CAT cable per socket (spare) as I suspect your probably get one chance to do this. You don't want to snag a cable in 5 years and lose and IP cam.
If it was me I'd drop some more cables into the kitchin, bedrooms and two more into the living room (to the left and right of the back door). Just if you ever want to move the TV.
Maybe cable some ceiling plates for APs?
Make sure the Cams are above stepladder + can of spray paint height
Oh make sure you vent the space the switch is in as POE run warm and you don't want it overheating.

 

[Quartz]

Do it properly. Have two 10 Gb ethernet wall ports in every room apart from the bathrooms, and have four in the living room near the TV. Yes you'll be using plain 1 Gb ethernet right now but switch / router prices will come down. You should also look at having a wifi access point in your upstairs hall.

 

[bledd]

Patch panel and modules, don't have camec ends..


Edit
Camden was an autocorrect.. *don't have cable ends, ie don't have jacks going into a switch.

Use a patch panel then patch cables from that to a switch.

 

[UberTiger]

Patch panel and modules, don't have camec ends..

Sorry, I don't know what that means?

Do it properly. Have two 10 Gb ethernet wall ports in every room apart from the bathrooms, and have four in the living room near the tv

Do I really need to run a 4 socket?
If I have one network switch in the cupboard for the whole house, could I attach another switch to a second port on the router if need be in the future? If I had a lots of network devices in the living room. Or would that mess things up and would it be best to have 4 cables running up to the single cupboard switch?

Look really good.

Make sure you run at least two lengths of CAT cable per socket (spare) as I suspect your probably get one chance to do this. You don't want to snag a cable in 5 years and lose and IP cam.
If it was me I'd drop some more cables into the kitchin, bedrooms and two more into the living room (to the left and right of the back door). Just if you ever want to move the TV.
Maybe cable some ceiling plates for APs?
Make sure the Cams are above stepladder + can of spray paint height
Oh make sure you vent the space the switch is in as POE run warm and you don't want it overheating.

Thanks

Hmm, interesting thought doubling up on each one. Makes sense for wall sockets.

For the cams I was thinking of running cable from the cupboard straight through the ceiling supports and out the brick and then just crimping and plugging into the cam (as that's what I assume is the best way to do it?).
I'm not aware of any kind of external weatherproof network sockets, is that what you were suggesting for those? Or just run a second cable to outside the house next to the cam and box up the end as a spare?

Maybe cable some ceiling plates for APs?

APs?

If it was me I'd drop some more cables into the kitchin, bedrooms and two more into the living room (to the left and right of the back door). Just if you ever want to move the TV

Why might we need networking in the kitchen? Not opposed to it, just wondering if there's any real current use case?

Oh make sure you vent the space the switch is in as POE run warm and you don't want it overheating.

Good shout, might have to think about that. Perhaps I could install a slow moving fan at the top of the cupboard to extract any hot air into the attic.[/QUOTE]

 

[bremen1874]

Sorry, I don't know what that means?

I don't think anyone does.

Do I really need to run a 4 socket?
If I have one network switch in the cupboard for the whole house, could I attach another switch to a second port on the router if need be in the future? If I had a lots of network devices in the living room. Or would that mess things up and would it be best to have 4 cables running up to the single cupboard switch?

You can add a switch as you describe and it'll work just fine. Cable is cheap so you may as well run multiple cables and have then all connected to a central switch.


Thanks

Hmm, interesting thought doubling up on each one. Makes sense for wall sockets.

For the cams I was thinking of running cable from the cupboard straight through the ceiling supports and out the brick and then just crimping and plugging into the cam (as that's what I assume is the best way to do it?).
I'm not aware of any kind of external weatherproof network sockets, is that what you were suggesting for those? Or just run a second cable to outside the house next to the cam and box up the end as a spare?

I'd terminate to a socket inside somewhere near the camera and run a patch lead from there. Not sure if that's considered best practice or not.

APs?

Wireless access point.

Why might we need networking in the kitchen? Not opposed to it, just wondering if there's any real current use case?

Nothing I can think off. Again cable is cheap so it could be worthwhile if adding cables at a later date would be especially difficult.

Good shout, might have to think about that. Perhaps I could install a slow moving fan at the top of the cupboard to extract any hot air into the attic.

 

[Quartz]

Do I really need to run a 4 socket?

One for the TV, one for the games console, one for the set-top box / DVR, and one for the BD player. You could up that to 8 or more but at that point you're better off having a switch there.

And you'll want a double port elsewhere in the living room for occasional use.

 

[Zefan]

Sorry, I don't know what that means?

I think camec is a typo of cable. He means don't simply have male ends dangling through the wall and in to devices directly. Use modules and patch panels.

 

[UberTiger]

Ahh okay, I see. That makes sense after a quick google and reading this.

What would be the best way of fitting an external patch panel though? I'm not sure how that would work.

Ideally I'd want to run the IP camera cable from the cupboard, straight into the floor, into the ceiling, through the ceiling and through the brick.

Can I then fit an external patch panel before connecting to the camera? Would it need to be a normal RJ45 socket in a weatherproof box?

I searched 'outdoor patch panel' and I see very large boxes. Seems rather overkill for my tiny home setup.

 

[UberTiger]

Also, would this cable be suitable?

I purchase a 100m roll locally in anticipation of them able to start laying it out tomorrow.

It's a available from a local hardware chain, not sure if I can link though as it's network cable.

NEXANS CAT 5E F/UTP ETHERNET CABLE 100M GRY (8558T)

8-core. PVC sheath. Flexible ethernet cable ideal for networking applications.

SPECIFICATION
Brand Nexans
Cable Code Cat 5e
Cable Length 100 m
Cable Product Type Ethernet
Cable Reel Length 100 m
Colour Grey
Manufacturer Guarantee 1 Year Guarantee
No. of Cable Cores 8-Core
Pack Size 1
Pieces in Pack/Case 1
Product Depth 280 mm
Product Diameter 280 mm
Product Height 95 mm
Product Length 280 mm
Product Type Ethernet Cable
Product Width 280 mm
Total Product Weight 4.1 kg

 

[UberTiger]

Right, this is my updated diagram so far, I've added external up down lighting, and a front and rear floodlight.

External patch panel/dual cable to IP camera setup still abit fuzzy and TBC.

https://imgur.com/a/AOtHRwT

 

[bremen1874]

I'd have used Cat6 UTP (not F/UTP) for this (most likely Excel).

100m of cable doesn't get you very far. It's surprising how much you can get through will all of those multiple runs.

 

[UberTiger]

Hmm, okay. Will that make a massive difference?

I seem to have found some Excel CAT6 comms-express.com

The reason I didn't buy CAT6 from the local place is that on their website the CAT6 has poor reviews.

I only got 100m as initially I figured I'd only be running 5 lengths of cable, and it's a pretty small property. Now people are saying to double and quadruple up on the runs. I can see how that can get eaten up quickly.

It's actually my mum's place, and we weren't planning on doing this and just sticking to wifi. But seeing as we have floorboard and ceiling access for the next day or two if figured now might be the right time to pull the plug and network it properly for futureproofing. Plus it reduces the chance of me having to troubleshoot wireless issues remotely, which can get rather frustrating.

It really doesn't need to be mega comprehensive, I don't need it super duper high spec. Just functional in terms of reliability and high bandwidth for the security cams (potentially 4k res a few years down the road), and TV and potential property value when selling down the line.

 

[sideways14a]

Why have the router in the lounge, i would hide it away in a cupboard alongside a box for Pihole, a box with drives for cctv and a patch panel.
Prob have a surge protector as a minimum running it all, battery if i thought it needed UPS power.

You can never have enough ports, when i am ordering a room to be fitted with network at my work i usually try and flood it now... you can never have enough ports...
Wireless is ok but you cant beat catv or 6
I would also put a repeater in the loft to fill the bedrooms with wifi and a good place to hide another is under the ground floor - POE is useful for this so spend decent on your switch if you dont want poe injectors hanging off everything.

 

[Sparky__H]

Try to not have exposed cable running outside the property. you want to expose the cable where the device it's plugging into will be where possible.

• Unless you are using the correct grade cable it will deteriorate.
  
• Its a lightning risk
• Its ugly
• Its easy to snip

@Quartz is right regarding the multiple drops upto the switch from the TV area. 2 should be enough but with the number of devices needing connectivity now you'll need a switch at some point.

Avoid repeaters. Spend the money on buying more/better access points.
I would start with two Ubiquiti UAP-AC-PRO-E access points and put them here https://imgur.com/C7fIcJb

 

[bledd]

I think camec is a typo of cable. He means don't simply have male ends dangling through the wall and in to devices directly. Use modules and patch panels.

Yup yup

 

[WJA96]

Avoid repeaters. Spend the money on buying more/better access points.
I would start with two Ubiquiti UAP-AC-PRO-E access points and put them here https://imgur.com/C7fIcJb

It’s not a big house. I think one AP at the upstairs location on your diagram would be enough. This is rapidly turning into extreme mission creep.

To the the OP - which cameras are you looking at? The fact that you are only installing 2 means you will always have blind spots if you install them in the locations you’ve indicated. If you put them on the corners of the building you will at least get the whole front and back from one side. You could use 360 fisheyes or 180 Panoramics but I suspect you’ll be using the standard 2-3mm 90-105 degree field of view cameras in a dome, turret or bullet format so if you want perfect coverage you need at least 4 to cover the building. Check that they have IR/Starlight or you’ll be blind at night and check how far that IR goes. 10m isn’t very far but 50m is probably excessive. Don’t get sucked in by high resolutions. You’ll never record sensibly using 4K over a 1Gbps connection and remember that you’ll have everyone and their dog asking about privacy once they go up.

Other than that - enjoy!

 

[UberTiger]

It’s not a big house. I think one AP at the upstairs location on your diagram would be enough. This is rapidly turning into extreme mission creep.

Yeah, this doesn't need to be a huge project. I just need some basic networking for a very small property.

Do you guys really think I need a repeater or additional wifi access point upstairs? The router has been located in the lounge at the marked spot for the last year or so and we've not had any wifi issues in any room of the house or the garden. And it's only a basic stock virgin router, it's the superhub 3 IIRC.

https://i.imgur.com/MYTLNq8.png

Is that something I can just add at a later date by plugging into the switch if need be?

To the the OP - which cameras are you looking at? The fact that you are only installing 2 means you will always have blind spots if you install them in the locations you’ve indicated. If you put them on the corners of the building you will at least get the whole front and back from one side.

Hmm, yeah. It's a pretty narrow property, but I see what your saying. Maybe I'll ask them to run a cables to each corner of the house instead and just have the doorbell cam for the front middle.

I haven't picked any cameras out yet, just been focussing on making sure the wiring is in place where we need it at this point in time.
10m is plenty, the front grass patch and driveway is very small, it's less than 10m from the front of the house to the pavement.
The garden is tiny too. The house is link detatched so there are other buildings immediately either side.

The one neighbour already has a single cam at the front and back that the previous owner fitted.

The other neighbour works in IT, so I'm sure he'll be fitting cams at some point as they also refurbish.

The garage may eventually be turned into an extra bedroom with en suite at some point so that we have a bathroom downstairs, but probably not for another year or so. Which means we should still have easy access to power, as well as ethernet further down the line, as long as we route the networking cable there now.

You’ll never record sensibly using 4K over a 1Gbps connection and remember that you’ll have everyone and their dog asking about privacy once they go up.

Are you saying that CAT5 is no good for this and I should try and get CAT6? Or does it not really matter?

 

[WJA96]

Yeah, this doesn't need to be a huge project. I just need some basic networking for a very small property.

Do you guys really think I need a repeater or additional wifi access point upstairs? The router has been located in the lounge at the marked spot for the last year or so and we've not had any wifi issues in any room of the house or the garden. And it's only a basic stock virgin router, it's the superhub 3 IIRC.

https://i.imgur.com/MYTLNq8.png

Is that something I can just add at a later date by plugging into the switch if need be?

Any ceiling mounted access point mounted in the ceiling above the stairwell will give you great coverage. But if you don’t have an issue now, then that’s £75 saved. But if they put an RJ45 Socket in the ceiling there you always have that option in the future.

Are you saying that CAT5 is no good for this and I should try and get CAT6? Or does it not really matter?

It doesn’t matter - it’s more a question of how fast you would fill up the recording system with high quality pictures.

 

[UberTiger]

Ahh I see, thanks.

Okay, so I've updated the diagram for 4 cams so I can cover each corner, leaving just doorbell wire going to the front middle for a video doorbell.

If I run 4 cables from the cupboard to the garage through the kitchen ceiling then could I connect all 4 to either a second network switch or a fixed patch panel there?

Then run 2 cables out to the two cams, and one to the recorder?

Anyone got links to suggested compact patch panels?

Or could I just use two x 4 port normal wall ports as a budget pair of patch panels?

https://imgur.com/a/sMDqnrg