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sansnom

sansnom

sansnom

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Gents

I would be extremely grateful if someone who understands home networks thoroughly could have a look at my simple home network illustration and let me know if I've understood everything correctly or if I've missed anything out. I need to order the items by Monday at the latest and my AV guy pulled out at the last second so I have to do this myself.



I'm not sure how flexible this setup is going to be in future i.e. if I want to have multiple TVs able to stream from one source, but honestly, I'm only doing this to hide cables and devices in a single room so I'm not too fussed about that. If it's a simple change that would allow me to access all content anywhere sure but otherwise I'm mainly interested in being to access my content from my living room so basically HTPC and sky feeding my living room TV.

There may be an additional 2 or 3 TV's in the house in future in other rooms.
 
Also a follow-up question:

I'm not sure how I would control these devices in the server room.

I also have 2 coax ports per room but right now I have no clue where they should feed into. Obviously not the ethernet switch, is there an equivalent for coax cables??
 
HDMI over ethernet won't go through the switch.

It needs to go just through the patch panel, directly to the other converter..

Personally, I'd run 2x CAT6 for the HDMI over ethernet adapters, they can be the devil's work, some need 2x cables to work well.


I highly recommend buying CCS equipment. They're UK based and have 25 year warranties. I've installed hundreds of modules in my work, after trying multiple manufacturers, these are hands down the best I've used, now we only buy CCS. Not had a single failure..


http://www.netstoredirect.com/cat6-modules-outlets/286861-cat6-utp-rj45-loaded-faceplates.html
http://www.netstoredirect.com/cat6-patch-panels/224169-24-port-cat6-utp-ccs-elite-patch-panel.html
http://www.netstoredirect.com/cat6-cable/66-excel-cat6-utp-cable.html

also get a 100 pack of these..

http://cpc.farnell.com/pro-power/100x2-5mm-blk-100pk/cable-tie-100x2-5mm-blk-100pk/dp/CBBR6697

1 for each module, one for each end on the patch panel.


Do the job properly, once :)
 
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bledd. said:
Personally, I'd run 2x CAT6 for the HDMI over ethernet adapters, they can be the devil's work, some need 2x cables to work well.
Click to expand...

Damn there's so much conflicting information about this. I read up on the net that you needed 2x ethernet cables for HDMI over ethernet to work properly. Asked the AV guy and he goes "no that's the crap HDMI/ethernet baluns. The proper ones you only need 1 ethernet cable and you get full 1080p signal"

Ffs - now I need to go put another 2 ethernet ports in each room. My contractor is going to go ballistic.

HDMI over ethernet won't go through the switch.

It needs to go just through the patch panel, directly to the other converter..
Click to expand...

Ok so just to be 100% clear: from the patch panel, I will connect the patch lead into the balun instead of the switch. Is that correct? Also what happens with the HDMI splitter in that case as both Sky and HTPC are serving the signal down the line to the TV through the splitter

I highly recommend buying CCS equipment. They're UK based and have 25 year warranties. I've installed hundreds of modules in my work, after trying multiple manufacturers, these are hands down the best I've used, now we only buy CCS. Not had a single failure..


http://www.netstoredirect.com/cat6-m...aceplates.html
http://www.netstoredirect.com/cat6-p...tch-panel.html
http://www.netstoredirect.com/cat6-c...utp-cable.html

also get a 100 pack of these..

http://cpc.farnell.com/pro-power/100...pk/dp/CBBR6697

1 for each module, one for each end on the patch panel.
Click to expand...

I have been told to go for these guys https://www.millsltd.com/

Apparently they provide no chinese-made crap, only european and UK high grade cables and equipment
 
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My experience with HDMI over Ethernet is very limited.. If he reckons it's fine over 1x CAT6, then go with his reccomendation.

When we tried it in work, it was over a long old Cat5e, which was flakey..


---

HDMI splitter is for making having one source and turning it into two outputs (ie, one device on 2x TVs)



A HDMI switch is what you want, or indeed 2x sets of HDMI over ethernet



Wait for someone else to confirm this, I'm more of a networking guy than a AV guy..
 
bremen1874 said:
You can have HDMI over IP as well as HDMI over Ethernet. Which are you looking at?
Click to expand...

no idea what HDMI over IP is but from what I've gathered its even more flakey than HDMI over Ethernet...

As per my drawing, this is broadly what the AV guy has suggested. I've had to piece it together myself doing online research as he up and left me hanging in the middle of it.

He didn't mention anything about HDMI over IP. He just said:
Put 2 ethernet in each room
Put 2 coax in each room

Bring them all back to the server room, terminate, connect to whatever is needed (switch etc) and enjoy. He was supposed to do all of the terminating and setup but he literally picked up and vanished, some sort of family issue abroad
 
bledd. said:
My experience with HDMI over Ethernet is very limited.. If he reckons it's fine over 1x CAT6, then go with his reccomendation.

When we tried it in work, it was over a long old Cat5e, which was flakey..
---
HDMI splitter is for making having one source and turning it into two outputs (ie, one device on 2x TVs)

A HDMI switch is what you want, or indeed 2x sets of HDMI over ethernet

Wait for someone else to confirm this, I'm more of a networking guy than a AV guy..
Click to expand...

Ok so should I assume your point about HDMI over patch panel but not switch should also be taken with a pinch of salt? not trying to be cheeky just need to know if it's concrete or if I need to research it some more.

Also, have you had experience with Mills Ltd? Any idea if it's true that they provide the best cables? The AV guy also said to get from there.
 
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I don't take offence, feel free to shoot me down :)

The HDMI over ethernet (not over IP) are designed to go through ethernet and patch panels only, they're essentially dumb devices that wouldn't understand a network switch.. Ethernet cable is just a more convenient way of transferring HDMI over a long distance.

CCS are also a UK manufacturer, we didn't try Mills.
 
bledd. said:
I don't take offence, feel free to shoot me down :)

The HDMI over ethernet (not over IP) are designed to go through ethernet and patch panels only, they're essentially dumb devices that wouldn't understand a network switch.. Ethernet cable is just a more convenient way of transferring HDMI over a long distance.

CCS are also a UK manufacturer, we didn't try Mills.
Click to expand...

cool, well I guess you've used them enough to be able to recommend them so I'm happy with that. They're about 50% cheaper than the Cat 6 UTP in Mills.

Any recommendations for an appropriate 16 port switch and patch panel? Or are they all pretty much generic. Mills stocks Planet switches and patch panels and Netgears - the netgears are double the price...
 
Not trying to spend your money for you, but 24 port might be a better idea in case you add more in the future, price difference is minimal and most of them are 24 port.

I'd go for any fanless 16 or 24 port gigabit switch. If you're not looking into smart switches (not needed for home use), then they're all in much the same. Maybe look for one with low power usage.

16 port..

http://www.netstoredirect.com/trend...at6-unshielded-patch-panel-0710931401196.html
http://www.netstoredirect.com/trend...et-teg-s16g-network-switch-0710931610239.html
7w power usage.
 
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bledd. said:
Not trying to spend your money for you, but 24 port might be a better idea in case you add more in the future, price difference is minimal and most of them are 24 port.

I'd go for any fanless 16 or 24 port gigabit switch. If you're not looking into smart switches (not needed for home use), then they're all in much the same. Maybe look for one with low power usage.
Click to expand...

I noted that the rack variants are larger than the desktop variants. I imagine the desktop ones are fanless but they're intended to be used in open spaces like a desktop so that wouldn't be an issue.

I haven't sorted out the rack yet (not sure I should be getting one) but do you recommend desktop variants of switches then? I'm worried with all this stuff in a cupboard under the stairs its gonna start to get a little toasty :p

16 port..

http://www.netstoredirect.com/trendn...931401196.html
http://www.netstoredirect.com/trendn...931610239.html
7w power usage.
Click to expand...

That ninja edit haha

Looks awesome - will do some research on these two now. Seems a bit too good to be true if it gives the same performance but 70% lower power consumption. What's the catch??
 
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There's no catch.

Many switches now save power by disabling ports that aren't in use and reducing the individual port power to match the length of the cable connected.

Even without power reduction features switches don't consume very much.
 
Thanks guys - Trendnet Switch, Fusion patch panel, patch leads and cable ordered.

Now I need to sort out the Coax...

Should I be putting these

BGE_NBN64B.jpg

Nexus Satellite Gang


or these ?
BGE_NBN63B.jpg

Nexus 2 Gang Coaxial


I don't understand the difference. I intend to have Sky installed and will ask the engineer to run 4 coax cables (I think they're coax, now im starting to wonder if it's a different cable?) from the sky dish into the server room. From the server room, I intend to have 2 'coax' cables to each room. No idea what the point of these is, just what the AV guy told me to do for future use but didn't explain the point of it and now I don't know if he means these TV coax points with coax cable or this 'satellite' coax point and some other cable?
 
Sin_Chase said:
Sky generally uses an F-Type connector.
Coax is just Coax.
Click to expand...

I think that's the connection point to the skybox itself. I'm referring more to the connection points on the wall.

Out of those two that I posted - what would be the difference if I went with option 1 or option 2? For example, If I install option 2 which looks like two female coax connnection points, will that work for absolutely any use? Option 1 also appears to be a female connection but it looks different, I don't understand why? Is it a different cable type?
 
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