Home network 'build'

masscrazy

masscrazy

masscrazy

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So we're getting our house done and are going to install a new networking system.

The idea is to have a ethernet access point in each room about 8 rooms in total.

So I had a question about the setup and if there are any holes in my plan.

So each room has a ethernet port routed down to a patch panel under the stairs. Each room will connect to the patch panel and each port on the patch panel will connect to a port on a gigabit switch.

The cable will be CAT6 and a 16 port gigabit switch.

On top of that I'll have a wireless access point on each floor (3 in total) for guests and laptop users.

What you guys think?
 
Check my house build thread. I did exactly this.

You'd only need to comment each "occupied" port of the patch panel to a switch, so realistically you could get away with a 16way switch (I went 24).

You can also wire the phone line to the rear of the patch panel and use BT to RJ45 adapters to turn any rj45 socket in the house in to a phone socket. (I also did this).

Don't go for the multiple access points though. I have an ASUS RT-66U under the stairs and the coverage is perfect for a big 4 bed home. Your choice, but I put some spare sockets in the loft in case I did need a hidden second access point upstairs.
 
@EVH - really useful advice, read a whole bunch of really good setup guides none mentioned phone lines on the patch panel, will definitely do that.

Why do you advise against multiple wireless access points?
 
I'm heading to bed but I've bookmarked this page as I'm eager to see your build thread EVH as if it's anything like the OP has suggested, it certainly sounds interesting! :)
 
masscrazy said:
@EVH - really useful advice, read a whole bunch of really good setup guides none mentioned phone lines on the patch panel, will definitely do that.

Why do you advise against multiple wireless access points?
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1 should cover you, although 2 would be plenty. Why waste money with more, if you're covered by 1? I learned this and my ASUS has been great. Considering its in a rack, under carpeted stairs, surrounded by breeze block walls :)

If you were to go with 2, just set them both to the same SSID and use different channels or you may find the signal isn't as good as you'd hope as they'd be conflicting.

The phone idea is the best bit. You are limited by 4 phones per line, but they can be at any location you have a network point. If you find you don't use the phone in the kitchen, you can move it to a bedroom or office by simply patching it in.

One important thing is to NEVER route the phone through the switch, so for this reason I'd recommend different coloured patch cables and a label printer

SaltandSauce said:
I'm heading to bed but I've bookmarked this page as I'm eager to see your build thread EVH as if it's anything like the OP has suggested, it certainly sounds interesting! :)
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Some pictures are missing because I ran out of free space with the image hosting, but the info is still there.

If I get chance I hope to update the thread and sort it out. I've not seen anyone really go in to the same detail regarding HDMI over cat6, phones on network cable so I tried to provide as much info as I could.
 
EVH said:
1 should cover you, although 2 would be plenty. Why waste money with more, if you're covered by 1? I learned this and my ASUS has been great. Considering its in a rack, under carpeted stairs, surrounded by breeze block walls :)
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May depend on design of your house ... I'm in an 1890/1900s house with solid internal walls and while an Asus router gives a good signal from router to living room, the two walls in the way seem sufficient to prevent being able to stream iPlayer reliably to a tablet (pauses to rebuffer for ~30s every 5-10 mins). Probably ok for non-streaming use though.

However, if you've put wired network to every room then you can do what I've just done and put a TP-link "nano-router" in the room where you need better wireless to act as an access point. That's fixed my streaming problem!

If you were to go with 2, just set them both to the same SSID and use different channels or you may find the signal isn't as good as you'd hope as they'd be conflicting.
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That's what I did ... works fine - though sometimes some devices seem insistent on connecting to the wrong (i.e. weaker signal) AP!
 
I would put more than 1 cable in each room - what if you want phone AND computer(s)? Also will help to assist against any cable damage later on.

The cable is the cheap bit - adding more at the point of installation won't add much money, but adding more cables later will be expensive!
 
For reference, I have 96 cat 6 sockets around the home, 16 cat 6 (split 8 for IR control, 8 for 2x BT lines), speaker cabling to each room, and 7.1 in the living room, coax to each room with a splitter, DAB aerial, TV aerial and a sat dish fed to under the stairs.

As you say, putting wires in while building is easy and relatively cheap, but the headache is forward thinking and future proofing.

I think I used 8x 305m boxes of cat 6, 1000m of speaker wire, 200m of high grade coax :D
 
You live in an airport???

EVHare you saying you used cat6 to bridge speaker connections? Or did i read that wrong?

I'm interested in the HDMI over cat6 so will check out your thread, thanks :)
 
I did a similar thing to you EVH. I have 24 cat6a ports around the house coming back to a central patch panel in the utility room. There is also a phone line feed coming in as well so I can use the patch panel as the phone hub.

Haven't decided on a switch yet. Any recommendations?
 
I'm in the process of putting in:
2 in loft, bedrooms and dinning room.
6 in office.
8 in living room. So 24 total.

Make sure you get solid core for cable that needs to be punched in to the panel and sockets
 
Banzai_Joe said:
You live in an airport???

EVHare you saying you used cat6 to bridge speaker connections? Or did i read that wrong?

I'm interested in the HDMI over cat6 so will check out your thread, thanks :)
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No, I ran cat 6 for the purpose of networking, and to transmit HD video over cat 6 via baluns.

The speaker cable is completely separate. It's studio grade cable.

AMMUT said:
I did a similar thing to you EVH. I have 24 cat6a ports around the house coming back to a central patch panel in the utility room. There is also a phone line feed coming in as well so I can use the patch panel as the phone hub.

Haven't decided on a switch yet. Any recommendations?
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HP Procurve. I have the HP 1810-24G

Banzai_Joe said:
Could link to it please mate, there's likely to be others wanting to read it too.
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http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18176439
 
Thanks EVH. Looks like a good switch at a reasonable price. Will look at getting one of those. Will check out your thread when I get home, can't see the pics here.
 
I shall update the thread with a picture of the current rack setup, as the one in the thread is pretty dated :)

The HP switch is a brilliant piece of kit. Loads of options, and with 24 ports has all the ports you should ever need.
 
Yes it looks good. Need to get a rack/wall cabinet for it all now. Already have the patch panel. Does the switch come with hardware for mounting? Looking forward to getting it all up and running.
 
Yes, it comes with rack "ears" and screws. Just pop them on and then mount as normal
 
Just checked out your home build, must say its awesome.

Now you got me thinking about extra cables for tv and audio and IR.

How does the IR stuff work? You wire it into a room and control the box the IR is connected to by pointing at the port? Where is the IR reader placed?


EVH said:
I shall update the thread with a picture of the current rack setup, as the one in the thread is pretty dated :)

The HP switch is a brilliant piece of kit. Loads of options, and with 24 ports has all the ports you should ever need.
Click to expand...

Could you also update the 403 forbidden pictures..? :)
 
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