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Amp34

Amp34

Amp34

Caporegime
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25 Jul 2005
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Location
Canada
I'm starting the renovation of my house in the next couple of months and want to stick wired/wireless networking and HDMI over cat6 throughout the house.

The first/ground floor is fixed in terms of walls but note the breakfast bar and room projecting off the right of the house are not there at the moment. It's currently a garage...

Screen_Shot_2015_07_26_at_11_36_49.png


Basement however is a shell and I can put walls almost anywhere, within reason (several supports and plumbing parts need taking in to account).

Screen_Shot_2015_07_26_at_11_49_44.png


Red Cross - Where I think internet will come in
Red circles/squares - Double network ports
Parallel blue lines - Network cable for HDMI
Green Circle - AV/Network Room

I've got a double network outlet in each living/sleeping room fed by two cat6 cables, except for the "rec" room and the front room. I also want to stick two more in a detached garage to allow me to connect wireless and an IP camera.

I'm not quite sure where to put the tv in the front room yet so i'll either do one or either of them depending on what I feel like at the time. They will both have a double network outlet and a direct cat cable for HDMI over cat6.

In the "Rec" Room I'm planning on having two double network outlets where the TV is going, so I can plug in other network devices if needed, as well as another double outlet further along the wall in case a desk goes there. I've got double Cat6 cables for HDMI going to both the TV location and where a projector may go, along with another double network outlet at the projector location (do I need this?)

All the cables will terminate in the room/cupboard in the green circle. That will be where some of the AV equipment will be as well as my NAS and switch.

I should have 26 cables terminating there for the network so I need to terminate them all in a patch panel, then connect each patch(?) to a port in a switch? Can I have multiple patch panels (such as a 24 and 8 port) going in to one switch or will that affect performance? Same question with the switch, as I assume I'll have even more to plug in there (Modem, NAS and other devices in the cupboard). Anything I need to be looking for regarding patch panels and switches?

My NAS also has Link Aggregation, I'm not sure if I can utilise that at a reasonable price in this setup, any recommendations?

I think I'll be sticking the modem by the main entry point for the internet, then putting in cat6 to connect it to the switch. I've also got an ASUS AC86U which I will try and stick centrally in the house, I'm thinking in the living room, to provide wireless, although I may have to have a repeater to cover the garden.

Anyway, very long post! Any comments, recommendations or discussion points would be awesome. Thanks!:p

EDIT: Point to note, the house i in N America but you can usually get the same devices both sides of the pond.
 
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I'm just looking at switches and realised I have no idea what much of it all means...

The Netgear JGS524 seems to have link aggradation for not much more than the others available.

Alternatively the Dlink DGS-1024D and the TP-LINK TL-SG1024D seem quite popular and are cheaper, but don't have LAG.
 
I'm using www.floorplanner.com for my designs. Free and simple.

There is no ceiling at the moment but I only have 7'5" of headroom, before I install the floor and ceiling. That means I don't have the space for a dropped ceiling. It should mean I can chase the cables up into the main level relatively easily round the sides of the house (wood framed) though.

Interesting point about the telephone. We are not actually going to get a landline, we just don't need one. That said I may see about laying a cable from where it comes into the house to the patch panel so we/new owners can do what you're doing in the future. I'm still a bit up in the air about where the internet is coming in as well. We will be getting cable and I assume it will be coming in at the same location as the current telephone line (all utilities come from a back alley in the city the house is in).

I've actually just added an extra couple of ports to the desk area on the main floor, two just didn't seem enough as you say. I think four will probably just be enough as I'd envisage stuff like printer (if we get one) will be wireless anyway. I currently can't think of anything other than computer and printer in my office.

TV wise. There will be four ethernet network ports behind the main TV location as well as two HDMI over cat cables, although I may stick another one in for redundancy. At the moment I'm still trying to decide whether to put all the AV equipment in with the switch and patch panel and use a 4x4 matrix to send signal through the house to the three locations. Alternatively I could just stick it all in a traditional box at the base of the TV/Projector screen. It'll probably be easier in the latter location, and I can just terminate the HDMI over cat cables there instead for the other two locations.

Any particular reason you have put 4 ports behind the master bed? Phone (if installed), but i'm struggling to think of anything else (assuming wireless for laptops/tablets). That said I may put in a wireless access point if the signal isn't strong enough from the AC68U in the living area.

There are still a fair few things to think about, and they will probably be decided when I get back to the house and we start putting in the walls. I still haven't decided yet whether to go projector or large TV downstairs. I'll need to decide before everything goes up as it will dictate the height of the plugs!

I think in the "rack" I'm going to put a 48 port patch panel but only a 24 port switch, then wire all the cables into the patch panel but not connect several of the rooms to the switch. There are only two of us and many of the sockets are there just in case. That way I can save money on the switch and just move patch cables around when needed.

And nice job there, although I do wonder if that red light may be a little annoying at night? :p I assume that plug has a built in surge protector?
 
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The basement should actually be very easy to work in. The house construction is basically a large concrete tub with a wooden frame (the main floor) perched on top. Inside the concrete tub there is just stud work and insulation. It's just a case of drilling a couple of channels through the basement stud work and threading cables through, the communication ones a few inches away from the power cables. To access the main floor you can (should!) just need to drill some holes in the horizontal studs at the base of the wall and thread up to holes cut into the plasterboard above, it'll only be about a foot of threading. That's the theory anyway! I think I'll be sticking a couple of conduits in there somewhere, possibly from the entry location of the cable/phone to the cupboards.

There are two internet options, telephone line and cable. As we're not getting a landline we're going for cable (it's also faster).

It's all about guessing what you may need in the future as you say, without going overboard.

I've actually been looking in to surge protection plugs since your post. It's a good idea, I think I'll stick one in the AV room and one or two by the TV for larger draw equipment. The rat in planning on attaching to a surge protecting extension cable.
 
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