Multiple items to a single router

[Mallers]

Hi, i had a go at going through the stickies and got some ideas, but im not sure if the advice is still the same as its a bit old now
Ive got my internet through BT and got a home hub, of the sort they were giving out about 2 years ago. At moment got one cable out (dont know the type of cable, its the one supplied with router) to my pc, and i have one of those BT internet over the power cable things plugged in the front room power socket with a wired feed to my bt youview box.
Im thinking this year, and it will be over the course of a year due to money, of updating everything, and ideally id like wired connections to devices, for firmware updates etc. Id need a whole load of cables, more than i have outputs for on the hub, so any ideas of the best way to do it please? im thinking:
spare room - 3 feeds (pc, gaming monitor when I get one, smart tv)
bedroom - 2 feeds (smart tv, pvr)
lounge - 4/5 feeds (tv, amp, uhd player, bt you view box, possibly a console of some sort, maybe a pj if i can cram one in)
would i just use longer lengths of the same sort of cable that BT supplied to connect router to pc, and slap in a few splitters (hubs are they called?) to send some wires to different rooms?
any help much appreciated! I may end up getting a pro to do this but id like to have some idea of what they may suggest, or i could suggest to them, and ideas now will help me get a ball park figure for pricing so i dont get ripped off later.

 

[andy_mk3]

At moment got one cable out (dont know the type of cable, its the one supplied with router) to my pc

They're known as ethernet patch cables, you can find some more info on those here as there's many different types.

BT internet over the power cable things

They're Powerline Adapters

would i just use longer lengths of the same sort of cable that BT supplied to connect router to pc, and slap in a few splitters (hubs are they called?) to send some wires to different rooms?

Pretty much yes, although as above there are many types. The patch cable you have will be made from stranded cores, which is better for a cable that's going to be flexed a lot. For internal wiring you want solid cores, and avoid anything that's CCA, you want solid copper cores ideally. The best way really is to have one or two ethernet drops to each room, and use a cheap switch to allow you to plug a few devices into it. For cable to use, I'd recommend something like this, and ideally you want to be terminating the cable into a wall faceplate.

No idea on cost for a pro to fit it, but not likely to be cheap. It's not a bad DIY job though assuming you have reasonable DIY skills.

 

[Quartz]

All you need are ethernet cables and what's called a switch. These are cheap. You want gigabit switches. Each ethernet cable can be up to 100m long so you have plenty of length to route the cables out of the way.

Run one cable from your router to where the TV is and place a switch there. Run cables to your devices. Similarly run cables from the router to each location and place a switch there. Yes you will end up with several switches. It's a good idea to have spare ports on your switches. Don't make the cables too short; make sure there's plenty of extra length so you can move things around.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 3 x TP-Link 8-Port Gigabit Desktop Switch (TL-SG1008D V8)= £16.99

Total: £59.67 (includes shipping: £8.70)​

​

Remember that one port will be taken by the link to the router.

You can save £6 by going for one 8 port and two 5 port switches. You can also spend more money by going for switches with higher bandwidth, but you can leave that to later.

Add in network cables and you'll be set.

 

[WJA96]

Hi, i had a go at going through the stickies and got some ideas, but im not sure if the advice is still the same as its a bit old now
Ive got my internet through BT and got a home hub, of the sort they were giving out about 2 years ago. At moment got one cable out (dont know the type of cable, its the one supplied with router) to my pc, and i have one of those BT internet over the power cable things plugged in the front room power socket with a wired feed to my bt youview box.
Im thinking this year, and it will be over the course of a year due to money, of updating everything, and ideally id like wired connections to devices, for firmware updates etc. Id need a whole load of cables, more than i have outputs for on the hub, so any ideas of the best way to do it please? im thinking:
spare room - 3 feeds (pc, gaming monitor when I get one, smart tv)
bedroom - 2 feeds (smart tv, pvr)
lounge - 4/5 feeds (tv, amp, uhd player, bt you view box, possibly a console of some sort, maybe a pj if i can cram one in)
would i just use longer lengths of the same sort of cable that BT supplied to connect router to pc, and slap in a few splitters (hubs are they called?) to send some wires to different rooms?
any help much appreciated! I may end up getting a pro to do this but id like to have some idea of what they may suggest, or i could suggest to them, and ideas now will help me get a ball park figure for pricing so i dont get ripped off later.

Your best bet is to kill two birds with one stone and run everything back to a central patch panel. Lets say that's going in the attic. By the time you've bought a patch panel and maybe a 3U or 6U wall bracket for it that's going to be £60. You'll need a switch as well. Lets say an 8-port to give you the feeds you want. You can get 8-port switches that are powered over the network so you wouldn't even need power in the attic. If you run everything externally in conduit then you're looking at about £5/m for cabling up - call it £70/connection with a surface mounted box on the wall to plug into. Then a nice PoE powered switch (Unifi US-8) will be £85 or £95 with a PoE injector to power it. So I reckon if you budgeted £700-£800 you'd be in the right ballpark to get the work done professionally. Maybe a bit less in the North East of England and a bit more in the South East.

 

[Mallers]

Hi all, many thanks for all your input. Apologies for the late reply, started new job working form home and after 8 hours staring at a screen i just want to log off and walk away, so i reply on the weekend instead! Theres a lot of work i intend to get done including revamping my home cinema setup (you may well over the coming year see cries for help in the a/v forum!) but it looks like getting these set up first along with wall mounting speakers is my best bet first , that should get the heavy work out the way. Thanks again all, if can locate this thread later ill try to post some pics to show how it turned out!