Networking a new home - what to buy?

teknokid

teknokid

teknokid

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Hello,

My parents are moving house tomorrow, and my dads asked me install a network into the house. I maintained the network in the old house, and ran a few extra cables, but it was all installed by someone else.

So my question is - what do I need to buy?

He works from home, and there's 4-5 pcs in the house. Gigabit switches are available from the old house and two nas drives will also be used.

What's the difference between cat5 and cat6? Which should I buy etc?

Thanks in advance,
 
  • bulk cable
  • patch panel
  • network rack, cabinet or wall bracket big enough for patch panel, switch and anything else if you also want your server based in the rack.
  • patch cables for panel > switch
  • patch cables for faceplates > devices
  • faceplates, maybe in the same style as what is already present in the house but euro module type faceplates
  • euro module network sockets

Cat5 is a bit out of date for a new install, you probably mean Cat5e vs Cat6 or Cat6a.

The main difference in terms of usefulness is Cat5e tops out at 1 Gb/s, whilst Cat6 can manage up to 10 Gb/s subject to correct installation parameters being met. eg minimal pair untwisting for termination and within spec distances of length of cable runs.

What you should buy might be swayed on a few matters, whether you use the network for much local traffic eg within the house, whether there is much difference in cost to justify not going for Cat6 or Cat6a, how long the move to the new house might be for. The greatest cost in terms of time to implement is the installation of the structured cabling so if you think you might want to make use of 10 Gb/s in the future then it may be wise to consider putting the Cat6/a cable, patch panel and faceplates now. To take advantage of the 10 Gb/s you will also need a suitable switch and NIC's in each device you want the higher speed.

I found this useful to refer to when planning mine.

http://www.howtogeek.com/70494/what-kind-of-ethernet-cat-5e6a-cable-should-i-use/

You'll also need a Krone tool to punch down the terminations and a Cyclops tool is handy to cut through the outer sheath so that you don't cut the cable pairs when striping cable back.
 
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Depending on the electrics in the new house, you could use some decent homeplugs.
Saves on time for installing structured cabling and if you do get good speeds, then all is good. Some homeplugs are much better than others.
I'd certainly recommend this if its feasible and your pc's are more concerned with internet connection rather than data shuffling around the LAN.
Same for decent wifi devices too. Structured cabling is not always needed, although it may work out cheaper for the kit, the time it takes far exceeds the other methods.
 
bledd. said:
Similar threads from recently..

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18638408
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18617867

Have one central gigabit switch (24 port gigabit really aren't that expensive..)

Plan the cable runs carefully. Run more than you plan to use and leave spares in place.

Each cable can be 100M without any issues. I'd use Cat6 cable, the price difference between the two setups is around £75 vs £115 (for 300m cable and a patch panel)
Click to expand...

Thank you - sounds like cat6 is probably the way forward. I've only ever worked with 5e, and never used a patch panel - is there a lot to learn?
 
Put double runs in everywhere,i.e. 2 of everything and why not a telephone line and RG6 for tv while you're at it?
 
Patch panel (and modules) are the same method. Strip the coating of the outer cable, zip tie the cable in place, place each wire in the corresponding slot, then use the punchdown tool.

Wifi and powerline are terrble compared to ethernet
 
If you go for cat 6,which imho you should then don't skimp on the costs of the punch down tools as in order to maintain the quality and effects of the higher rated cabling you will need to ensure equivalent termination which means decent tools.

The good thing is,once you have these tools then the next job/s involving cabling will be done to a higher standard.
 
It's ok saying get the right tools etc, but you need to pay more attention to the cat6 criteria if you want decent speeds. It's much fussier than cat5e in practice.
Bend radius, amount of untwists. These affect speeds more than anything else in my experience.
I've installed a few networks as part of my job. I've worked alongside cat6 qualified techs and the punching down with the correct positioning of the pairs has been the most important (but necessarily down to the tool used). bend radius can also bugger up speeds. I've learned all these the hard way :rolleyes:

Wifi and powerline are terrble compared to ethernet
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Cats are terrible compared to dogs! :rolleyes:

Not very helpful when he hasn't specifically detailed exactly what his network is for.
If internet access and simple file sharing there is nothing wrong with homeplugs and/or wifi. I use both as well as cabling for streaming 1080p movies. All 3 technologies have their caveats.
 
Banzai_Joe said:
It's ok saying get the right tools etc, but you need to pay more attention to the cat6 criteria if you want decent speeds. It's much fussier than cat5e in practice.
Bend radius, amount of untwists. These affect speeds more than anything else in my experience.
I've installed a few networks as part of my job. I've worked alongside cat6 qualified techs and the punching down with the correct positioning of the pairs has been the most important (but necessarily down to the tool used). bend radius can also bugger up speeds. I've learned all these the hard way :rolleyes:


Cats are terrible compared to dogs! :rolleyes:

Not very helpful when he hasn't specifically detailed exactly what his network is for.
If internet access and simple file sharing there is nothing wrong with homeplugs and/or wifi. I use both as well as cabling for streaming 1080p movies. All 3 technologies have their caveats.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately the network will need to carry a fair bit of data between the NAS drives and PCs.
It sounds like CAT6 might cause me some trouble. Would 5e be a terrible way to go?
 
teknokid said:
It sounds like CAT6 might cause me some trouble. Would 5e be a terrible way to go?
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Cat6 isn't going to cause you any trouble at all. It will work absolutely fine.

This sounds like a relatively simple setup your after and just want to run a few cables to a couple rooms. By that you mean just hiding them along the skirting board i assume? as a pose to tunnelling them in the wall and have patch points everywhere?

In which case, couple gigabit switches, cat 6 or cat5e cable, done. The difference you will notice between the two cables in this setup will be as difficult to find as the differences between the annual Call of Duty games.
 
Sorry bud, didn't mean to scare/alarm you.
No cat6 is the way to go mate, i agree with the others on this.
I just threw the other technologies out there because they don't have to be as bad or hampered as some would have you believe.
Someone mentioned investing in decent tools for punching down. Well the same could be said for the RJ45 plugs, the cable AND wifi AP's and homeplugs.
Get the best quality of anything and you minimise the risk of failure.

Just don't tie the cat6 in knots. You can get away with it for cat5e, but you'll half kill your speeds if you do that to cat6. IE, chasing cat6 around door frames . If you do it too tightly you can reduce the performance of the network.

edit: If you decide to use cat5e i have loads of modules and faceplates if you're interested, postage costs only.
Also got plenty of cat5e and cat6 19" patch panels and cable tidy's. Happy to get rid if they go a loving home :)
 
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Having just done this job I can vouch for 3Ms CAT6. Put 10 runs in around the house and I've got loads left from a £60 box.

Patch, sockets etc were all cheap eBay specials. Quality of all was fine and hasn't missed a beat since installation. Using a 24 port Allied Technologies cheapy switch off the bay until I can source a decent HP or Cisco PoE effort for the reflashed Meraki APs I've got at home. :)
 
Banzai_Joe said:
Sorry bud, didn't mean to scare/alarm you.
No cat6 is the way to go mate, i agree with the others on this.
I just threw the other technologies out there because they don't have to be as bad or hampered as some would have you believe.
Someone mentioned investing in decent tools for punching down. Well the same could be said for the RJ45 plugs, the cable AND wifi AP's and homeplugs.
Get the best quality of anything and you minimise the risk of failure.

Just don't tie the cat6 in knots. You can get away with it for cat5e, but you'll half kill your speeds if you do that to cat6. IE, chasing cat6 around door frames . If you do it too tightly you can reduce the performance of the network.

edit: If you decide to use cat5e i have loads of modules and faceplates if you're interested, postage costs only.
Also got plenty of cat5e and cat6 19" patch panels and cable tidy's. Happy to get rid if they go a loving home :)
Click to expand...
Thank you for the offer! What do you mean by modules?

From what I can gather - if I use a patch panel and face plates I need solid core cabling? Then have multi-fibre cables to go from the wall to pc etc? Do patch cables suffer performance losses if you bend them (cat6)?

ChocolateStarfishRammer said:
Cat6 isn't going to cause you any trouble at all. It will work absolutely fine.

This sounds like a relatively simple setup your after and just want to run a few cables to a couple rooms. By that you mean just hiding them along the skirting board i assume? as a pose to tunnelling them in the wall and have patch points everywhere?

In which case, couple gigabit switches, cat 6 or cat5e cable, done. The difference you will notice between the two cables in this setup will be as difficult to find as the differences between the annual Call of Duty games.
Click to expand...

It could be that simple - but I think I'm going to push my dad to install it all properly. We'll need a connection in most of the rooms, and having all those hanging out all over the place will look quite messy. Installing it properly would be a lot better.

Can you use stranded core with the wall sockets? or does that have to be solid core?
 
Cat5e is very simple to put in, most time will be spent running and hiding the cables, then mind numbing hours punching down individual cables. Everything is colour coded so a idiot could do it. But do buy a test tool.
 
Should also have mentioned pattress boxes to attach your faceplates to. They need to be deep enough for whatever network modules you choose but most likely they will need to be at least 35mm deep. You also get different pattress boxes for solid walls vs hollow partition walls. You'll also need a plasterboard saw to cut the holes for the pattress boxes in hollow walls.

Plan everything out first as to where in each room you require sockets and what options you have to get the cables to each room. Generally the less rooms downstairs that you need sockets the better as it makes it more involved in terms of chasing walls and/or removing floor boards on the floor above to run cables across the footprint of the house to get to each of the ground floor rooms. Where possible try to put sockets in hollow partition walls as it will save you having to chase walls out. If you can run cables across the loft the upstairs is easier if you drop cables down hollow partition walls.

When you're planning things, try to think along the lines that an electrician would, eg straight lines and neatness but allow gradual bends rather than sharp ones each time the cable changes direction. The less bends you have the easier it will be to pull the cable and should the need occur that a cable requires replacing the conduit that the cable should ideally run through should allow for an existing cable to be extracted and replaced without disturbing floors and/or walls again.
 
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