Rewiring House and installing IT equipment tips..

SC0TTRS said:
I also have a 3 bed semi. Placed my comms cab in the attic and ran shielded Cat6 cable down into each room.

Could do with a small cable tidy up tbh :p

Not the best photo, but you get the idea lol

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Out of interest, how did you run the cables down into each room? Chase them in along with power cables? I thought there was a minimum distance between Cat 5/6 and electrical wiring?
 
tom_e said:
I imagine the plywood will be screwed between 2 joists to give a solid fixing point then the box is bolted to the plywood.

Rather than trying to support the box with plasterboard fittings alone.
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Just went and had a proper look and that would appear to be the case.
 
Sjp197 said:
Out of interest, how did you run the cables down into each room? Chase them in along with power cables? I thought there was a minimum distance between Cat 5/6 and electrical wiring?
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Don't worry about it, makes no difference in a domestic environment.
 
wow thanks for the replies guys

under the stairs it is

what goes on the other side? i.e on the walls in the rooms any tips? I want to put the ethernet port next to the plug socket

or do you just use the cables like they are and plug them in?
 
Get a standard back plate (like you would use for sockets) put in and the cables pulled from under stairs cupboard to these back plates. I got the electricians to do this bit for me.

Then get some CAT6 faceplates

Read up online about wiring them up and your good to go!
 
Best to terminate to a socket, chase out the wall and fit a back box. I'm doing the whole house like this with 4 sockets in each room.
 
topgun06 said:
Humm yes. When I was looking to get mine I kinda got the impression that a 6U cabinet is a 6U cabinet and that it didn't matter too much which you bought.
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For cabling racks that's true. It's when you're looking at server racks that you need to choose more carefully to get a rack that's deep enough to house the servers.
 
TheCrow said:
Get a standard back plate (like you would use for sockets) put in and the cables pulled from under stairs cupboard to these back plates. I got the electricians to do this bit for me.

Then get some CAT6 faceplates

Read up online about wiring them up and your good to go!
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thanks makes sense do you think it is worth doubling up on ports .ie 1 socket but two ports, in the two main front rooms next to the telly?
 
Sjp197 said:
Out of interest, how did you run the cables down into each room? Chase them in along with power cables? I thought there was a minimum distance between Cat 5/6 and electrical wiring?
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Cables were run above each bedroom then chased down behind the plasterboard then terminated with a cat 6 module housed in a patch socket along with coaxial, none are run alongside twin/earth.

For the kitchen and livingroom I had to chase it into the brick when adding powersockets but the final finish they were a good 3 inches apart.

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Same with the Livingroom before both walls were skimmed.

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psd99 said:
thanks makes sense do you think it is worth doubling up on ports .ie 1 socket but two ports, in the two main front rooms next to the telly?
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I ran 6 into my TV area. 4 at the back (cupboard picture) and 2 at the front for easy access.

1- into tv
2 - into server
3 - into kodi tv box
4 - spare just now

5/6 - for quick hook up of laptops / friends consoles etc

Wishes: I have ran an HDMI port next to the front 5/6 sockets for a cleaner hookup

All the other rooms have 2 running to them, figure best to have more as it takes up the same space and costs very little extra and gives you redundancy if one of the cables if broken somehow after everything is back together.
 
Quartz said:
I would never do this. It's too much of a fire risk. At one point I had my stuff in the attic and one of the fans got jammed by an insect. Fortunately I spotted the issue before the thing caught fire.
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Unless you have issues with large amounts of insects in your home, I can't or never seen this being a problem lol :p
 
Make sure your metal backboxes are deep enough to accommodate multiple cables - esp cat 6, as it's a lot thicker and less flexible than cat 5e, so you need a slightly deeper box to accommodate it.
 
topgun06 said:
Humm yes. When I was looking to get mine I kinda got the impression that a 6U cabinet is a 6U cabinet and that it didn't matter too much which you bought.
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fezster said:
Thanks. Any recommended cabinets / place to buy? Seen some on ebay which look to be good value, but not really sure what differentiates them.
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Cabinets come in different specs.

lockable / removable panels, wall mounted, or free standing only, deep or shallow backs and come in mainly black or grey.

For work and home I use: www.comms-express.com

Cabinet example: http://www.comms-express.com/products/6u-390mm-datacel-deep-data-cabinet-data-rack/
 
Quartz said:
You can learn from my experience the easy way or the hard way. Your choice.
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I've seen results of a rat that chewed through power cables connected to a cabinet under the stairs in a small office causing an electrical fire which burnt a hole through the stairs before it was put out.

In 'my' professional experience any location has inherent risks and I know what i'm doing, thanks
 
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SC0TTRS said:
Cabinets come in different specs.

lockable / removable panels, wall mounted, or free standing only, deep or shallow backs and come in mainly black or grey.

For work and home I use: www.comms-express.com

Cabinet example: http://www.comms-express.com/products/6u-390mm-datacel-deep-data-cabinet-data-rack/
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I used Comms Express for my install bits and can't fault them. I actually made a small mistake when ordering and they contacted me to put it right prior to the dispatch of my order.
 
topgun06 said:
Humm yes. When I was looking to get mine I kinda got the impression that a 6U cabinet is a 6U cabinet and that it didn't matter too much which you bought.
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not entirely true.
The cheap 6U cabinets on the bay are not well made at all.
however if you are shoving it in a cupboard/attic/garage in a home environment and not fiddling around in it often (beyond initial install) then they are perfectly acceptable as cabinets.

I have used a couple of the cheapo £45 cabs and when bolted directly to the wall they had enough flex that the door rubbed when opening it.
They don't have removable side panels either, but those are only things I think you really need when doing professional commercial installs. :)
 
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