Setting up a new home wired network

sepulchre · 8 Jan 2019 at 17:03

Hi all,

I'm looking for some advice on setting up a new wired network in my home to distribute media files and data from my CCTV, all of the which currently travels via WiFi which is struggling to cope. I will be keeping the WiFi for phones and iPads etc.

I did some fairly rudimentary networking about 20 years ago which involved building cables, running to patch panels and switches but I'm somewhat out of date with all the new tech.

My plan is as follows (please excuse any incorrect terms used) -

My Sky Fiber comes into the house in the lounge so the router needs to remain there. I will take a feed from this up to the loft and then down into a cupboard in the upstairs hallway where I will place a 24 port un-managed switch together with my primary NAS and Server.

All feeds will come back up from the switch in the upstairs cupboard into the loft before being routed back down through interior walls to Connectix 4000 outlets.

I plan to install 4 outlet ports in the office and lounge, 2 in each of the 3 bedrooms and 2 in the garage where I have a backup NAS. My primary NAS and Server will connect directly to my switch. CCTV I plan to connect directly to the switch. CCTV has the option to use POE, currently I have a separate mains supply in the loft to each camera so potentially easier to keep with this.

Questions,

1. What cable is best for this cat 5e or another?
2. Would I be better moving to a managed switch, to be honest I don't know what I would do with one!
3. Do I need a patch panel and whats the benefits of having one?
4. Does the above plan sound reasonable or am I missing anything fundamental?
5. If going down the route of POE for CCTV would I be better buying a 24 port switch with some POE enabled ports?
6. I'm open to recommendations on tools required (crimpers, fish tape/cable rods etc), best cable, outlet panels etc

Thanks in advance!

bremen1874 · 8 Jan 2019 at 17:14

Cat5e or Cat6.
Probably not. If you don't know why you want a managed switch you don't need one.
Not if you don't want to use one. A patch panel is just one of the options for terminating the cables.
Sounds okay on the face of it.
I'd use a separate smaller PoE switch or injectors. Price up the options and buy what suits your budget and preference. If your okay with the existing situation I wouldn't spend the extra money moving to PoE.
I'd use Excel cable. Whatever you buy make sure it's solid copper and not copper clad aluminium (CCA). You'll want a basic network cable tester.

DIABLO · 8 Jan 2019 at 19:07

I don't know why you wouldn't want to use a Patch panel though, it would be by far the neatest way to do things.

sepulchre · 8 Jan 2019 at 19:36

@bremen1874 , thanks

Cat5e is pretty straightforward, but Cat 6 seems to be more complex and there's a number of different cat 6's. Whats the advantage of 6 over 5e, is it just speed? And if going for 6 which would be the best option?

@DIABLO , I didn't say I wouldn't use one, just not clear on why I need one. My logic (probably wrong) is that without a panel I have the cable bundle routed into the cupboard and then into the switch, with a patch panel i have the same but now I also need to patch between the panel and the switch so doubling the number of cables to manage. Am I missing something? Thanks

bremen1874 · 8 Jan 2019 at 20:43

sepulchre said:
@bremen1874 , thanks Cat5e is pretty straightforward, but Cat 6 seems to be more complex and there's a number of different cat 6's. Whats the advantage of 6 over 5e, is it just speed? And if going for 6 which would be the best option?

You'd want UTP Cat6.

Both Cat5e and Cat6 support Gigabit. Cat6 officially supports 10GBe, Cat5e doesn't (but may still work over shortish distances).

Cat5e is easier to work with, but Cat6 (UTP) still isn't too bad (compared to Cat6a for example). It is however in general slightly thicker and less flexible.

@DIABLO , I didn't say I wouldn't use one, just not clear on why I need one. My logic (probably wrong) is that without a panel I have the cable bundle routed into the cupboard and then into the switch, with a patch panel i have the same but now I also need to patch between the panel and the switch so doubling the number of cables to manage. Am I missing something? Thanks

If you were wiring a commercial environment you'd almost certainly use a patch panel. Domestically, do what suits you. If nothing else a patch panel saves all of that time spent attaching plugs to the end of the cables.

If you need patch cables then buy them premade. They're so cheap it generally isn't worth the hassle of making your own.

sepulchre · 8 Jan 2019 at 20:51

Ah OK, I'd totally forgotten the way cables connect into the patch panel, now that does make more sense. Patch panel added to my shopping list. I'll look into cat6 UTP as well, thanks so much

bremen1874 · 8 Jan 2019 at 20:53

Don't forget you need to match the patch panel and faceplates to the cable. If you're using Cat6 cable everything needs to be rated for Cat6.

sepulchre · 8 Jan 2019 at 23:21

bremen1874 said:
Don't forget you need to match the patch panel and faceplates to the cable. If you're using Cat6 cable everything needs to be rated for Cat6.

Good point, noted thanks

michty_me · 9 Jan 2019 at 08:09

I've just started a similar project around my house and hoping to get the cable pulls finished this week.
I'm also doing the ground floor of my house and as I'm getting new carpets I opted to go under floor boards. It was a struggle to get some lifted so I used an armeg floor board saw with caps. As per below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQT3ztxXj9g

I also bought some small conduit for a couple of pounds to help pull cable through and a small cheap network kit to terminate ends etc.
I only opted for Cat5e cable as it was more than enough for what I'll need for now. If it ever needs changing, I'll use the newly laid Cat5e as a pull cord for changing out.

As mentioned, A good solid core cable is what you need and I think I managed to get 305M of Cat5e Excel cable for £47 delivered.

I'll be terminating all newly run cables into a Cat5e patch panel under my stairs where I will fit an unmanaged switch to tap into everything.

sepulchre · 9 Jan 2019 at 22:18

Good luck with the project @michty_me. I'm still trying to decide whether or not I'm going to see any benefit from cat6 to justify the cost.

What I need to do is build two shopping lists one for cat 5 and one for cat 6 and then figure out how much more its going to cost me. I know the walls in my house are a pain in backside to pull cables through so i'm tempted to do it once and go with cat 6.

I did however find a 24 port managed switch for not to much money on the rain forest, considering I may want to enable port trunking in the future on my NAS it looks like a good option and doesn't cost me too much more than the un-managed equivalent I was considering which didn't support 802.3ad.

MissChief · 9 Jan 2019 at 22:32

I'd also be looking to run Ethernet to a few access points upstairs in the loft or a mesh system and disable the Wi-Fi on the Sky hub completely.

michty_me · 10 Jan 2019 at 07:14

If I didn't already have the cable bought a while back, I would have considered possibly fitting other cable too.
I was advised to leave a draw string in each location you pull cables to so that if you want to pull more its a much simpler job.
Good luck, Hopefully you manage to complete it easier than you anticipated.

iamtheoneneo · 10 Jan 2019 at 10:00

If your going poe you absolutely need a switch that has poe ports. They can be expensive but the convenience and not have loads of injectors about more than makes up for it. I only have 4 on my switch and I don't know what I would do without them!

For the home I honestly wouldn't worry about 5e vs 6 the distances aren't significant for it to matter at all. I'd care more about being able to run extra cabling for future proofing tbh which is gonna be easier with 5e.
Want 10G in the future? id expect most to ditch Cat6 and run multi-mode Fibre between PC's that matter, its already happening in the industry.

DragonQ · 10 Jan 2019 at 10:15

Based on my experience doing the same thing in 2016, definitely go UTP Cat 6 and definitely use a patch panel.

Quartz · 10 Jan 2019 at 10:17

For the house run Cat6 or better ethernet cables - you'll be wanting 10G ethernet in a few years. For the CCTV run PoE cables to a separate PoE switch in your panel. A patch panel is a very good idea. If you do have a patch panel, use colour coding. PoE ports should be a different colour to ordinary ports and you should use different-coloured patch cables.

MartinPrince · 10 Jan 2019 at 12:33

DragonQ said:
Based on my experience doing the same thing in 2016, definitely go UTP Cat 6 and definitely use a patch panel.

I would wholeheartedly agree with this. As Quartz said, in a few years you might wish you'd gone with 6 over 5e. This was my thinking when I did something similar.

sepulchre · 10 Jan 2019 at 15:26

really great advice, thanks everyone.

I will go with cat 6 UTP and a patch panel. I wont use POE as I had power run to each of the CCTV cameras by an electrician when I installed them, so no great benefit now. Had I done this the other way around and sorted a wired network first I could have saved a bill from the sparky, nm.

Hardest thing now will be pulling cables through some crappy walls in a modern (15 year old) dot dabbed house lol

edwardcasbon1 · 10 Jan 2019 at 16:29

It might be a bit overkill, but I think if you get a clever router then you can have multiple VLANs, which could be handy for having a separate LAN for iPads/iPhones and doorbell/cctv/smart home tech? That way your smart home tech doesn't get access to your server (if it doesn't need to).

michty_me · 12 Jan 2019 at 11:00

That's me finished my cable pulls now. Ended up doing 15 pulls in total. I'll only be using 9 of them for now though.
One point is if you use string to aid or leave as a pull device, Make sure it is of decent strength, I snapped a few lengths getting cables where I needed them to be.
Also, Have you read this thread?
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/10gbe-over-cat5e.18820298/

Quartz · 12 Jan 2019 at 11:56

michty_me said:
One point is if you use string to aid or leave as a pull device,

Wire. Always use wire.