Networking The Home

pg141

Hi

Hope this is the right forum for this, i am wanting to Network my home, my modem is in the front room of my house, I was thinking about running a cable up to the attic and splitting the cable over a 7/10 port switch and running cables back down to the room

Is this the best solution or could someone point me in the right direction (past threads, websites would be great)

D'Agger

It depends why you want the switch tbh - do you want a lot of LAN connected devices throughout the house? Would a wireless solution not suit your needs?

I would say define what you want to setup on your home network here in order to get better feedback on how best to set it up

pg141

D'Agger wrote: »

It depends why you want the switch tbh - do you want a lot of LAN connected devices throughout the house? Would a wireless solution not suit your needs?

I would say define what you want to setup on your home network here in order to get better feedback on how best to set it up

Cheers for that, What i want to accomplish in this

1. Future proof home as much as possible in the respect of internet access/Home IT
2. Additional features to the house which will require this
2.1 NAS set-up
2.2 Home entertainment system (Smart TV, Home Projection system, central database for media)
2.3 Home automation system

I have a CCTV system which has to be added to the modem, Would anyone sujject TP-Link powerline plugs? or should i go whole hog???

ED E

Go full ethernet. If you plan on living in the home for 10yrs+ definitely do it.

mass_debater

D'Agger wrote: »

Would a wireless solution not suit your needs?

Wireless isn't a futureproof option, it only talks to one device at a time, in one direction at a time (half duplex). Cables have separate stands for send and receive and can do both at the same time so it's always better to cable everything static and keep wireless just for mobility.

Avoid homeplugs, they're half duplex too, work ok with just 2 but get very slow with more. Go the full hog and run cat6 everywhere

syklops

Definitely avoid wireless.

I recommend going with CAT6a ethernet. It should handle speeds of up to 10Gigabits a second for distances of less than 45 metres, which should be ample room for you.

jester77

I have CAT7 duplex wired in my house, was around the same price as CAT6 overall and has the advantage that you only need to run half the amount of cable as the duplex cable carries 2 points to each location.

D'Agger

pg141 wrote: »

Cheers for that, What i want to accomplish in this

1. Future proof home as much as possible in the respect of internet access/Home IT
2. Additional features to the house which will require this
2.1 NAS set-up
2.2 Home entertainment system (Smart TV, Home Projection system, central database for media)
2.3 Home automation system

I have a CCTV system which has to be added to the modem, Would anyone sujject TP-Link powerline plugs? or should i go whole hog???

With all that you should definitely go wireless... :pac:

For what you want, your idea sounds good, would love to run cables like that but renting atm - would only put that amount of effort into my own home!

bpmurray

Use homeplugs for wired connections and WiFi for everything else.

mass_debater

bpmurray wrote: »

Use homeplugs for wired connections and WiFi for everything else.

Homeplugs are not the answer, they're half duplex and suffer the same problems as Wi-Fi. You'll be lucky to get a single pair of AV500s to do 100mbit whereas a cat5 cable does gigabit full duplex, cat6 does 10 gigabit. It's a no-brainer if you are considering futureproofing.

cerastes

Can you daisy chain network cable? I ran network cable in a relatives house radially years ago as it had some spaces to run cable easily from the place the router was, made up wall connection and RJ 45 connectors easily enough with a bit of research and some purchases. In don't know if I had to run it radially but it was as handy there, is that a necessity or an advantage? I still have the roll of cat 5e cable I believe it was called, it was cheaper to buy a roll and I'm wondering if the advantages for a home network really need bother upgrading to cat 6 or greater? Edit the upgrade of cable was if I decided to use the cat5e cable myself.

mass_debater

cerastes wrote: »

Can you daisy chain network cable? I ran network cable in a relatives house radially years ago as it had some spaces to run cable easily from the place the router was, made up wall connection and RJ 45 connectors easily enough with a bit of research and some purchases. In don't know if I had to run it radially but it was as handy there, is that a necessity or an advantage? I still have the roll of cat 5e cable I believe it was called, it was cheaper to buy a roll and I'm wondering if the advantages for a home network really need bother upgrading to cat 6 or greater?

Cat5 is fine, it does gigabit. You can add a gigabit switch to the end of the cat5. You can daisy chain switches but all ports will be limited by the gigabit uplink back to the main switch which will probably not be an issue for some time.

If you have the cable and the know-how to do it and space in the conduit or wherever you should just run additional cat5 back to the main switch. Two or more ports at a tv is handy as that's usually where there are lots of devices

davo2001

mass_debater wrote: »

Cat5 is fine, it does gigabit. You can add a gigabit switch to the end of the cat5. You can daisy chain switches but all ports will be limited by the gigabit uplink back to the main switch which will probably not be an issue for some time.

If you have the cable and the know-how to do it and space in the conduit or wherever you should just run additional cat5 back to the main switch. Two or more ports at a tv is handy as that's usually where there are lots of devices

CAT5 cable cannot do gigabit, however CAT5E and above can.

mass_debater

davo2001 wrote: »

CAT5 cable cannot do gigabit, however CAT5E and above can.

4 pair cat5 will over short distances like in a house

cerastes

mass_debater wrote: »

Cat5 is fine, it does gigabit. You can add a gigabit switch to the end of the cat5. You can daisy chain switches but all ports will be limited by the gigabit uplink back to the main switch which will probably not be an issue for some time.

If you have the cable and the know-how to do it and space in the conduit or wherever you should just run additional cat5 back to the main switch. Two or more ports at a tv is handy as that's usually where there are lots of devices

Grand, thanks
I actually meant if in upgraded my setup from the current wireless set up to a hardbwired set up, I edited it but it doesn't seem to have gone through, touch screen.

The relatives setup was when I lived there, I ran cat5e from the router in their attic down a wall space that used to be used for storage heating ducts. I put single gang boxes on some connections but the faces of the outlet had an insert that im sure had two network connections, it was a while back so I can't remember if I had two separate cables going to each outlet.

My current set up is wireless, was thinking of running it hardwired, doing two gang recessed boxes and a twin network outlet? To each room used.I thought there might be some network advantage to daisy chaining the network outlets from one to the other, but maybe less security from another user on the network ( not that that is a just seemedst that it'd be possible) I think it will be easier to run any new connections radially anyway.

I'd planned on just connecting this into the router at the supply end in my attic, do you suggest a switch also up there? Fed from the router or feeding into it? Im guessing the former.
Its cat 5e anyway, just seemed a waste not to use if for a domestic network.

mass_debater

Sorry, need to clarify. You cannot daisy chain network outlets, a double socket requires two cables. You can add a desktop switch to give you more Ethernet ports

Connecting to the main router/modem is fine but over time I would add a decent gigabit switch, connect it to the main router/modem and connect all the points in your house to it. You can very decent priced 16 and 24 port TP Link switches on Amazon

AGonn

Hi,

im a qualified electrician by trade, however i don't have a good understanding of home network setup for eircom efibre. I have recently rewired my house and have installed 2 cat5e cable to several points throughout the house. i have also installed a patch panel in the garage the all the cables run too and i have one cable coming from the telecom supply at the front door to the patch panel. my concern now is that i will also look to use the wi-fi from the modem and im unsure if the signal will be week from the garage as it is an external wall with there and the house. so im considering istalling a 230v socket beside the eircom incoming point and running the modem from there with wi-fi then taking the ethernet out in the line to the garage where the patch panel is, into a switch then out to points in room through-out the house, i have a panel with two 12 gang racks taking all the points from the house, i know i have to source a network switch for splitting the ethernet. other that that im at a loose end. so, am i on the right track? what does one suggest? and what do i need to consider to set up a network. network will only consist of 3 smart tv points, 5 laptop eithernet points, i printer point and several spares for laptops in bedrooms, perhaps a phone land line,

gctest50

put a network switch out in the garage since you have more than 4 devices to plug in

http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-SG1024D-1000Mbps-Rackmountable-Capacity/dp/B004ELA5W4

then either:

put the "eircom modem" in the hall and put a 230v socket near it

or

put the "eircom modem" out in the garage beside the network switch
and you can get a nice Wireless Access Point and put it in the best location indoors

this kinda thing :

http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-802-11ac-Wireless-Access-WAC120-100NAS/dp/B00O4UJHCO

second way is the better of the two:

small kids & pets won't be chewing the wires
the Wireless Access Point you buy will be faster - this will come into its own if you set up a little server in the garage to hold all your music and films etc

.

jester77

AGonn wrote: »

Hi,

im a qualified electrician by trade, however i don't have a good understanding of home network setup for eircom efibre. I have recently rewired my house and have installed 2 cat5e cable to several points throughout the house. i have also installed a patch panel in the garage the all the cables run too and i have one cable coming from the telecom supply at the front door to the patch panel. my concern now is that i will also look to use the wi-fi from the modem and im unsure if the signal will be week from the garage as it is an external wall with there and the house. so im considering istalling a 230v socket beside the eircom incoming point and running the modem from there with wi-fi then taking the ethernet out in the line to the garage where the patch panel is, into a switch then out to points in room through-out the house, i have a panel with two 12 gang racks taking all the points from the house, i know i have to source a network switch for splitting the ethernet. other that that im at a loose end. so, am i on the right track? what does one suggest? and what do i need to consider to set up a network. network will only consist of 3 smart tv points, 5 laptop eithernet points, i printer point and several spares for laptops in bedrooms, perhaps a phone land line,

I would turn off the wifi on the eircom router and put a access point (AP) somewhere in the house. I am a big fan of the ubiquiti APs, they are really good plus they use POE (power over ethernet), which means that the CAT5E cable can carry power to the AP. The advantage of this is that you can plug the AP in anywhere in the house that you have a network socket without needing a power outlet. If your switch does not support POE, the AP comes with a POE adapter that you can plug into the relevant point on your patch panel.

AGonn

thank you for your response, the original intention was to Junction Box the incoming eircom cable at the front door, In the garage i have sockets and all cable routed and terminated at the patch panel, and all TV/internet was to be located there. So in theory if i install the modem there all the work is done other than to install the network switch. If the wi-fi signal is week i can put in a AP unit taken from a cat5 outlet upstairs in a central location of the house. therfore i will have 2 wi-fi signals, is this correct?

ED E

Bear in mind if eircom install the NTU at the front door and you re-route that to the garage then they wont troubleshoot any issues within the property. You might be better asking them to install it to the garage when ordering if you havent already had it installed.

If the garage is outside a structural wall the wifi from there will be pretty crap. Just turn off the wifi on it and use an AP as above, will give you by far the best experience for all the work youve done.

gctest50

AGonn wrote: »

......... If the wi-fi signal is week i can put in a AP unit taken from a cat5 outlet upstairs in a central location of the house. therfore i will have 2 wi-fi signals, is this correct?

you can just turn off the wifi on the eircom modem if you like

Bayberry

AGonn wrote: »

thank you for your response, the original intention was to Junction Box the incoming eircom cable at the front door, In the garage i have sockets and all cable routed and terminated at the patch panel, and all TV/internet was to be located there. So in theory if i install the modem there all the work is done other than to install the network switch. If the wi-fi signal is week i can put in a AP unit taken from a cat5 outlet upstairs in a central location of the house. therfore i will have 2 wi-fi signals, is this correct?

Pretty much. You can have multiple WiFi points in the house, if you want/need (some people want a "guest" wifi network that only accesses the Internet, for example) but it's simplest to only have one, so disable the WiFi on the modem if you set up an access point in the house.

The other thing to bear in mind that can cause problems for people is that the modem/router also decides what IP address each device that connects to the network gets (whether wired or WiFi). If you have or acquire another router, you can use it as a switch (tape over the WAN port, just connect one of the LAN ports to your network) as long as you manually assign an IP address to it, and disable the DHCP service on that second box