Plan to cable the house, help needed

Mumha

Hi

Just to shortly embark on major house renovations. We have SIRO available on the ESB pole outside the house and potentially will have Eir fibre available at the back of the house (that's where the current Eir Phone/Bband cable comes in).

I'd like to keep my options open for the future, so plan to put Cat 7 or 8 cable around the house. I'm planning to put a cabinet at the back of the house, so that I can have the router there with a gigabit switch. I will have a Cat 7/8 cable going from the hall which is on the other side of the ESB meter. This cable will run back to the router, and from there around the house. I will also prepare for an Eir cable coming in from the back, also into the cabinet, if i go that way. I plan to run Cat 7/8 cables to all rooms with TVs, as well as my home office. Does that make sense ?

Also, for example, in my office I will have 3 laptops plus a printer wired. Do I need 4 Cat cables or just one with a switch in that room ? Would there be a drop in speed by using a switch instead of 4 separate cables from the switch in the cabinet ?

Sorry if this seems simplistic

jester77

I have a similar setup in my house. I ran cat 7 duplex cables to all the rooms, each cable carries 2 points. I ran 2 cables to the office which is 4 connections, and ran 3 behind my TV which are all used. And then single cables to the bedrooms and hallway. Don't forget to consider running cable to where you would want Access Points and security cameras. You can then put a POE switch in your cabinet and that will provide power to these devices without the need to have electric cables at this areas.

Johnboy1951

I suggest, as well as doubling up of cable to each outlet location, that you consider more than one location for outlets in each room.
Remember as time passes room furniture gets moved around and also room usage can change over time. It is advisable to make allowances for that now.

Also, for example, in my office I will have 3 laptops plus a printer wired. Do I need 4 Cat cables or just one with a switch in that room ? Would there be a drop in speed by using a switch instead of 4 separate cables from the switch in the cabinet ?

A switch should suffice for all common operations.
If you do as suggested above you will have 2 locations of 2 outlets, providing 4.

Technophobe

Mumha wrote: »

Hi

Just to shortly embark on major house renovations. We have SIRO available on the ESB pole outside the house and potentially will have Eir fibre available at the back of the house (that's where the current Eir Phone/Bband cable comes in).

I'd like to keep my options open for the future, so plan to put Cat 7 or 8 cable around the house. I'm planning to put a cabinet at the back of the house, so that I can have the router there with a gigabit switch. I will have a Cat 7/8 cable going from the hall which is on the other side of the ESB meter. This cable will run back to the router, and from there around the house. I will also prepare for an Eir cable coming in from the back, also into the cabinet, if i go that way. I plan to run Cat 7/8 cables to all rooms with TVs, as well as my home office. Does that make sense ?

Also, for example, in my office I will have 3 laptops plus a printer wired. Do I need 4 Cat cables or just one with a switch in that room ? Would there be a drop in speed by using a switch instead of 4 separate cables from the switch in the cabinet ?

Sorry if this seems simplistic

Run Cat cables to all rooms if you can.
And even hidden in a hallway or similar


May use for access points, smart lighting etc

Mumha

jester77 wrote: »

I have a similar setup in my house. I ran cat 7 duplex cables to all the rooms, each cable carries 2 points. I ran 2 cables to the office which is 4 connections, and ran 3 behind my TV which are all used. And then single cables to the bedrooms and hallway. Don't forget to consider running cable to where you would want Access Points and security cameras. You can then put a POE switch in your cabinet and that will provide power to these devices without the need to have electric cables at this areas.

Thanks for the POE info, I hadn't been aware of that possibility. So for the security cameras I'd need a cable to each camera.

Re "I ran 2 cables to the office which is 4 connections" I get that having 4 cables going directly back to the cabinet would be optimum. Currently my router is at the back of the house (max 50mb) and i use TP link to get it to my office at the front of the house, then a cable into a 4 way switch, and then cable to the devices from there. At best I'm getting 20mb on a good day !

Mumha

Technophobe wrote: »

Run Cat cables to all rooms if you can.
And even hidden in a hallway or similar


May use for access points, smart lighting etc

Thanks, what level of Cat Cables should i be aiming for ? And for the smartlighting, what would that mean in terms of number of extra cables ? Sorry, this is new to me !

Technophobe

Mumha wrote: »

Thanks, what level of Cat Cables should i be aiming for ? And for the smartlighting, what would that mean in terms of number of extra cables ? Sorry, this is new to me !

My point mainly is to also consider Cat points in hallways where you may want to locate wifi extenders, access points, bridges for smart products etc.

Also if putting tvs in rooms, locate points beside them or on other side of walls if possible to hide cables etc..

Wireless is great but wired is better when you are in the position to do so

Mumha

Technophobe wrote: »

My point mainly is to also consider Cat points in hallways where you may want to locate wifi extenders, access points, bridges for smart products etc.

Also if putting tvs in rooms, locate points beside them or on other side of walls if possible to hide cables etc..

Wireless is great but wired is better when you are in the position to do so

I'm totally with you on that. I had TVs factored in, but hadn't otherwise considered smart products etc.

Johnboy1951

Mumha wrote: »

I'm totally with you on that. I had TVs factored in, but hadn't otherwise considered smart products etc.

There is nothing worse that a few years in the future, a room get re-arranged and furniture moved, only to find that now connection points are not in a suitable position for the new layout.

Consider alternative locations for use of such items as TVs etc and make allowance now by putting in connection sockets at the alternative locations.
They will be useful even if the room layout never changes

ECO_Mental

Mumha wrote: »

Hi

Just to shortly embark on major house renovations. We have SIRO available on the ESB pole outside the house and potentially will have Eir fibre available at the back of the house (that's where the current Eir Phone/Bband cable comes in).

I'd like to keep my options open for the future, so plan to put Cat 7 or 8 cable around the house. I'm planning to put a cabinet at the back of the house, so that I can have the router there with a gigabit switch. I will have a Cat 7/8 cable going from the hall which is on the other side of the ESB meter. This cable will run back to the router, and from there around the house. I will also prepare for an Eir cable coming in from the back, also into the cabinet, if i go that way. I plan to run Cat 7/8 cables to all rooms with TVs, as well as my home office. Does that make sense ?

Also, for example, in my office I will have 3 laptops plus a printer wired. Do I need 4 Cat cables or just one with a switch in that room ? Would there be a drop in speed by using a switch instead of 4 separate cables from the switch in the cabinet ?

Sorry if this seems simplistic

Whoa!!! go easy with all the CAT 7/8 cabling...I am building a house at the moment and I have just wired CAT6 everywhere not even CAT6A. Plain old CAT6 will give you 10gig up to 50meters, CAT6A goes just stretches that to 100m. No cable run in you house will be anyway near 50 meters. CAT7 and CAT8 are for specialty roles data centers etc and to even get the best out of them the terminating of them is a lot more complex. I have done a good bit of research on this but I think you are wasting money here for no real gain.

Have a look at this dude he is wiring his house and only did CAT6, at minute 8:30 he goes into the cabling

My house I have one double Ethernet socket in every bedroom and to the main TV locations. I have also three external points one for a security camera on the front of the house and another for an external WiFi access point and anther for a door bell. I have also a runs for two EV charging points three other internal access points and a few other strategic locations for the study/office. All going back to central patch panel. All in all I think I have about 33 CAT6 runs. After spending the last 18months living in a rented house while my house in being built and living with 13mb broadband and we all working from home (and on Wifi..I hate Wifi!) I will not be caught short again...Your IT infrastructure at home will be a key service of your home going forward.

Johnboy1951

ECO_Mental wrote:

I have also three external points one for a security camera on the front of the house and another for an external WiFi access point and anther for a door bell.

What physical arrangement did you make for these?
Did you use special sockets?
Thanks.

ECO_Mental

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

What physical arrangement did you make for these?
Did you use special sockets?
Thanks.

At the moment the cable is just poking out of the wall. They will then be plugged straight in the camera and AP through a regular RJ45, no special socket. The ones for the EV chargers I will have to protect some how because I just wired for two EV chargers.

Johnboy1951

ECO_Mental wrote: »

At the moment the cable is just poking out of the wall. They will then be plugged straight in the camera and AP through a regular RJ45, no special socket. The ones for the EV chargers I will have to protect some how because I just wired for two EV chargers.

OK, Thanks.
I had left one cable unattached for a few weeks and when I went to wire it I dicscovered that water/dampness/condensation/whatever was in the cable, even when I cut it back a foot. I will have to replace it.

I had not found explicit boxes or anything for the job.
I wired one camera along over the soffet so was able to push the connections up and seal the hole.

If you come across anything specific I would appreciate a 'heads-up', thanks.

I will await some dry weather to finish those jobs ....... hopefully we will get some without great wind!

Technophobe

ECO_Mental wrote: »

Whoa!!! go easy with all the CAT 7/8 cabling...I am building a house at the moment and I have just wired CAT6 everywhere not even CAT6A. Plain old CAT6 will give you 10gig up to 50meters, CAT6A goes just stretches that to 100m. No cable run in you house will be anyway near 50 meters. CAT7 and CAT8 are for specialty roles data centers etc and to even get the best out of them the terminating of them is a lot more complex. I have done a good bit of research on this but I think you are wasting money here for no real gain.

Have a look at this dude he is wiring his house and only did CAT6, at minute 8:30 he goes into the cabling

My house I have one double Ethernet socket in every bedroom and to the main TV locations. I have also three external points one for a security camera on the front of the house and another for an external WiFi access point and anther for a door bell. I have also a runs for two EV charging points three other internal access points and a few other strategic locations for the study/office. All going back to central patch panel. All in all I think I have about 33 CAT6 runs. After spending the last 18months living in a rented house while my house in being built and living with 13mb broadband and we all working from home (and on Wifi..I hate Wifi!) I will not be caught short again...Your IT infrastructure at home will be a key service of your home going forward.

Did my house 10 years ago and used CAT6..working great so far.

Couple of things worth repeating..
For master bedroom., it's worth putting a point beside bedside lockers for that lazy morning browsing.
For office and setting rooms put in a few extras
Don't be long adding up..tv, sky box, blue ray, PlayStation, av receiver, chromecast, Google Nest etc etc
Allow for future patio plans for that one sunny day when you want the TV outside.even one right beside patio doors
Run ducting to your garage..you never know!!
Think of kids studying in future..it all be on laptops so allow for that..

Mumha

ECO_Mental wrote: »

Whoa!!! go easy with all the CAT 7/8 cabling...I am building a house at the moment and I have just wired CAT6 everywhere not even CAT6A. Plain old CAT6 will give you 10gig up to 50meters, CAT6A goes just stretches that to 100m. No cable run in you house will be anyway near 50 meters. CAT7 and CAT8 are for specialty roles data centers etc and to even get the best out of them the terminating of them is a lot more complex. I have done a good bit of research on this but I think you are wasting money here for no real gain.

Have a look at this dude he is wiring his house and only did CAT6, at minute 8:30 he goes into the cabling

My house I have one double Ethernet socket in every bedroom and to the main TV locations. I have also three external points one for a security camera on the front of the house and another for an external WiFi access point and anther for a door bell. I have also a runs for two EV charging points three other internal access points and a few other strategic locations for the study/office. All going back to central patch panel. All in all I think I have about 33 CAT6 runs. After spending the last 18months living in a rented house while my house in being built and living with 13mb broadband and we all working from home (and on Wifi..I hate Wifi!) I will not be caught short again...Your IT infrastructure at home will be a key service of your home going forward.

Thanks for your reply, my thoughts on Cat 7 is that from what I've seen on cablemonkey and elsewhere, there isn't a huge difference in price, so why not ? And in terms of computers, I've always gone for the best i could afford at the time. We gutted our house 20 years ago, and this is the one to fix all the stuff we should have done the first time, and future proof.

As I plan to replace all the floors (upstairs and suspended floor downstairs), I'll be upping the number of runs based on all the great advice here. Still 33 runs is impressive !

jester77

It's over 8 years since I had my house wired up, but the network engineer that did it at the time said the price for the installation would be the same with Cat 6 or Cat 7, so I went with Cat 7.

Downloaded

Can anyone recommend an installer to wire an entire home in the Dublin / Wicklow area?

KeRbDoG

Downloaded wrote: »

Can anyone recommend an installer to wire an entire home in the Dublin / Wicklow area?

Nearly any competent sparks can do this for you

alan4cult

I would advise to stick with Cat6/6a.

Cat 7 isn't a standard where as Cat 6 is. Cat 6 will take a 10 Gigabit link to 55 metres and Cat 6a up to 100m. Cat 7 is fine but it's overkill and I prefer to stick on standards. Cat 8 is the next big standard.

As for your question about 4 separate connections vs 1 to a switch, again it's overkill for a home network but if you really want to you can link aggregate to get higher throughput. Not sure of what consumer gear is good for link aggregation.

andublin

“ Whoa!!! go easy with all the CAT 7/8 cabling...Plain old CAT6 will give you 10gig up to 50meters, CAT6A goes just stretches that to 100m.”
Totally agree. Even Cat5e gives you a gig full duplex up to 100m, plenty for example to a single camera. Use Cat6/6a where justified for future proofing or connecting multiple links via switches.

But ensure you use exterior grade cable for any external runs as the normal stuff degrades very quickly outside.
Use ducting or metal shield if burying anywhere.
Don’t forget the doorbell camera.
Put motion sensors/lights at any outdoor cameras to get best results at night.

POE (power over Ethernet) limits how many cables should be put together in a single duct. Higher spec POE if needed can deliver more power to devices needing that, (remote switches with POE pass through for example) but also has an effect on the wire thickness needed for that current. I didn’t have to get into that, but you might. See (802.3 af/at and higher standards). Hope that helps!