New Home Network

barra79

Hi there folkes,

I'm currently in the process of adding an extension to my home and I'm
interested in adding network connections in each bedroom.

At the moment I connect to the internet using a 56k modem via my
telephone line. Depending on where in the house the internet is needed,
we have to run a long phone cable from the telephone's wall socket to
the room in question.

I'm also trying to establish at the moment if broadband is available in
my location - I think it is, or will be soon. A friend of mine has it
and Eircom supplied him with a
netopia 3341 asdl modem which he connects to his telephone line.

http://www.costcentral.com/proddetail/Netopia_3341/3341/713226/

This device has an a Ethernet, a dsl, and a usb interface. I've had a
look at the various PCs and laptops in my house and two of the PCs have
a

Intel PRO/100 VE Network Controller, one has a
Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller (also has a Intel PRO /
Wireless 2200BG N C) , and another has a
Via Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adaptor.
My PC has no LAN connection but I have usb connections and I could
always buy an adapter for it.
We also have a Belkin 802.11g - 54Mbps wireless usb net adaptor.

As far as I can figure out, the Netopia is for use with a single PC.

I think I'm also right in saying that I have two options here, one is
an ethernet LAN and the second is a wireless network. Can anyone
suggest which is the most sensible for my situation?

Lets say I was to go with a Lan. I think I'm right in saying that this
will require a star topology with one room acting as the hub. I will
then need to install rj-45 sockets in each room, with each of these
rooms then connected to the hub room, using UTP (10baseT) cables,
correct? Therefore the hub room will need multiple rj-45 sockets
installed in the wall, in order for each room to connect separately to
the hub, correct? I would therefore need to install a wall plate
similar to this -

http://www.axiontech.com/prdt.php?item=4336&PRICECOMPARISONSID=33022f...

I will also need to install the telephone line in the hub room so that
I can interface it to the internet connection. My friend also got an
In-Line DSL Filter with his internet connection package.

http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=112632

So I could use this to split my telephone line, in order to continue
using my telephone as normal and direct the ASDL to the hub room. Am I
making sense?

An electrician is calling out during the week and he will be installing
the conduits etc. for the light switches, before the walls are
plastered, so I'd need to make up my mind pretty fast as to whether I
need him to add conduits to carry the utp cables to the rj-45 network
ports etc.

If anyone can offer me advice, or correct me on any of the information
I gave above, I'd love to hear it. Any suggestions regarding a hub
(switch). I think I will be connecting 5 rooms in total to the hub
room.

Thanks,

Barry.

dub45

A very basic question - Why have you not checked your line for bb availability?

optiplexgx270

you get the http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=112632 filter in the dsl pack from the BB provider at least in eircoms case

as you say yourself wireless ie hook the netopia box into a wireless router or

LAN hook the netopia box into a n number of port switch in the hub room is the way id do that too but there may be a better way.

Up to you really LAN is faster for copying files from room a to room b.

I'd prob go with lan as you have the chance to do the wiring you can always switch over to wireless at a later time. but switching from wireless to lan is a lot more work.

barra79

Thanks for the quick replies! And thanks for your advice.

>>A very basic question - Why have you not checked your line for bb availability?

Yeah, I should have been clearer about that. Eircoms remote test showed that our home line is not suitable for bb, but our town has it now and we live on the main street. According to Eircom its common for lines to fail the test but still be suitable so they told me to get a technician out to confirm its suitability. They also said that parts of the town would be connected on demand.

I'll have to have a chat with the electrician to see if he knows much about this kind of thing. I might have to source the RJ45 plugs / wall plates myself. Can any of you suggest where I might get these? I was thinking of installing a 6 hole plate in the hub room, so as to keep everything tidy.

Any other advice?

Cheers,

Barry.

optiplexgx270

barra79 wrote:

I was thinking of installing a 6 hole plate in the hub room, so as to keep everything tidy.

Any other advice?

Cheers,

Barry.

well if only 5 of the 6 (you said 5 rooms right?) are going to be used have the sixth wired up to somewhere central for a wireless accesspoint that you may wish to install in the future along with a power socket for the unit.

oh and regarding the cable sure go for gigabite cable again as futureproofing depending on how much more it costs.

barra79

i could yeah, or I was thinking about using one of them for the phone line.

barra79

My main problem now is finding a 6 gang cat5 wall plate. Any ideas where I might get one, and if not, what alternative might I use??

A single plate isn't hard to find -

http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=12114&doy=13m6

Cherrs,

Barry.

Stephen

What you'd really need for terminating structured cabling like you're doing is a patch panel. A decent leccy should be able to krone the wires into it for you, and label the cables at each end etc. You then connect patch cables from the patch panel to your switch as needed.



Ideally you'd have a nice comms cabinet to put all your network stuff into, but these can be fairly expensive, even for small microwave-sized ones.

vibe666

on a side note, did you see that the first bunch of 'digital electricians' have just got their qualifications? licenced to install everything from home networking kit to a home theater system, they are apparebntly going to be very big.

seems like a good idea anyway.

degsie

hey vibe, I'd be interested in getting more info on 'digital lekkies'. Do you have any links etc. Thanks

JoyPad

barra79 wrote:

A friend of mine has it and Eircom supplied him with a netopia 3341 asdl modem which he connects to his telephone line.

If you sign up online for Eircom BB, you can opt for the wireless router/ DSL modem at no extra cost. Instead of the 3341, you will get the newer 3347 (I think that's the number), which has a RJ-11 connector for the phone line (filters also included with the package), 4 LAN ports and, of course, is also a wireless access point.
I have one of these, and the coverage is excellent all around the house and garden.

If you wanna cut the costs, run cables for only 4 of the rooms, instead of patch panel just plug these cables into the Netopia, and use the wireless dongle to connect the 5th computer. Just know that the access point should be as close as possible to a phone socket, preferably the first one at the door (longer cables mean higher atenuation, more noise, less quality). This is not the case for cat5 cable, where any length is acceptable, if you dont exceed 100m or so.

Fancier solutions involve a patch panel, a cabinet, a server room, the more money you throw at it, the nicer it gets.

If the coverage permits, you could go all wireless, no cables, just add wireless NICs to all PCs. It should work just fine. The only inconvenience here is the lower transfer speed between the PCs (just 54Mbps instead of 100Mbps). Unless you transfer DVDs between the PCs, 54Mbps should be just fine.


Good luck,
JP

Shane O' Malley

I would have to go with the wireless setup myself.

If you don't go with Eircom you could still buy a wireless router and it would mean you could be very flexible where you put the computers in the future.

barra79

Cheers Folkes.

Eircom have the home starter and the home plus. Is the 3347 available with both for online sign-up? The 3347 sounds like it would suit me down to the ground if it has 4 lan connections plus wireless. I could wire up 5 of the rooms, but only connect 4 as needed. The eircom page seems to be more geared as a sales pitch than being informative about what their actually offering -

http://home.eircom.net/broadband/products/faq

They talk of a 4 Port Ethernet Modem with the home plus a/c, which is 55 squid a month, but only a two port combi (whatever that means) with the home starter.

I'll give them a ring and see what the story is.

Thanks again,

Barry.