jimboy2 Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 So have just purchased my 1st home. Yay!! We currently have a sparks in re-wiring the house. I just want to make sure the house is future proof. So at the moment I'm looking at Cat 6 cable run throught the house. Thinking of doing 4 runs to the lounge, study, main bedroom and a couple of runs into the kitchen/diner. The main reason is for internet. I have the fastest broadband and I want to make sure I get that high speed to anything I will be using to stream TV. Whilst there is holes in every wall what else do you recommend having run? Also with all these cat 6 cables I'm going to need some sort of server. At present I only have the BT home hub 5 so if I wanted all of these cable connected to the router what do you recommend. Obviously I won't be having everything connected at the same time, I just don't want to have to do all this again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leonk Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 (edited) Alarm, cctv? Electric gates, intercom, outside lighting, power for hot tub..... Edited June 5, 2015 by leonk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grundy Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 When I'm back from Germany, I'll drop you a PM buddy, this is in my territory of knowledge 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 Cat6 is overkill, cat5e is plenty and 1/3 of the price. It'll do 1080p/5.1 without breaking sweat. Make sure it's shielded cable, then run at least 4 cables to every place you want it. Try to put 8 ports in each room, in opposite corners unless you have definite plans for a particular wall. You don't need a standard router, you need a proper patch panel with a rack mount router: I use a Netgear GS724T, which plugs into the patch panels I've got (you'll probably need at least two of those) which sit in a wall mounted rack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 Bearing in mind you can run anything over Ethernet with the right connector, that means HDMI or USB or whatever are already covered. So even if you run it and just leave it coiled up ready for the future, do it! I've just done mine, hence the modicum of knowledge. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimboy2 Posted June 5, 2015 Author Share Posted June 5, 2015 What have you used at the server end of your set up. Will have nearly 20 runs of cable coming back to router area. How have you kept that tidy? Have seen the face plates with the brush in it but there must be a tidier solution. Don't just want cables hanging out of the wall lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 Cable ties are your friend I'm fortunate that I have a server cupboard that I can hide everything in, so it doesn't have to be super-neat. I have cables coming from the faceplates, but they have units in front of them (TV unit, or a dresser in the bedroom etc) so you can't see that either. Oh, and definitely colour code your cables, makes life a hell of a lot easier! Let me get some pics and upload them for you, two secs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 Bear in mind this isn't the finished article, I still have lots more work to do! Yeah, needs a huge amount of tidying up with some more trunking etc, but you get the gist. Means I can add a printer or server or whatever anywhere in the house, no drama at all. The big box you see is my current NAS. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fodder Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 (edited) Nice setup Dan. OP as Dan says you don't need a server for what you have described you need a patch panel and switch. Locate this somewhere out of the way, garage or a utility cupboard like Dan. If you are wanting a server as a repository I'd look at a NAS box with buillt in media server. I considered putting CAT5e in when my house was rewired but decided against it. I just use home plugs for the office/gaming room/CCTV. My OH dad is a spark and he's just put a CCTV system using CAT6. He could've used CAT5e however he can run multiple cameras off one run of CAT6 so he went that route. Leon good shout on the alarm and CCTV. it's usually an after thought for most Good look OP and congrats on your new home Edited June 6, 2015 by Fodder 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fodder Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 (edited) Oh and label cables at both ends, on the patch panel and switch. Use a naming convention so you can label short hand. The label can be on the inside of the faceplate if it's on show. You should be able to get a faceplate with an RJ45 connector so you just need a short lead to your device from there. So much tidier when not in use. Edit: example of a faceplate j was talking about. Not sure what you meant by having brushes.... http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/network-and-telecoms-secondary-outlet-zq42v Edited June 6, 2015 by Fodder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fodder Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 What have you used at the server end of your set up. Will have nearly 20 runs of cable coming back to router area. How have you kept that tidy? Have seen the face plates with the brush in it but there must be a tidier solution. Don't just want cables hanging out of the wall lol. Just read this again and I see what you mean now. As Dan and I said earlier a switch and patch panel somewhere discreet. All your cables from each room run to that. You then run a cable from your home hub to your switches uplink port which will then allow Al devices to communicate with each other and share the external services via the home hub. Speak to Grundy as you need to make sure the switch is of a good enough standard and also you need to consider stuff like DHCP & DNS.... You don't want to be going to your home hub and swapping cables between devices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 (edited) Plenty of good advice above so I'll just say - congrats on the new house Edited June 6, 2015 by Keyser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glrnet Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Much envy Dan, but disappointed by the lack of blue cables!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Look in the bottom of the cabinet They're long ones, so they'll sit there ready for when/if I need to connect something temporarily to the switch in that cupboard. Good spot though sir! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toon Chris Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 (edited) If you want to future-proof then when you buy the switch why not look into a POE version. Also consider some connection points high up in corners if you intend to fit internal security cameras, or even routing a few cables outside to external connectors for external security cameras (handy for seeing who is at the door on your TV without getting off your bum ). If you do put some cabling outside you will need a switch you can configure to isolate the physical connections so no-one can plug into your network externally - if you are paranoid that is. Edited June 6, 2015 by Toon Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimboy2 Posted June 6, 2015 Author Share Posted June 6, 2015 Don't think I have looked into this enough lol. So much you can do. My main concern was with broadband data really. Want to make sure tv's and computers have the fastest speeds as it won't be long until we will be streaming everything. Will be running everything to under the stairs which is where the openreach box is. Just want to make it as tidY as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Why bother with all the wires? It's all about 802.11AC - just run a few wires, shove in some 11AC APs on 80/160MHz channels an the WiFi will be much faster than your broadband. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimboy2 Posted June 6, 2015 Author Share Posted June 6, 2015 Why bother with all the wires? It's all about 802.11AC - just run a few wires, shove in some 11AC APs on 80/160MHz channels an the WiFi will be much faster than your broadband. Isn't hard wired the way to go if possible? There is so much conflicting info online that I wonder if it's even worth running any cable at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fodder Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Why bother with all the wires? It's all about 802.11AC - just run a few wires, shove in some 11AC APs on 80/160MHz channels an the WiFi will be much faster than your broadband. Isn't hard wired the way to go if possible? There is so much conflicting info online that I wonder if it's even worth running any cable at all. I was trying to think of commanders forum name as he's forgotten more than I've ever known about networks.... Which is very little I do think personally wired would probably be the way to go in a private property and for the needs you've listed. Not all devices are WiFi enabled and for things like CCTV it can provide power. I'm also thinking TVs where WiFi is an upgrade or where there's interference and/or contention. It's expensive though and the reason I thought I'd go home plugs for my needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Always, always, always go cabled if you possibly can. Wireless is fine, but it suffers from so many potential issues wrt streaming large files that it's not always a good idea to rely on it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimboy2 Posted June 6, 2015 Author Share Posted June 6, 2015 I think I'm just going to run what cable I have around the house and coil it up under the floor. For now I only have a few bits I want hard wired so that can be plugged straight into router. If I need to upgrade at a later date and want a full blown server system I can upgrade easy enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimboy2 Posted June 6, 2015 Author Share Posted June 6, 2015 Always, always, always go cabled if you possibly can. Wireless is fine, but it suffers from so many potential issues wrt streaming large files that it's not always a good idea to rely on it. This is exactly what I thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Run more cables than you think you'll need: I can promise you at least one will have a break in it, or get a nick in it, or not be long enough etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimboy2 Posted June 6, 2015 Author Share Posted June 6, 2015 Run more cables than you think you'll need: I can promise you at least one will have a break in it, or get a nick in it, or not be long enough etc. Yeah will do. Your set up there, how noisy is it? Mine will be under the stairs but not in a cupboard. Just wondering if I would be able to hear it In another room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 You can hear the NAS, but that's because I have a noisy fan at the front that needs fixing When the TV is on, you can't hear anything and I'm sat approx 2.5m from it as we speak. If you run a server with silent fans, you won't hear it at all if in a cupboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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