Jump to content

Future proofing my house


jimboy2

Recommended Posts

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.

 

Don't tell me you pre cut your cables before pulling them through? Lol

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Of course not, I'm not that daft! :lol:

 

I changed my mind at one point and decided to move the socket point after we'd run them, and the cables were a fraction short so I had to join them under the floor. Not a huge issue, but every join brings a new possibility of failure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

.....,....and the cables were a fraction short so I had to join them under the floor. Not a huge issue, but every join brings a new possibility of failure.

 

Oh dear god, that sounds proper yee haa!!!

 

Giddy up Dan ... Clip clop, clip clop :lol:

Edited by DoogyRev
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's definitely worthwhile working out a network architecture beforehand.

 

Mine kinda evolved, and it's not the best approach, but it works for now. I started off with running trunking carrying cat 5e from the living room where my router is up to my room into an 8 port unmanaged switch, and thence up into the loft space and down into each bedroom with network sockets on each end.

 

Now it's that, plus another two switches in the lounge for all the AV and games consoles, another switch in one of the bedrooms to my daughter's laptop and another in the loft which links to the cctv cameras. This means I have now got daisy chained unmanaged switches. It works, and speed is fine for the moment, but isn't the most efficient or elegant solution. I now feel I should have gone for a more organised centralised architecture with a bigger managed switch in my room, but that means basically a lot of rework.

 

So think it through and plan before drilling and cabling.

 

In my case going up through the loft is the easiest way to distribute cabling to all rooms, but it does mean trunking drops from the ceiling rather than up from the floor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

some basic advice when running cables.

 

Never cut and rejoin, always rerun a new cable.

Never run cables along side electric cables, regardless if the cat cable is shielded or not.

Cat 6 has tighter twists in the cable, which gives you less flexibility compared to cat 5e but only slightly, so plan your routes.

Get a network cable tester. or borrow one from work.

 

Also talking of future proofing

Wifi 802.11ac Wave 2 will be able to reach data rates of 6.9 Gbps its out for Businesses, so I reckon another year before it hits the consumer market.

 

Also Cisco's new industry alliance,have developed a technology that will squeeze more bandwidth out of commonly deployed Cat5e and Cat6 twisted-pair copper cables to enable "intermediate" data rates of 2.5 GbE and 5 GbE. Again it will be a few years yet before it hits mainstream consumer market.

Edited by OptimalKiller
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry for going off topic slightly, but when you do future proof your house try putting cable trays in the house,especially if you are going to run quite a few cables.

 

Cabling had to be done at work took 2 of us plus getting everyone else to run round. Never again as you can see from the before shots no proper cable management trays or ducting.

 

Before

20150401_082241_zpszmnkhoog.jpg

 

After

f6b88566-6b45-43a9-bcf4-ec32351458a7_zpss0yiwo59.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice to see a few other IT Geeks kicking around.

 

A bit o/t, but I design Cisco Wireless networks for large enterprises, hospitals, universities, etc... on behalf of BT. Passed my CCIE Wireless written exam ages ago but never got round to doing the lab.

 

Anyway - back on topic - mGig won't be consumer grade for a while yet I reckon, there's just no need for 10G in the house because your Internet Connection, TV, Laptop, Console, SAN, etc.. just isn't that fast. Stick with a 1G switch for now, and remember that not all switches were born equal - just because it says 1G on the box, doesn't really mean much. Half duplex or full? 1G = Total BW across the whole switch (bad!), or can every port do 1G simultaneously (brilliant!)? How does packet size impact performance? How do any security features you turn on impact performance? Etc... You generally get what you pay for with switches, so if you want something decent, get your wallet out. (Or at least look up some performance comparisons for things your considering so you can better understand what's what.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Think I will just run cable everywhere and sort something at a later date. I don't have the money right now for extra equipment and still have to try and convince the mrs that a rack cabinet will look ok lol.

 

We have a electrician in at the moment who keeps asking why I need to run so much cable. Think I will wait until he is out and do it myself as he is being awkward with it all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just tell him to do what he's being paid for, and stop being so nosey!

I thought the same but is the spark asking as he doesn't agree with what's being requested....

 

Don't take this the wrong way OP but either do it now properly or not at all. Running cables and not doing anything with them is a bad idea IMO. The type of questions you have asked make me feel you don't fully understand what's needed or how to go about it - that's not a dig just an observation, you can't know everything about everything :)

Edited by Fodder
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just tell him to do what he's being paid for, and stop being so nosey!

I thought the same but is the spark asking as he doesn't agree with what's being requested....

 

Don't take this the wrong way OP but either do it now properly or not at all. Running cables and not doing anything with them is a bad idea IMO. The type of questions you have asked make me feel you don't fully understand what's needed or how to go about it - that's not a dig just an observation, you can't know everything about everything :)

 

I think he believes one port in each room will be enough and I don't think it will be in years to come or even now it's not enough.

 

I will be running what ever cables from each room back to under stairs where broadband is.

 

Your right I don't 100% understand what's needed but what I do know is that I should be running cables from where I can back to the router. I will be having ports near any thing electrical (TV,computer etc)

What I meant by leaving the cable, is I won't be purchasing any equipment just yet. So just getting all the cable Into the walls and out under the stairs should be enough for no (I hope). I will then at a later stage buy a cabinet and patch panel and switch so everything can be connected up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What you could do, is the following depending upon how gutted the house is. Channel the walls you could embed a PVC cable tray, with the embed cables trays and a pull cord, you could feed additional cables down the wall as and when you require the expansion in to each room.

 

However you will then need to plaster over the tray so it looks all nice, however its a lot of work, but that's what I would do.

 

If not an option go for 4 port in each room.

 

Don't forget what Commander said, when buying a switch make sure you buy a decent one, not all gig switches are actually the same, and some may not be able to deliver 1gig feed uncontended.

Edited by OptimalKiller
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

One double port will definitely not be enough! TV, Sky box, PS4 and you're already out of space.

 

Depends. I only have a double port in each room. One of my drivers (I say mine, but really my wife's) was no unsightly cables in the living room. I have a WDTV, XBOX360, Youview Box and PC all on my TV cabinet. It made sense to run a single cable to the cabinet and stick another switch in there with short cable runs internally. Caters for expansion too. I used to have 6 devices there. Perhaps not a purist solution, but ticks all my requirement boxes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

See, for me that just takes way the point of hardwiring in the first place as its just as easy to run four cables as it is to run two. Or six cables, even.

 

I can see why you did it, but then you need another power socket just to power the switch which can have it's own problems. It also hinders your ability to use Ethernet for other purposes, or more importantly what happens when you want to rearrange the room and you don't have a socket on that side of the room...

 

 

Not digging at you sir, I used to run a very similar solution downstairs and it worked for me too :thumbs:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have finished running all network cables.

 

Want to make sure they are all ok. Is a basic continuity test enough? Will prove none of the cables are broken. I have a tester on it's way but that needs plugs on the end of each cable and I'm not doing that!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have finished running all network cables.

 

Want to make sure they are all ok. Is a basic continuity test enough? Will prove none of the cables are broken. I have a tester on it's way but that needs plugs on the end of each cable and I'm not doing that!

 

Its pretty easy to fit a plug on, just get a crimp set and RJ45 plugs from Maplins or such like. Use a wiring diagram from the web . . job done

 

If you have never done it before, get extra plugs and use an old bit of cable to practice on. Git to be cheaper than paying someone to do it for you.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Popping an RJ45 at both ends is not a the correct way of testing any network cable, A continuity test will only establish path between two points and confirms if it can communicate. However to answer your question, this will work but will not tell you if you are picking up any interference, high frequencies, which in turn slows down the performance of your network cable etc etc.

 

I dont want to scare you off, I'm just stating the correct way of testing and installing the cables. As DoogyRev suggested, test first with loads of RJ45 and spare cable,

 

You want to wire the network cable as a straight through. This also applies to patch panel and wall sockets see diagram below. This diagram is using the T568B standard, which is pretty much the norm and universal standard.

 

8wirepatch.gif

 

I hope this helps

 

What tester did you purchase?

 

P.S.

 

When crimping or creating a network cable untwist the pairs, and arrange the wires in the order of the desired cable end, Trim the ends of the wires so they are even with one another, leaving only 1/2" in wire length. If it is longer than 1/2" it will be out-of spec and susceptible to crosstalk,which again can reduce performance of your network cable.

Edited by OptimalKiller
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...