Moving to an unwired house, starting from scratch.

Hello SMB,

I'm moving from a 1 bedroom condo with the most basic of networks (wired Cat5e, 2 8 port switches and a router) and wifi spectrum so crowded it's barely usable, to a new house that is not wired for ethernet at all.

Equipment to be reused

• Bonded ADSL2+ modem/router (Connects to 2 IP TV boxes and bridged to my router)
• Netgear R7000 router
• 2 cheap 8port desktop switches, don't care if they're not reused.

... that's it.

Requirements?

The ISP modem/router must be located in the basement where the lines come in. I'm planning on putting up the typical plywood wall mounting area. I would like to use those wall mounted rack bays to house the equipment / patch panels wherever possible. The equipment room is isolated so noise isn't a huge factor. I hate Wi-Fi and only use it for mobile devices, so I'd like to wire as many of the rooms as possible, but this will be difficult (thankfully the basement is mostly unfinished). If possible I'd like to have the router on the main floor so I don't have to have multiple access points. I would also like to have 3 exterior PoE IP cameras (Front door, driveway, backyard). The IP TV boxes (supposedly) have to be connected to the ISP router, everything else will be managed by the R7000. Everything else being 2 desktops, 1 Media server, 1 WHS, 1 additional NAS, 1 printer/scanner, 4 laptops, 2 game consoles. WiFi will be phones, tablets, chromecasts etc.

The main usage points will be the living room on the main floor and the bonus room above the garage, thankfully the 2 places I have the best chance at running cables to. I'd also like to wire at least 1 jack in the kitchen and each of the 3 bedrooms.

Questions

What do I get for switch(es) (would a managed switch be overkill)? Is it feasible to have the ISP modem/router connect to a switch and then have my R7000 somewhere on the main floor or should I keep it in the basement and just get another AP or range extender? Should I use Cat5e, 6, 6a? It's only a 50Mbps internet connection for now, so 1GB LAN should be good enough? How many cables should I run to each room, starting at least with the 2 big usage spots. Should I use PoE injectors or a seperate PoE switch for the IP cameras? Occasionally I have LAN parties (4-8 people), would adding another switch on a single drop back to the main switch just for that be congested?

I'm confident I can do all the install and configuration myself, I'm just overwhelmed on where to start and what to buy.

Really appreciate any direction.

Thanks!

When starting with a fairly clean slate this is what I recommend to my customers.

• Buy the best cable you can afford (and in this case, install properly yourself) taking into consideration how long you expect to be in this property (will you retire here). For most home users, even short runs (less than 50 metres) of a quality Cat5e cable will be adequate for a very, very long time.
• Run all wiring back to the ISP demarcation point in the basement. You can use your two switches to get you going for now, but consider buying two more switches to have all the runs connected permanently and be 'live' when they're needed. What will tie the network together is the router (see below).
• A managed switch is usually only needed if you want to segregate two or more networks in the same area / household. I would not recommend connecting the ISP's modem to a switch unless you know explicitly what you're doing with such a connection option.
• Run as many cables to each room as you can. 4 is minimum for main usage rooms. More will not be wasted if the main router (or AP's, or NAS, or Printers) is needed at these locations at any time in the foreseeable future. With multiple runs in multiple locations, you can place your single / main router in the best overall location and still connect all your wired devices easily and ideally too.

With all the information you have provided, the setup below is what I would aim for.

With an ISP connection in the basement and an optimum router location selected roughly midway between the living room and the bonus room and wiring as many runs (2 or 4 cables) as you can to any other possible locations, I would run at least 6 Cat5e cables between the basement and the two main usage rooms. (A router that is at a higher elevation relative to ground level may be the optimum overall location even for an area to be covered (not directly) below it).

I would then use one run to connect the ISP's modem to the WAN port of your R7000. Then I would connect the 4 LAN ports on the router to the remaining basement runs which will all be plugged into a switch each.

The optimal grouping of the clients on each switch will be needed to get the most from the network.

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/still-confused-about-switches.20955/#post-152143

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/still-confused-about-switches.20955/#post-152238


The above posts give a better idea of grouping various devices optimally.

Before you start, I would suggest you draw out your proposed network and live a day or a month in it 'virtually'. Not only will it help you to stay focused and on track, but it may give you ideas to optimize your new environment further too.

With the above info, you should have a better understanding of your end goals. I hope I helped.

L&LD said:

With the above info, you should have a better understanding of your end goals. I hope I helped.

Click to expand...

Thanks, it does help a lot, especially living with it for a month or two before thinking about buying new equipment. I'll start on a diagram and grouping devices to stave off the consumer urges.

L&LD said:

an optimum router location selected roughly midway between the living room and the bonus room

Click to expand...

The only place like that (where my wife will allow me to mount a router) is either in a broom closet that is almost exactly the middle of the house. I should be able to get a bundle of cable and power there from the basement but I'm assuming the inside of a closet isn't the best start for signal propagation.

Keep in mind when you are designing your wiring while it is always nice to have some spare runs to certain locations you can purchase a simple unmanaged gigabyte switch with five ports for $15. The cost isn't much different than the cost of 4/5 keystone jacks and particularly on longer runs getting a gigabyte connection rate with both ends of the run connected to a switch and amplified might be easier.

If you aren't going to be in the house forever you can take the switches with you vs. leaving behind the wiring and jacks.

Always good to have the time to think things thoroughly.

A closet is nominally the worst place for a wireless router (heat and signal wise). But if you can easily put a few extra cable runs in there, in addition to opening up the top of the ceiling / door (or both) for flow through ventilation while still passing the WAF, it may prove itself to work in your case.

Depending on how dedicated to equipment this closet could be adapted for, it may make sense to put the UPS, router, NAS and anything else that doesn't need frequent or occasional access in there (with the cooling being taken care of first and paramount, of course).

If you do consider that repurposing of the closet: I would also consider the strongest door and lock combo you can too.

Pillowfort said:

Thanks, it does help a lot, especially living with it for a month or two before thinking about buying new equipment. I'll start on a diagram and grouping devices to stave off the consumer urges.

The only place like that (where my wife will allow me to mount a router) is either in a broom closet that is almost exactly the middle of the house. I should be able to get a bundle of cable and power there from the basement but I'm assuming the inside of a closet isn't the best start for signal propagation.

Click to expand...

instead of going for the best cables you can afford i suggest going for CAT6 if you can or CAT5e if you cant go for CAT6. Its much better to wire things around. The issue is that your router is also the only wireless AP so it works best if you placed it in the center of your house. You can place wireless in cabinets if they are not made of metal but in general its better to keep it out.

Set up your network by connecting both switches to the R7000 to create a star like topology and have the switches in rooms or areas where you will have multiple devices and will wire them such as the TV, desktops, console. It is better to wire the devices than to rely on wifi although for adsl2 wifi si fast enough.

You dont need to drill holes, you can use the cheaper method by running cables along ceilings, walls and under carpets but make sure to use brackets to hold them and make them look neat and than run the cables under doors corners when going to different rooms. Cat5e will fit easier whereas cat6 is thicker. Cat5e will do gigabit up to 100meters.

Unless you have stuff on LAN like NAS and such you do not need gigabit to keep up with adsl2 so you can upgrade your switches later. unmanaged gigabit switches are cheap now and semi managed 5 or 8 port switches are inexpensive. semi managed is not overkill because if allows you to set some layer 2 QoS, have some security and some degree of layer 2 segmentation.

In terms of efficiency it is better to have 1 big switch and wire everything but it means a lot of cabling so if you can take the performance hit or bottlenecks you can add 5 port switches to rooms that have multiple wired devices.

Just my opinion - put most equipment in a out of the way location with ample air flow and security.

Maybe repurpose an old kitchen cabinet & mount on a wall? Drill some holes or even put Wire mesh on the sides. You may not need the security now but X years down the road with guests and / or teens security might be very much needed.

Closets in bedrooms / halls never are big enough I would say go with Access Points mounted on the ceiling like a smoke detector.

Lots of good advice here. Consider drawing a map of each floor and creating one large wiring diagram.

The fundamental model: MODEM => ROUTER => SWITCHES (optional) => WIRING => ENDPOINTS (Ethernet jacks / APs)

Your POE injector could be in SWITCHES.

Use the switches you have until you get all the drops wired. Then buy one switch which will handle all the wires. I would not let the wireless drive where the patch panel is located. Figure out the wiring and then figure out the wireless. You can locate a wireless AP anywhere since you have Ethernet drops in all rooms.

gatorback said:

Lots of good advice here. Consider drawing a map of each floor and creating one large wiring diagram.

The fundamental model: MODEM => ROUTER => SWITCHES (optional) => WIRING => ENDPOINTS (Ethernet jacks / APs)

Your POE injector could be in SWITCHES.

Click to expand...

And one you've landed on a plan/deployment - print out and laminate a copy and post it somewhere (not online, but next to the demarc or power panel - three years later, you'll find it helpful

Very late on this, but when deciding how close your router needs to be to everything else, that with a wired connection, they don't need to be that close. So if you want to put your network rack in the garage/basement and use your current router for the house, you can still place it optimally in the house as long as you run the cables to connect the "uplink" from the ISP's modem/router and then another cable back to your network rack. The biggest downside to this is that you lose the ability to use the switch ports on your router, but it will help you get by until you are ready to add more APs later on down the road.

We have been doing some home improvement projects and this is what I placed in my garage:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001TGUYI2/?tag=snbforums-20
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00006B834/?tag=snbforums-20
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000AZK72/?tag=snbforums-20

Rack UPS are heavy, so I mounted it in a vertical rack beneath my enclosure:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001YI12A4/?tag=snbforums-20
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000XJLLKG/?tag=snbforums-20

You can also get a lot of this stuff on eBay / craigslist if you are on a budget.

Overall I am very happy. I have all of my network equipment including my home NAS and the security company's router, housed in my network rack. I have one 24 port gigabit switch and one 24 port PoE switch for my APs / security cameras. Biggest problem is the ISP (ATT) has a bulky UPS module for their modem that takes up a lot of space and my NAS is still desktop. I am also using a desktop as my "server" so I want to get something rack mount to make that a little cleaner, but have plenty of time to wait on that. However, my wife loves that all of the stuff is in the garage and out of the way! That alone was worth the work / expense of doing it.

A garage can be a dusty and / or hot environment which might not be good for for electronics.

I have a friend which has 3 full sized racks in his garage not air conditioned. In the summertime he opens up his garage during the day as it gets hot in Texas. His equipment lasts years but does die sooner than mine. My equipment runs in a AC environment. I usually retire my equipment still running. I am not sure my way is a lot better than using a garage. I gain a little bit but not as much as you would think. So the garage does work in my opinion.

KenZ71 said:

A garage can be a dusty and / or hot environment which might not be good for for electronics.

Click to expand...

This is a good point. I live in the Bay Area, California and so my garage is fairly cool year round. And with a 12U rack, there really isn't enough equipment running to change the temperature. That being said, you would be surprised at the conditions some network appliances can run, especially if you purchase more midrange hardware. And if one of the goals is to keep things out of the way of your wife, sometimes you deal with less than ideal conditions for your stuff

coxhaus said:

I have a friend which has 3 full sized racks in his garage not air conditioned. In the summertime he opens up his garage during the day as it gets hot in Texas. His equipment lasts years but does die sooner than mine. My equipment runs in a AC environment. I usually retire my equipment still running. I am not sure my way is a lot better than using a garage. I gain a little bit but not as much as you would think. So the garage does work in my opinion.

Click to expand...

I'm always more concerned about humidity when it comes to hardware longevity, however if the room is not very large, a full rack of items would probably generate enough heat to prevent any danger from that.