Installing ethernet into house

[weasley]

I've recently bought a house which needs a ground-up refurb, as well as having a couple of extensions added. It will be totally re-wired, new heating system etc. We are living in rented until it's habitable. Walls/floors are all expendable.

I was talking to a Sky engineer recently and he recommended adding an ethernet network to the house whilst it is being worked on. I have a few ethernet-enabled devices and would welcome wired internet connections rather than wireless. I currently have the following devices with ethernet connectivity:

- Sky+ HD box
- Desktop PC (currently used for browsing, Photoshop etc but could easily be a media hub)
- PS3
- Vodafone SureSignal
- two laptops (occasional use at home)

In our old house I had the Sky broadband router by the TV, plugged the Sky+, PS3 and SureSignal directly to the router and ran the PC and various iPads and iPhones etc via wi-fi. I occasionally used the PC to play music across the wi-fi using either iTunes (to iOS devices) or Windows Media Player (to the PS3).

The new house will likely have devices a bit more spread about and I'd like to make best use of the opportunity to make the house 'connected' and offer the ability to expand in the future (eg ethernet-enabled TV or Blu-ray, kids growing up and wanting devices connected, adding a networked storage device and/or printer etc).

In essence what do I need? Do I simply plug the ISP's router into the main phone line (as before), then run an ethernet cable from that to an ethernet switch panel, then run all the cables from there into the various rooms I want it? Is there any limit to the number of outlets I can add?

Sadly the best broadband currently available in the village is no more than about 3.5 Mbps (max, around 2 Mbps nominal), so is it even worth it? There's no immediate plan to upgrade this, but it's very possible it will be updated in the future.

If it matters, the house is brick-built throughout, but as I said the walls can be hacked as much as necessary as they'll all be replastered eventually.
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[CaNsA]

Install cat6 gigabit for future proof and increase network bandwidth.

[Mr.Everready]

How much will this cost ?

I use 4 home plugs and use any socket in the house that I need.
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[ScaredyCat]

[P.addy]

[Phil.]

You can also use cat5 for land line extensions with a couple of these things.

So might consider putting the cat5 where ever you think you may want a landline phone now or in the future, save adding the phone line extensions as well as ethernet?

[stinkwheel]

You need a patch panel somewhere in the house where there is a power supply and that you can get wires to from everywhere. Ideally in a cabinet but interestingly, they fit neatly in an old fashioned hi-fi cabinet too.

With my lot, I put the patch panel in the former airing cupboard upstairs which is pretty much in the middle of the house. I ran a single ethernet cable down next to the phone master socket. The internet modem lives there because it'll get the best signal with a short phone cable.

I then fitted ethernet sockets anywhere I think I needed them and ran them back to the patch panel.

The router lives in the cupboard with the patch panel so I can connect any socket in the house with to the router.

Tips: Put in at least four sockets at each point. You can send more than just data over cat5. In particular, you can send phone, audio, CCTV and HDMI over cat5. HDMI over cat5 requires two sockets.

Buy a cyclops tool and a good quality punchdown tool and you can set it all up yourself. https://cpc.farnell.com are a good source of cables and faceplates. Cat5 cable costs next to nothing.

Oh. And you can plug a tiny little wireless access point into any of the cat5 sockets to give you wireless coverage where you want it.

I also have a NAS drive in my "IT cupboard" that can be accessed by any decive on my LAN.

In theory, I can download a movie onto the NAS drive, play it through my desktop PC upstairs (which has a decent graphics card) and send the HDMI output direct to my projector downstairs. I could also in theory control the whole process via a tablet by controlling the desktop PC via the WLAN while sat on the sofa.

Didn't get round to doing that because I'm going to setup a Pi next to the projector instead.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[CaNsA]

[t121anf]

I just ran cat5e from each room to a central location.

Was the garage, then right cupboard under the stairs now the right.

Thankfully I left enough spare wire to rewire the house with the slack.

I only went for 1 socket per room, I deem that enough in a house, I did start 5yrs ago so hdmi over Ethernet wasn't really an option.

I was tempted to run 4 to the front room but as I doubted I would have more than one Ethernet device in use at one time I use a switch behind the tv.

In the cupboard I made a patch panel, 4 port faceplate, job done.

Also in cupboard I have my NAS and VMware server, and of course the virgin media supershite.

[CaNsA]

[t121anf]

Planned to, but it works ok for me. It's only meters away from the front room where most use is.

Ideally want a new one with 8 ports and external aerials, if that's possible? Want to put the aerials outside the cupboard.

[CaNsA]

Dont be a pussy.
Get an 8 port router and a separate wifi AP.

Have the AP at the top of the house for awesomeness in wifi signalz

[t121anf]

[CaNsA]

While you're at is get me one n all sunshine.

[covent.gardens]

I ran Cat5e under the floorboards when we had them up. But I just kept it simple. One Cat5e cable from the router downstairs, under the boards, to my computer room upstairs. From here, I have another wireless router to provide excellent WiFi coverage upstairs (it was poor before) and I plug my main rig in to the router. Latency is nice and low when gaming and the connection is rock solid.

I should've run more when I had the chance; I want a CCTV system and could've ran cabling for that if I'd have thought about it.

[weasley]

Great input, thanks all

I have a location in mind for the patch panel and switchboard; the meter cupboard which is pretty much central to the house and has good wiring access. Do I have to worry about screening the cabling?

The phone line main socket is just inside the front door. As said above I would generally expect to plug the broadband modem in there. However, I am currently with Sky and use their Sagem modem/router/wireless unit so this location would not be ideal for a wifi receiver. I know you can hack the router to get your login credentials for use with a third party modem but would rather not. So, can I run this with the wireless disabled and then simply add a wireless access point at any Ethernet point in the house? I am planning a spare room upstairs to house the PC and it is quite central, so perhaps a good wifi broadcast point?

Above it says you can run phone lines over Cat5e; does this also apply to Cat6? Are the two interchangeable with respect to various ethernet-enabled devices (plugs/sockets, pin allocation etc?).

The house will eventually be a 4-bed with integral garage, living room and kitchen/dining/day living room. 4 outlets per room, plus a couple at the phone main point plus a couple in the garage (automation or CCTV maybe?) makes it 28 points. Would you recommend the four points in a bedroom all be together or be two on opposite sides of the room, for future rearrangement possibilities?

And is a dedicated LAN better than these homeplug things, given the opportunity I have to start from scratch? Anything else I should consider? Optical network? I plan to get a coax TV feed into each room too.
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[map]

[doggone]

In 10 years time that type of cable might be obsolete, I guess you could pull the latest whizzy fast version through if it's in trunking rather than fixed.
Wireless is more flexible and probably ever faster, or the homeplugs as above.

I actually avoid ethernet in favour of wifi on all machines, as twice now lightning has managed to affect devices connected by it.

[Phil.]

[t121anf]

If you have the chance I would always recommend wiring a house up, even if you don't use the cables its good to have them.

In some ways I agree with Stinkwheel (and others) that you should run more than 1 cable per room, I do think it's over kill for most houses.

I've never even added a faceplate to the 2 wires upstairs, wireless covers me quite enough. I spend as little time as possible in my bedroom, when not asleep, so have had no requirement for the LAN (original planned to have a HTPC.)

I'm sure the one in the babies room will get more use, as I'm starting to miss TV when trying to get her to sleep.

What I really need is a TV aerial, cabling and all the other bits required.

[stinkwheel]

Cat5 should carry gigabit speeds.

The way I see it, it's as easy to run four as it is to run one.

The problem with having an all in one router/modem/wireless and having it next to the master socket is that you'd have to have an ethernet socket for every wire coming out of it.

You should be able to put your sky thingy into modem only mode then fit a dedicated router elsewhere. OR you could run the phone cable up to your patch panel and plug the modem in there, signal can get a bit lossy BUT if you sent it along cat5 instead of phone cable, the twisted pairs would keep this to a minimum.

I'd do it that way. Fit an ethernet socket next to the phone master socket. Then you can send the phone line up it to the sky modem near the patch panel but if you ever wanted to use a stand-alone modem in future, you can do that too.

You can plug a wireless access point in pretty much anywhere.

I got a diddy little TP link nano-router (not the fastest but wireless in my house is only for a tablet or phones). I have it blu-tacked to the outside of a bit of conduit for now but what I intend to do is have it inside a twin patress box with two RJ45 sockets on one side and the AP in the other side with a blank over it.
https://ripley.za.net/wp-content/plugins/rss-poster/cache/1e9c8_TP-LinkNanoRouter_%25285%2529_610x404.jpg
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[LordShaftesbu...]

How future-proof is it going to be? The electrical wiring in my house is decades old but I still use it all the time. Can the same be said for ethernet?

[Pigeon]

I wish I'd spent the time/money getting Cat5e / Cat6 (so little price diff now) into the house.

Instead I went with Wireless, spending silly money on dual band equipment.
I can be outside in the garage and using 2.4GHZ get connected

In doors I choose 5GHZ. Out of a theoretical 450MB/s I get 330.

Not bad huh.

So on my old 10/100 network I got 9mb/sec and what do we think I get on my shiny new WiFi ac (not even ratified yet) kit. 7mb/sec!! Yes, 7.

Wifi is OK, but Cat6 is a MUCH better choice.

Sure, add a Wireless AP, but don't rely on WiFi if you want to move any significant data around. Not to mention security. It's a little harder to hack your wired network.

[weasley]

Thanks again. Wireless would only be for things like phones and iPads, and maybe if a laptop is being used away from a LAN point.

I'm getting pretty into it all now; been looking at gigabit switches, patch panels etc. Does anyone have a preferred/cheap supplier of such stuff? If I will really have 28 LAN points then I guess I'll need a 48 port patch panel - is wired or plug-through better/easier? I'll probably look at a smaller switch to begin with (say, 8 port), since there won't be that many devices actually in use to start with and I can always upgrade the switch panel if more are added later. Is POE worth it for the devices I have mentioned or should I wait and see if I add any new devices that require POE?
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Yamaha XJ600 | Yamaha YZF600R Thundercat | KTM 990 SMT | BMW F900XR TE

[ScaredyCat]

Don't forget - Pull as much cable to each location as you think you'll need, then double it. It's not just networking that you can use it for. I have 1-wire stuff to measure the temperature in each room. That just uses cat5 - then you can make purty pictures....

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/188253/Temperature-1d.png

And no, the Kitchen result doesn't mean I'm cooking a curry - sensor is offline at the moment.

Andy
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