Networking my House

[mycarsavw]

Good thread here;

http://forums.hexus.net/networking-b...rk-advice.html

[oolon]

This is his house, not a commercial office! He doesn't need managed switches, QoS switches or the like!

Really? I think a Cisco 3560G is a great basis for any home network. Dlink DGS-3200-10's are nice for room switches as they are fanless, managed and take 2 SFPs for that fiber at home complete overkill.

[peterb]

Really? I think a Cisco 3560G is a great basis for any home network. Dlink DGS-3200-10's are nice for room switches as they are fanless, managed and take 2 SFPs for that fiber at home complete overkill.

It may be, but I think £2,500 is a tad excessive for a home network

http://www.ciao.co.uk/Cisco_Catalyst..._24PS__6096767

and if he gets his cabling right from the outset, he won't need any room switches, the switch (es) will be back at the central poin(s) for the cable runs, a cupboard under the stairs or wherever.

But at the moment, the OP is sorting out his house and planning his cable runs, and once he has got that sorted, he can then start thinking about the equipment to power it - because if he gets that wrong, it won't matter what equipment he installs!

[KowShak]

Depending on how many wires you run and how many computers you want to connect, you may need more ports than a "consumer grade" switch will supply.

A 16 port gigabit switch is not really what I'd call "consumer grade" and if you're going to buy something along those lines, you'd be best to get something decent.

[s_kinton]

OK, so I run the cables through the house with a punch down tool for the wall sockets and then use a crimping tool to put the RJ-45 jacks on the other end to plug into the switch?

Anyone got any recommendations for a cheap switch? It'll be feeding into my O2 router.

[peterb]

If you intend using Gigabit speeds for your internal services, the Netgear GS105 (5 port) and GS108 (8 port) are pretty good. The FS equivalent (100Mb/s) are cheaper. They also do some plastic cased versions which are cheaper still.

[Funkstar]

OK, so I run the cables through the house with a punch down tool for the wall sockets and then use a crimping tool to put the RJ-45 jacks on the other end to plug into the switch?

Or instead of RJ-45 connectors on the closet end, terminate them in a patch panel. Then use a short patch lead from the panel to the switch. You could just use a bunch more wall boxes instead of a patch panel.

Doing it this way gives much more flexability. Using a couple of adapters you can turn a length of Cat5e into a phone extension. Or you could put a HDMI-to-Cat5 adapter on one socket, patch that length of cable to another in the closet, and the other HDMI-to-Cat5 adapter in another room. This would let you play a BluRay from your living room player in your bedroom (for example).

There are loads of cool things you can do if you go this route. Definitely worth it in my opinion.

I guess you could get away with using some Cat5 couplers on the ends in the closet if you just crimped them, but it wouldn't be as neat.

[peterb]

Grouping wall boxes is a good alternative to a patch panel (and is what I did on my home network) (although for a lot of terminations, a patch panel may work out cheaper)

[Funkstar]

Patch panels work out less than £1 a socket, this is less than wall boxes.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Newli...9-Rackmount-1U

[Singh400]

If you intend using Gigabit speeds for your internal services, the Netgear GS105 (5 port) and GS108 (8 port) are pretty good. The FS equivalent (100Mb/s) are cheaper. They also do some plastic cased versions which are cheaper still.

+1 on Netgear gigabit switches.

I've got the GS608UK because it's on display, otherwise if I was networking the whole house. I'd get the GS108UK.

(May have got the model numbers slightly wrong. Basically one version is a pretty white switch, and the other version is its ugly sister - both are 8 port gigabit switches)

[peterb]

+1 on Netgear gigabit switches.

I've got the GS608UK because it's on display, otherwise if I was networking the whole house. I'd get the GS108UK.

(May have got the model numbers slightly wrong. Basically one version is a pretty white switch, and the other version is its ugly sister - both are 8 port gigabit switches)

Yes, the GS108 is the smart functional and purposeful looking one in the neat blue metal box, the GS608 is the namby pamby fluffy cheap looking plastic one!

[Singh400]

the GS608 is the namby pamby fluffy cheap looking plastic one!

But it haz flashy lights! me wantz! I've actualy consider spray painting it black, my whole setup is black. Its not namby pamby to me <3 gs608uk

[oolon]

You can get triple gang sockets in a single box which can save some wall space, to ease installation you can buy twin wall boxes, which saves time over using singles. Can't seem to find a 6 gang wall plate in a double box. However surface mount boxes allows a nice high density, you can also get them in a down cable configuration which is good for rooms, as the wire goes straight to the floor rather than arcing.

For a posh datacentre look you can get mini 10 inch patch panels, you can get boxes for these size racks or use wall mounts, a small swtich would also fit nicely in the box.

I also like the netgear gigabit unmanaged switches, being metal they dissipate the heat well, but are small and don't have fans (are quite hot though). I however have had one GS108 die on me. Which shows its always good having a spare switch around (even if lower spec). Just in case one in your network dies.

[s_kinton]

Right, I'm in the house and about to start the cable runs.

Which wiring standard should I use - T568B or T568A? Can I mix and match with old cables too?

[peterb]

T568B seems to be the most common in Europe - although provided you are consistant, it doesn't really matter.

Not sure what you meamn by mix and match old cables. Provided the cables are cat5e, they will be OK (cat5 would probably be OK too, but if you are planning on running at Gigabit speeds (and who wouldn't?) and it is a new installation, use cat5e!

[killie99]

[QUOTE=oolon;1747822I however have had one GS108 die on me. Which shows its always good having a spare switch around (even if lower spec). Just in case one in your network dies.[/QUOTE]

If its still powering up then i bet the problem is bulging caps - I've had 2 GS108's do this to me and they are very easily fixed.

http://www.mccambridge.org/blog/2008...netgear-gs108/