Professional installation of home networking, but...

[oolon]

Actually I have used Lynx too in my Data centre, I even got a bottle for Christmas from them once! They did tolerate me being very picky! They will give you the "copper 7", road show if you ask them for an install. Which would have been tempting if the building was not going to be pull down 1.5 years after the cables went it! My work was based in Luton.

[b0redom]

A proper electrician can probably do it for you too. I'm just having a loft conversion finished, and the sparky did a great job of channelling cables for me, and terminating them in a flush box like this:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/22729/...ack-Face-Plate

[burble]

Actually I have used Lynx too in my Data centre, I even got a bottle for Christmas from them once! They did tolerate me being very picky! They will give you the "copper 7", road show if you ask them for an install. Which would have been tempting if the building was not going to be pull down 1.5 years after the cables went it! My work was based in Luton.

I usually get a bottle of something nice from them even when I've not put any business through them that year but I think that's down to my company using them for about 15 years now.

[peterb]

Rather than having a patch "panel" you can have multiple surface mount boxes, the problem with them is they take rather alot of wall space compared to a panel. However the problem with a panel is it needs space behind it. What I meant was you want all the cables to start at one locations and then go to lots of others. Patch panels make it easy to add more cables into the same setup later.

For example

Bedroom->under stairs
Living->understairs
Hall->understairs
bedroom 2 -> understairs

You can then put one switch under the stairs to drive the whole network.

Rather than

hall -> living room (switch)
Living->bed room (switch)
Bed Room -> 2nd Bed room

Good advice there. I cabled my house and did just that - where I could I used sunk boxes with faceplates, rather than a patch panel, and where I couldn't hide the cable, I used thin trunking vand surface boxes with a faceplate.

The problem with a patch panel is that it needs some form of mounting box - which adds to the cost.

The installer will add a mark up to any equipment he provides, so if you can just get him to do the wiring and terminations, it will be lower cost. Make sure you specify (in detail) at the start of the job what it is you are expecting.

Personally I think cat5e is perfectly good for a home installation, but if the cost of cat6 is not significantly more (you define significant!) then go for that - but the sockets will be more expensive and so may the drop cables to connect the sockets to the equipment.

Finnally think of your possible future requirements and factor hose in.

[MSIC]

So how big is a patch panel, and how much do they cost?
In my mind, I have a figure of around £200 (in total) for this job. This includes labour costs. Is this reasonable, or am i daydreaming?

A proper electrician can probably do it for you too. I'm just having a loft conversion finished, and the sparky did a great job of channelling cables for me, and terminating them in a flush box like this:

That link is great - it's exactly what I want to be visible (x 4) once the job is finished. I hadnt thought of just asking a regular electrician to do the job...

So I'm still wanting to get my head around this (sorry for being slow - i really appreciate the patience and input).
If i get an electrician to chase some cat 5e cables, which terminate with the above boxes at the visible end, and all link back to under the stairs, what do I need to connect them all together? Do I need a 'patch panel'? I have a few spare switches lying around... Or i could even move my ADSL router there... but i dont get what the wires will look like when they exit the wall...
I think i'm confusing myself now.

[oolon]

If you don't mind the cables being visible or in surface trunking then £200 for 4 cables is reasonable. If you want the cables cut into the wall, its not going to be even close to that level, the price depends on the complexity and length of run, if you only want 4 cables you could have two 4x boxes one at each end. What you need to connect them together... well that depends what you want to run over them, 1 network, 2 networks, phone? I am assuming one network, just get 4 patch leads and go from a switch with 6 ports and plug them into the "patch" end one for the NAS and one for the ADSL router and 4 for the patchs. When you have more structured cabling you do not "live" all the ports, to reduce the need for ports on your switches. Personally I think installing just 4 cables its a bit pointless, I would just put the NAS in a cupboard and move the phone line!

[killie99]

It's not difficult to do yourself, have a look at this website http://www.swhowto.com/ , tells you everything you need to know.
If you don't want to chase the walls yourself get a sparkie to do it, he'll be much cheaper and do a much better job than a cabling company as that's his bread and butter type job.

[peterb]

You would need patch cables to connect the socket outlet (either on the patch panel or however the cable is terminated) to the switch.

The real advantage of a patch panel is if you have a lot of outlets, but not all in use - particularly in industrial/commercial premises. So during build, the building would be flood wired with sockets (say 96) going back to a 96 way paytch panel. But only 24 of those may be in use, so the relevant 24 would be connected to a 24 way switch. As the office layout changes, some outlets can be brought into use, others taken out of use, simply by changing the patching.

In a domestic environemt, a patch panel is a convenient way of terminating the cables, and for a large installation may be cheaper (and neater) than using a larger number of surface or flush mounted sockets. However they are usually mounted in a cabinet - which puts the cost up again.

From what you have said, it sounds as if a patch panel would be overkill - but if you want the cables terminated in RJ45sockets, then the standard boxes will be fine - but you will still need patch cables.

As for getting the cables installed, an electricial may be able to do the job, but checkif he has done anything like that before. Some don't understand how to properly terminate the cables - which is important if you are going to run at Gb speeds. (As an example, I looked at an installation recently where all the twisted pairs had been untwisted to make the termination easier!) You also need to specify the wiring standards - T568B is common for UK and Europe - and if the electrcian looks blankly when you specify that - find another!

[asposium]

do you have the DIY skills to do the cable install yourself?

i bought a new house last week and an looking to install cat6 cable
the cost of cat6 vs cat5e is insignificant

a 4way cat6 faceplate is very cheap (about 5quid)
the back box is a standard double box

the biggest hassle (for me at any rate) is having to take up the fitted carpets to get to the floorboards.