Professional installation of home networking, but...

[MSIC]

Hi all, some thoughts please.
I'm wanting to sort out wired ethernet in my home, and given that I have an older english house, with brick walls & plaster etc, I've decided to get a professional installation, and am prepared to pay for it.
The reason for this is that I will be setting up a NAS primarily for my media streamer to access files, but also for my PC to shuttle data back and forth. It'll also be an iTunes server etc. Am overall not keen on wireless, which I currently have, as there will be times that i'll want to transfer (for example) a 6 Gig file, plus the (various) neighbours wireless makes mine cut out very occasionally. (I'll still be keeping the wireless primarily for laptop access to the internet).

I had a quote on Friday but a couple of things the guy said just made me think..
Firstly it will all be in 1 larger room (our living room / dining room), and I want 4 points. I'm not interested in having points elsewhere in the house, due to cost primarily, and i figure wireless or ethernet-over-power will do the job if i ever need.

The installation guy told me that I need a patch panel, and if I didnt have my own they could provide one. These seem expensive, although since I have very limited networking experience I do not know if this is true or not...
Also he seemed very keen to insist that i would benefit from "at least Cat 6, if not Cat 7" cable laying. Everything i read suggests that Cat 5e, for at most Gigabit connection, would do what I want.

He didnt even give me a cost quote, but will be "getting back to me". I feel like I'm potentially going to be led down the garden path here.
Can anyone direct me to either a) a reliable company in the north london / south herts area or b) a good source of where to read up on what I should know.

Thanks all.

[kalniel]

Firstly it will all be in 1 larger room (our living room / dining room), and I want 4 points. I'm not interested in having points elsewhere in the house, due to cost primarily, and i figure wireless or ethernet-over-power will do the job if i ever need.

If you're considering homeplug for the occasional elsewhere use, why aren't you considering it for this main use as well?

[MSIC]

I have a few thoughts on this, although i'm not saying that i am necessarily right...

I currently use E-o-P between 2 points, and it uses a (valuable) power socket. The speed of connection is actually ok (i dont know what it tops out at, but is a "200 Mbit" version), but it doesnt look very elegant. I suppose that it is also using power 24/7. Additionally, they cost around £50 per device.
I dont have enough power sockets really (i already have far far too much branching of 6 plug extenders,) and am trying to 'thin out' my devices.

My overall view is that get wired ethernet is the 'proper' thing to do, and i'm currently in a position where I can afford to spend eg £200 on a professional job. If it will reduce cables, plugs and power leads, then it'll be worthwhile.

[oolon]

Selling Cat 6 is called up selling! Cat 5e is good enough and easier to fit, if you want to future proof Cat 6e is what you want, Cat 7 standard has not be confirmed (but your wasting you money, 10G stuff is very expensive). You need to pull call the cables back to somewhere, probably were you have a switch, you want to have a panel rather than loose wires as these will be damaged over time, and if they stop working thats the end of that cable. If your having cables installed install to many, I wish I had installed cables at the other end of the living room now, I have a long cable under the carpet.

[MSIC]

Selling Cat 6 is called up selling!

This was my view too, i'm glad you agree.

You need to pull call the cables back to somewhere, probably were you have a switch,

Sorry i dont understand this

you want to have a panel rather than loose wires as these will be damaged over time,

I dont want loose wires. I want to have 4 seperate ports in (effectively) the 4 corners of the room that can be plugged in to. I think (although want confirmation) that these will all lead in to a switch (probably in the middle of the room under the stairs, but i am not sure of how exactly. This is why I am asking about if I need a patch panel.

[burble]

You don't need a patch panel for things to work, you could just have the 4 ports in the lounge terminated into some sockets and then plug a patch cable from the sockets to your router/switch. For 4 connections I wouldn't bother with a patch panel, it adds cost and they're also ugly looking things so you wouldn't want it out on display.

If you're getting ethernet cables installed then it makes sense to get it all done rather than relying on homeplugs. Homeplugs are OK, but they're not as reliable as a length of cat 5e plus you'll never in a million years get 200Mbit through a set of homeplugs - they only have 10/100 ethernet ports on them for a start, so that shows how much faith the manufacturers have in the 200Mbit claim.

As has already been said, go for cat 5e which will be absolutely fine. Cat 6 is a pig to install (not a problem for you I realise), costs more and you'll gain absolutely nothing by having it.

[burble]

Sorry i dont understand this

It means that the ethernet cables all meet at a central point - where your router is for example.

[oolon]

I dont want loose wires. I want to have 4 seperate ports in (effectively) the 4 corners of the room that can be plugged in to. I think (although want confirmation) that these will all lead in to a switch (probably in the middle of the room under the stairs, but i am not sure of how exactly. This is why I am asking about if I need a patch panel.

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

[MSIC]

Thanks all so far guys, this is helpful stuff.

So, if say I were to buy my own equipment but just ask the professionals to install it, what would be on my shopping list please?

[jim]

I don't know about Cat6. Ask them how much they want extra to fit Cat6 over 5e. As said before, the reason people pick 5e is because it's much easier to fit - the actual price difference per metre really wasn't that big when I looked. If you're paying to get it fitted professionally, then it's negligible.

So the issue will be how much they want to fit Cat6. If it's very minor, you might as well take it - it would make the system more futureproof. But for present day usage, it provides no real benefit. You can get gigabit connections down either cable, and it'll be a while before people want 10 gigabit ethernet in a home setting I suspect

[oolon]

So, if say I were to buy my own equipment but just ask the professionals to install it, what would be on my shopping list please?

To be honest I have had "professions" install cables and they are not very good, if you have a data centre and want 24 cables from rack a to rack b they are fine, however quality jobs arround a house where you have multiple locations with few cables sensitive to the room, they are not so good. The will just slap lots of surface mount white trunking on the wall, for a good job you really want it call chased into the wall. Installing the cables is the easiest thing you have ever done, all you need is wire cutter and a punch down tool, most contractors will resist pull up the floor to run cables.

[MSIC]

But since I dont know what I'm doing, i'd rather pay someone. I've never been good with a drill and i'm certain that the floorboards have no space underneath to lay cables.

[oolon]

Most installers will want to supply the components themselves, they are not expensive, most installers will have 4 or 6 boxes of cables on the go at the same time to pull multiple wires. Each box is 305m, you do not need that amount of cable, they may also use "spares" from a big job to increase either profits. Let them do the job if you want them to do it, otherwise you leave yourself open risk if it goes wrong as they might blaim your stuff.

[burble]

To be honest I have had "professions" install cables and they are not very good, if you have a data centre and want 24 cables from rack a to rack b they are fine, however quality jobs arround a house where you have multiple locations with few cables sensitive to the room, they are not so good.

And on the flip side I recommended the cabling company I use at work to a friend and they did an awesome job of cabling up her house. It totally depends on what company you use.

[oolon]

And on the flip side I recommended the cabling company I use at work to a friend and they did an awesome job of cabling up her house. It totally depends on what company you use.

Like to share the name with MSIC, you are not that far away and they might travel. Northamptonshire -> London/Herts

[burble]

Like to share the name with MSIC, you are not that far away and they might travel. Northamptonshire -> London/Herts

Sure. Lynx Networks who are based in Milton Keynes. I don't think home installations are their target business but they've never done anything less than an excellent job for me.