Adding network cabling to a newbuild house

[Spud1]

My new house is well under construction now, with about a month left until the roof goes on..very exciting

I've decided that even though its only a 2 bedroom house (and therefore fairly small), I want to add network cabling and sockets into the walls, rather than rely on (frankly unreliable and terribly insecure) wireless. The builders are happy to do this mid-construction for me if I provide the cabling, that way it will look very tidy/professional with no nasty retrofitting required.

I've got a meeting with the site manager/electrician next week to sort out where its all going to go, so was just after a bit of advice in terms of what i'm likely to need.

I did a quick 3d model of each floor here:

http://www.glowfoto.com/static_image.../img4/glowfoto
http://www.glowfoto.com/static_image.../img4/glowfoto


I'm planning to put the switch/router in the cupboard upstairs (next to the desk on those plans), nothing too fancy just a gigabit switch and fairly standard router. I was thing thinking to put a port in the bedroom, one in the kitchen, hall and then 4 in the lounge (PS3/360/Popcorn Hour/Sky) by the TV and another by the sofa. Also 3 in the office/spare room.

So 11 ports total - although I could reduce the ones in the lounge by adding another switch to sit under the TV...not sure what the best option would be.

I am assuming that for lengths like this, Cat5e would be suitable, or would I be better off with Cat6 for the runs in the wall?

Any thoughts on how to improve this plan? Am I going too far do you think considering the size of the house? The cost is not a huge factor - £50 or so for the cable, another £20 for the sockets, and i'll find out the cost of running the cables next week so i'm probably looking at around £300 for the lot.

Any thoughts/comments are appreciated

[GoNz0]

just run 2 network cables to each place your having a tv or pc /desk etc.

then add double network sockets. if your not sure and its panel walls run cables and have them coiled next to the mains sockets so you can punch through at a later stage and hook up a box.

[burble]

5e will be fine.

I'd recommend getting the full number of cables to the lounge rather than using a switch just because it's tidier.

[s_kinton]

I wired my entire house up last year during a renovation; it was the best thing I did! CAT5e and a gigabit switch is all you need - there are tons of threads on what general do's and don'ts of home wiring, so have a search through the forum.

[GoNz0]

its also worth considering matching the data sockets to the rest of the electrical kit, i brought all click flat brushed steel and it all looks rather smart

http://www.alertelectrical.com/cat/3...-brushed-steel

[dirky]

basically run as much cable as possible at the moment, if you need two run four, better to have it behind the plaster board even if its not connected. I am trying to retrofit atm, which isnt fun with stone walls and concrete floor

[gss03]

Put in more points than you think you'll need - nothing worse than running out of points when you need another one somewhere!

[peterb]

As others have said, put two ports in where you thought ypu might have one. Depending on the sizre of the main room, you mauy want (2) ports at either end. Remember that with a patch panel, you can enable ports as you need them, so you don't need a switch with the same number of ports as you have wall sockets.

The wall sockets will sit in recessed metal boxes used for 13amp sockets - a double gang box will take four network ports (or less with a blanking plate) a single gang faceplate will take one or two sockets. You can run telephone over the cat 5, but not recommended to use cores in the same cable for both (although it can be done at 100Mb speeds, but not at Gb which requires all four cores.

You might want to consider asking the builder to put the cable in flexible conduit. It adds to the cost, but if you want to swap out the cable for fibre ayt a future date, it would be mutch easier, but only worth while if you are planning to stay in the house for a long time. I don't see fibre as being viable (or worthwhile) in a domestic installation anytime within the next 5 to 10 years.

I you do run out of sockets at any one location, youcan always add a local small switch to a location.

Remember that the equipment you will be supplying with data will also need power, so site the data sockets near mains outlet sockets (unless you are using low power devices that could use ower over ethernet.

And don't forget that manu=y new entertainment devices (blu ray players etc) aldso have provision for internet connection for added services - another reason for doubling up the cable runs.

[dave87]

basically run as much cable as possible at the moment, if you need two run four, better to have it behind the plaster board even if its not connected. I am trying to retrofit atm, which isnt fun with stone walls and concrete floor

This - especially if you are considering media streaming of any sort in the not to distant future.

To give you an idea of what I've got planned atm:

48 Port Patch Panel
50 Port 3Com Baseline 2250 Switch (with 2 GbE & Fibre sockets)
Possibly add a GbE Switch for patching of GbE devices.

Bedroom 1 - 4 ports (poss 8)
Bedroom 2 - 8 Ports (poss 10)
Bedroom 3 - not decided yet, likely 4 ports
Bedroom 4 - not decided yet, likely 4 ports
Bedroom 5 - 8 ports
Lounge - 4 Ports
Study - 4 Ports

Other rooms where necessary/needed.

Reason for doing such large numbers is firstly 1080p over Baluns takes 2xCat5e, secondly phone lines can be run over RJ45 - so if I want to patch a phone to Bedroom 1 - I've got 2 for 1080p over Cat5e, 1 for a HTPC and 1 for the Phone line. Alternatively, I could use 1 for a HTPC and have the rest spare - I thought I'd give myself the option rather than being short later.

The other reason for putting in such a large number of cables is that whilst I have the opportunity to do so neatly, then I may aswell - adding extra cables later is a PITA and also allows for any failures over time.

Due to the way I've planned a node 0 into the plan, all the cables go back to a central point, so things can be patched as required - including voice and direct runs for baluns etc.

The other bit is that a 305m reel of Cat5e is so cheap these days that running the extra doesn't cost all that much

[killie99]

get yourself a krone type punchdown tool and a network tester, it'll make life much easier.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-Krone-BT-S...item5194e95fd7

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ethernet-Netwo...item3a5c82e855

You don't need anything more sophisticated than this tester. It'll check for sequence, continuity and opens.

[Spud1]

Thanks for the advice guys - so basically i'm going to get him to run 2x the amount of cable I was planning for future proofing, better to be safe than sorry. I'll stick with Cat5e for the cost (since its fine for Gigabit and i've no justifiable use for 10gbe to be honest) but double up on each run incase I want more.

Will see how I get on on monday

[peterb]

+1 for the cable tester and punch down, but I'm not sure Id buy those off e bay - they look too good to be true! I bought mine from RS - but they did cost about 10x the price (but I knw the quality to expect when I bought them) But you pays your money and taks your chance!

[killie99]

I bought mine off ebay and they were excellent - the exact same tester but a slightly different krone tool. Used them hundreds of times with no problems.

Good website with lots of info http://www.swhowto.com/

[Agent]

+1 for the cable tester and punch down, but I'm not sure Id buy those off e bay - they look too good to be true! I bought mine from RS - but they did cost about 10x the price (but I knw the quality to expect when I bought them) But you pays your money and taks your chance!

The ones off Ebay just test the electrical current passes through the cable. The one you have from RS, I suspect will check the integrity of the data too.

As long as people are sensible with the cable, the cheaper ones are actually ok for home runs like this if you don't want to sped big money

[Spud1]

I have a decent crimper, cable tester, and all the ends/snags etc for ending them so that shouldnt be a problem

Bought that all for my ccna and then ended up using them in a previous job, if only it didnt cost so much to add in gigabit to my cisco kit The switches/routes are only 20-30£ each but the cards cost a fortune, even second hand.

[dirky]

What boxes have people decided on? for the rj45 modules I am looking at surface mounts