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Thread: Network setup/cabling comments/advice

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    Question Network setup/cabling comments/advice

    Hi there,

    I'm hoping I can get a little final advice on my intended cabling setup for my house, please. I've chatted to a few friends already, but I thought I'd open it up to people who are almost certainly more experienced at this kind of thing.

    Firstly, here's a floorplan of my ground-floor. The first-floor is approximately the same layout, with the bathroom top-left and the other three rooms as bedrooms. The TV/AVR/PS3/etc is at (A), the door to the hallway is at (B), an existing hole-in-the-floor is at (C), and the newly converted garage (becoming a study) is where (D) will be, and where my computers will be living post-conversion (work happening at the moment).



    Current setup

    • External cable-in at (A)
    • Virgin Superhub (modem mode) and D-Link DIR-615 802.11n router (running DD-WRT) at (B)


    Intended setup

    The cable-in won't change at (A), but the Superhub will move to (A) to join it. There will then be a Cat5e cable run around the bay and along the wall to (B) where the DIR-615 router will remain. Two Cat5e cables will then come out of the router, the first of which will run back to (A) where there'll be a four-port gigabit switch for the AV equipment, and the second of which will run to (C) where there'll be a socket, connected by Cat5e cable to another one at (D). At (D), in the new study, there'll be a further four-port (maybe more?) gigabit switch to handle my computers and printers.

    My biggest constraint in that system is going to be the DIR-615 router, as I believe it's a 10/100 one for LAN. So, I figure I'm going to have to buy another Wi-Fi N router (gigabit lan), two gigabit switches, plenty of Cat5e cabling, crimping tool, RJ-45 plugs, and a couple of RJ-45 sockets (for C and D). I was hoping to get all of that for around £150 ... is that reasonable?

    The intention is to stream media (including HD) from the study to the AV in the living room. I'm looking for a system to last a couple of years, until I get a decent 802.11ac router to cover the whole house without cables (wishful thinking???). I cannot get under nor lift the floor in the living-room as it's made of floorboards that we don't want to damage or move, however the existing hole at C is from an old radiator that's now been taken out, so should hopefully give us a way through the hall walls.

    Many thanks in advance for your advice. Please feel free to highlight any seemingly-stupid decisions. There may be a reason I've made them, but they could equally be just dumb!

    [EDIT] Forgot to say that I have Virgin 120Mb broadband, so even 100Mb network would restrict me (although just about be liveable with if it was genuinely 100Mb).
    Last edited by DaKid; 29-08-2012 at 11:11 AM.

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    Re: Network setup/cabling comments/advice

    Generally the preference is to have the network cabling all run back to a single location where your network kit lives. It involves more cabling and sockets but is much more flexible in terms of configuration and means less mess in the areas where you've got your devices. As it's going to be an office, D seems a sensible place for that.
    Does the Virgin SuperHub not have enough onboard ports to connect the PS3/TV etc directly to it or do you definitely need another switch there? I haven't looked at the cost of cat5e cabling lately but you may struggle with that £150 budget (especially if you expect to buy a decent N router!).

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    Re: Network setup/cabling comments/advice

    My biggest worry was getting my full 120mbps to my main PC in the study, and also getting a good enough speed to the AV equipment (currently just PS3) to stream high-def content including HD audio. I've actually just started thinking about maybe using PowerLAN sockets by the router, PC and AV equipment instead, meaning I might perhaps only need short "patch" cables at all three places (out of router, into PC, into PS3). Could you use a PowerLAN socket to feed into a switch at the two locations (study/TV area)? I believe that they sell them up to 500mbps ... is that a viable speed on an average-sized detached house with half-sensible power circuitry?

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    Grumpy and VERY old :( g8ina's Avatar
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    Re: Network setup/cabling comments/advice

    One point I'd add, is to take extra care with any bends in the cables, as I have knackered a couple of 20m lengths by severe bends - drops the speed dramatically.
    Cheers, David



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    Re: Network setup/cabling comments/advice

    Quote Originally Posted by g8ina View Post
    One point I'd add, is to take extra care with any bends in the cables, as I have knackered a couple of 20m lengths by severe bends - drops the speed dramatically.
    Thanks, good point. I think Cat5e is a bit more resistant to that than Cat6, but yeah ... definitely something to be aware of!

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    Re: Network setup/cabling comments/advice

    You can get 1Gb switches quite reasonably, so upgrading to !Gb lan speeds is quite easy. However the limitations will be in the terminating equipment, so you may not get that throughput. If you are running fixed cabling to sockets, then you might prefer to have one big switch at a central point, rather than local switches at the point of use, however what you are proposing is entirely reasonable for a home AV type of set up.

    However, while it might be reasonable now, do think about the future! If you are running permanent cabling, run additional cables for future expansion.
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