Networking

[DunkB]

Hi all

We have bought our first house (yay), and I need to start to think about planning the network hardware.
What are peoples thoughts, experiences. The current thinking is Gigabit data to every room but how many? What schemes have people here used in the past.

I have started a list of things that will need network ports. (its getting scary big)

Does anyone have recommendations for the hardware (cable switchs, and patch panels really, faceplates may be room dependant depending on the aesthetic) also does anyone have a secret favourite supplier or is it Maplin and Ebuyer a go go.

I also plan to get the local aerial man in to run satellite and coax to the living room and all the bedrooms. Does anyone think two per room is OTT.
I'm thinking 2 for Sky+ in the living room.
2 for the Media Server in the Study/Bedroom 3.
Do I go the whole hog and run 2 into the other two bedrooms as well? Is the cost difference going to be stupid?

What am I forgetting that you all wish you had done when you moved in?

Dunk

(Ian, I don't know if this is the best place for this post feel free to move it to OT if you think that would be better)

[Ian]

Hi Dunk,

This forum is as good a place as any for this sort of question

Have you read my thoughts on the subject? Home Networking
I also put together a little bit on Sky+

I agree with you in that when you start thinking about your requirements things can quickly get rather scary Best to try and break it down into chunks and think of your requirements per room and where you're going to put your Node 0(s) and then take it from there.

My switches are NETGEAR, the cat5e is Belkin and I bought it by the reel from Amazon. The faceplates I bought from Lindy. I personally think Maplin is a bit pricey but that's just me.

In terms of 2 COAXs per room, why 2 and not just 1? Do you have multiple sky+ boxes?

Hopefully others will chip in with their thoughts.

Ian.

[DunkB]

Hi Ian

I hear you about Maplins pricing

The thinking behind to sat feeds in the bedrooms was really a case of, run it once. If I need a second feed at some point in the future am I going to be cursing not having two fitted in the first place. I guess I will get the guy to quote both ways and see how much extra we are talking.

Node0 is currently planned for the spare room but I have also thought about the under stairs cupboard. Wonder what the satellite guy will say when I tell him I want arial points in the cupboard under the stairs.

I will keep you all posted as I progress.

Dunk

[Ian]

Ah ok Dunk, that's a sensible idea. There are several different types of "coax" so make sure you get him to discuss them with you. For example, there is the cheap stuff you can buy for a few quid from your local DIY store. That is perfectly good enough for regular freeview. If you're thinking you might at some point in the future want to install a freesat box or some other satellite feed in those rooms then the cheap stuff may not cut it.

If you're also in the market for a satellite dish then consider getting a quad LNB. That way you can run multiple tuners off the one dish via a multiswitch.

Ian.

[Andy Horn]

Dunk have you considered Powerline Adapters for your network?, they save a lot of cabling and are available in Gigabit Lan speeds.

I use them quite a bit for various networking I do and I have nothing but praise for them.

Example topology:

Router down stairs linked to a Powerline adapter that is plugged in to the mains, then another Powerline adapter upstairs, instant wired LAN upstairs without the network cables.

You could extend your LAN via a switch to each bedroom, just beware a Gigabit router with wireless N are not cheap for a decent one.

Gigabit networking on the whole isn't cheap compared to Fast Ethernet, but you can get TP-Link gigabit switches off eBay fairly cheep, again I have used these with great success, as with all TP-Link equipment although I am not keen on TP-Link routers as they don't play nicely with Xbox Live, or is that Xbox Live doesn't play nicely with TP-Link routers

Netgear routers seem to do a reasonable job, of course you could buy a CISCO router and spend 2 years at college trying to figure out how to configure it, been there, done that, didn't get the T-Shirt.

Not forgetting of course that Sky and the rest of the subscription TV suppliers claim to offer you HD content, they however give you content at 10mbps where proper HD is 25mbps.

Andy

[Foxy]

Ian, I have just read your page on networking and intend to build my own. I am a complete novice though. I have my node zero and coax running into it for satellite & several network cables for tv & audio, with more cat 5e to go to socketsv & my telephone line.One question is you say if you use a gigabit switch you need network interface cards behind all peripherals. Do you mean on computers/ servers & home servers Ect or all items plugged into the switch. I am also a little unsure on what else can be connected to it. I want to run a security system on it, A melia server, tv, music, computer, printers & ipad still to be wireless of course. It may be a silly question but I their a nerds guide to tell what can be connected.

I hope these questions make sense to you.

Tony

[Ian]

Ian, I have just read your page on networking and intend to build my own. I am a complete novice though. I have my node zero and coax running into it for satellite & several network cables for tv & audio, with more cat 5e to go to socketsv & my telephone line.One question is you say if you use a gigabit switch you need network interface cards behind all peripherals. Do you mean on computers/ servers & home servers Ect or all items plugged into the switch. I am also a little unsure on what else can be connected to it. I want to run a security system on it, A melia server, tv, music, computer, printers & ipad still to be wireless of course. It may be a silly question but I their a nerds guide to tell what can be connected.

I hope these questions make sense to you.

Tony

Hi Tony,

What I meant by that was if you want two or more wired devices to communicate with each other at "gigabit speeds" then they both have to have gigabit interface cards and be plugged into a gigabit switch/router. I didn't mean if you want two devices to talk to each other AT ALL, merely talk to each other at gigabit speeds. So, you can plug any device into your router and/or connect it to your network wirelessly and they'll all be able to talk to each other. Obviously there will be limitations on what device can talk to what but these are limitations of the device itself and not the network connection. For example, by default you can't print to any printer from your iPad. This has nothing to do with your network and everything to do with the iPad.

Does this help?

Ian.

[Foxy]

Ian,

So to get it into my thick head, I can plug all my devices into my gigabit switch ( when purchased ) and they will only communicate at giabit speeds with a gigabit interface.? If this s so can you expain how to do this or would you consider it as going to far. What have you done with yours? I want almost everything hard wired but only my iPad to be wireless.

Tony

[Ian]

Hi Tony,

There is no magic formula, you just plug them into the switch and they "just work". Each device will talk to the other at the quickest speed both of them can handle. So, if they're both gigabit then they'll talk at gigabit speeds, if one is 100 Mbps and the other is gigabit then they'll communicate at 100 Mbps speed.

And that's about it really.

Ian.

[Foxy]

Hi Ian,

Thanks for your help. Things are becoming clearer and makes you more confident about it. Are their different names for interface cards, Can they be called converters?? Can you reccomend some for me please.

Tony