Help with Networking/Homesetup

luke0380

Dear All.

I am after some networking advice for my home and hope the good people of AV Forums can help.

I live in a coach house and would like to implement some sort of basic network within the four walls of my house. I have an idea of what I want to achieve but need some advice to get there.

My floor plan is one that is similar to this:




My main BT socket is downstairs which i have an ADSL lead that goes up to an O2 Router in my Living Room. My current setup consists of:

Living Room
I have an O2 N RatedWireless Router, which has 4 network ports. A Sony TV, Sky HD Box, Sony Blu-ray player and Sony Surround Sound unit. The Blu-Ray player is connected to the Router via an Ethernet cable.

Bedroom
I have a Samsung TV, which is linked the Sky HD Box using RF2 and also a Sony Blu-ray player, which is, connects to the Internet via a Sony UWA-BR100 Wireless Dongle.

2nd Bedroom
Canon Wireless Printer

Wireless
Apple MacBook Pro - 2010
IPhone 5
HTC Mobile
Kindle

I currently watch AVI files via a USB stick via the Blu-Ray Players. Don't use Time Machine for backup and iTunes is on my laptop.

I want to be able to do the following.
• Have a NAS Box in the office that allows me to access video files from either of the Blu-ray players without the need for plugging in hard drives or USB stick.
• Allow my laptop to be able to backup via Time Machine to the NAS Box.
• Store my iTunes library on the NAS box, instead of the laptop. Which will give me the opportunity to be able to stream music around the house.
• Use the remaining space of the NAS box for file storage, and with the ability to access the data remotely as opposed to storing files on drop box.
• Extend network into the garage and have a switch.

Based on the above can anyone recommend what I need to get in terms of networking?

I was thinking of going down the Ethernet over Power to allow me to connect the Blu-ray devices to the Nas Box at a decent speed.

However I believe the O2 Switch is only cable of supporting 100 mb per second, do I buy a gigabit Ethernet switch into the router and then connect this via the Ethernet over Power devices?

Do I still use wireless for the Blu-ray player in the bedroom or do I plug it into a Ethernet over Power and connect it this way?

What is the best way to stream music in my house, is it a combination of Apple TV’s, i.e. one for my lounge and perhaps Airport Express for other areas or maybe airplay/sonus devices?

And lastly, I want to be able to add some network connections into my garage, which has power. Assume I can also connect this over Ethernet over Power connections which has a network switch which allows me to plug in a few devices in the garage?

If I need to replace my router and buy additional switches, and Ethernet over Power adaptors, what is recommended?

I know it's a lot of questions but wanted to get some sort of idea of the cost of the whole project. Thanks All.

Enterprise_1701C

Firstly, the Ethernet over power will do this job quite well, assuming that the garage is on the same circuit as everything else, ie comes to the same fuse box.

It is no good buying a highly rated switch unless the speed coming into your house is decent, do you know what speed you are meant ot be getting.

It sounds like you want to internet-able your whole house, which is quite feasible, but I would not do it through the power over mains plugs. Are you redecorating soon? If it was me, I would cable out the rooms you want points in, properly cat 5 cable them, take it all back to a cabinet in a cupboard in a convenient location, (near your incoming line) plug the router into a bigger switch, then you can plug things in/unplug them as and when you want. This would eliminate having too many switches all round the place and trying to hide other equipment.

You do need to know what you are doing, as in putting plugs on the end of the cat 5 wire and terminating them on the patch panel, so it might be a good idea to talk to a local contractor and get their opinion, find out what they would charge.