tv/home network installation in new build...

pinkteapot

If I was having cables chased anyway, I'd put cat6 points in. But our house layout (furniture and devices) is fairly set now so I'd know where to put the points. As others have said, you can put points in rooms but then if you want to put your device on the opposite side of the room it's a pain.

We use powerline plugs (better than wifi, not as good as network cable) for our desktop PC which is in a different room to the router. These are a cheaper and less disruptive alternative for most people. Only proviso is that the power socket your router is plugged into needs to be on the same ring main as the power socket where you plug in your device, but in most houses that's the case.

phoenix_w

pinkteapot wrote: »

Only proviso is that the power socket your router is plugged into needs to be on the same ring main as the power socket where you plug in your device but in most houses that's the case.

The bit in bold isn't strictly true. Powerline networks can cross circuits with ease - there may be signal degradation where RCD & surge protectors are involved, but there are anecdotes of people being able to connect to their neighbours powerline networks if they have the encryption key, and plenty of people who use them to 'wire up' their garage which tend to have a separate CU.

I like powerline networks, but there a lot of downsides... They use electricity even when they're doing nothing (and quite a bit of it, some of them can get very hot). The speeds are nowhere near as advertised (I had "200mbps" plugs in my 80's wired house, and I would say that despite the connection being shown at >160mbps, the real speed was ~50-60 mpbs), and the signal fluctuated depending on the lights/appliances you have turned on. The "500mbps" designation is a marketing trick which means "a theoretical maximum of 250mbps receive, 250mpbs send". Also, they do interfere with radio transmission. Mains wiring is not shielded and using powerline will cause some SW radio interference for you and your neighbours.

Other thing to consider is that you can pick up a 300m box of cate5 cable, some rj45 jacks & a crimping tool from the interwebs for less than a decent set of powerline plugs! So cat5e is the moneysaving way to go...

Grimbo82

Excellent thoughts everyone. I think i will need to speak to the developer and site manager to see what options are available. Is the possibility of getting my own contractor in before the house is mine an option??

StuC75

The problem for homeplugs is that the bandwidth applies to all devices operating on those devices..

There tends to be only one plugged into the Ethernet port on the router, so could be a bottleneck depending on usage - say if you were to have 3 or 4 homeplugs plugged in rooms around the house , all feeding back to one port on the router..

Granted not all devices may be in use at the same time, but its a possibility.

Whilst wiring around the house, and a suitable switch point could have all ports working up to 1000Mb speeds, so will give better results if streaming any content within the house.

Grimbo82

where would be a suitable switch point? I'm guessing bt feed will come in through front of house into hall for main bt socket so where would be the best place to put a router? Excuse my lack of knowledge but what is a switch point?

phoenix_w

Grimbo82 wrote: »

where would be a suitable switch point? I'm guessing bt feed will come in through front of house into hall for main bt socket so where would be the best place to put a router? Excuse my lack of knowledge but what is a switch point?

The cables that feed the sockets in each room will have to terminate somewhere. The logical thing to do is to have them terminate somewhere out of sight - for example, a cupboard or storage area. In this area you'd have a switch which connects all the ports together and any "home servers" like NAS that you want to keep out of sight. Your router can be anywhere you wish - just run a cable from one of the LAN ports to your switch in the storage area - this will make all the devices connected to the switch able to use the interwebs.

If you ever wish to repurpose some of the sockets (for example, feed an upstairs TV from the lounge using HDMI over cat6 baluns) then you just need to couple the wires between the two sockets in your storage area - can be done with a cheap 10p coupler.

Some considerations for your "storage area"... It needs to be somewhere that won't get too hot, has ventilation and won't get too humid (i.e. not right above the cooker in an nearly airtight container). It also needs to have at least one plug socket for your switch + other devices you may want to hide.

StuC75

on bt infinity you would have the modem and then the separate home hub, connected with an Ethernet cable from the modem into the wan port.

The homehub would have 4 lan ports - one of which is a gigabit lan port.

so as it stands you could only connect 4 wires into this (not much use if all the rooms are Ethernet cabled)..

with homeplugs you would have One Plug connected into one of the ports -which could connect and provide a link to several others around the house (I have 3 others in use for connecting raspberry pi's for xbmc / old router in sons bedroom)..

using a network switch you could have further devices connected together - I use an 8 port netgear switch (these require no configuration - they just work ).. these are all gigabit ports and so connect upto one port on the home hub..

so switches allow you to connect up all the cables into one system - and are easier and cheaper than trying to configure additional routers...

locations depend on what you intend to use, and where you may not want to hear noise..

I have modem\homehub in room, under the tv for xbox, sky & raspberry pi hooked up to that.

An Ethernet feed then runs under the floor into the kitchen area where in the pantry (and next to meters), I have the gigabit switch, into which My hp homeserver is connected as well (runs 24/7 headerless)..
theres an Ethernet feed to the dining area tv.
and a homeplug connected to this switch.

then bedrooms, have pi\xbmc use and games consoles - with an old Linksys router in sons bedroom for there consoles and wifi points..

this may seem overkill on wired access, but I still end up with over 12 wireless devices connected by way of phones, tablets and laptops connecting wirelessly taking up that bandwith. for streaming \ media use.

kevsan

DRP wrote: »

Sorry to piggy-back this thread, but I'm currently redoing the electrics in my c1901 terrace, and this discussion has given me food for thought. Would it be sensible to include some semblance of connectivity whilst all the electrical refit is happening?

i.e.
My broadband router comes into the house via the front room - would it be wise to have wall-mounted ethernet ports in rooms where fast connectivity may be required in the future (the whole house is currently covered by wifi). Therefore, connect:

the front room,
the kitchen-diner
and loft-conversion (office)

using (presumably) cat 6 connections between th0se rooms and the ethernet switch/router in the front room.

I don't want to go mad with expense, but if this is something it would be useful to DIY whilst the house is disrupted anyway...?

Any good DIY guides anywhere?
What is the practical difference between cat5 or cat6?

Definitely - as others have said wired triumphs over wireless and the cables can be re-purposed if required. I have CAT6 in my 1930s house, partly as the wireless is pretty poor in some locations due to the solid walls etc. It all routes back to the coal shed and a switch that it all plugs into. I currently have dual ports in most rooms.... but not always enough - have a think about what will be plugged in.

At the tv i have 2x cat6 terminating, but the smart tv, smart buray, sky and the media centre all have network connection requirements. I also have another AP plugged in to extend the wireless coverage, so technically should have put in 5 cables, but that can be overkill, have just reused an old wireless router that everything plugs into, except the media centre which uses the 2nd wire to stream movies/music etc from the home server.

Loads of guides and how tos, but its fairly simple to install once youve planned your requirements.

Oh and dont underestimate length of cable required... you burn through a 300m cable drum of cat6 pretty quickly when you get going...

jackyann

We have cat5 throughout. Not greatly used in some rooms, (spare bedroom) but if done as part of the build, the extra cost is minimal, and I am glad of it on odd occasions.
Agree, much faster & more reliable than wireless.
We did ourselves (self-build) so I don't know about costs with external contractors

scottishblondie

Grimbo82 wrote: »

where would be a suitable switch point? I'm guessing bt feed will come in through front of house into hall for main bt socket so where would be the best place to put a router? Excuse my lack of knowledge but what is a switch point?

All my cabling goes to the cupboard in the downstairs hallway. I had the builder fit a phone point and socket in there, and put up some shelves when I moved in. I've got my router in there, and an additional network switch to give me enough ports to connect all the points up.