How to wire a new house with Cat 6a

[Rnewman]

We have just built a new 2 story house and wired the majority with Cat6a and some Cat 6. We have 25 cables - 19 in Cat 6a and 6 in Cat 6. I am trying to determine what hardware I need to buy. We have 2 living rooms both with smart tv's and 4 cat6a cables running to each TV. The rest of the ports are spread throughout the house. All cables lead to a central point under the stairs. None of the points are yet connected.

I am planning on buying a 9RU server rack. We have a wi-Fi Telstra Home Network Gateway modem which I was also planning on placing on top of the server rack as I understand that the signal is weaker inside the server rack?

Is there anything special I need to consider when buying a patch panel? I was going to buy a 48-port unmanaged patch panel with 19 cat6a keystone RJ45 jacks and 6 cat6 keystone RJ45 jacks along with the same quantity of patch leads

Do I need a switch as well and what purpose does it play? I am having trouble finding a reasonably priced 10 gigabit switch. Where is the best place to connect modem?

Sorry for all the questions still learning all this . Any advise on the best way to wire house and components needed is appreciated. Is there anything else we should consider to future proof?

 

[RealBeast]

Why would you want a 10Gb switch for a home network? None of your adapters will support it.

You will need a 48 port switch (or two like a 24 and 16 port). It switches packets between connected devices, the patch panel is nice for organization but not really required for a home network since you won't make many changes. Also your gateway will need to connect to a port on the switch.

 

[Emerald]

you will not find a reasonably priced 10Gb switch since nobody is using them in there home.

10Gb is mainly used on the back-end.

10Gb RJ-45 network card will cost you about $500.

Computers only come with 1Gb network cards.

your internet will most likely not be faster than 100Mb.

Just get a 48 port GigaByte switch. The switch will provide additional ports to the router, and allow the devices to communicate with each other and share the internet.

 

[Rnewman]

Ok so what you are saying is that even though cat6a caters for 10 gigabit I will never use it? There is a netgear 12-port 10gigabit switch for $1800.

Do I need a switch at all for a home network or just a patch panel?

Also when I connect the home gateway to the switch do I need to use one of the wall cable spots or an additional cable that goes straight from the modem to the switch and then all other devices etc that also connect to TV are plugged direct into one of the wall sockets near TV?

 

[Rnewman]

Sorry and one other question is there any way to now figure out which cable is running to which room as they were not labeled during install?

 

[RealBeast]

Ok so what you are saying is that even though cat6a caters for 10 gigabit I will never use it? There is a netgear 12-port 10gigabit switch for $1800.

Do I need a switch at all for a home network or just a patch panel?

Also when I connect the home gateway to the switch do I need to use one of the wall cable spots or an additional cable that goes straight from the modem to the switch and then all other devices etc that also connect to TV are plugged direct into one of the wall sockets near TV?

You do not need a 10Gbit switch, an unmanaged 48 port Gbit (or a 24 and a 16) will work fine.

Yes, you need a switch, a patch panel does not provide the switching function, it is just for making connections easier on large networks or those that need things changed frequently. They are so cheap that I would use a patch panel, but you still need a switch.

You need a connection from the modem to the router, then the router to the switch, and from the switch to each wall plug.

That is a very common problem that I deal with all the time -- unlabeled cables. Since you will hook them all up it isn't critical to know, but I would finish all the cables and then use an inexpensive network tester like THIS to identify them all, which will test both cables in the wall and your patch cables.

 

[Rnewman]

Thanks so much. Any recommendation on a router to purchase? It is likely we we will numerous devices all connected at once

 

[RealBeast]

I really like the ASUS routers. It depends on what wireless you use or may use. If G/N is adequate go with an RT-N56U, or RT-N66U. If you want AC also go with an RT-AC68U. There is a good place to compare various routers HERE, just select the wireless class and you can compare units. I've used the RT-AC66U and it is a great router, but the new 68 is better at everything -- G/N/AC.

 

[Rnewman]

So I already have a home gateway wi-fi modem. Here are the specs'

* Telstra launches the world’s first Broadband Cable 3.0 DLNA Certified® Gateway
DLNA Certified means it allows quick and easy sharing of digital content like photos, music and videos with other internet connected and DLNA Certified
devices in the home
* Available across our full range of Cable plans, including the BigPond Ultimate Cable plans to provide a great Connected Home experience, allowing
easy connection to multiple devices such as T-Box®, PCs, Macs, laptops, smart TV's and games consoles
* Telstra's best ever Cable Wi-Fi connection in the home with the latest N-standard Wi-Fi
Turns any USB hard drive (FAT32 or NTFS) into a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device
Includes four high speed Gigabit Ethernet ports for a wired connection
* Industry standard Wi-Fi security encryption to help protect your home network from unauthorised people gaining access
* Great for families - everyone in a typical house can share the internet connection at the same time (each computer must meet minimum system requirements

Do I need a router as well?

 

[RealBeast]

Nope, that gateway is a modem/router combination. Just plug it into the switch from one of its Gbit LAN ports and you should be good to go.

 

[Rnewman]

Is this switch suitable - http://www.4cabling.com.au/48-port-10-100-1000m-gigabit-rackmount-switch.html

 

[RealBeast]

Is this switch suitable - http://www.4cabling.com.au/48-port-10-100-1000m-gigabit-rackmount-switch.html

Yes, that switch will work fine.

 

[Rnewman]

I also need a wi-fi extender to optimise signal upstairs does anyone have any recommendations?

 

[RealBeast]

I would not buy a wifi extender, but would instead buy an inexpensive N router and convert it to an AP by turning off DHCP, connecting its LAN port to an Ethernet cable from the switch, use the same SSID and security type and passkey as the main router, a different radio channel, and give it a static address in the main router.

 

[Rnewman]

That all sounds very complex would a data cabler be able to do that for us if I buy the router? Does that mean I need to use one of the ports I have already run to connect it to?

Also can you recommend a product?

 

[RealBeast]

It is not complex, once you pick a cheap N wireless router I can give you step by step simple instructions. A cable guy may have the knowledge or may not, as it is not just simple cabling.

 

[Rnewman]

ok great thanks will do that - what n wireless router would you buy?

 

[RealBeast]

Really any inexpensive (like TPLink) N with the bands you want. If you want both 2.4GHz and 5GHz get a dual band, otherwise just a simple N300 2.4GHz -- any of them work fine as an access point. HERE is one that I've used many times for an AP.

 

[Rnewman]

Sorry one other question do I need to look out for anything depending on the internet access method i.e. ADSL2+ vs. Cable? We will have cable connected

 

[RealBeast]

No, not really. Cable is a bit more simple usually and you already have your gateway. Just get a fast plan so that your Internet speed doesn't bottleneck your great wired home install. I have 60Mbps, which makes it very easy to stream a lot of Hulu/Netflix/Amazon video simultaneously compared to old 3Mbps connections that I've had in the past.