Network switch in garage

[rstobb]

Hello all,

I hope this isn't going to be too wordy, but I want to provide as much info as I can. Please let me know if anyone wants more details about anything or pictures, whatever I can provide.

I bought a brand new home about a year ago. I moved in knowing that every room in the house had an Ethernet cable pulled to it and I was very excited about this as I've never had a fully wired house before. I quickly lost my excitement when the tech from Frontier came to install FIOS at my house.

He pointed out to me that every cable had been run to the outside of my house, the exterior of one of my garage walls. I was thinking, no problem he can make them all live when he installs the Frontier Box on the outside of my house to terminate the FIOS line. I was wrong again.

He could only make one of the Ethernet ports inside my house live. I wasn't happy but what choice did I have. I chose the one in my office and have run a wireless router ever since. Now I want a change.

I am looking for any suggestion of how I can get all the other ports in my house live so that I can stream from my media server without having to deal with the lag of my wireless network.

I know that I can pull the Ethernet cables back through the wall so that they are on the inside of my garage rather than the outside. What network rack enclosure suggestions do people have for me? Any help would be very appreciated.

Thank you in advance,
Richard

 

[bill001g]

Depends how much money you want to spend. The cheapest option is to just put RJ45 ends on the and mount a switch directly to the wall and plug all the cables in.

Otherwise you get a small patch panel with enough ports to punch down all the cables and then run a patch cable from ports in the front to the switch. Some people mount the patch panel directly into the wall but you can buy a small wall mount rack to put both this patch panel and the switch in.

Most the ones I have helped with all opt for the cheap route of screwing the switch flat to the wall and plugging in all the cables.

 

[USAFRet]

I'm in the process of doing something similar. But one thing I'm concerned with is the switch and/or patch panel in the garage.
The garage not being the most environmentally friendly space...bugs and dust might be an issue.

 

[jfreggie2]

Could also get something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816129038

screw into wall and mount a switch to it... but kind of expensive for what you're doing..

And ill agree with USAFRet - having a switch in the garage could be problematic depending on your climate.

 

[rstobb]

I really like the cheap simple solutions that you suggested bill001g. A great starting point for me. I actually feel rather silly that I didn't think of them before posting here.

I do have the same concerns that USAFRet brings up. I do like doing projects in my garage. Obviously the ideal solution would be the Ethernet to have never been put anywhere near the garage.

Do you have any enclosure suggestions? Are there enclosures with power outlets in them that I can plug into another outlet? This way I could have my switch powered from within the enclosure.

 

[USAFRet]

If I do decide to put that in the garage, I'm just going to build a wall-mounted box, near an outlet.

wood box, glass or plexiglass velcro to the front for visibility, vent holes top and bottom. With the finest mesh screen I can find to keep the critters out.

 

[rstobb]

For me, once i pull the ethernet back into the garage i would still be about 10 ft away from the closest outlet.

 

[Pooneil]

Make sure the enclosure it has a good ventilation. Probably two fans, so if one stops it will still be protected. And buy an inexpensive switch, so if it dies from the heat, you haven't lost much.