[SOLVED] Networking the House

[Oasis Curator]

I have some coax ports in nearly every room in my house.
I plan to change these to cat5 / whatever cable, more so for ease and as a learning thing for me. They all seem to converge in the loft so this will be where the action takes place. There is no ariel in the loft.

The combined modem/router is in the living room. It currently has all 4 ports used. There is a network wall plate next to it.

I have a fire alarm that was connected to the mains electric. The new alarm doesn't require mains feed so I terminated the wires and turned the line off at the consumer unit.

I plan on attaching the wires from the old fire alarm to a plug socket (my brother in law is an electrician so will make sure this is safe before doing so / likely he'll do it for me).
This plug socket will then power a switch, which will feed each of the room sockets.
One cable will head downstairs to the wall plate near the router.

Can I plug a cat5 cable from that wall plug into the router and everything will work? Or do I have to put the router in "modem mode" and run everything from the switch in the loft?

Thanks

 

[kanewolf]

I have some coax ports in nearly every room in my house.
I plan to change these to cat5 / whatever cable, more so for ease and as a learning thing for me. They all seem to converge in the loft so this will be where the action takes place. There is no ariel in the loft.

The combined modem/router is in the living room. It currently has all 4 ports used. There is a network wall plate next to it.

I have a fire alarm that was connected to the mains electric. The new alarm doesn't require mains feed so I terminated the wires and turned the line off at the consumer unit.

I plan on attaching the wires from the old fire alarm to a plug socket (my brother in law is an electrician so will make sure this is safe before doing so / likely he'll do it for me).
This plug socket will then power a switch, which will feed each of the room sockets.
One cable will head downstairs to the wall plate near the router.

Can I plug a cat5 cable from that wall plug into the router and everything will work? Or do I have to put the router in "modem mode" and run everything from the switch in the loft?

Thanks

You can plug a Cat5e/Cat6a (recommended cable choices) from a LAN port on your router, through the in-wall cable up to a switch. That switch can then distribute ethernet to other areas. While pulling cable, think about a couple ceiling box cables for WIFI access points, think about outdoor cables for cameras and outdoor WIFI coverage.

 

[Ralston18]

And I will add the suggestion that you take a copy of your house's floor plan and 1) sketch in existing wiring and 2) the planned additional wiring and ceiling box locations.

Likewise for where you may eventually install camera's and establish outdoor WIFI coverage.

Walk through your plan and house to take a careful look for potential obstructions or other problems. E.g., no immediately available electrical wall outlet, duct work, water/plumbing lines, other electrical wiring that may get in the way.

Plan on pulling a few extra cables along common paths - just as a hedge for future growth and/or changes.

May save you some grief later on and likewise document the cable runs. The latter will probably prove useful if problems occur.