Question New Networking Setup with Patch Panel

[NiccoSab]

I'm planning on finally putting all my networking equipment in a wall-mounted cabinet to fix the mess in my office but I'm a little concerned with my setup before I pull the trigger. My question is if my setup is good practice and will work as I expect. I have a fairly large home with multiple ethernet and wifi connections. I have 3 Asus AXE11000 routers (ran in a mech with 2 APs) I want to put my modem in my rack and leave my primary router out of it (as it is in a terrible spot in the house) Can I run my network like this: modem to wall keystone to router, router back to wall keystone going to patch panel, then to switch, etc. Let me know if you need more information.

 

[kanewolf]

I'm planning on finally putting all my networking equipment in a wall-mounted cabinet to fix the mess in my office but I'm a little concerned with my setup before I pull the trigger. My question is if my setup is good practice and will work as I expect. I have a fairly large home with multiple ethernet and wifi connections. I have 3 Asus AXE11000 routers (ran in a mech with 2 APs) I want to put my modem in my rack and leave my primary router out of it (as it is in a terrible spot in the house) Can I run my network like this: modem to wall keystone to router, router back to wall keystone going to patch panel, then to switch, etc. Let me know if you need more information.

Assuming you have two cables going to the primary router, then yes. You need a dedicated cable for the WAN port and one for a LAN port.

 

[NiccoSab]

Assuming you have two cables going to the primary router, then yes. You need a dedicated cable for the WAN port and one for a LAN port.

Thanks. Do wall keystones slow down speeds? I pay for 1gb but usually get about 800mb. I'm going to use cat6a in all the walls, but should I use cat6a or cat5e for the patch cables?

 

[palladin9479]

I'm planning on finally putting all my networking equipment in a wall-mounted cabinet to fix the mess in my office but I'm a little concerned with my setup before I pull the trigger. My question is if my setup is good practice and will work as I expect. I have a fairly large home with multiple ethernet and wifi connections. I have 3 Asus AXE11000 routers (ran in a mech with 2 APs) I want to put my modem in my rack and leave my primary router out of it (as it is in a terrible spot in the house) Can I run my network like this: modem to wall keystone to router, router back to wall keystone going to patch panel, then to switch, etc. Let me know if you need more information.

If you still want to use a SOHO gateway device as your router and you don't want to shove it in a closet or other not-useful location for it's WIFI, then you need a U-turn configuration. This is where there are two ethernet ports near the router device, one that is patched to the LAN switch in the network cabinet, and the other that is patched to the WAN link to your internet provider.

Whenever users get serious with home networking is when I start recommending dedicated network gateways instead of those SOHO wifi units, but it's does require learning quite a bit more about networking.

 

[kanewolf]

Thanks. Do wall keystones slow down speeds? I pay for 1gb but usually get about 800mb. I'm going to use cat6a in all the walls, but should I use cat6a or cat5e for the patch cables?

Not if they are quality devices. The thing you should also invest in is a mid-grade tester. Something like this -- https://www.amazon.com/Klein-Tools-VDV501-851-Ethernet-Locator/dp/B085LPN71C/

 

[kanewolf]

I'm going to use cat6a in all the walls, but should I use cat6a or cat5e for the patch cables?

Be sure you purchase 100% copper bulk cable. Don't buy shielded.
The grade of patch cables is not going to be significant, IMO. High quality 100% copper, 26GA or larger cables is the key.
You want cat6a on any 10GE connections, but otherwise, it won't matter.

 

[NiccoSab]

If you still want to use a SOHO gateway device as your router and you don't want to shove it in a closet or other not-useful location for it's WIFI, then you need a U-turn configuration. This is where there are two ethernet ports near the router device, one that is patched to the LAN switch in the network cabinet, and the other that is patched to the WAN link to your internet provider.

Whenever users get serious with home networking is when I start recommending dedicated network gateways instead of those SOHO wifi units, but it's does require learning quite a bit more about networking.

The U-turn configuration you explained is exactly what I plan on doing and you just explained it even better than I did. I am serious about my home networking but I'd get lost in the backend if I get a dedicated network gateway and have no idea what I'm doing. I'd consider myself a networking amateur right now. Going to school for networking lol.

 

[NiccoSab]

Not if they are quality devices. The thing you should also invest in is a mid-grade tester. Something like this -- https://www.amazon.com/Klein-Tools-VDV501-851-Ethernet-Locator/dp/B085LPN71C/

I have the same exact device now.

Be sure you purchase 100% copper bulk cable. Don't buy shielded.
The grade of patch cables is not going to be significant, IMO. High quality 100% copper, 26GA or larger cables is the key.
You want cat6a on any 10GE connections, but otherwise, it won't matter.

This is what I have:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0925HH5ZK?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

 

[palladin9479]

The U-turn configuration you explained is exactly what I plan on doing and you just explained it even better than I did. I am serious about my home networking but I'd get lost in the backend if I get a dedicated network gateway and have no idea what I'm doing. I'd consider myself a networking amateur right now. Going to school for networking lol.

Well you don't need an enterprise class cisco router, but there are several ways of doing dedicated networking gateways. Cheap SOHO devices are really three devices glued together, a three or four port router chip, a switch chip and a wifi chip all internally wired together with a custom linux based OS loaded in firmware. This all works fine if your in a simple setup and provides a convenient single point for all network configuration, it also means you need to take down your network whenever anything starts acting up. How many times "something is weird, restarting router fixed it" is the solution?

Now your installing a dedicated network switch and wiring all the ports to that switch, so the gateways built in switch isn't needed anymore. Switching to a dedicated gateway device is similar, you wire the WAN/LAN into it and it is what holds the gateway IP address and even do the DHCP management leaving the wireless gateways to only do wireless stuff.

For example the last time I "rebooted" my router was about a year ago when I installed security patches via yum update. Just something to think about going towards the future.

 

[bill001g]

So I will admit I did not read the details in all the above posts.

If you reason for not putting the router near the modem in the wifi coverage I would leave the router near the modem and use a AP remotely.

If you are going to run the router remote then you need 2 cables. If you can pull 2 cables that will work. If you only have a single run and can't add another then I would consider 2 small manged switches so you can run 2 vlans on the single cable.

 

[NiccoSab]

So I will admit I did not read the details in all the above posts.

If you reason for not putting the router near the modem in the wifi coverage I would leave the router near the modem and use a AP remotely.

If you are going to run the router remote then you need 2 cables. If you can pull 2 cables that will work. If you only have a single run and can't add another then I would consider 2 small manged switches so you can run 2 vlans on the single cable.

I can run as many cables as possible to the router. I'm going to put a double keystone plate for the router, one for the in from the modem, and one for the out to the patch then to the switch.

 

[kanewolf]

I can run as many cables as possible to the router. I'm going to put a double keystone plate for the router, one for the in from the modem, and one for the out to the patch then to the switch.

Then make sure you put two colors of keystones. Yellow is used for the WAN connection on many routers.

 

[Ralston18]

And I recommend getting a copy of your home's floor plan and diagramming the patch panel, cable runs, and wall jack locations.

Be sure to label all cables on each end and leave a couple extra feet (service loops) on each end. Do some preplanning to avoid obstacles, wires, pipes, etc..

Especially if local codes require inspections - you do not want some run to be found to be in violation....

Take photographs before closing up walls or otherwise in spaces that may be difficult to check later on.

Document everything.

 

[NiccoSab]

Then make sure you put two colors of keystones. Yellow is used for the WAN connection on many routers.

Thanks, will do.

And I recommend getting a copy of your home's floor plan and diagramming the patch panel, cable runs, and wall jack locations.

Be sure to label all cables on each end and leave a couple extra feet (service loops) on each end. Do some preplanning to avoid obstacles, wires, pipes, etc..

Especially if local codes require inspections - you do not want some run to be found to be in violation....

Take photographs before closing up walls or otherwise in spaces that may be difficult to check later on.

Document everything.

This is one of the reasons I am putting in my rack and rewiring everything. All the ethernet in the walls and ceiling is just thrown up there and a mess. Thanks, great advice.