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Building A (Serious) Home Network From Scratch
Casey Lang-Vie writes "THG are running an article that outlines how to build a home network from scratch. I wish I'd read this before I attempted - now I have a few (ok, 8) unsightly holes in my wall." This is the type of network that encourages home ownership rather than rental.
Worked for me.
Building A (Serious) Home Network From Scratch
Because lets face it, if you're not building a serious home network, then what are you building?
I know I'm an ignorant lout here, but I'm missing on the discussion of why they went with Cat 6. It seams to me they were saying "We don't need it, it may or may not be any better, but it doesn't cost much less, so we'll go with it." Isn't paying slightly more money for something very over spec a worse use of financial resources than paying less forsomething that is slightly less over spec? Or did I miss something? It is late.
Little Brother, watching the watchers
As with emerging technologies, patents, copyirghts, proprietary protocols etc. have caused much misery in home networking. Why should home networking be any different from wirelesws corporate networks?
Just 'cos powerful folks have pumped in dollars into the WiFi thing, doesn't mean we got to rush into this latest trendy thing.
A simple UTP based LAN is more than sufficient for home needs.
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
Wall plates, contractors, planning -- feh. Do it the easy way: buy a $2.99 package of ethernet cable wall staples at Home Depot. Grab a hammer, and you can have cables routed all over your house within minutes.
dude, have some respect for the dead
a treasured leader of slashdot has just pased away.
If you're going to do a job, at least do it right.
have 6 or 7 holes in every wall with in the house with blue wires hanging out of them.
Wall plates? "We don need no steenkin wallplates!"
Really now, why would anyone plan out a home network? That takes all the fun out ot it!
I mean what's more fun than pulling wires at the last minute when you really have to have that wire.
And then trying to untangle the whole thing when you have to trouble shoot it!
Real men have huge tangled and matted nests of wires and they KNOW what every wire is!
As is detailed here and here, Toms Hardware recently performed a media blackout at a Public event, the Million Man Lan Party.
They are currently threatening to sue an online journalist (who happens to be a poor college student) for libel regarding his reporting of this story. Fortunately, the friendly folks at Hardocp have stepped in to provide some legal assistance for the guy, to make sure he is not railroaded into pulling down his editorial describing THG's media shenanigans.
Do your part for Internet Free Speech. Boycott Toms Hardware Guide.
Just a thought...
Remember to follow spec when making your own network cables. Running the wires straight through will cause issues (signal interference). You must have pins 3 and 6 on the same twisted pair, otherwise, the cables won't work after 30 feet or so...
If I had done it correctly, I could have saved 2 trips to the store, and lots of headaches.
Whoa dude. An 802.11 Airport Basestation is all it took for my house. No cable to pull, no holes to drill etc...etc...etc... Yeah, it's not gigabit, but I'm not pullin' multi-gigabit files through the house either. That's for the lab.
Best solution for a home network. Because I'm sorry, if you need more then the 5-20mbps throughput you'll get from 802.11b/g network...then you don't need a home network. You need an office network, at home.
Does wireless have it's drawbacks? Yes, but so do wired networks. I run 5 computers at home on a wireless network, sharing one internet connection through a Linksys Router.
I don't run WEP, but secure my network by changing the default ip address of my router and disabling DHCP. So you have to know the correct subnet to use to get on my network and assign your own ip address.
Perfect security solution? No, but it works for me and I have a great home network with file sharing, print sharing and net access, in a reasonably secure environment for under $200.00 on 5 computers.
I'll stick with my Windows XP that you very much. Easy and safe and I don't need to bother with an@33 9&*$# oWned by war3z_cr3W w0Ot!
Great article...but as it says in the header this is the kind of knowledge that's good for people who own their home rather than rent. I don't have the option to drill holes in the wall and install CAT-5 outlets. And it's not currently in my budget to convert all the existing hosts on my home (read play) network to wireless.
I'd like to see an article about the unique ways in which geeks acquire used hardware...the kind of stories where people who don't understand why on earth some computer savvy individual could possibly want their old PII desk top system which is slowly grinding to a halt under the cross of Win 98!
Ultimately, most of my struggles with slowly building and upgrading my home network have been software related. Looking forward to 10 years from now when I can afford a house and will have the luxury to hide the CAT-5 (or most likely go wireless) in the walls instead of having to run them along the baseboard of our hallways!
I want to set up a wireless network, but I don't want to cut holes in the air. I heard it will lower the resale value of my home.
What's the point of putting an article together if you just hire some guys to do it for you? Is choosing the cable type and faceplate style that big of a deal? That's like saying "I wrote this article about building a computer from scratch, and we just asked Dell to do it for us. Oh, btw, I asked them to use grey face plates instead of the black one."
In Soviet Russia, articles before post read *you*!
In my first flat me and my flatmates (roommates) networked our house. All we had on hand was a knife sharpener and a Mallet. So, knife sharpener was placed against the wall, and given a nice thumb with the mallet. The entry wounds (my name for them) were quite nice and neat, only about 3 cm diameter of disturbed wall. However, the exit wounds on some walls had cracks up to about 1 metre long and actual openings of about 10 cm in diameter.
:)
However, a few well placed posters and a lenient landlord helped
All in all, it was a nice reliable, albeit co-ax, network.
Nowadays I have a nice neat network, using lots of cable ties, packing tape and lots of Cat5. I am currently doing free computer work for a sparky friend in the hope that I can get some Cat5 installed for free when I buy my own home.
http://www.apple.com/airport/
In all seriousness, not to sound "640k is enough..." but why not just go wireless for a home network? IF you have the sw security in place, what's the need for all the speed? Wouldn't an 802.11g setup be enough for downloads, gaming, vnc, p2p, whatever? Seems a lot easier than doing cable drops unless you want to stream DVD's. Wouldn't Divx streaming be fine at 802.11g speed too!?!
I just called up Dell and told them what to put in my box. I told them to put in P4 3Ghz, instead of 2.8GHz because it's better, and only slightly more expensive. I also told them what color cables to use. Moderators: It's funny, because it's True
In Soviet Russia, articles before post read *you*!
Out of the 6 ethernet capable devices I have in my home, only 2 could take a wireless card - the others (an xterminal, slotless all in one system, xbox, dreamcast w/brodband adapter) are out of luck. If you could actually put wireless cards into all those systems, it migh be worth it.
Wireless cards also cost 4 - 5x the same as a 10/100 card, and offer less than half the performance. When I'm copying data, or burning a DVD off of a network server, I need that bandwidth. You may not, especially if you don't have a lot of data movement needs.
And I don't have to worry about security at all.
Seriously, if you're building a place to live, get wired. It'll cost a bit more, but I get the feeling that wireless will go the way of telephone modems - stuck at 56K and 54Mbit/sec for a long time, never improving (due to standards compliance).
All this while you can get a Gigabit ethernet card for $70. Saving a few minutes copying files is worth having a wire.
I made the mistake of reading this entire article. I recommend to all those who entertain the idea skip it. Important questions such as cat6 vs. 5e vs wireless a/b/g aren't given sufficient coverage. Instead it reads like an advertisement for some lame-o contractor. Few people build a home network like this. The guy tells you how to hire a contractor to do the hole punching for you! This isnt the slashdot way: we like punching our own holes in the walls and crawling around in attics and toiling in insulation. Sorry THG, usually your articles have at least marginal worth, this one was a real loser. From someone who has installed their own (highly pleasing, if you know what i mean) home network, dont read this article. Cover your eyes. If you want the advice this article gives you, I can summarize in one sentence. Hire a contractor. On the other hand, if you read slashdot, go to fry's, buy 1000m of cat5/e and a few face plates, get out the hammer and the pocket knife and start doing it big...
Another idea for a home network is to run special cable rather than separate phone, ethernet, and coaxial.
It is bundled Cat5, telephone, and coaxial, and comes in a tight package not much larger than heavily shielded (RJ-6 coax?).
You can easily run central distribution of phones, video on demand, networking...etc...
Kill 3 birds with one stone....
I thought about starting to put holes in walls etc but taking that my walls are about 2 foot thick I decided to just go wireless. 11Mb all round the house and into the garden and not one hole drilled. OK not as fast as wired but so much neater and easier
Rus
Cheap UK and US VPS
Plenum cable is pretty much the same as regular CAT, except it's more expensive and more fire resistant.
Regular CAT in a fire can act like a fuse, moving the fire from one part of the house to another inside the walls.
A few years ago, I thought ahead, and decided that it necessary in the future to install ethernet at home. Therefore, without the permission of the builder or subcontractor, I just snuck in some wire and stapeled it like they did. Apparently, the subcontractors that did the plastering and sheetrock had no blueprints, as they installed phone jacks where my wires ended (what a deal... it would have cost me $50 for each jack for them to do it officially). About a year ago, I finally got broadband and decided to install a wired home network. The wire that I had installed earlier was 8 lead, and phones needed only 2 wires. Therefore, I wired up the other 6 into a Cat3 ethernet network, which can still do 100mbps just fine.
Cat5 wire usually has four pairs. Only two pairs are needed (the pins 1,2 pair and the pins 3,6 pair). I have run two circuits on one cat5 cable. It seems to work fine.
Right off the bat, I see one very evil problem with the article- they show cables with those $@#!ing boots.
I'm gonna make this as clear as possible:
NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER BUY ETHERNET CABLES WITH BOOTS.
Why? Because you can't plug them into switches/hubs/routers unless the device has spacing to allow for the boot. Many, many devices don't! The boots also do a great job of interfering with the case of many systems with builtin ethernet.
Oh, and here's another tip for the readers, a VERY common myth- I didn't see if they mentioned this, but you CANNOT just do "same color order on both ends". The whole point behind twisted pair is that the twisted pairs reduce loss from magnetics. In order to take advantage of that, you have to use the pairs properly- ie, you need to put the pairs on the rx and tx pairs on the connector, or you've got a signal flowing over different pairs, and that's WRONG. I had to correct several coworkers at two different jobs, who were wiring cables any old way, just making the ends the same. Surprise, the cables worked like shit. Folks- 100BaseT spec only allows for ONE INCH of untwisted wire on the entire cable, so don't go making really long untwisted leaders into the connectors. It's a pain to get the hang of it and getting 'em all lined up right, but it needs to be done properly!
Please help metamoderate.
Really, I don't get /. citing all these THG articles. If there is a any site on the net ten years past it's prime, it's that waste of bandwidth at Tom's House & Garden.
what ?
simoniker is dead ?????
I thought it was major overkill. A real geek would have just ran some cat-5 to the rooms, hooked it upto a switch or hub in the closet and done!
Who needs a contractor and wallplates??
Real geeks have loose cables laying all over the house!!!
>A project that began as a simple network installation was morphing into something more complex
The most dangerous words you can think during a remodeling project are "as long as we're here, we might as well..."
i'll just watch the movie
B&Q (well at least the bigger stores) now stock a whole range of home networking kit that is wau cheaper than same stuff in PC World. Not a lot of people know that.
I used to think the process described in the article was the way to build a home network, and that's why I didn't have a home network. Like a big LEGO sculpture, it's cool to look at, and some geeks will make a hobby of it, but it's not a project for most people who just want a useful end-product.
Now there's WiFi, and even the cheap 802.11b hardware is fine for sharing files, printers, and broadband. Buy a USB adapter for each remote computer and you don't even need to open the cases. You can have everyone connected in an hour. Now THAT is practical home networking.
I moved my servers to the basement but the switch, router, cable modem, and telephone trunc. begin in said closet.
My condo is wired with four pair cat 3 wiring for the phones. The wiring was installed before the floor, and runs underneath it. The crawl space is way too small to run new wires. I was resigned to using wireless until I realized that the phone wires are looped from location to location rather then home run back to the telco block in the back of the building (This is a 5 unit condo; mine is the middle unit). Since one of the loops went directly from where the switch is to where I needed the computer, I decided to try and use two of the unused pairs in the Cat 3 for ethernet. It worked! I also get full 100 Mhz speed. See, the Cat 5 spec specifies 100 Mhz speed over a 300+ foot run, while my run of cat 3 is only about 35 feet. Yes, the (single) phone line does run in one of the other pairs, including the DSL. I borrowed a cable tester and found that this did not affect my speed at all. This scheme cost nothing but an hour's time terminating the jacks and saved me hundreds of dollars over having a professional run cables under the floor. Finally, I'm typing this right now on the bedroom computer, the very one that's hooked up with telephone wire to the network.
1. Post infomercial on THG
/.
2. Get picked up by
3. ???
4. Profit!
Seriously, this article was nothing more than a shameless plug, an informercial for a consulting firm. If there was any reference to total cost of the project, broken down by labor and equipment (they brought their lead engineer and project manager for Chrissake!), I must have completely missed it. (Maybe I was too busy studying the pictures, which all looked suspiciously like hammers to me).
What I'd like to see is a DIY home networking guide for the rest of us.
Run 3 Cat5(e or 6. whatever) and 2 RG6 in each bundle. Use a switch in your core (do you game? Who wants collisions?) and a good router/firewall on the edge. The wireless network is for PDA's and tablets; make sure you enable WEP and shut down broadcast of the ESSID. Set up a Linux content server and hack your Tivo.
Now you have a real network.
Remember: a Sawzall is your friend!
What a shitty article. I'm a teenager and have wired pleanty of houses around the neighborhood. You don't need to hire a damn contractor (electricians are usually really bad about pulling cable, as they're used to pulling phone cable and not data cable). If you have a drill, some bits, string, a few bolts, and a drywall saw you can do it all yourself. If you do more than a few jacks throughout the house go out and get a fish tape, a nice super long drill bit and some friends to help you on the weekend.
Nothing can beat my used 10baseT hub and some recycled ethernet cables... all sharing my files and internet among my family just fine.
When I and my three roommates moved into our house we rent right now, we were lucky: the landlords were just finishing the renovations, and we (being graduates with IT degrees) quickly suggested they let us run CAT5 all over the house while things were still in the "rebuilding" phase. After about 3 minutes of describing the benefits, they agreed, and we quickly got a network map laid out.
We now have CAT5, phone, and coaxial cable running to 7 rooms, all faceplated, across 3+ floors. They all meet in the basement of the house, with the chimney acting as a backbone guide. The Cable modem, router, and switch are all down there, on a custom built shelf. We run a Wireless base station in the attic for all our laptops, and have almost no visible wiring (the only visible wiring being the cat5 to the desk).
The point is if you start off from the beginning and plan for cat5 around the house, it makes it a lot easier. Granted, we had our landlords/carpenters to help us find our way into walls and floors to get it from the basement to the attic. But it works, we've never had a problem, and the house is now cleanly wired for ethernet, which our landlords love, for future tenents.
So yes, a little planning goes a LONG way!
Your home has phone lines, right?
Go onto EBay and get some nice US Robotics Courrier HST modems, one for each room. Next, find some speedy 486DX-50 (not DX2-50) boxen, also one per room.
As you add more and more 486 and HST modems, both your compute speed and comm throughput tends towards infinte.
This is the beauty of the Home Beowulf Network!
Ethernet is for wussies. Real Men (tm) do it at 16.8k.
And when you move, fill the holes with tooth paste.
If you cut some holes for wiring boxes, you tape a piece of notebook paper over the hole and paint the wall. I guess if you wanted to do it the home depot way, get some mesh and some spackle. Now remember no home network is complete with out at least 3 separate Unices. So grab a few SparcStations, an SGI or two, throw in an x86 box running Linux or BSD and you've got a good start.
Uh...how about the most important consideration of all...COST!. Dude didn't mention one time the actual cost to hire Mr. Professional-Insured-Network-Installer!
***
Radio Shack. You've got questions...we've got blank stares(TM).
Strip the wires, and you will have a headache.
Best $8.00 I never spent
I skimmed over the article and kinda looked bewildered when I saw that rack monster. From the look of this it kinda take the 'new' this old house stance instead of the 'old' this old house stance. That is to say, looks like they are doing new construction as opposed to a geeky retrofit.
Knowing your house plan is important as well as plan plan planning.
With DSL you have a bit of room to play. If possible (and environment permitting) I like to tap the phone line right where it comes into the house (usually the basement). Setting a nice shelf on the wall for your modem and (mandatory) router. A small 12" patch panel (larger if you want to do a phone retrofit). With Cable you are sometimes more tied to where the cable comes in, and thats not always the basement.
But planning is the key. Find where you want to be the heart of the network and try to run stuff there. If possible split the incoming broadband only once before the downlink device (modem).
Now comes the big question mark that hangs over most people's heads.. how to I do the jacks? Most people are just plain not familiar with the products in this category. There are several manufactures of this stuff I have experience, and happen to like the Panduit mini-com line of products. Most of the vendors have similar competing products. These jacks are not cheap. Try not to skimp and use low quality product. These are modular jacks that snap into not only the patch panel but also wall units that mount into standard electrical boxes (use the blue plastic ones please.. don't slice your data lines). The jacks are color coded and then snap together. You (almost) cant mess it up.
Now nearly all of your do-it-yourself people will not have a proper TDR (time domain reflectometer) to do exhaustive testing with. If you buy one of those 15 buck line continuity tester and if you use the (nearly) mistake proof jacks, you will probably be just fine for your updated geek home of tomorrow.
PS. Just because I like to my self I recommend that you run 2 lines if you are going to run one. The cable is cheap and you are already committed to the effort of running it.
PPS I'll leave the cable choice discussions up to other threads and the article. But if possible, match your jacks to the type of cable you choose.
I've also done thin-net installations, I can answer a few questions there if someone is a masochist:)
(next)
This is my
(next)
story about how
(next)
I thought I was a
(next)
Real Man for hiring
(next)
a contractor to do my
(next)
manly work. Call me 404.
Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental.
Any serious geek has a raised floor and a communications rack in the linen closet to tie it all together. This article is for people who prefer ceramic tile and carptet to the clunck of a raised floor.
'Same speed C but faster'
The 4th of July is coming up. Start with Lady Fingers and work your way up to M-80's and such.
YES, and this will give me the Borg look I am going after!
Here's Mr Green, he's so serene, he's got a TV in every room
hehehehehehehehehehehehe, now that was funny!
offtopic but fscking hilarious
Ok, so you're a geek building your own house, and you want to wire it up at the beginning.
Therefore, you buy your cable and you do it. Sheesh. It's not that hard. If nothing else, "Doug", in "home_network-17", was completely wrong.
If nothing else find sone cute electical engineer you want to bang, and take it out in trade.
Karma: Food Fight (Mostly affected by Date Plate).
"While we could have gone with Category 3 cabling, the cost difference was minor, so we chose to go with the higher quality cabling. (We have no evidence that it makes a difference for ordinary telephone service lines (POTS) one way or the other.) "
There are no difference between category 3 and 5 when it comes to POTS. It really sounds like : "well, let's take the most expensive one. As it's more expensive, it should be better"
I know, they are other reasons, e.g. to get same cabling everywhere, but that's not what they did.
#include "coucou.h"
Oh, and yes, non-plenum cable can indeed carry fire from one part of a building to another.
Well I have a nice home network that consists of copper strung through the walls. And if you want a professional looking job here are some tips and tricks to use:
- first place to check is your basement. Older homes might have had duct work for forced air heating but since switched to steam/hot water. I have helped my friend wire his whole house using the old ducts as pathways for running the cable.
- IF you want to run cable through the walls the outer walls of your home are filled with insulation thus making it near impossible to pull cable. the next best walls are walls inside your home that both side of the walls are inside your home. they are hollow and can easily have cable pulled through them.
- Closets are your friend as you can drill holes in them without having to worry about people seeing them. I have a cable that runs from my basement to the second floor closet through a hollow inner wall and then through the closet floor into the ceiling into the attic where I pulled the wire along to another room and drilled down through its closet to run the cable.
- If you want to know where studs are inside the walls of your home the standard spacing is 16 inches from the nearest corner. most any tape measure will have 16 inch markings for stud locations. But be aware this method isn't always 100% as some times they might be a much as 2 inches off.
- attics are also another great place to run cable. locate the room below you want to run cable to and drill from the attic to that rooms closet if it has one to conceal the cable.
- most homes have a molding around the floor. you can remove it with a pry bar without damaging it and cut holes into the sheet rock or plaster and run wire through them. Replace the molding to cover up the hole. always remember to not make the hole higher then the molding otherwise you just made a mess. This is a good way to get cable from one room to adjacent room/closet.
- If you do have forced air heating/cooling you can run cable inside the ducts. If you do decide to do this make sure you use plenum rated cable to stay compliant with local/national building codes.
- Buying cable can sometimes be a problem as you do not know what type or brand to buy. there are two basic cable types regular jackets which most likely be PVC or plenum rated. Plenum cable is designed to give off little or no toxic smoke when burned. this is used inside buildings that use the space inside a drop ceiling as an air duct as well. Also if you plan to run the cable inside an air duct you must use plenum cable to comply with national building codes. So if its just the inside of your home walls the cheap PVC is fine. Also don't go overboard and buy expensive beldin cat 5e stuff. I bought a roll and found it difficult to work with when it came to making patch cables. The crap they sell at the Home Depot is just fine and works good even for gigabit.
These are good ways to conceal cable and do it the same way an electrical contractor would. Some of you might be a little nervous knocking a hole on a wall or ripping up floor boards but if you want to do it yourself and save big bucks you certainly can. I have personally ran over 500ft of cat5 in my home to 10 different computers in 5 different rooms in my home. And if you ever saw the work you would think a contractor did it.
Make sure your firewall has a third leg for the wireless devices. Use the firewall to control wireless access to the rest of the netowrk, ideally via IPSEC or somesuch.
Ive said it before and ill say it again... THG = Slime.
Depends on what network standard yuo are using and over what length and under what conditions. For example, you can hook 10tx over 4 straight, untwised wires over a couple feet with no trouble. You can not do the same for 1000tx over a long distance with teh same cable conditions.
Also you can exceed specs and have things work sometimes. 100metres is teh spec, but I've seen it exceeded. However when you jury righ stuff, like doing to signals over 1 wire, youa re asking for problems. Expect more collisions, jabbers and general errors, or perhasp for it to not work at all.
The specs do happen for a reason.
Naturally this wiring will be no good whatsoever for gigabit and higher speeds.... If I ever want to upgrade from 100 megabit I'll have to rewire the house.
(For the skeptics: yes, you really only need four wires (two pairs) for 100 Mbps fast ethernet. Eight-wire cables are a big fat waste of copper!)
I've also set up a similar 100 Mbps LAN over CAT-3 at a friend's house and it works fine for him too.
First: Choice of plate terminators, angled is good! THG said it, they keep out dust, and in a home with kids this is a very good thing.
Second: finding cable runs is a very good thing. You can't go wrong if you choose where your cable is going very carefully. Just think, that 50' length of expensive Cat6 you just cut won't reach to the one place you need it, like the office upstairs where your Significant Other wants to place his/her computer because he/she likes the view. Also, stringing cable outside means that you could be letting in bugs (ants, termites, wasps and bees come to mind, all of which are detrimental to any home owner) and rodents (mice can easilly tear open a hole if they get a handhold).
Third: Neatness factor was a plus. Those nifty cable loops that they used to string the cable around the basement means no holes. Not boring holes in load-bearing joists and studs can save your bum if you are moving in say... a grand piano and your movers drop it right on that critical spot.
Mentioning some of the hardware used: great! I like seeing hardware mentioned. This means I can go out and look up honest-to-god reviews of it elsewhere if all the information isn't available on the first review I check. Also, pointing out the cable tester they used was important. When/if I decide to wire my own home I'll deffinitely look for a similar tool.
Cable versus DSL et al: another good point, find out who supplies what in your area and can you use it? Also, how much does it cost? Personally I would not have opted for DirecTV and just gone with cable all-around. But that was his choice.
I agree, overall this review could have used alot more meat in the "why'd we choose this bit of kit over that." department. However, as we all know the internet has an almost unlimited supply of information on any topic, just go look it up!
However, consulting with a contractor can be a very useful tool, even if you decide not to use the services of that contractor, they can provide you with useful information free of charge! If we all could do spot-on wiring of our houses the first time through we wouldn't need contractors for anything. On top of that, if you all missed it, the article mentioned that the writer and his family were prepairing to move in to a new home. As anyone who has moved in to a new home, and supervised its construction, knows that getting other people to do grunt work is a good thing.
Once more into the birch deer fiends!
If you were going to build a house for yourself with network cable in the walls, why would you use something that burns readily and creates loads of toxic smoke?
If your network cable is burning, you already have far bigger problems on your hands. You realize that most insulation will burn as well, not to mention the drywall and wood that your house is essentially built out of. Yeah, it's all firetreated, but when it does burn it gives off far more noxious smoke than cat5 will.
Your original statement is still wrong - there is no requirement for plenum cable in residences. There's no need either, unless you're running it through HVAC ducts (which is an entirely separate violation of residential building codes in the first place).
ryan's mentioning of "sponsorship" is rather interesting...anyone else notice the prominent linksys product placement in thg's networking guide?
Another useful tool for the initial string threading is flexible curtain rail. It is quite stiff and able to be threaded for quite a long way.
See my journal, I write things there
The best time to do it is of course when you have major work to do on the house. Mine needed major repairs, so I stripped it down to the bare stone and replaced the interior walls, too.
At that time, I put in the cabling. It all goes to a patch-panel in my under the stairs 'wiring closet'.
Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
Seriously, I agree, why get a contractor and why write an article about it. I use contractors at work, but every metre of Cat-5 at home is mine.
See my journal, I write things there
I use "foam in a can" to fill in the holes.
Shredded newspaper will work as well, then spackle over.
The rest of the world doesn't have wooden houses...
BTW, the easiest way to string wires in a North American house, is through the cold air return to the furnace. Guess why you don't want to use the host air ducts for that.
Fortunately, the friendly folks at Hardocp have stepped in to provide some legal assistance for the guy, to make sure he is not railroaded into pulling down his editorial describing THG's media shenanigans.
More bullshit drama from HardOCP. Last week, it was accusations about Futuremark. This week it's about some supposed media blackout, and accusations that THG might be suing some other website. I mean, come on. Read THG's news page. ABC News and WHAS 840 radio even did a broadcast from the event. Does this sound like a "media blackout" to you?
"as you can see from the coverage on www.sudhian.com, any other press that came along was treated respectfully and was not hindered in any way. You can also visit the organizers at www.lanwar.com, and you will see clearly that there was no media blackout. In fact, I personally recommeded to the organizers that they get as much as press as they could. Local press such as WHAS 11 TV was there."
And what business is any of this of HardOCP? At what point did Hard|OCP stop being a hardware site, and start being a fucking soap opera? I've seen twelve year old girls that are less into gossip and rumors.
I wish I'd read this before I attempted - now I have a few (ok, 8) unsightly holes in my wall.
Worst of all, it was a wireless network. *rimshot* Thank you. You've been a great crowd.
Top 10 statements, if you use a wireless Airport network, you will not prefacing with "I'm sorry for...":
there is no requirement for plenum cable in residences.
That's a fairly bold statment. After all, many codes are city and even neighborhood based in many areas. Sure, there is no NATIONAL requirment for it, but many municipalities might. The only way to know for sure would be to do an exaustive search which would take time, since much of that information is not available on the internet.
Having recently had a fire, I would recommend it. The drywall is actually a pretty good fireblock. Made from gypsum, it WILL burn, but not nearly as easily as wood. I know this because I was in the room at the time. The nearby wood was on fire, the drywall next to it was not, but the paint on it was.
Fire tends to get into walls and celings through perforations in the drywall, such as light fixtures, and various plug or outlet jacks, whether they be phone, power, cable or network.
If the cable were to catch fire in one of these, it could easily transfer the fire from where there is nothing else particularly flamable, to something quite a bit more flamable.
It might not be needed, but most people who have had a house fire would rather be a bit paranoid than go on the cheap, and risk another. House fires really, really suck.
There is a civil war coming in the United States. Remember which side has most of the guns
I was disappointed to see this "serious" article that essentially revolves around picking up the phone and paying money to have someone else do the work.
I woudn't even let a contractor manage my framing, much less my wiring. This is a good article for someone setting up a Mac network who doesn't want to get their pants dirty. Oh, but then they'd be using WeeFee instead, wouldn't they? It would be good to add some quality adiophile site banners as well.
You'd be better off running it at 100Mb/s, now, wouldn't you? 100 Megabits a Second...
Conversion Rate Optimisation French / English consultant
I have seen many tutorials on how to build a network, but they only cover the easy to do hardware (hook a wire to the hub and the other end to the computers!) Where is there a tutrorial for people who dont know alot about networks but don't want to use the "Internet Networking Wizard" that didn't even come with our OS?
Regarding all the wired vs wireless discussion so far, why not both? (After all, I thought networking overkill was the slashdot way...) You can pick up an airport base station for around $100 on ebay, and if you don't need a router, a simple wifi bridge will do the trick - bam, wired (for higher speed) + wireless (for convenience when you feel like sitting in the recliner or out on the patio.)
Installed in mid 2001 in Australia. At that time, the cost of getting 9 x ethernet ports, 10 x telephone outlets between two lines, TV cable to 4 extra locations and changing existing crappy 600-series telephone sockets to RJ-11 was cheaper than buying wireless bridging gear for the three main computers I had at that time.
:P And I don't feel like implementing 802.1X/LEAP/VPNs at home either.
Plus I got 100mbit ethernet instead of 11mbit wireless, and it meant that in the future I was able to add a networked printer in another room without having to buy yet more wireless gear.
While I'm more than capable of doing the wiring myself (I have done in many north american homes), in Australia many homes, such as mine, are all brick, instead of stud and dry-wall. This makes installing the points a significantly difficult task, so for A$1400 all up (US$700 at the time), I think I got out of it pretty well. This also included a 8 port switch and signal amp for the TV signal.
I don't trust wireless security to the point of wanting my own access point, thanks muchly. I can put it in my insecure DMZ, but someone might use my bandwidth and monthly data allowance, which just costs me more
Okay, okay...it's late and I'm tired...plus I'm an RF guy.... I'm sure everyone knows what I meant to say...
I've read the comments and I hear people saying, "Use Wireless, it's less hassle," as well as networking horror stories.
Well, I've got about both. My first day on the job as a High-Speed Cable installer, I ran my drill through a power main. Knocked me on my ass, and I had to buy a new drill and pay to have the customers house re-wired. Not a fun experience. What did I learn? Look on both sides of the walls, and always ask the customer if they'd like their jack there.
In my 'house,' Each 'Data box' has 2 Cat5E, a fiber, 2 2-line phone jacks, and 2 Coax. I use this so I can provide a secure/DMZ, have the ability to upgrade, as well as send signals (e.g., videocams) to other devices in my house. The only reason that I use wireless is so I can use the occassional Free Access point that's floating about, and war-driving. My WAP in my house is on, however, it's on a seperate vlan, and no one really uses it.
Stay away from wireless--sure it's easy, but, do you really want your data out there for the world to see? For the effort that you use to run your wire and make sure the job is done right (e.g., use Mini-Com's from Panduit, make sure they're snapped down all the way, and make sure you've punched down everything/terminated your fiber right), you'll have the satisification that you've done a job right, and that your data is safe and secure.
I disable sigs...do you?
1-Install OpenBSD
2-Configure PF.
3- ???
4- Profit!!
Geeks are pedantic, probably because they actually fear someone will read a [random] comment and then end up thinking that's the correct term for it, and the fear is too great not to hit reply.
I was trying to get the cycles per second / tour de France joke in there actually, but I guess that most /. readers don't follow the tour anyway. Oh well.
Conversion Rate Optimisation French / English consultant
I did mine (a small 3 bedroomed detached house in England) all by myself.
I was fortunate in the fact my walls are of plasterboard construction so I had no problems running cable down them, except between floors. I put a switch and a wireless router in the attic.
What did I learn?
a) If doing it again I would use some conduit pipe to make rewiring easier. However I did put 4 CAT5 ports in each room, which is enough for any small house!
b) buy a big roll of cable and make your own cables - its much cheaper that way.
c) Plan and check before you knock holes in walls
d) I'm a good network installer but a terrible plasterer, put any holes in walls where they'll be most hidden
Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
Karma: Chameleon
I entirely understand that the wardens typically frown on putting holes in walls ever since that whole Shawshank mess... but I didn't know that our penal system gave inmates personal computer access to take advantage of such a system. Do you have problems with your cellmate constantly trying to use your connection to DL pr0n? I guess that wouldn't be so bad if it keeps him from getting funny ideas about you in the wee hours of the morning...
Blah blah blah shameless plug
But seriously, there is no mention of what this all cost, how can it be an article telling us the best way to do stuff and then not go in to the price that was splashed out.
With scrounged cables and second hand routers and the like i have my home network set up, 3 pcs, hifi equip etc for less than a hundred quid.
Things like this just get my goat, was i blind or was there actually mention of the price, please help me out here, i put a starting bid in of £3000 (just shy of $5000) for the whole lot including labour, any advances or better guess's.
im bored and tired, never use siebel data warehouse's, that that be a lesson to you
Kingdom of Loathing (www.kingdomofloathing.com) Addicted is me
This site was pretty helpful a few years ago when I first got dsl and wanted to split it between 2 computers. They seem to have good howtos for most basic situations, though it's mostly windows oriented.
routergod has an interesting approach to explaining somewhat complex concepts to non-technical people.
This is well worth the read if you are thinking about wiring a new house for ethernet, coax, and telephone.
:).
I have been researching this topic in my spare time lately, and I have to say this article is exactly what I was looking for. I really like the 19" rack idea, nice touch (maybe a bit overkill, but quite artistic).
Newcome sounds like a great contractor to go with, this article shows how much attention they pay to detail and arriving at your goals without compromise. Unfortunatly I live in Canada and would probably have to find an alternative contractor.
I read this article from start to finish, and to say the least I am very impressed. Heck I want to move in.
The only thing that might bother me with a setup like this would be the colour of the faceplates, depending on the paint you use in the room, a colour matching the paint would be preferrable. But I guess you can't get everything exactly as you want it.
I would love to try something like this in the future when I buy a home, or even just have the opportunity to attempt such an installation for someone else with a new home, provided I get the opportunity to play with it afterward
Nice work, very professional and clean.
Oh, and would anyone care to guess how much this kind of install would cost?
Also, how much could I expect to pay for a similar 19" rack? (I have not had much opportunity to use rackmount equipment)
Thanks!
--
Matthew
u5vmpck02@sneakemail.com
2ft walls?! Oh my God, rf0 doesn't live in the U.S[1] and now you're all confused at the concept of stone walls! Whatever will you do?
& they say that Americans are insular. Say it ain't so!
[1]: From the webpage. The very one linked to in rf0's details, "Goods and services provided by 65535.net (United Kingdom)." How hard was that?
Don't fuck around. Need a hole? Use a sledgehammer. Fast, makes a nice, neat hole that's big enough for about 115 Cat5 cables. None of this sissy shit like wireless and threading little bitty cables through little bitty holes and fastening the ends on only AFTER threading the cables.
Worried about the landlord? Screw that! If you can afford more than one computer then you can afford to lose the security deposit.
Oh... and then do what I did. Move to New Zealand. Mwahhahahahaha
If you're happy with 10MBit, then using the coax cables for TV that are already in your walls is a cool thing. You can simply turn your TV-outlet into a LAN-outlet that way :) That's what I do ...
I'd like also some advise about how to build my home from scratch (where I would be able to build my home network from scratch) as I don't have any home right now. Anyone?
Less is more !
... that don't wear condoms. It does not feel the same, we are faithful to each other and all that self delusional rap.
Wait until somebody wardrives in front of your house, uses your network to download some nasty stuff (kiddie porn) and you are left with trying to explain to the police how it was not you who downloaded the nasty stuff.
And people here are suppossed to be the technically literate. Shudder....
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
.... is in danger of being compromised.
To assume otherwise is irreponsible.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
What'd the 1 Tampon say to the other Tampon? Nothing, they were both stuck up cunts.
Wi-Fi. 'Nuff said.
Okay, if you are a Mac user, that will cost you actually seven letters, but "Airport" sounds much nicer...
For what it's worth, I documented my experience wiring my home for network and phone here:
http://spookyworld.dnsalias.com/bhjp/d/74
Note: This article is now two years old, so technologies like wireless and gigabit ethernet were out of reach.
Wooden armaments to battle your imaginary foes!
... to get the job done.
My cable modem is near my TV, but I wanted the computer in the other room[s], so I used HomePlug ethernet bridge to go over the electrical outlets to get there. You only get ~14Mbps but that beats the 1.5Mbps I'll never get on my cable modem. That then comes out of another Homeplug device into my linux server/firewall. From there its off to a second physical interface into a hub to which I plug my 802.11g Wireless Access Point and Sun Ultra 5. The WAP services two laptops.
CMHPHPFSHUBWAP
Cable Modem = CM
HomePlug = HP
Firewall/Server = FS
I looked at this after I had it all and I kinda thought about whether I should have gone with an all in one WAP/Hub/Cable Modem solution, but with wanting all the stuff in separate rooms I would have more or less ended up with the same number of devices at greater cost.
I guess it just depends whether you want all the stuff where you can plug it into one hub, don't care about wires strung across the house, or if you want it all over and plan to make it somehow look reasonable.
I suppose I could have run CAT 5 through the walls, but I guess I still would have wanted wireless for the laptops. The big motivator for not doing this was the fear that CAT 7e would come out tomorrow and I'd 'have' to rewire. OK that's a little absurd, but not too much so, in the ever evolving tech world.
Well, duh.
If you were a cat in a fire, would you just stand there?
Any sufficiently well-organized Government is indistinguishable from bullshit.
If you were going to build a house for yourself with network cable in the walls, why would you use something that burns readily and creates loads of toxic smoke?
So you dont use carpet, or wood in your house? if you think your electrical wiring is plenum rated you either have been sniffing the fumes off of a new spool of wire too much or you are simply so misinformed that you sound like a complete idiot to your local contractor.
your carpet, carpet pad, paint on your walls, electrical wiring, the treated wood against the concrete surfaces, as well as the regular lumber in your walls all are more of a worry in a fire than a very insignificant amount of cat-5e wiring..
stop freaking out about a non issue, you must be one of those horribly overpaid dot-com idiots that know absolutely nothing about construction.
Ouch... my sympathies. Had a tree fall through my roof (as in, new skylight) about 9 months ago and it sucked... a fire is far, far worse though. Hope everyone was safe and it didn't destroy anything irreplacable.
When I was looking at the codes, the prices, and whatnot a couple years ago the plenum cable was about 5x more expensive... turning a $100 roll of cable into a $500 one. Yeah, $400 is cheap for peace of mind, but since all the sites I read stated it was unnecessary I did cheap out. I know the telephone wire I ran isn't fire resistant, and I doubt the RG-6 was either, so even if I'd run plenum a fire would have still had several other methods of transit.
just get some long cat 5 that matches your exterior color and staple it down the side. it's temporary, but you dont have to rip your house apart. it works well enough and if you match the colors close enough you can't see it. +10 for saving victorian houses everywhere...
I just used a pre-made cable as my wiring guide when I ran about 50 ft in my house. They worked on the first try. That was a first in my book, I was really surprised that happened.
Oh, here's my tip - mark the ends of each cable you run with hash marks, so you don't have to trace them back every time you forget which one is which.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
Yep- I have CAT5 snaking from the basement up three floors. Oh sure, I've got a WAP, but thats for the laptop (so I can /. while I watch tv, or do, er, something, in the bathroom, while dumping core, uhm) my other machines need WIRES.
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
When you run CAT5, you will be close to pipes, electrical lines, etc. There's always the potential for danger.
While I imagine you're right about the qualifications and the illegality...one has to wonder how much of a strict qualification/certification process is necessary to the skill of drilling holes, installing face plates and laying CAT-5 cable...it's not like you can electrocute yourself with CAT-5.
Sure, it might look cool and geeky, but as I am sure that many slashdotters will be able to attest to, many MUSIC merchandisers make quality, afforable, SLICK looking -- and short -- 19" racks.
Granted, if you are mounting an X-Serve or anything else that is three feet deep, you might run into a few less options, but they are there.
gear could even be mounted at an angle, with a door for soundproofing, and set up with quiet cooling rods to address heat.
much better than that huge rack in the basement, IMHO
The Scorecard: The Official Point System for Keeping Score in the Relationship Game is a hilarious book (seriously, it's LOL kind of stuff) which tells men what they've scored for what they've done in various relationship scenarios.
Amazon says it's out of print, but you could probably find it in someplace like Walden's humor section...
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0
So long, michael. Don't let the door hit you...
I've just completed wiring my den for ethernet/phone/cable/fibre channel. Exciting. But the real fun occurred when I wished to upgrade my bathroom drain to a little 'pop plug' instead of the 'twist plug'. So I removed it, cranked on the pipe, only to find out the pipe sheared off the base... at which point I fished it out, cleaned it up, and then the trap cracked.... and the water leaked out.... so I removed that then found out that the cast iron pipe was corroded away.... - entire time taken- 4 days for a 30 minute 'valve' replacement. :)
My house is done the same way. CatV cable to the phone jacks, like 24 pulls throughout the house. If I want to use one for the computer network I pull off the wall connector, replace it with a RJ45 female wall connection, figure out which one on the 24 port punchdown block it is (this is the hard part) and pull that cable up, crimp on a RJ45 connection and plug it into my switch. Easy.
Glonoinha the MebiByte Slayer
...by all means do it your self. Unless of course you WANT to spend too much money.
Avoid power lines.
A chimp could handle it in this case.
Avoid power lines.
You will need: a drill, a hammer, a staple gun. And the materials (wall boxes, cable, face plates).
Avoid power lines.
While you are at it: run some speaker cable too.
Avoid power lines.
I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
Orange / White
Orange
Green / White
Blue
Blue / White
Green
Brown / White
Brown
When you have the connector in your hand with the pins facing you, that is the order to line them up in (left to right.)
I am not saying it is the only way to do it, but it is the only way I do it.
Glonoinha the MebiByte Slayer
The only place we ended up with any holes was in the basement ceiling. A lot of the wiring to the 2nd floor was done through the attic since our house did not have fireblocking. Made running the cable a lot easier. Anyway, here are the pictures
If you're building a new house, why the hell wouldn't you put in fiber? It wouldn't be much more compared to your mortgage.
If you really want to plan for the future, fiber is the best way to go.
I would love an article that deserved the title "Building A (Serious) Home Network From Scratch". This isn't it.
I want to see how to open my wall with the least destruction. How to snake it up to the attic. How to snake it up to the plywood under the carpet in the second floor. Then, how to patch drywall.
I want to see how to effectively route wires from all over the house to a punchdown block in a closet. I don't need to see ethernet cable connectors every step of the way, we're talking about a serious network. PUNCH DOWN BLOCKS! There is, of course, a discussion of conduit. People who have done it and found a need, along with a few sentences about people who have spent (how long does it take?) a few hours to do it and found it to be a waste of time. Eventually, because it's only a Home Network, we probably just go with wires and no conduit, but we've at least thought about conduit and feel better for it.
This Serious Home Network probably also has jacks to tie in the neighbors for bandwidth sharing or LAN gaming, or possibly some other fancy stuff, but we're not wasting our page views on how to cut down a rack. We can figure that stuff out.
I think it would be best to look towards the future and use CAT6 cables for network and phone. I would probably use a all-in-one cable like http://smarthome.com/8682.html it has (2)CAT6 / (2) RG6 Coax / (2) Fibre all in one tight jacket for easy pulling, even if you don't use the fibre I would run it anyways and just not put on the fibre connectors
http://www.leadmagnet.50megs.com
It was fun and pretty easy, even for first-timers. Especially fun was fishing the cables in the attic with over 90 degree summer heat outside.
1 Gb Ethernet, Cat 6 cabling, 19 inch rack? I know big corporations whose network is put to shame by this setup.
Still, I would be looking for something more in the "ideal" home network, such as a POTS to IP-telephony gateway, and a cable/air TV - video server gateway. Why waste effort cabling an ugly coax and telephone cable when everything could run on top of the ether? This would also simplify the plate setup as his contracter suggested. I know that IP telephones are still expensive, but as I see it, money is not an issue in this setup.
Another point, I hope he OWNS this house. Can you imagine his landlord saying "well, I don't think I'll renew your contract next year."... GGHHHAAAAAA!!!!
My other OS is the MCP!
I spent hours shuffling around and lying in that tiny space, hooking up cable and tacking it to the structure. The payoff was that the only holes inside the house were for the wall jack. I came up inside the walls from underneath.
I got to know the wildlife down there very well (there's less than you might imagine). I still trade emails with some Black Widows I met.
--- Ban humanity.
Check this and this out! Takes up a good portion of the kitchen! :P
:)
AND.. my girlfriend doesn't mind it at all. She hits up oldnavy.com three or four times a week and all is good. Oh, and having everything in the kitchen like that is great for when you need recipes.com one evening.
If you are building a house this is so cheap and easy that you'd be crazy not to do it - after the framing is done but before the drywall goes in. My house has eight Cat 5e runs that all end up in a little closet where the router and the servers are. It was incredibly inexpensive to put in. The drywall guys charge next to nothing for the wall penetrations (maybe $3 per extra hole). The cost to me was about $200 for all the bits and pieces plus about an hour per run (45 minutes to install each one and 15 minutes to wire and test).
Code compliance, even in strict Santa Cruz county (.ca.us) was not an issue except the wall plates had to be on before occupancy. A blank wall plate meets code so you can leave all the cables unterminated, stick on a blank plate, and then go around and install the jacks whenever you want.
How practical is this?
Are you speaking of a general IPPOTS that perhaps others could use, or a gateway just for your home, so you could drop Baby Bell or Long Distance POTS?
Can you give a pointer on the general topic that won't show in the first few terms of a google search?
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
If you were going to build a house for yourself with network cable in the walls, why would you use something that burns readily and creates loads of toxic smoke?
Heh....Mental image:
The AlphaGeek's house is on fire. Flames are shooting up the walls and out of the broken windows. The fishtank is boiling and the cat's on fire.
Where is AlphaGeek? He's standing in the middle of the inferno, clawing at the walls screaming "My wires! My wires!".
Yeesh.
"...you can steal my woman, but you ain't done nuthin' smart."
Heck, you can run 10BaseT over lamp wire and galvanized pipe if you need to, for shortish runs. Things tend to get a little more picky at the higher speeds, with gigabit getting really annoying.
"It's tough to be bilingual when you get hit in the head."
Wireless baby wireless!
You will use it. You will be glad you did it. 640K is enough for anybody. 2GB of RAM is a lot...no, you'll use it. 20GB drive? How will I ever fill it? Trust me, you'll use it.
So, from my experiences in networking my house, I offer these tips:
- The proper number of drops to install in a room is How Many You Think You Need times 2.
- When pulling cable, the number of cables to pull is How Many Ports You Have times 2.
- The number of ports on your hub and patch panel is How Many Ports You Have times 2. (seeing a pattern?)
- YES use a patch panel. It makes life SO much easier later on.
- YES use a punchdown block for incoming telco. That way you can wire to your patch panel and use patch cables to change phone locations. Very, very slick.
- Make sure you pull a string with each cable run, too. Beats the hell out of smashing up a wall.
- Pull other cords while you're at it. I pulled speaker wire to every port (almost) and now I have a house-wide music system.
- If you're installing in old walls (not new construction), find the "old work" electrical boxes and put them in the wall. They have screwdown clamps that hold onto the lathe/sheetrock and enable you to have a box without a lot of work and mess.
- Get yourself a mess of cable coax one-nail staples. They're meant for holding 75ohm coax but work just as slick as nipples for CATX. Invaluable when you have a lot of rafters/joists to hook cable to.
- If you have a workbench in another building (garage) or such, wire it up to the network. I have my garage online now and can do all my major computer work/assembly out there and still be online and have my network resources.
- Racks can be bought, or you can just make one out of wood, like I did. It works well, you can screw into it, and it's stable enough to hold my stuff. No, it doesn't look as cool, but if you're on a budget, well...
- Tools Absolutely Needed: RJ-45 crimper, RJ-45 tester, wire stripper, needlenose pliers, fish tape and reel, pinchers or snips, screwdriver, punch tool. These you'll need over and over, just get them now, save yourself much forehead smackage.
Installation suggestion: Have a wiring party. I did my house like this, 13 people on a Saturday, beer, pop, and lunch provided. It was great. The organization took awhile, people were milling around for awhile, but once we started making holes and pulling, things got together. Send groups of two or three off to do a room or a drop or two together, it's better to work in teams. Makes for a very fun and productive day.A home network, when running, kicks ass. There's nothing like having friends over and just handing them a patch cable and telling them to reach behind their chair and plug in. Do it right, spend some time on it, and it'll work out well.
Blog,Twitter
Where was the section on running the cable over the roof? The proper way to run cat5 out a window and still be able to close it?
Gee, I wish I had a huge site on the internet so I could get discounts on my network setup by posting interviews with the contractor. Whatever. That is such utter bullshit. Every corner they went by they were going with high end this and that. 48 fucking port switch in a HOUSE? 6 foot modified rack in the basement?! Unrealistic as all hell. Who can afford shit like that without getting kickbacks from the companies you are pimping on the website?
Real geeks scrounge equipment from wherever they can get it, and make it do what they want it to. They don't throw as much money as possible at a problem. My cat5 cabling running across the baseboards is a badge of pride. The salvaged DEC 5000 Alpha Server is another source of geek-drool in my house. I got it for free, and I put it to use. It is now my firewall, file server, mp3 streamer, and whatever else I can figure out how to make it do (too bad openmosix is for x86 only).
If you're so anally retentive that you can't stand to see 6 feet of cat5 running across a baseboard (neatly stapled so you don't trip over it), then your priorities in life are whacked out. We live in a shitty world, and you whine about color schemes. "If we don't want to use them for phone lines in the future, we COULD use the cat5 as 100tx network lines, but then it WOULDN'T MATCH THE FREAKING COLOR SCHEMES!" Wow. They were worried about not having the pretty white wires matching the pretty blue wires.
-- Having a Creationist Museum is like having an Atheist place of worship
thats why god invented spackle
Last night, I installed a serious home network. I went to best buy and picked up an 802.11b home router. I went home, plugged it in, changed the password, and turned on MAC filtering and WEP.
It took me about an hour total and $70, including drive time. It would have been quicker, but for some reason I decided to turn on MAC filtering and WEP from a wireless connection (I was, uhh... testing the configuration utilities default security... really...).
Now, granted... his network is better today. In three years, though, I'm going to upgrade to a network that's much better than his current one. And it will probably cost me another $70.
Slashdot is jumping the shark. I'm just driving the boat.
You would typically run the cables in a home run, or star topology. All cables run from a central location (at a Central Wiring Panel to the intended location. But you don't need to connect each outlet.
You can also run multiple wires to a room, to account for remodeling. For example, let's say your living room has north, south, east, and west walls. Due to the furniture location, you want to connect your TV to the south wall. But you pre-wire to all the walls, just leaving them unconnected. If you decide to move the couch to the other side of the room and move the TV to the north side, you merely go to the central wiring panel, disconnect the south wall from the Cable TV and connect the north wall to the Cable TV.
Well, the editorial and Tom's Hardware have something in common: they're both unreadable in my browser. Tom's Hardware has the table on the right overlapping the articles, and amdmb's articles are cropped and won't scroll horizontally.(*) (Tom's Hardware at least is editable to readability by Mozilla 1.3 (**) due to it not employing iframes in its markup. To read the editorial, I have to read around the markup in the source.)
(*) I do use a client-side stylesheet that overrides fixed-width tables and cells.
(**) Nothing newer will install on this company-controlled Redhat 6.2 system.
That essentially what my roommates and I have at our house. Except we used push pins to get cables up and out of the way.
Problem: Shitty wiring in the house prevents the DSL modem from working reliably inside the house.
Solution: Open up the phone box in the garage, disconnect a couple things and plug the DSL modem directly into it. It's not like we use the landline for voice anyways.
Problem: The DSL modem is in the garage. The router and all the computers are on the other side of the house.
Solution: Run 100 feet of bright blue cable along the top of the walls and ceilings with push pins through the garage, the kitchen, the foyer, the hallway and into the office.
Problem: Not all the computers are in the office.
Solution: Run more cable; use more push pins.
The setup works great and amazingly enough, people don't notice the cable. You'd think blue cable going around off-white walls and ceilings would be noticeable, but apparently not.
So show your wife you love her and get her a laptop with GigE :)
Run a cable to the computer.
Wow! That's really ugly. Here honey, let me run some outlets in the wall for you. I know I don't have to, but it's because I love you.
Otoh, maybe I started out on easier footing: two of the NeXTs, the Alpha and the 16port switch ARE hers. She's accepted that two machine room racks are the best solution for the computers and she understands that the best way to maintain several machines is through the 16 port terminal server. The 110 punchdown block for the patch panel is her idea. Hell, she's happy to log into the house BSD box and type
"heyu turn den lights on"
when the X10 control is out of sight.
But as an ex-architect (the real kind, not the computer "systems decorator" kind), she despises ugly. The CAT5 across the room at the rental was barely tolerated, but the wireless was welcomed.
"ripping holes in walls" is TEMPORARY, as a general goal. Making walls not have holes is the long term goal. Perhaps if you start small, you can demonstrate that after a lot of dusty drywall, you end up with a pretty wall again. And that your patch panel need not be 3 feet up in the middle of the dining room with wires hanging out.
The article was a bit (well, a lot) weak, but the link to Siemons was of interest.
The line about choosing the same manufacturer at both ends of the run is bogus. The integrated junction box idea is not. I think the Siemons boxes look very useful.
But when I installed I rejected the Siemons plates (and terminators) for exactly the reason that they liked them: the labelling. I wanted my plates to be as inconspicuous as possible. First off, you don't have to label the wallplate end; a simple layout map (and labels) at the junction box will do the job. If you must label, they can just as easily go behind the plate. To distinguish the phone and Ethernet (both cat5) I simply used an odd color for the Ethernet terminator.
For my own project I chose to go with the Leviton QuickPort line. Back then I had to go to a commercial supply to get it. On a larger project I still would, but now Home Depot carries most of what a HomeNet project needs. The Leviton catalog is pretty informative, too. Here's a link to their integrated network product page.
You can't take the sky from me!
Article Info
Building A Home Network From Scratch
Created: June 30, 2003
By: David Stellmack
Category: Networking
Summary:No matter if you choose a wired or wireless network, planning and flexibility are the keys in getting a sucessful installtion that you will be happy with. We were lucky enough to select the right contractor who helped us achieve our goals and exceed or expectations. The result was a state of the art infrastucture that we will not outgrow anytime soon.
Intro (image)
The Ins and Outs of Building a Home Network
With interest rates at an all-time low in the U.S., many Americans are now able to build or buy their first home or, if they are already a homeowner, to upgrade to something better. Buying or building a home offers those who are technology-minded the opportunity to consider the integration of home connectivity up-front. Many new, custom-built homes now offer some level of basic home connectivity as an option; but this is a new phenomenon. Considering that the Internet has become a mainstream feature of our collective lifestyle in just a few short years, unless the home you are buying is fairly new it is likely that you are pretty much left to your own devices when it comes to networking.
First, you have to consider the pipe into your house. Normally, your choices are either DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) or Cable modem; but as many have discovered to their dismay after they have signed on the dotted line of the purchase contract, neither of these options may be available. Generally speaking, the further the home is located from a metropolitan area, the fewer options for Internet connectivity there are. While satellite and ISDN options do exist, they are probably the least desirable solutions.
While we don't suggest that Internet connectivity options should outweigh other factors in a home purchase, if high-speed Internet access is important to you, then it is wise to do some basic investigation as to what options are available at your home location. An hour spent on the telephone with local cable and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) may make the difference between satisfaction and regret with a home long after the sale has concluded.
Wired or Wireless?
No discussion of home networking would be complete without a brief discussion of wired and wireless solutions. While wireless solutions offer perhaps the most convenient solution for many home computer users, they may not present the best solution.
"Wireless" is the current buzzword these days, and it seems every hardware product vendor is touting his or her particular ability to provide it. The word "wireless" evokes visions of being able to wander around various rooms in your home or even outside without the network line that tethers home users to a single place. However, depending on the version of wireless you select and/ or are able to afford, your results might not measure up to "manna" grade, or even a mediocre grade, over time. The physical construction, design and layout of your house can affect whether or not wireless is a good solution, and you may have to invest in multiple access points (in infrastructure mode) linked together via Ethernet to provide coverage for wireless access to the various locations within your house.
If wireless coverage isn't an issue, a more important factor might be connection speed. From our testing, many 802.11a 54-Mbit solutions certainly don't have the amount of signal penetration that is required for wireless access in many multi-story homes and office environments. For example, if you have computer systems in the kids' room on the second floor and your family room is located on the first floor some distance away, you may or may not be able to achieve a connection from both places, depending where the access point i
The Project Shifts into High Gear
The first step was to place Post-It notes in each location of the plates. As you will remember, we determined the four standard plate configurations that we would be using and which connections each plate offered. We examined our drawing of the plate locations and placed additional Post-It notes on each wall for each of the locations that had the plate type number and the connection number written on it.
(image)
We used standard Post-It notes stuck to the wall to indicate the proposted locations for the jacks.
Labeling each of the connections with a number is very important. Doug created a method where each and every plate had an assigned number. Multiple types of the same type of connection were labeled with a letter. For example, a plate was numbered 1008 in the first floor office. In the data patch panel you would find a connection that was labeled 1008A. If this plate had a second data connection it would be labeled 1008B. The 1008 number carries over to the voice and coax as well, with these being labeled using the same number scheme. As long as you know the plate number, you can find the connection quickly within the patch panels for the voice, data and coax.
The Project Shifts into High Gear, Continued
Once all of the locations were selected and labeled, we then needed to find a pathway to get the cable fished into the existing walls. The challenge was running the cable to the second floor, as there was no direct access from the termination point in the basement to the second floor. The first floor was fairly easy because we had ample access provided by the full basement and crawl spaces under both the first floor office and family room. The termination point that was located in my basement lab was being built from the ground up, so we had the ability to run the cables during the framing process prior to hanging the drywall.
(image)
When you have to pull multiple cables at the same time, the best thing to do is tape the ends of the cables, as shown in the picture.
Getting the cabling to the second floor can present a challenge in any installation. Depending on the age of your home and its design, this task can be more or less difficult. Doug examined several options for doing this while keeping the cabling inside the house. Many installers like to take the easy way out and will want to run the cable outside with some sort of casing like Panduit, for example, and bring it into the attic this way. but is this the way that you would want it done? I don't think so. Perhaps in older homes this is the only option, but it is NOT the preferred method. The better option is to take advantage of existing raceways, ducts, and areas that can be used to route the cabling.
In our case, Doug tapped the knowledge of Newcome team member Jeff Harris, who has over ten years of experience installing alarm systems into pre-existing homes. Jeff spent considerable time examining both our basement and the attic to determine the best solution for running the wiring up to the second floor. Jeff also had to consider building codes and dos and don'ts for running cable up to the second floor. Fortunately, Doug found an old coax cable from a previous cable TV installation that helped clue him in as to how to do this.
The Project Shifts into High Gear, Continued
While it might seem easier to merely snag one of these coax cable or phone wires and tie a pull string to it to run the cable up, this is not really the proper method. The reason is that these cables are often roughed in during the framing and electrical install portion of the construction of the home, and often the wires are stapled to the framing or studs. Thus, when you pull on these cables they go nowhere. Doug and Jeff determined that the coax cable for the cable TV in the front b
I just built a new home and bought a linksys wap. It works great, I get good coverage from the basement to the second floor and even down my driveway. I was going for cheap since all of my machines are 1ghz and under. With the cable modem and a BSD firewall life is good, I can surf from the back deck, watch people fish in the lake accross the field and drink a beer.
Microsoft aggravates my tourettes syndrome.
I've read the entire article... I've read many comments here...
He needs a 48 port switch? Give me a break! Not to mention that he's added those 6-port in-wall switches in a few locations...
I have 4 PC users in my 2200sqft house, I ran cat5 to each PC location from the basement... they all connect to an 8-port switch (in the basement), which connects to a (now) wireless router which connects to my cable modem. I have a PC or two in the basement also connected to the 8 port switch.
I have a couple of laptops which are wireless almost exclusively at work and home...
I think the total cost, soup to nuts, not including the 10-15hrs of labor I put in over a weekend to wire it up, cost me $300.
From the looks of it, this guy spent between $2-4k getting this all done...
The only thing he has going for him is that he has the ability to very quickly scale his network, but considering it's a residential install to meet the needs of a handful of users (at most) it's a complete waste of time.
And what's with him using 3Com almost exclusively?
I do use twisted pairs. Most cat5 cable comes with 4 pairs. You only _need_ 2 pairs (definitely twisted though) for a 100T connection. Some 100T network cards don't even have connections to the other two pairs of pins. OK, so 100T may not be considered a "serious network" but you can run 2 connections on 1 cat5 cable.
Sigh, if only my 54G wireless card had linux drivers...
Russian Russian Russian RussianDollSig DollSig DollSig DollSig
I also live in a country were we use REAL walls, not those cardboard walls in the U.S. I ran some CAT5 to my bedroom but I`ve got a laptop that needs wireless.How did it work for you with brick walls and stuff?
http://www.swhowto.com
After reading the article I started googling for cat5 and t568a/b and I found this site. It seems quite useful and nicely structured.
This was a ridiculous and non-helpful article. Basically, Stellmack took a simple weekend job and exploded it into a major home renovation project, complete with project managers, subcontractors, rackmounts, and more. It is unbelievable. I'll cover a few points because nobody is reading this and I need to move on to saner pastures.
First, 100Mb does not mean 100Mb to the Internet. He places emphasis on future proofing, but is seemingly unaware that no matter how fast the inside wire is, it's only 10Mb MAX coming in from cable modem (and only 128Kb going out, 256kb if you buy the business version).
Security and interference are generally the #1 concerns of wireless, not speed. If you do wireless (which he did anyway!), it should only be because you are not willing/unable based on your lease from doing this. Security was not emphasized enough in the article.
If building a new house, have the plumber (that's right, the plumber, the only one qualified to do this by code) run a 2nd floor conduit from the basement to the attic. It's basically a 1+3/4" PVC pipe initially capped on both ends for fire safety reasons. When they installed my alarm system (w/2nd floor smoke detector), the guys danced with joy that I had this, and it saved them about an hour.
For contractors, he mentioned having a hard time finding them. Consider security alarm vendors; they deal with CAT 3 all over the place, and would be glad to have the business.
If you're doing this for real, you don't have to contract: Home Depot sells Ideal products that do the job and give you combo jacks, RJ-45, and the phone installation.
Note that Cat 6 is NOT future proof. My guess is he will have to string fiber anyway eventually. Go with 5e for now. Also, the phone only needs CAT3. Anything higher is overkill. Cat3 is about half the cost of Cat5.
On a different subject, the picture of Stellmack's nearly-finished basement - I'm concerned that bottom piece of drywall only has a single row of screws in it. Should have a duoble row like the top one. Also, why are your jacks more than 2' off the floor? Be aware of codes.
Further ridiculousness includes "torpedo leveling the wall plates to make them even" [termination heading for home stretch] Nobody, and I mean NOBODY torpedo levels a wall plate. What a farce.
Note on bolting the rack to the floor: the contractor is using a hammer drill with a tungsten carbide bit, and this isn't pointed out in the article. Also, older concrete is very hard to drill into, hammer or no. This step is not to be taken lightly. Also, hammer drills can make about 100dB of noise in confined spaces, so better wear ear protection. I used one to do this and the noise hurt like hell. Also, if you have old concrete, plan on getting only 4 HOLES PER DRILLBIT before the bit breaks or grinds down. At $4/bit, this is a costly proposition. (I once tried to anchor wall plates via concrete bolts, and a contractor chuckled and said, "use liquid nails.")
My verdict: Stellmack is a fool with too much money on his hands. He could have done the job more simply, with better results, more personal satisfaction, had the job completed more quickly, and saved a ton of money. Though he doesn't mention it, with the amount and involvement of the contractors, the time taken to do "interviews" (no kidding, he INTERVIEWED the contractor!) I'm guessing his project cost about $7,500 including equipment. Might be more like $10k.
I guess that, based on the inclusion of the interview and the sycophantic praise of the contractor, Stellmack received some credit for the contractor's services in exchange for the publicity by means of this article. The article's message is that you need a contractor to do this kind of thing, that there's no way you can get it right unless you treat this like a huge project, and you'd better call this particular contractor.
I heard bad things about Tom's, now I'm beginning to witness them firsthand.
I am aware of that. However the other pairs are used for grounding to help with signal interference. 100bt will work just fine over phone wire for short distances however over longer distances you'll find it simply does not work. Switching to Cat-3, which is 8-wire TP will get you longer distances, but not as long as Cat-5 which uses superior twisting.
Noise and interference are very real problem with digital data that most people don't tend to think about since they often don't deal with distances and/or environment where it can become problematic. Also, it is perfectly possable to have a connection that works, just poorly. A split connection like the one you speak of, which I have seen before, often sufferes from a high level of errors and therefore decreased throughput.
Ouch... my sympathies. Had a tree fall through my roof (as in, new skylight) about 9 months ago and it sucked... a fire is far, far worse though. Hope everyone was safe and it didn't destroy anything irreplacable.
Thanks. It wasn't too bad. The kitchen was a total loss, but that's rather nice now. Fortunatly we got it out before it could spread beyond that.
Actually not to get too far off topic here, but the fire wasn't the worst part. Sure there was the shock, the loss, and the massive inconvinence, but the very worst part was dealing with the contractors when rebuilding. They did a shotty job. They took forever, overcharged, said they'd come right over and not show up for a week. If I had been making the decisions I would have fired them, but I wasn't making the decisions.
The insurence companies are just as bad. Ours told us we HAD to use that particular contractor or they wouldn't pay. I knew this to be false, but when your house burns you aren't thinking too clearly. We should have gotten a lawyer. At least I'm paying him to be on MY side, even if he has about the same ethics as the insurence company or contractor.
When I was looking at the codes, the prices, and whatnot a couple years ago the plenum cable was about 5x more expensive... turning a $100 roll of cable into a $500 one.
Well, that IS a bit pricy, Although I can't afford a serious home network either way. It is true you can get away with a lot, and not have problems, and I doubt the regular wire would truly cause a problem. Still once you've had it happen, you get FAR more paranoid than you were. Kind of a fire extinguisher or two in every room, a smoke detector in every room, walls made of shuttle heat shield tiles[1] etc.
[1] O.K. maybe not.
There is a civil war coming in the United States. Remember which side has most of the guns