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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.
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....
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.
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 other words, it's planning for the future. Sure, you can get decent runs of gigabit ethernet over cat5e tp but what about ten gig? The day will come when you'll want to use it, and if you own the house, you may actually live to see that day :)
If it's a rental, you're just going to do a temporary install anyway. For example, I needed to run ethernet to a back bedroom, so I put holes in the ceiling in the bedroom and the living room (where the firewall, and the switch are) and just ran some cat5 up, through the attic, and back down. But if I actually lived here, I'd want to cut a hole in the wall, install a box, drop the cable down in the wall, and do a nice clean professional-looking install - And I'd want to plan for the future. In my case that would mean installing some smooth-sided conduit so I could poke some more cable through later, but if you end up having to rip out walls or something then I would definitely put in cat6 and seriously consider fiber. I'd also certainly install some coax and terminate it with BNCs.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
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...
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.
It's not that hard at all if you have your own businesses that run out of home. Laying in a proper home network to share Internet access and put all your stuff on a centralised fileserver looks a lot betyter than nasty cables snaking all over the floor.
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!
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.
It is for example, not unknown when doing big copper wiring jobs in business to put dark fibre in at the same time, because it's the laying of the cables that is expensive, not the cable itself.
Say it costs you $500 to lay the copper. If you lay fibre as well it comes out at say $600. If you don't lay fibre, and three years later realise you need it after all, then the final cost will be $1100.
So you have a $100 bet with yourself that you will need fibre later. If you don't, you loose $100. If you do, you win $500. Now, considering how geeky you are to be thinking about this at all, what are the odds like?
~~~~~ BigLig2? You mean there's another one of me?
The wired network connects all of my servers together and allows me fast networking when I need it.
The wireless network allows me to check my email from the sofa or the garden or anywhere else I'm comfortable. Yes there is a chance that someone may see the packets on my network but I'm a) not that parnoid and b) aren't prepared to give up the convience of wireless.
In short: wireless for ease of use, wired for speed.
You may think me a tired, old, cynic. I'd have to disagree about the tired bit.
.... is in danger of being compromised.
To assume otherwise is irreponsible.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.