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Step 1Initial Considerations and Planning
There are certain design considerations that need to be addressed based on your needs. I'll discuss this before materials because these questions will affect quantities, tools and materials needed.
1. Which room/s do I want wired?
- I have a 2 bedroom condo so I knew I wanted both bedrooms wired. I also have a TV alcove where my cable TV is so that seemed like a good location to wire as well for things like video game consoles. I have cable TV in each of these locations so it seemed logical to treat the network the same way.
2. How many ports do I want in each location?
- With a multiple game consoles and network enabled Blu-Ray player connected to my TV, I knew I wanted at least 3 connections behind my TV. Since the wall plates come in 1, 2, 4, and 6 jack configurations (for single gang), I just went with 4. Why run one cable when its nearly as easy to run 4, right? Rather than vary the number, I just ran 4 drops to each location to provide maximum flexibility with out the need for local (in-room) switches. 3 locations with 4 ports each, 12 ports total.
3. What is a good location for distribution?
- For me the logical location was my laundry room. My cable TV already comes into this room and gets split to each room. It is important to note that my internet comes into the house (over the cable) here too so if I move my cable modem here, it will be able to supply internet access to the entire network. Another thing to consider is the amount of space needed to mount a shelf to hold the network equipment.
4. What path should the cables take?
- This is probably the most difficult consideration. For me, my condo is on the 2nd (top) floor and have access to my attic. My cable TV is distributed through the attic so it seemed like a good solution to run my home network through there as well. For single floor homes with a basement, the basement may be the best path. For multi-story homes you may have to be creative. Outside may be an option or through an old laundry chute. I will not address the specifics of all the possibilities, just my own circumstances. The other consideration with cable path is cable length. The max cable length for up to gigabit speeds over copper UTP cabling is 100 meters (~300 feet). This should provide plenty of flexibility for most home applications but it is good to be aware of this limit.
5. What network speed do I need?
- This will mainly play a part in what kind of switch to get. 10mbps is still faster than most everyones home internet connection, so if you are just surfing a 10 megabit switch will suffice just fine. You can probably pick up one really cheap at a used computer store or maybe even free. You might consider 100mbps if you are planning on sharing multimedia over your network. 100 megabit switches are reasonably priced and easy to come by. Gigabit is probably overkill in most situations but if you must have the fastest, go with it. You will also likely want to use Cat-6 in this case as well. Beware, gigabit switches more than 8 ports climb in price very quickly.
Next up, tools and materials!
1. Which room/s do I want wired?
- I have a 2 bedroom condo so I knew I wanted both bedrooms wired. I also have a TV alcove where my cable TV is so that seemed like a good location to wire as well for things like video game consoles. I have cable TV in each of these locations so it seemed logical to treat the network the same way.
2. How many ports do I want in each location?
- With a multiple game consoles and network enabled Blu-Ray player connected to my TV, I knew I wanted at least 3 connections behind my TV. Since the wall plates come in 1, 2, 4, and 6 jack configurations (for single gang), I just went with 4. Why run one cable when its nearly as easy to run 4, right? Rather than vary the number, I just ran 4 drops to each location to provide maximum flexibility with out the need for local (in-room) switches. 3 locations with 4 ports each, 12 ports total.
3. What is a good location for distribution?
- For me the logical location was my laundry room. My cable TV already comes into this room and gets split to each room. It is important to note that my internet comes into the house (over the cable) here too so if I move my cable modem here, it will be able to supply internet access to the entire network. Another thing to consider is the amount of space needed to mount a shelf to hold the network equipment.
4. What path should the cables take?
- This is probably the most difficult consideration. For me, my condo is on the 2nd (top) floor and have access to my attic. My cable TV is distributed through the attic so it seemed like a good solution to run my home network through there as well. For single floor homes with a basement, the basement may be the best path. For multi-story homes you may have to be creative. Outside may be an option or through an old laundry chute. I will not address the specifics of all the possibilities, just my own circumstances. The other consideration with cable path is cable length. The max cable length for up to gigabit speeds over copper UTP cabling is 100 meters (~300 feet). This should provide plenty of flexibility for most home applications but it is good to be aware of this limit.
5. What network speed do I need?
- This will mainly play a part in what kind of switch to get. 10mbps is still faster than most everyones home internet connection, so if you are just surfing a 10 megabit switch will suffice just fine. You can probably pick up one really cheap at a used computer store or maybe even free. You might consider 100mbps if you are planning on sharing multimedia over your network. 100 megabit switches are reasonably priced and easy to come by. Gigabit is probably overkill in most situations but if you must have the fastest, go with it. You will also likely want to use Cat-6 in this case as well. Beware, gigabit switches more than 8 ports climb in price very quickly.
Next up, tools and materials!
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In a couple big installations I've seen (factories, schools, etc.) the builder used plastic conduit to insulate the network runs from the power cables. You might be able to do the same thing via PVC pipe, but if your house catches fire (God forbid) you might get a lot of toxic smoke.
You could just keep your network runs away from the power lines by one or two studs. That would give you 32" of space between the power cables (assuming your joists are 16" on center), and put a couple 2x4's between the network and the power.
The pipes which carry 220 v ac in the wall are anyway ALWAYS PVC pipes.
What you really want to avoid is having it run near florescent lights. The high voltage ballasts will really mess up Ethernet.
If you're really worried about it there is shielded Cat5 but it costs more.
If you're really REALLY worried about it. You could run your Cat5 through grounded metal conduit. Plastic conduit will do very little to protect from EMI
Whichever speed you choose, make sure that your distribution box is a "switch" rather than a cheaper "hub". If a hub is used, the entire network will be slowed down to match the speed of the slowest device on it, and you definitely don't want that to happen. Also, be sure that ALL of the ports on your "gigabit" switch are actually gigabit. Some inexpensive switches (e.g., TRENDnet) will have many ports, but only a couple will be 1000Mbps and the rest 100Mbps--very undesirable!
Switches vary in quality and features, even at the same speed ratings. But the differences are esoteric, and you don't need to be concerned about it unless you're trying to squeeze every last bit of performance out of your intranet. You should be able to find a good-enough 8-port switch for under $75 and 16-port around $150.