A whole bunch of home networking questions.
June 25, 2018 9:55 AM Subscribe
Two separate home networking questions. One involves how to properly setup a home for ethernet in several rooms, the other involves the best setup for gigabit ethernet. Details inside!
1. Ok, starting simple. My house does not have CAT cable running through it. I'm interested in having this done (by an electrician, I assume). What is the best way to do this?
A. From the point of entry into the house (the ONT, for example), should that be run to a gigabit switch which then goes to the gateway/router, or B. should the gateway/router be run to a switch?
What switch is considered to be best for this sort of thing? What I imagine is from the ONT which is in a second floor room, with a CAT run into the attic back down to the basement (my walls probably have thick blocks/firewalls), then in the basement a switch that has ethernet cables coming off it run to different rooms. Will I retain my gigabit over the CAT cables if I do it this way? Does this make sense? What equipment would I want used? Any other advice, opinions, suggestions?
2. So, I get an employee discount with AT&T, making my gigabit $45 a month. I went ahead with the install, and haven't cancelled my $80/month Comcast gigabit. So far, I feel like the Comcast gigabit was slightly better. I assumed fiber was inherently better (sure, for symmetrical gigabit speeds) but also for throughput/bandwidth/whatever else. Here are the details:
Comcast setup: Coax line in on second floor room. Modem into Nighthawk router. A few smart home hubs wired into the Nighthawk, along with a MoCA adapter.
Downstairs I use a second MoCa adapter connected on the only other coax line coming into a room in my house, which happens to be the living room where all the devices I’d want wired live (Apple TV 4K, PS4, Smart TV, Sonos Connect, audio receiver, etc. ). The MoCA adapter is connected to a gigabit switch to get gigabit speeds to those wired devices. It works great.
New AT&T setup: ONT in the same spot as my Comcast coax in/modem/Nighthawk. Now, the ONT goes to the AT&T router/gateway, I’m still able to use the MoCa adapter, which is nice, and then there’s one Airtie downstairs (not sure it’s really helping much). When I look at my wireless devices’ connections on the AT&T gateway url page, most have yellow or red connections, even stuff very close to it. I also tried running a CAT cable directly from the gateway down to my gigabit switch, and it seems to perform better than the MoCa adapter into the gigabit switch.
Questions: Is it truly worth doing an IP passthrough to use the Nighthawk as a router? I don’t really know how to do this myself. I do know how to disable the Wifi radios on the AT&T gateway but not how to properly setup passthrough mode. What benefits would I see by doing this?
Is it worth the $400-500 it would cost me to have an electrician run CAT cable through my walls? Apparently even though the room upstairs where the router or gateway lives is directly above my living room, snaking it past firewalls and stuff would be very difficult. It was recommended by an electrician, over the phone, that I have him run it up to the attic, then down to the unfinished basement, into a gigabit switch, then run CAT cables off that switch to whatever rooms I want, including the living room. Does that sound logical? Will I lose speed that way? Is there a better/smarter way to get gigabit speeds over ethernet to my rooms? Any other suggestions?
Sorry for the novel, I appreciate the help from people who know way more about this stuff than I do.
1. Ok, starting simple. My house does not have CAT cable running through it. I'm interested in having this done (by an electrician, I assume). What is the best way to do this?
A. From the point of entry into the house (the ONT, for example), should that be run to a gigabit switch which then goes to the gateway/router, or B. should the gateway/router be run to a switch?
What switch is considered to be best for this sort of thing? What I imagine is from the ONT which is in a second floor room, with a CAT run into the attic back down to the basement (my walls probably have thick blocks/firewalls), then in the basement a switch that has ethernet cables coming off it run to different rooms. Will I retain my gigabit over the CAT cables if I do it this way? Does this make sense? What equipment would I want used? Any other advice, opinions, suggestions?
2. So, I get an employee discount with AT&T, making my gigabit $45 a month. I went ahead with the install, and haven't cancelled my $80/month Comcast gigabit. So far, I feel like the Comcast gigabit was slightly better. I assumed fiber was inherently better (sure, for symmetrical gigabit speeds) but also for throughput/bandwidth/whatever else. Here are the details:
Comcast setup: Coax line in on second floor room. Modem into Nighthawk router. A few smart home hubs wired into the Nighthawk, along with a MoCA adapter.
Downstairs I use a second MoCa adapter connected on the only other coax line coming into a room in my house, which happens to be the living room where all the devices I’d want wired live (Apple TV 4K, PS4, Smart TV, Sonos Connect, audio receiver, etc. ). The MoCA adapter is connected to a gigabit switch to get gigabit speeds to those wired devices. It works great.
New AT&T setup: ONT in the same spot as my Comcast coax in/modem/Nighthawk. Now, the ONT goes to the AT&T router/gateway, I’m still able to use the MoCa adapter, which is nice, and then there’s one Airtie downstairs (not sure it’s really helping much). When I look at my wireless devices’ connections on the AT&T gateway url page, most have yellow or red connections, even stuff very close to it. I also tried running a CAT cable directly from the gateway down to my gigabit switch, and it seems to perform better than the MoCa adapter into the gigabit switch.
Questions: Is it truly worth doing an IP passthrough to use the Nighthawk as a router? I don’t really know how to do this myself. I do know how to disable the Wifi radios on the AT&T gateway but not how to properly setup passthrough mode. What benefits would I see by doing this?
Is it worth the $400-500 it would cost me to have an electrician run CAT cable through my walls? Apparently even though the room upstairs where the router or gateway lives is directly above my living room, snaking it past firewalls and stuff would be very difficult. It was recommended by an electrician, over the phone, that I have him run it up to the attic, then down to the unfinished basement, into a gigabit switch, then run CAT cables off that switch to whatever rooms I want, including the living room. Does that sound logical? Will I lose speed that way? Is there a better/smarter way to get gigabit speeds over ethernet to my rooms? Any other suggestions?
Sorry for the novel, I appreciate the help from people who know way more about this stuff than I do.
i work for a fiber isp and with out system you must have a router before the switch.
posted by terrapin at 12:39 PM on June 25, 2018
posted by terrapin at 12:39 PM on June 25, 2018
Rather then running cables you may want to look into powerline networking. I have used it to extend the wired network to different rooms in the house.
posted by tman99 at 12:42 PM on June 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by tman99 at 12:42 PM on June 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
If you like having fast, low-latency connections to your network that doesn't depend on your proximity to a wi-fi access point, then having wired Ethernet connections will nearly *always* beat out pretty much any other option, including wi-fi mesh networking and powerline networking. If you're willing to spend some time/money to get your house properly wired up, I highly recommend it.
That said, I'm not experienced with MoCA. From what I can tell, it should provide speeds close to about 500 Mbps depending on what version your equipment runs at, and has more bandwidth if you can run it with more channels bonded, but I have no idea how to set it up if your provider doesn't do it for you. If you already have MoCA set up, you might run a speed test on MoCA and on Ethernet to get something firmer than "it feels faster". If you already have your house wired for cable, it'll undoubtedly be less expensive to stick with MoCA than running Cat5e/6.
As others have noted, the router goes in front of any other devices on your network (aside from the modem or ONT). If you need wireless access elsewhere in the house and the positioning of the ONT makes it difficult to get a good signal from your wireless router where you need it, you can buy stand-alone wireless access points that connect to your wired ethernet connections where you need it.
The addition of switches to your network, assuming they're rated for gigabit ethernet, should not materially impact your connection speed. Pretty much anywhere you happen to need more ports than you have, it's fine to add a switch; I use a small 5-port one for all my AV equipment, for example.
posted by Aleyn at 1:30 PM on June 25, 2018
That said, I'm not experienced with MoCA. From what I can tell, it should provide speeds close to about 500 Mbps depending on what version your equipment runs at, and has more bandwidth if you can run it with more channels bonded, but I have no idea how to set it up if your provider doesn't do it for you. If you already have MoCA set up, you might run a speed test on MoCA and on Ethernet to get something firmer than "it feels faster". If you already have your house wired for cable, it'll undoubtedly be less expensive to stick with MoCA than running Cat5e/6.
As others have noted, the router goes in front of any other devices on your network (aside from the modem or ONT). If you need wireless access elsewhere in the house and the positioning of the ONT makes it difficult to get a good signal from your wireless router where you need it, you can buy stand-alone wireless access points that connect to your wired ethernet connections where you need it.
The addition of switches to your network, assuming they're rated for gigabit ethernet, should not materially impact your connection speed. Pretty much anywhere you happen to need more ports than you have, it's fine to add a switch; I use a small 5-port one for all my AV equipment, for example.
posted by Aleyn at 1:30 PM on June 25, 2018
2nd vote for powerline network adapters. They can be a bit finicky, but they are faster than the WiFi in my 1976 split level, and every room has an outlet already. Some of them work as wireless repeaters, too, so that's a possible advantage.
My advice - for what it's worth - is to avoid running new cables . If you must (or really want to, which I totally get) the electrician who recommended the basement runs makes a the best case.
Running network cable from an unfinished basement is pretty easy if you want to try it yourself, even putting ends on the cables and stuff is not super technical. It can be fun, too, to do all of that yourself.
So... powerline adapters unless you really want a project.
posted by Ecgtheow at 2:13 PM on June 25, 2018
My advice - for what it's worth - is to avoid running new cables . If you must (or really want to, which I totally get) the electrician who recommended the basement runs makes a the best case.
Running network cable from an unfinished basement is pretty easy if you want to try it yourself, even putting ends on the cables and stuff is not super technical. It can be fun, too, to do all of that yourself.
So... powerline adapters unless you really want a project.
posted by Ecgtheow at 2:13 PM on June 25, 2018
A. From the point of entry into the house (the ONT, for example), should that be run to a gigabit switch which then goes to the gateway/router, or B. should the gateway/router be run to a switch?
Depends on whether you want to run wired devices outside of your internal network, but inside your ISP router. I'd just put a switch on the internal network. If you do need something outside your router, for some reason, just buy a little mini switch.
Questions: Is it truly worth doing an IP passthrough to use the Nighthawk as a router?
I'm not sure exactly what you mean here, but I don't see anything that says you need custom routing. Is your question whether to use the Nighthawk as a firewall and NAT device, or to just use whatever AT&T provides? I'm a proponent of walling off ISP equipment from my internal network, effectively treating it as a hostile network. Putting a NAT firewall in between is super common and shouldn't be difficult. You shouldn't have to do any custom routing configuration.
If you're talking about offloading your AT&T routing to your internal device, that seems like way more trouble than it's worth, and something they will break when they assume they can change their router config and it doesn't take because it's offloaded to yours.
In practice this means just sticking a NAT router (like your Nighthawk) between all my internal devices and the ISP router. Should be easy.
Will I lose speed that way?
In general, your speeds are going to be fine, even if you've got a few switches between your device and the external router. My advice is to keep it simple. Use the minimum amount of wiring, one gigabit switch that's wall or rack mounted somewhere if you have more than eight ports (an expensive enterprise level switch is almost certainly unnecessary) and then run all of your wiring from there.
I'd also consider contacting a company who does Ethernet wiring in addition to the electrician and ask them about their residential experience. I'm in no way a wiring expert, but I seriously doubt you're going to run into interference issues. I've seen some crazy, crazy, old spaghetti wiring in commercial buildings, and it's fine 99% of the time.
posted by cnc at 3:15 PM on June 25, 2018
Depends on whether you want to run wired devices outside of your internal network, but inside your ISP router. I'd just put a switch on the internal network. If you do need something outside your router, for some reason, just buy a little mini switch.
Questions: Is it truly worth doing an IP passthrough to use the Nighthawk as a router?
I'm not sure exactly what you mean here, but I don't see anything that says you need custom routing. Is your question whether to use the Nighthawk as a firewall and NAT device, or to just use whatever AT&T provides? I'm a proponent of walling off ISP equipment from my internal network, effectively treating it as a hostile network. Putting a NAT firewall in between is super common and shouldn't be difficult. You shouldn't have to do any custom routing configuration.
If you're talking about offloading your AT&T routing to your internal device, that seems like way more trouble than it's worth, and something they will break when they assume they can change their router config and it doesn't take because it's offloaded to yours.
In practice this means just sticking a NAT router (like your Nighthawk) between all my internal devices and the ISP router. Should be easy.
Will I lose speed that way?
In general, your speeds are going to be fine, even if you've got a few switches between your device and the external router. My advice is to keep it simple. Use the minimum amount of wiring, one gigabit switch that's wall or rack mounted somewhere if you have more than eight ports (an expensive enterprise level switch is almost certainly unnecessary) and then run all of your wiring from there.
I'd also consider contacting a company who does Ethernet wiring in addition to the electrician and ask them about their residential experience. I'm in no way a wiring expert, but I seriously doubt you're going to run into interference issues. I've seen some crazy, crazy, old spaghetti wiring in commercial buildings, and it's fine 99% of the time.
posted by cnc at 3:15 PM on June 25, 2018
Ok, so some of the responses I understood better than others. Here's where I'm at/what I'm thinking. Also, I found a guy who does ethernet wiring for commercial properties but we talked for a few minutes and said he'd be willing to do my house. He estimated the cost, using CAT6 cable, at around $500, which is similar to other quotes I've seen.
Plan is this: The ONT into the AT&T 5268AC gateway will stay in the 2nd floor office it's currently in. It will be put into DMZ+ mode (https://www.att.com/esupport/article.html#!/smb-internet/KM1188700?isreauth=true), and then wired into the Nighthawk. Then I'll have the networking guy run CAT6 cable from the gateway up to my attic and down to the basement (apparently the easiest way), where I'll then have a 12 port gigabit switch. Off of this switch I'll run CAT6 to a few rooms, including the living room where I'll have another gigabit switch for my media devices. Is this the right way of doing things?**
I don't want the router in the basement, it would be useless for Wifi, which is why I think it needs to stay in the 2nd floor room with the gateway. Does this make sense?
Does this allow me to use the ethernet ports on both the Nighthawk AND the gateway for smart home hubs? Ideally those hubs, since they do transmit a wifi signal, will continue to live where they currently are, with the gateway and router upstairs. They can't be in the basement.
The network guy I discussed this with was saying if I use any Apple products I'll want a certain kind of gigabit switch that supports some sort of packet issue (packet loss?) that Apple does better, and if I get a regular switch it may hinder performance of other devices. Does this make any sense/what's he on about? That said, any recommendations for a solid gigabit switch (gigabit on every port) with 8-16 ports (that supports whatever this packet thing is)?
Are there any other things I should be considering? Do I need to ask or request the networking guy who will do the cable run anything specific? Thank you!
posted by arm426 at 6:44 PM on June 25, 2018
Plan is this: The ONT into the AT&T 5268AC gateway will stay in the 2nd floor office it's currently in. It will be put into DMZ+ mode (https://www.att.com/esupport/article.html#!/smb-internet/KM1188700?isreauth=true), and then wired into the Nighthawk. Then I'll have the networking guy run CAT6 cable from the gateway up to my attic and down to the basement (apparently the easiest way), where I'll then have a 12 port gigabit switch. Off of this switch I'll run CAT6 to a few rooms, including the living room where I'll have another gigabit switch for my media devices. Is this the right way of doing things?**
I don't want the router in the basement, it would be useless for Wifi, which is why I think it needs to stay in the 2nd floor room with the gateway. Does this make sense?
Does this allow me to use the ethernet ports on both the Nighthawk AND the gateway for smart home hubs? Ideally those hubs, since they do transmit a wifi signal, will continue to live where they currently are, with the gateway and router upstairs. They can't be in the basement.
The network guy I discussed this with was saying if I use any Apple products I'll want a certain kind of gigabit switch that supports some sort of packet issue (packet loss?) that Apple does better, and if I get a regular switch it may hinder performance of other devices. Does this make any sense/what's he on about? That said, any recommendations for a solid gigabit switch (gigabit on every port) with 8-16 ports (that supports whatever this packet thing is)?
Are there any other things I should be considering? Do I need to ask or request the networking guy who will do the cable run anything specific? Thank you!
posted by arm426 at 6:44 PM on June 25, 2018
One more thing: If I'm running 6A from the entry point of my fiber, I figure I don't need to splurge on 6A for every room right now. I'll go with 6 for now and when higher gigabit speeds are available in a few years, just swap out the 6 for 6A off the patch panel in the basement. Is this shortsighted? Will this be more work in the future than I understand it to be?
posted by arm426 at 7:11 PM on June 25, 2018
posted by arm426 at 7:11 PM on June 25, 2018
Better to run 6a now if you think you'll have any need for 10Gb in the future. Though some 5e and 6 will do 10Gb at short distances, it's not something you can count on.
Personally, I'd run all the drops back to whatever room you are putting the router in. It's slightly more flexible, but VLAN-capable switches can work around it easily enough. That said, run twice as many wires as you think you'll need to each jack. Fishing two takes the same time as fishing one, so the cost should just be that of the extra wire. You don't necessarily need to have it terminated yet, just in the wall in case you need it.
Also, you'd be better served by a separate router and AP. That way you can locate the AP for best coverage rather than having to put it next to the ONT/modem and you can later upgrade one without affecting the other. (I'd probably get a $50 Mikrotik router and whatever Ubiquiti AP(s) struck my fancy, but they do require some prior knowledge or a willingness to learn some basic networking concepts to use properly)
One last point: In some ways, there isn't much use in using your own router behind at&t's since you're stuck with its limitations no matter what you do since they lack a true bridge mode. They do connection tracking for the DMZ device even if you disable all the filtering/security features you're allowed to touch and so will happily run themselves out of memory and start dropping sessions. The only workarounds involve some convoluted trickery to logically swap routers after the ONT has authenticated with at&t or sending all your traffic through a VPN so that at&t's CPE only sees the one connection no matter what you're doing.
posted by wierdo at 10:12 PM on June 25, 2018 [2 favorites]
Personally, I'd run all the drops back to whatever room you are putting the router in. It's slightly more flexible, but VLAN-capable switches can work around it easily enough. That said, run twice as many wires as you think you'll need to each jack. Fishing two takes the same time as fishing one, so the cost should just be that of the extra wire. You don't necessarily need to have it terminated yet, just in the wall in case you need it.
Also, you'd be better served by a separate router and AP. That way you can locate the AP for best coverage rather than having to put it next to the ONT/modem and you can later upgrade one without affecting the other. (I'd probably get a $50 Mikrotik router and whatever Ubiquiti AP(s) struck my fancy, but they do require some prior knowledge or a willingness to learn some basic networking concepts to use properly)
One last point: In some ways, there isn't much use in using your own router behind at&t's since you're stuck with its limitations no matter what you do since they lack a true bridge mode. They do connection tracking for the DMZ device even if you disable all the filtering/security features you're allowed to touch and so will happily run themselves out of memory and start dropping sessions. The only workarounds involve some convoluted trickery to logically swap routers after the ONT has authenticated with at&t or sending all your traffic through a VPN so that at&t's CPE only sees the one connection no matter what you're doing.
posted by wierdo at 10:12 PM on June 25, 2018 [2 favorites]
Oh, and to not abuse the edit window, if the signal levels are ok, modern MoCA bridges are far faster and far more reliable than power line bridges or HomePNA over twisted pair. 1.0 was only good for 250Mbps in aggregate (any single bridge port to 100Mbps since they didn't have gigabit ports), but 2.0 does 500Mbps per channel and should (as in I have literally never had a problem that wasn't caused by a failed device over a large number of installs) just work with zero hassles unless you have something really wonky going on with the coax in your house. It's more likely to work too well, leaking out to your neighbors if you don't have a filter installed at the service entrance, than not work as advertised.
posted by wierdo at 10:17 PM on June 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by wierdo at 10:17 PM on June 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
Seconding separate router and wireless access points. Even if you stick with MoCA, you should be able to add wireless access points to any locations that don't get good WiFi reception, and you don't have to worry about where your router is. Also seconding running the highest-rated cable you anticipate wanting; replacing cable isn't much cheaper than running new cables.
Your plan for having the router on the 2nd floor next to the ONT and then dropping a cable from the router to the basement switch sounds fine. If it's not significantly more expensive to run all the cables directly to where your router is, that might be worth the added flexibility like wierdo says, but I wouldn't worry about it if it ends up being burdensome.
Allow me to specifically un-recommend powerline networking for your case. While it's a decent option for many that aren't able to run cabling, if you already have MoCA set up where you need it, powerline networking would be a step back for you.
posted by Aleyn at 11:17 PM on June 25, 2018
Your plan for having the router on the 2nd floor next to the ONT and then dropping a cable from the router to the basement switch sounds fine. If it's not significantly more expensive to run all the cables directly to where your router is, that might be worth the added flexibility like wierdo says, but I wouldn't worry about it if it ends up being burdensome.
Allow me to specifically un-recommend powerline networking for your case. While it's a decent option for many that aren't able to run cabling, if you already have MoCA set up where you need it, powerline networking would be a step back for you.
posted by Aleyn at 11:17 PM on June 25, 2018
From what I understand, companies that install home security systems are especially good at adding Ethernet cabling to existing homes. They are experienced in adding wires in walls that already have infrastructure in them and can do it with a minimum of visual intrusion.
Whether this is cheaper than a normal electrician, I'll leave to you as an exercise.
posted by mmascolino at 9:08 AM on June 26, 2018
Whether this is cheaper than a normal electrician, I'll leave to you as an exercise.
posted by mmascolino at 9:08 AM on June 26, 2018
Ok, short version based on assumptions based on the two houses I'd totally just do this myself with. The assumptions:
Cut some plywood to a suitable size about three layers thick and affix it to the basement wall in an appropriate place. You're going to wall mount eqipment here and want somewhere to screw things into. Run a new circuit from the breaker box and at least get a new dual/quad outlet.
Run at least two cables from the (you're just going to have to grok this...) 201 to B and one that runs the full length of the A to B. It's as easy to pull 3 cables as it is one.
Ponder the arrangement of your devices and the space you've allocates and the power you've provided.... At least two power strips get screwed in and plugged into that nice power.
Nighhawk get's screwed into place. Stupid switch with ports to serve the 10x rooms (and the other Bx locations) plus a port to go back up to the 201/A lines plus a free one for emergency.
Where to place the 20x switch is either in the A or 201 depending.
Wireless is on your own... you have it in B and probably the rooms in 10x that are near B, use extenders or something.
WHAT I WOULD REALLY DO...(aka Bonus Points)
I'd start with a standard door size frame size space in the basement. I'd run some power. I'd drop a Cat5 into each 2nd floor room and a couple into wherever that Provider thing lives, and a couple extra along the attic for future expansion. I'd add bringing a power circuit back down (or alternately finding the circuit the Provider stuff was on and hijacking that at the circuit breaker) and that would go to UPS power. I'd have a UPS with a couple of power strips for UPS power and a couple for non-UPS power. A real router. A real 24 port-ish switch for all rooms/APs/etc. (real means like manageable remotely. I'd add a RPi or an Intel NUC or something for management and other things way beyond the scope of the question.
I'd build that door sized space out into a closet and maybe paint a TARDIS door on it or put a dartboard or something...
Anyways... this is all like a bit of extreme "less would piss me off" vs "this is ideal". My only expertise as it were would be a lot of fishing wires up and down walls and drilling holes and hunting down telecom closets and punching down connections and seeing more networking arrangements ... etc...
Yeah, a lot of the same as above. I'm piss-poor at knowing consumer grade equipment and low cost vs "I'd totally do that thing you ask myself and it would be sweet."
I've totally wired-out both of the houses I'm familiar with....
posted by zengargoyle at 11:06 AM on June 27, 2018
- Attic is a crawl space
- Basement is standable-in (maybe unfinished?)
- First and Second floor
- Provider equipment is not easily moved from second floor
- Provider equipment provides a GigabitEthernet
- Hopefully your circuit breaker box is in the basement
Cut some plywood to a suitable size about three layers thick and affix it to the basement wall in an appropriate place. You're going to wall mount eqipment here and want somewhere to screw things into. Run a new circuit from the breaker box and at least get a new dual/quad outlet.
Run at least two cables from the (you're just going to have to grok this...) 201 to B and one that runs the full length of the A to B. It's as easy to pull 3 cables as it is one.
Ponder the arrangement of your devices and the space you've allocates and the power you've provided.... At least two power strips get screwed in and plugged into that nice power.
Nighhawk get's screwed into place. Stupid switch with ports to serve the 10x rooms (and the other Bx locations) plus a port to go back up to the 201/A lines plus a free one for emergency.
Where to place the 20x switch is either in the A or 201 depending.
Wireless is on your own... you have it in B and probably the rooms in 10x that are near B, use extenders or something.
WHAT I WOULD REALLY DO...(aka Bonus Points)
I'd start with a standard door size frame size space in the basement. I'd run some power. I'd drop a Cat5 into each 2nd floor room and a couple into wherever that Provider thing lives, and a couple extra along the attic for future expansion. I'd add bringing a power circuit back down (or alternately finding the circuit the Provider stuff was on and hijacking that at the circuit breaker) and that would go to UPS power. I'd have a UPS with a couple of power strips for UPS power and a couple for non-UPS power. A real router. A real 24 port-ish switch for all rooms/APs/etc. (real means like manageable remotely. I'd add a RPi or an Intel NUC or something for management and other things way beyond the scope of the question.
I'd build that door sized space out into a closet and maybe paint a TARDIS door on it or put a dartboard or something...
Anyways... this is all like a bit of extreme "less would piss me off" vs "this is ideal". My only expertise as it were would be a lot of fishing wires up and down walls and drilling holes and hunting down telecom closets and punching down connections and seeing more networking arrangements ... etc...
Yeah, a lot of the same as above. I'm piss-poor at knowing consumer grade equipment and low cost vs "I'd totally do that thing you ask myself and it would be sweet."
I've totally wired-out both of the houses I'm familiar with....
posted by zengargoyle at 11:06 AM on June 27, 2018
That last bit is "I've totally wired-out both of the houses I'm familiar with.... (in my head while thinking about this question...)"
posted by zengargoyle at 11:11 AM on June 27, 2018
posted by zengargoyle at 11:11 AM on June 27, 2018
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There are IT cabling companies that can do this sort of thing, but I don't know how they charge and whether they'll save you anything, particularly for in-wall installations.
Is it going to be worth the money? Probably, unless you are okay with visible cable running along the baseboards of your rooms, in which case you can have that done for a lot less effort.
You'll be offered 3 types of cables, at most: Cat5e, which is good enough for gigabit ethernet speeds, and has a length limit of 100m, Cat6, which is good enough for 10G ethernet (10 Gigabits) up to 50m, and Cat6A which has more internal insulation than Cat6 and is good for 10G ethernet up to 100m. Those lengths are per-cable. The distances you're talking about don't sound like they'd be a problem, as long as the cable's not kinked or bent too sharply.
posted by Sunburnt at 10:27 AM on June 25, 2018