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Home Network Setup - Advice needed

Tucks

Tucks

Registered
1 10 Years
Joined
Sep 21, 2014
Messages
2,105
Location
SW London
I absolutely love the ‘PinShed’ builds and shop logs on here but don’t really remember ones specifically about networking (although someone is probably going to post a load of links now and prove me wrong).

I’m in the middle of a house renovation (top down) and the loft conversion is nearly at the first fix stage. Later this year will (hopefully) be stage 2 which is the rear, side and other side double extensions. This will include full re-wire, re-plumb, kitchen, bathrooms, Megaflow + Underfloor heating etc etc but I need to start thinking about the network and CCTV.

May plans to date are as follows:

Cat 6 throughout.

- Is Cat 7 necessary as no runs will be greater than 100m?

- - Any recommendation on supplier of cables and tools?

Switches

3 X POE 16 port switches (This may not be enough ports)

I really like the basic network setup like ‘8 Bit Guy’ from YouTube utilizing passive switches. I also plan, like him, not to use a patch panel as not really needed and just another layer of complexity.


Currently using an Asus 2900RT AC86U which has been fine.

4 X CCTV cameras using POE

Any advice of cameras, type and supplier?

Is it best to have a dedicated DVR box or just utilize NAS.

WiFi

3 or 4 Wireless Access Points

Preferably ceiling mounted but any advice on make would be great.



Anything else??

Am I missing anything regarding LED strips, automation etc. I don’t want to talk to my light switches or turn the shower on by my phone but anything else useful?

Cheers all.
 
wrong section :D LOL

Dave:
Agree on the Neutral to all electrical points.
Cat 6 is fine.
any spark can run the cables for you. For wifi get the cable ran to where you are going to mount the wifi AP.

I use Reolink cameras - they are outstanding.
For network great use Ubiquiti. Both their network switches and their wifi gear. Easy to setup and problem free and quite cheap.

I'd personally make sure that where ever your TV's and game consoles are going to be you have ethernet back to your switches/router/NAS and have at least 1 ethernet run to every room. For video I have a QNAP NAS but use a Mac mini on the front end for Plex with the drives network mounted. The NAS has RAID10 which is striped mirrored disks which means it survives a disk failures 99% of the time, I've never lost anything but some folks will say go higher than that personally think that's a waste of money. I put a wifi AP in every room and three in the garden, but I'm mental. Also don't forget speaker cabling for surround sound. I've also put Alexa into every room now.

Neil.
 
I'm very similar to Neil

Multiple Cat 6 points in all rooms, approx 15,000 ft of it in my house
Reolink cameras, thanks for Neils' recommendations
Ubiquiti equipment works so well, again might be Neil :)
Star configured the light cables to central electrical cupboard, and Cat cable to all light switches, allows for a wired home lighting automation. (Lutron at the moment)
Run 2 Cat cables if you have any long runs for HDMI, think projectors in the future
QNAP & SynologyNAS/ Shield TV for Plex
Speaker cable everywhere for Sonos and TV's (include Atmos)
 
Excellent. Cheers guys and as I expected, a few things there I hadn't considered. Sonos, Doh!

@Neil McRae so do you use the QNAP for your CCTV?

I have a mirrored array but will probably need an upgrade as this is mainly for files and not video.

I'm going to have ethernet to every room, it just figuring out how many and will probably add an extra one in each room for 'luck'.
 
Both QNAP & Synology have webcam software & recording functions
 
I have BT Whole Home Mini Discs, 6 of them around the house. Works brilliantly. I would say we are on the heavier side of home network usage. I also have a lot of smart plugs throughout. I do have a number of Smart Lightbulbs but to be honest they're more trouble than they're worth...they drive the missus mental! I have a couple of Alexa screens but only to use with the Ring doorbell. Alexa is extremely disappointing compared to Google Assistant. I have Google speakers in almost every room and that's a much more responsive system, plus it uses Spotify which the Alexa doesn't seem to.
 
Tucks said:
Excellent. Cheers guys and as I expected, a few things there I hadn't considered. Sonos, Doh!

@Neil McRae so do you use the QNAP for your CCTV?

I have a mirrored array but will probably need an upgrade as this is mainly for files and not video.

I'm going to have ethernet to every room, it just figuring out how many and will probably add an extra one in each room for 'luck'.
Click to expand...

If you have sky q or Sonos you need to make sure you switch off their own network. if you get stuck let me know.
 
Agree with Neil... cat6 everywhere, neutral and live and earth at switches is normally how most sparks do light switches anyway but not always...
I use Dahua cameras but a lot of industry guys use HIKvision, both have wideranging network equipment capabilities thesedays, intercoms, security etc
Ubiquitti APs or ruckus are both excellent
sounds like a lot of work but worth it :)
 
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