Looking for advice - home network

[w8nformyruca]

Hello to all, new around here. Looking for advice and after checking out some of the posts here, I think there are several here who would be able to help. I am having a house built and the deal I have worked out with the builder has him pulling cat5e/rg6 throughout the house to a central location (either in the basement or garage) with me responsible for tying everything together. What I am looking at is roughly 9 locations in the house where I will have cable and internet access. When those are tied together, will I have a lot of signal loss? What type of panel should I use to tie them all in? Sorry I am new to this but very intrigued, any help would be appreciated!

 

[Hefemeister]

In the room where the wires come the best thing to use for organization is a patch panel. for cat6 you are looking for something like this.
Belkin : 12 Port Cat6 Patch Panel

They you would want to pick up a 12 port switch (gigabyte would be the way to go). you can also get a rack mount and get a small 2u to 4u case to mount in the location.

The cheaper way is to just get a 12 port switch and put ends on the cables and plug them into the switch.

You would also need a router that would connect from your modem then connect into the switch assuming you want internet to all locations.

Done correctly keeping in mind the maximum wire run is 100 meters then you will have no signal loss. If you have to make a run over 100 meters then you need to add a switch to boost the signal.

 

[w8nformyruca]

In the room where the wires come the best thing to use for organization is a patch panel. for cat6 you are looking for something like this.
Belkin : 12 Port Cat6 Patch Panel

They you would want to pick up a 12 port switch (gigabyte would be the way to go). you can also get a rack mount and get a small 2u to 4u case to mount in the location.

The cheaper way is to just get a 12 port switch and put ends on the cables and plug them into the switch.

You would also need a router that would connect from your modem then connect into the switch assuming you want internet to all locations.

Done correctly keeping in mind the maximum wire run is 100 meters then you will have no signal loss. If you have to make a run over 100 meters then you need to add a switch to boost the signal.

So I would run the Cat5 to the patch panel, hardwire that, then run seperate cables to the switch, then from the switch to each receptacle?

 

[Hefemeister]

Assuming this is a new build.

each room would have their own plug like a phone jack.

like this:

a wire would go from this down to the patch panel and connect there:

you would use a punch down tool on these two items:

You would use patch cable to attach the computers to the wall mounts and the patch panel to the switch.

You would also have a router connected to a modem that connects into the switch. You final product would look something like this. With the top black device the patch panel, the while ones the switch and the bottom greenish one the router:

The other way is to just run the wires and either do wall mounts or not and put connectors on the end to hook into computers and switch.

I would do the former versus the later if it was my home newly built and it fit in my budget.

You may also want to consider wiring the house with cat6 for future proofing.

 

[w8nformyruca]

Assuming this is a new build.

each room would have their own plug like a phone jack.

like this:

a wire would go from this down to the patch panel and connect there:

you would use a punch down tool on these two items:

You would use patch cable to attach the computers to the wall mounts and the patch panel to the switch.

You would also have a router connected to a modem that connects into the switch. You final product would look something like this. With the top black device the patch panel, the while ones the switch and the bottom greenish one the router:

The other way is to just run the wires and either do wall mounts or not and put connectors on the end to hook into computers and switch.

I would do the former versus the later if it was my home newly built and it fit in my budget.

You may also want to consider wiring the house with cat6 for future proofing.

Thanks for all your help! I was planning on using cat5e, is cat6 much better? Also, is it possible to run my phone line over the cat5e or will that be seperate wiring? Thanks again.

 

[Hefemeister]

Compare the Cat5e vs Cat6 Cabling Standard

You can run phone on cat5 cable but will need a separate cable for phones connected to your phone system.

 

[w8nformyruca]

OK, thanks again, this has been a big help!

 

[Hefemeister]

Remember the patch panel and wall mounts are optional but help with organization and if you have a wife like mine she will appreciate the cleanliness of it.