Cat6 runs? Multiple cables vs single switch?
Discussion
Wiring a whole house with cat6 will need to have a main central switch correct?
Is it better to have a single run of cable to a point (maybe media room or a tv) and then have a localised switch to plug all into, or is it best to have multiple cables running to a multi outlet wall plate?
Plus and minus of each?
Is it better to have a single run of cable to a point (maybe media room or a tv) and then have a localised switch to plug all into, or is it best to have multiple cables running to a multi outlet wall plate?
Plus and minus of each?
If you're going to use it to send HDbaseT TV signals or similar then you'll really need dedicated cables. If not then it really doesn't matter. It's always neater to have everything in a central rack, however it is a lot easier to just run a couple of cables to each point and use a local switch. Where is your Sky or similar going to be located?
Edited by megaphone on Monday 18th May 12:54
Yes.
Preferably you should run all cables back to central patch panel/switch, rather than adding extra switches which only introduces another point of failure and latency.
Also best to make sure you have enough cable runs to cope with possible future demand - so for a basic AV setup i'd have 4 cables to cover TV, receiver, media player, Sky box...
Preferably you should run all cables back to central patch panel/switch, rather than adding extra switches which only introduces another point of failure and latency.
Also best to make sure you have enough cable runs to cope with possible future demand - so for a basic AV setup i'd have 4 cables to cover TV, receiver, media player, Sky box...
if you're running more cable I would run them to more points in a room before running multiple to the same location. That way you have flexibility to put the wired devices in more places as your needs change.
If you have Gigabit capacity between switches it's vanishingly unlikely that you are going to have capacity issues. If you run a second cable, essentially you have 2,000 instead of 1,000 to use. You need 7 to stream from iPlayer.
Where you have a high demand, that's likely to be just one device in a particular location, rather than lots of devices sharing a switch. Eg if you need hundreds to run video editing directly on a server, you might want to be able to watch iPlayer at the same time, but so what? If you ran a business in your house with 5 people hammering your server from the office space, you'd move the server to the local switch.
Decent switches are fit and forget. The HDBaseT thing is a fair point, but the world has moved away from that approach over recent years; much easier to stream from a server or the web than get involved with the cost and hassle of setting all that up. And you're stuck to the location of your wires obviously.
I've got a gigabit switch behind my TV that supplies the TV, set top box, Amazon Fire thing and a WiFi AP, no problem. I have another in my Workshop for a similar setup and I've one in my loft conversion, they all work fine, no capacity issues and I've never had to touch the switches since they were plugged in and turned on.
If you have Gigabit capacity between switches it's vanishingly unlikely that you are going to have capacity issues. If you run a second cable, essentially you have 2,000 instead of 1,000 to use. You need 7 to stream from iPlayer.
Where you have a high demand, that's likely to be just one device in a particular location, rather than lots of devices sharing a switch. Eg if you need hundreds to run video editing directly on a server, you might want to be able to watch iPlayer at the same time, but so what? If you ran a business in your house with 5 people hammering your server from the office space, you'd move the server to the local switch.
Decent switches are fit and forget. The HDBaseT thing is a fair point, but the world has moved away from that approach over recent years; much easier to stream from a server or the web than get involved with the cost and hassle of setting all that up. And you're stuck to the location of your wires obviously.
I've got a gigabit switch behind my TV that supplies the TV, set top box, Amazon Fire thing and a WiFi AP, no problem. I have another in my Workshop for a similar setup and I've one in my loft conversion, they all work fine, no capacity issues and I've never had to touch the switches since they were plugged in and turned on.
You're better off doing multiple drops into a room rather than one drop and sticking a switch on it.
The best thing you can do is put the empty pipework in the wall so that you can drop whatever is standard in 2030 into it.
Capacity isn't really the issue - most homes don't have many devices that can even begin to use a Gbit connection properly. If you cable everything up to a central patch panel, you need one switch to deal with everything, rather than loads of devices all over the house. If you're doing it properly, with stuff like POE, then one UPS can keep the whole place running in a power cut. We live at the end of some skinny power lines that break frequently. It is immensely satisfying to have the lights go off and the iPad just carries on working!
The best thing you can do is put the empty pipework in the wall so that you can drop whatever is standard in 2030 into it.
Capacity isn't really the issue - most homes don't have many devices that can even begin to use a Gbit connection properly. If you cable everything up to a central patch panel, you need one switch to deal with everything, rather than loads of devices all over the house. If you're doing it properly, with stuff like POE, then one UPS can keep the whole place running in a power cut. We live at the end of some skinny power lines that break frequently. It is immensely satisfying to have the lights go off and the iPad just carries on working!
Gingerbread Man said:
Wiring a whole house with cat6 will need to have a main central switch correct?...
CorrectGingerbread Man said:
Is it better to have a single run of cable to a point (maybe media room or a tv) and then have a localised switch to plug all into, or is it best to have multiple cables running to a multi outlet wall plate?
Plus and minus of each?
Run multiple.Plus and minus of each?
Cable is relatively cheap compared to the cost/ball ache factor of running cables afterwards should you need more.
I ran 2 to each point in my house. I'd probably advocate also running a couple to opposite sides of the rooms if you have space etc (we didn't).
WiFi will cover many needs now, but nothing is more reliable than a good cabled connection.
On that front, Cat6 is more of a pig to run (bend radius etc)....depends on the distances you're running whether you really *need* it or not.
As everyone has said multiple cables to one location but i wonder if cat6 is the right wire of if cat5e would be just as good & half the cost plus more flexible to run?
If you are designing it now you ultimately need to think where you want it to all terminate and have enough space there to house all the equipment & make sure you have at least 4 power sockets there. Also might need to think about where your broadband comes in & routing that to the same position while you are at it. Then you can have everything in one place then and not located all over the place. e.g. if you have virgin run coax from where it comes into the house to your central cupboard or extending from the open reach socket to the same place.
Things you are going to need room in the future could be:
Broadband router
Wifi Mesh router
Switch - look at a 24 port one i'd say
Maybe a NAS for the future
If you get smart lights or anything smart expect to have a hub for each one that requires a ethernet port
CCTV - I have Arlo which requires the hub to be hardwired in
Media stuff like a central sky box as others have mentioned
Just off the top of my head which ultimately stacks up to a lot & a lot of power sockets & space!!
Ultimately you are going to need space for something like this or a bunch of shelves
If you are designing it now you ultimately need to think where you want it to all terminate and have enough space there to house all the equipment & make sure you have at least 4 power sockets there. Also might need to think about where your broadband comes in & routing that to the same position while you are at it. Then you can have everything in one place then and not located all over the place. e.g. if you have virgin run coax from where it comes into the house to your central cupboard or extending from the open reach socket to the same place.
Things you are going to need room in the future could be:
Broadband router
Wifi Mesh router
Switch - look at a 24 port one i'd say
Maybe a NAS for the future
If you get smart lights or anything smart expect to have a hub for each one that requires a ethernet port
CCTV - I have Arlo which requires the hub to be hardwired in
Media stuff like a central sky box as others have mentioned
Just off the top of my head which ultimately stacks up to a lot & a lot of power sockets & space!!
Ultimately you are going to need space for something like this or a bunch of shelves
richatnort said:
What is the size of that cradle, so I know what I need to be able to hide. And for that, can they be hidden as such? Can be made to blend in? Possibly a cabinet instead?Thanks all. I'm in Australia, so my replies will be out of sync but thanks for all the advice so far.
I plan to have WiFi mesh for the house. The main router and a node, maybe a second node if downstairs doesn't get nicely covered. The house is larger upstairs than down stairs due to not totally overlaying floor plans.
I have 100m of cat6 currently, so I'll start with that.
My cable internet comes in via antenna on the roof, thus the modem for this as it were comes down into my (mid transformation) walk in pantry. There is room to screw this to the wall so it's visually and physically accessible (but out the way). I then had planned to mount the main router next to it as t's centralish for one side of the house and covers the patio quite well.
From there I planned to drop cables down to the games room or the home theatre. The theatre would pose more of a noise and visual (any lights) issue than the games room. Here I planned to have the NAS also. I'm tempted by a second dedicated NAS for any possible CCTV as I currently have one sat unused. I'd also have to mount the switch down here and the UPS which can be noisy when t turned back on after a power cut.
So I need to make room for a the central hub to accomdate;
NAS x2
UPS,
Switch. (and/ or patch panel?)
Uses:
The NAS has a lot of film, music and TV on it which I hope to be able to send around the house to the TVs and the future cinema setup. It is also used for our document backup, so will be accessed via ethernet and the wife's laptop (wifi).
I hope to be able to stream 4K film around.
Possible a second NAS for CCTV as we leave the country to visit the UK every sop often for a month or so. We're on acreage so a bit away from others.
Just looked up HDbaseT TV signals. We have the standard SD/HD received over a TV aerial. Otherwise we use Netflix or the media centre streaming over the lan.
Patch panel/ switches. I guess that these are different. I best research.
So on from this I'm mid looking into. If I put CCTV up that possibly runs off POE (not looked at the pros and cons). Do I need to get a switch that has POE or can I get a sub patch panel (?) just for the cameras. NOt sure what else might run off of POE.
Thanks again.
Edited by Gingerbread Man on Tuesday 19th May 10:20
Gingerbread Man said:
What is the size of that cradle, so I know what I need to be able to hide. And for that, can they be hidden as such? Can be made to blend in? Possibly a cabinet instead?
no idea literally just stole one off google as you can see it has an american switch attached to it. I would suggest a cabinet is more than capable of doing the same thing just make sure it has vents for the heat to escape. richatnort said:
Gingerbread Man said:
What is the size of that cradle, so I know what I need to be able to hide. And for that, can they be hidden as such? Can be made to blend in? Possibly a cabinet instead?
no idea literally just stole one off google as you can see it has an american switch attached to it. I would suggest a cabinet is more than capable of doing the same thing just make sure it has vents for the heat to escape. richatnort said:
no idea literally just stole one off google as you can see it has an american switch attached to it. I would suggest a cabinet is more than capable of doing the same thing just make sure it has vents for the heat to escape.
That picture appears to be a wall mounted rack with either no side panels or the side panels removed. Unless you want to hide everything away a cabinet is not necessary.I'd use 5e, not 6 for a home installation. 5e will give a gig at up to 100m which is massive bandwidth for home use. If you need to backup a NAS to a NAS or some other massive data store then get 10gig cards in the NAS devices and a small 10g switch. Don't forget you'll still need to backup off-site to a remote location.
Cat 6 needs different patch panels, different wall plates and different bend radius for installation as well as very careful fixing to the wall, it's really not very flexible for a home install. Also, have you looked at the cost of a 24 port 10g switch ? If you don't install cat 6 correctly you get 5e performance anyway.
I really would focus on a wifi solution. With multiple APs you can get fantastic speed and great coverage for modern devices. Don't be tempted to use a mesh wifi as you really don't need to at this stage, you can build in the cat 5e to feed multipls APs.
Cat 6 needs different patch panels, different wall plates and different bend radius for installation as well as very careful fixing to the wall, it's really not very flexible for a home install. Also, have you looked at the cost of a 24 port 10g switch ? If you don't install cat 6 correctly you get 5e performance anyway.
I really would focus on a wifi solution. With multiple APs you can get fantastic speed and great coverage for modern devices. Don't be tempted to use a mesh wifi as you really don't need to at this stage, you can build in the cat 5e to feed multipls APs.
Gingerbread Man said:
....
Switch. (and/ or patch panel?)
...
You *have* to have a switch as this is what enables devices to talk to one another.Switch. (and/ or patch panel?)
...
You don't need a patch panel as you could simply terminate the central cupboard ends with RJ45s and go straight into the switch. But a patch panel can make life easier/neater. Not really needed for a home install though IMO.
For the rack, a typical one will be 19in wide (imperial measurements used). You can get them all sorts of heights and these are typically measured in "U", and they're typically 1.75in. There are normally 3 holes per U so you can roughly work out how tall that particular rack is
You can get shelves etc for racks, and a lot of good quality kit often comes in rack mount form or has decent brackets that can be bought to do so. Keeps it all neat and tidy and is a secure way of storing stuff (if not aesthetically pleasing!).
Chozza said:
Run multiple... drop any extra in at the same time ( you can always leave it curled in roof space )
and since you are running it .. drop some fibre in at the same time
( or do all of this .. and find that your family is happy with meshed wifi and that it makes no difference )
Depends on the house and how open you are to having access points in myriad places, plus power for them etc.and since you are running it .. drop some fibre in at the same time
( or do all of this .. and find that your family is happy with meshed wifi and that it makes no difference )
Mesh wifi has come on in leaps and bounds over the last few years, but it's still not as reliable as hardwired connections...so if you're doing refurb works anyway, it's nuts not running cable (copper - fibre definitely not needed
).I have both
(When running cables it's easy to run some for PoE access points too 
)seveb said:
I really would focus on a wifi solution. With multiple APs you can get fantastic speed and great coverage for modern devices. Don't be tempted to use a mesh wifi as you really don't need to at this stage, you can build in the cat 5e to feed multipls APs.
How do you power CCTV cameras & video doorbells over WiFi?Run multiple runs - not everything that runs over cat5/6 is ethernet such as hdmi extenders. I have little ‘1-wire’ temperature sensors that I crimp into an rj plug and also my 2nd alarm control panel which is essentially a serial protocol simply plugs into a socket and with a patch lead going to the alarm panel.
In fact everything in my house is home run, including the lights, cctv, satellite cables etc
don’t forget to run cables to ceilings in key rooms/halls/landings for PoE wireless access points.
And also some to exterior walls if you want PoE ethernet cctv cameras (i personally prefer rg59 coax)
Everything in the central cabinet is powered from a overspecified UPS so it all keeps going when the power goes out - plus a changeover switch and portable generator just in case
In fact everything in my house is home run, including the lights, cctv, satellite cables etc
don’t forget to run cables to ceilings in key rooms/halls/landings for PoE wireless access points.
And also some to exterior walls if you want PoE ethernet cctv cameras (i personally prefer rg59 coax)
Everything in the central cabinet is powered from a overspecified UPS so it all keeps going when the power goes out - plus a changeover switch and portable generator just in case
Mr Pointy said:
seveb said:
I really would focus on a wifi solution. With multiple APs you can get fantastic speed and great coverage for modern devices. Don't be tempted to use a mesh wifi as you really don't need to at this stage, you can build in the cat 5e to feed multipls APs.
How do you power CCTV cameras & video doorbells over WiFi?I'm planning on a mesh wifi, but my main tv/ media zones and the PC stuff will be hard wired.
Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff