anyone set up a home network?

Thanks :)

Oh, I should also add to my previous post - If most of your networked devices are going to be in one or two locations, ie your lounge and a bedroom where the router is, it's simpler to have one single cable between the two locations and a switch at each end.

For instance, I have a 5 port switch in my lounge with my PS3 and a PC plugged into it. This has a patch lead that plugs into a wall socket in that room. Then the wall socket has a single wire back to my bedroom to another socket. From this socket, a similar setup to the lounge - a patch cable to a 5 port switch, where my main PC, the router and various other devices are plugged in.

Turns out this is like building a bike. I'm now thinking I need cat6a (10 gig...) and a patch panel as the cheaper solid stuff doesn't fit into the regular plugs.

It's like when you set out to build a beater and end up with something too expensive to lock outside the pub.

B.

Can't see why you'd need Cat6a? Sounds like you're overcomplicating things! Consider this. Blu-Ray video is 40Mbit/sec maximum. If you wanted to stream a blu-ray from one device to the other, you could do this on a 100Mbit network (Cat5e) without issue, you'd have more issues with having devices powerful enough to transcode the video on the fly etc...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bit_rate#Video

1Gbit network (Cat6) will be totally fine for what you want, and for future. As I say, a gig switch at each end of a single wire between rooms would be a good way to go :)

You can do 10Gb ethernet over Cat 6 for 'short' distances but I agree it's probably overkill for a home network. Personally, I'd pull multiple Cat 6 runs. It's (basically) as easy to pull 4 cables as it is 1 so may as well give yourself some wiggle room.

If you are doing it from scratch then wire the network properly and not by having a switch with 10 devices hanging off it all sending and recieving traffic down one cable which is plugged into another switch.

Also, this. Patch panels are pretty cheap.

All my tools are back in Aus otherwise I'd come give you a hand.

How are you running the cables- in conduit, under the floors, chased into the walls?

that was my thinking, I only want to do it once. The only real extra expense for cat6a (I know i don't need 10 gig speed but then I can still remember when dial up was acceptible) is that i'll need a patch panel off ebay for 80 quid. For the sake of that I thought i'd try and do a bit of futureproofing, it can't do any harm.

Is Krone a brand? I saw some krone cable on one of the cable sites. Is it the best one to go for?

It's a pretty full refurb, i'll be doing it myself, but then i get paid to do it for other people usually so it's OK, so I can run most of it under the floor. in the insulation. It's a 60s bungalow so the floors are solid but i'm going to insulate under the finished floor first

It's been an informative thread - well, for me anyway, so thatnks for all the suggestions.

B.

Is Krone a brand?

Yes. It's also become the de facto term for the punch-down tool you use to terminate twisted pair cables to a patch panel or socket.

In unrelated news our shitty DSL connection just got relegated to "direst emergency backup", and the Gig connection has gone live.

10 gig, i tell you, 10 gig. It's what all the cool kids are getting into. How are you going to stream 3d touchable solid rendered sports matches into your living room with a paltry gig?

B.

It's a Gig circuit with 200 Mbps of Direct Internet Access on it, and another 100 Mbps VLAN to the DC.

The DC is all 10 Gig, if that helps?

I was joking, I can barely set up a wireless router. I was just refering to the fact that i've convinced myself that i'll need a 10gig network for no apparent reason - futureproofing aside.

B.

You should run fibre between rooms- best to be on the safe side just in case.

I know a guy who can hook you up with some of these as well.

First person to spell Plesionchronus correctly wins 10 Internets

Fortunately the description of the thing your mate can hook me up with contains nuggets like this:

Seamless mix of CWDM and DWDM on fiber pair or single-fiber configurations

Ensuring for all I know it could be a cardigan. Thus I'm not tempted. Unlike the offer of 10 internets. Is it a trick question though? Are 10 virtual spaces actually the same as 1?

B.