Building a house - steps to future proof network options

Atty

Golden Member
Aug 19, 2006
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I'm helping a friend build his house. We have the ability to lay whatever wires we want pre-dry wall install and to request any specific tech be installed.

In his development it looks like FIOS will be the provider but we aren't sure what tech steps to take to ensure its all set up properly.

In my eyes we need to decide on a point for the modem and then somehow have a wired connection through the entire house. Every house has a port for internet to that room. Then we install a wireless router somewhere for wireless internet everywhere. I'm savvy enough to help with the installs and buying everything (we may do the installs ourselves to save money) but I need to know what hardware to get.

Does anyone know of any guides or can anyone here provide some details on what we should do? Building starts in a month or so.
 

seepy83

Platinum Member
Nov 12, 2003
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How far he wants to take this really depends on what his budget is. Lots of people recommend that you run 2x Cat6a, 2x RG6 COAX, and 2x MultiMode Fiber to each location. These are all home-runs back to a common wiring closet. Personally, I think that's overkill...I'm not convinced that Fiber connections will start appearing on devices in a typical home any time soon.

Personally, if I were building a house, I would probably just pull 1 Cat6a to each location (unless it's a location he knows he needs more than that) but I would run them all in 1.5" PVC conduit with Pull Strings so that I could easily fish whatever new wires I wanted in the future. I'd rather spend the money on having conduit to each location than having extra RG6 or Fiber cables that I may never use. Not to mention, more and more devices are going the wireless route.
 
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Red Squirrel

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May 24, 2003
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I would pick an area to have a 42U rack, put a keystone patch panel on top, perhaps two. 24-48 ports is good. You could do all cat6 home runs, make sure there are jacks on multiple walls of each room in likely areas for a computer desk, TV, or other potential device to be. Idealy they should be near electrical outlets. I like to run like 3 ethernet and 1 phone. For places where you know you already have plans to use multiple jacks I'd put even more.

Another option is running home run conduits then cat6 inside, but that would be quite pricy and quite a lot of work. This would however allow you to run different kind of cable in the future such as cat7, fibre, etc... Though I think cat6 will be more than good enough in a home environment for a very long time.

Also for the basement, don't drywall the ceiling. Put drop ceiling or other type that would allow you to run more jacks in the future. If multi story concentrate on adding more jacks upstairs as those will never be able to be touched again.

You can also run coax in all rooms, does not hurt to have, though I think most newer services now use ethernet.

Oh and for the phone jacks, still use cat6. That enables you to swap the keystones at both ends if you want to convert to ethernet in the future.

people will say you don't need cat6 just go with cat5, but really, it's not like cat6 is that much more expensive, get a box or two of 1000ft and you'll be good to go. Check out monoprice.com for the stuff you need.
 

s44

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 2006
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Plan to use a separate wireless AP or two, and just have a gateway/router in the basement or wherever.
 

imagoon

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Feb 19, 2003
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Future proof is pretty easy. Find a central location and install conduit between the locations and the central location. When tech changes, pull whatever the new tech is. I would go as far as planning a 42U rack like Red Squirrel mentions but have at least a enough room to mount a 24-48 port patch panel (2u) a switch (1u or a shelf item.) Enough room to terminate coax 24 - 48 ports (2u normally) and shelving for the non-rackmount stuff. 6u swing arm normally works well, if you have room go with a 10u.
 

OlafSicky

Platinum Member
Feb 25, 2011
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I was thinking about the same issue and I came to the conclusion that everything will be wifi in the future so there is no need for any cables. The only thing that I might do is to run a cable from the first floor to the basement just for an extra AP
 

Red Squirrel

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May 24, 2003
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I was thinking about the same issue and I came to the conclusion that everything will be wifi in the future so there is no need for any cables. The only thing that I might do is to run a cable from the first floor to the basement just for an extra AP

I would still want everything wired as much as possible, and limit wifi to mobile devices. Wireless is never going to be as secure as wired, especially with the NSA constantly trying to find more and more ways to spy on people. The wifi should also be on a separate vlan and only open up stuff to the wifi network that is needed to be accessible through wifi.
 

imagoon

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Feb 19, 2003
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It is going to be years to decade before everything is wireless. Sure wireless has these awesome looking numbers... until you worry about latency and interference.
 

Red Squirrel

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Wireless is also kinda like a hub. If you have 10 people connected to a wifi access point, it's like if they are connected to a hub, only one can communicate at once. Then throw in latency, interference, distance etc...

Wireless is a great tech, but it will never beat wires as far as transmission speed and reliability.
 

Bull Dog

Golden Member
Aug 29, 2005
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It is really hard to beat the consistency and reliability of a wired Ethernet connection.

Edit: A Red Squirrel apparently beat me to the punch by mere seconds.....
 
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Enigma102083

Member
Dec 25, 2009
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2 drops to every room in conduit with pull strings, including 2 drops in the ceiling where you will want APs located. Bring it all back to a central wiring closet, either install a wall mount patch panel or a 25U or 42U rack. Be sure that this is the room where all phone and data enter the building, it should be close to your NID on the outside of the house.