Question new home build network equipment advice needed!!!!

[954kevin]

hello! networking isnt my strong suite, but i have a pretty good handle on the general concepts. im finishing a new home build. i ran 2 lines of cat6 to each of the 3 bedrooms, living room, the game room, and the attached garage. 12 lines ran in total through the home.
i live in a rural area, but we do get gigabit fiber. in the attached garage 60x60, i have built a "utility" room that houses the water, hv/ac laundry etc.
in that room is where all the room's cat6 terminates and the fiber line will come in the home.
i installed a recessed network panel in the wall near the breaker box.
i need advice on what i need here. of course i will need wireless, probably a couple points to cover the garage and home. i understand my local network requires a gateway, but im not really sure what the best way to approach this is.
should i but a 14 port wired router to put in the panel, plugging each cat6 into that? or would a smaller wired router followed by an unmanaged switch be better?
am i correct in thinking i can then simple plug in a wireless access point in any of the rooms ports, assign it an ip and disable DCHP and gain wireless? further, add a second wireless access point in the garage if signal from the first doesnt cover the homes footprint? again, disabling DCHP, giving it a different ip address, giving it the same user login info as the first?
ive heard of them, but never used, would a mesh system be a better choice in regards to the wireless access point?
i considered tucking a wireless router in the utility room's panel coupled with a switch, but im concerned that would limit the wifi signal to the garage area.
like i said, im fairly tech savvy, but im just not sure what the best approach is here. i really really appreciate the help!!!

 

[Fallen Kell]

I would definitely put a switch in the garage. Personally I would put in a managed switch so that you can create a couple different VLANs to segregate your network needs. This way you can create a VLAN to contain your smart devices like TVs/blu-ray players/light switches/etc to their own “network” so that they are isolated from your computers/phones to lessen the security risks that these devices pose (because most companies stop patching them within a year).

You will want a router in the garage as well, but as for if it should also be wireless, that depends on your house layout. You may be able to get by with just a single wireless access point centrally located in the house (I can get by with one placed in the center of my basement).

 

[Eric Fazekas]

Ok, you said they "terminate" in the utility room. Does that mean you put RJ 45s on all of them or are they just hanging there?

The right way and the best was to do this is to get a punch down panel. In addition to neatness, once its done correctly and tested this means you won't have to touch those wires again and reduces the chance of a connector being the broken point. Similar to when you have a problem in one of the rooms you won't immediately take off the cover and look at the keystone jack. From the punch down you'll get some patch cords that go to a switch.

I'm a big fan of mesh systems for the average home user. Since you have a network in place, look for one with a wired backhual. That was all the hubs will use the wired connection to talk between themselves and the "air" will just be for your wireless devices to talk to the nearest (ideally) node.

I'm like you, fairly savvy, but just a home user. I built my home with a comm closet. See my post I wrote a few years ago here (scroll down through my follow up posts too if you find it useful):

My home wiring closet

PIC 1: https://flic.kr/p/W1yXPk PIC 2: https://flic.kr/p/W9DvS7 I built my home with a contractor, but did a lot of work myself including the network planning and wiring. It's a large ranch home that's about 110 feet long. I wired just about every room, some rooms with more than one drop...

forums.anandtech.com

It's not the best, but it's better than most. I'm sure there are better products now, but I'll find them when I do my tech refresh.

 

[954kevin]

thanks for all the responses everyone!

i do plan to put a punch down panel in the space.

im looking strongly at the asus rt-ax880 and the d-link dgs-1100-16v2 smart managed switch in the utility rooms panel.

if that wireless router doesnt cover my whole space well enough, its easy to just buy a cheap used asus ai-mesh router, disable its routing features and use it as an access point.

i really wish i would have added more line throughout the house. when i was putting it in i hadnt done any research... unfortunately, i wire clipped the lines to the 2x4's inside the walls and they are filled with a blown in cellulose insulation. so, i cant pull more wire through using the existing cat6.

fortunately, there is an attic or storage space above the living space. i do have some access to most of the walls the cables are in through the top. in the future i might tackle that, but for now, what i have is adequate.

my isp does offer 1gig service, but most likely i think we will test out the 100 down and see how that goes. i have 25 down currently, and it does the job. 100 being 4x what i use currently, i think thatll be enough.

of course, 1gig is boss status, but its $169 a month, where the 100 is $65. im just not sure if the extra $1200 a year for 1gig is a value for my family's needs, but its not out of the question.

 

[Fallen Kell]

of course, 1gig is boss status, but its $169 a month, where the 100 is $65. im just not sure if the extra $1200 a year for 1gig is a value for my family's needs, but its not out of the question.

Wow. Yeah, 1gbe is not worth that if you ask me. I get it for $89 a month.