new home - building where to run cat6

[JimKiler]

I signed a purchase agreement, contingent on selling my current house. So assuming that happens how would you run cabling? I know wifi is here but my PS3 needs LAN to get above 802.11G. They will put a phone line in 2 rooms and I am thinking they should run LAN with those runs and use one wall plate for both phone and Ethernet. I know i want the living room to be wired for the PS3.

I have a N wireless router with 4 port 100Mbps switch and also a 8 port gigabit switch. Should I put the switch in a utility closet and the router in the loft on the top floor for the best reception? If I put a switch in a utility closet should i make sure i have 2 Ethernet cables between the utility closet and the loft? I feel a little lost.

All recommendations and links are appreciated.

 

[ViviTheMage]

If you're building, hardware the entire house.

 

[seepy83]

Since it's new construction, I would probably run 2 drops to every room, and most likely an extra 2-4 drops in the Living Room. All network drops should run back to a utility closet where they are punched down to a patch panel. I suggested more drops in the living room because pretty much every home entertainment device (TVs, DVD Players, Receivers, Game Systems, etc) these days has an ethernet port that you may or may not want to use.

You'll be kicking yourself in a couple of years if you don't run enough while there's no sheetrock on the walls and now you need to go through the trouble of pulling it with walls, floors, firestops, etc. in your way.

 

[mvbighead]

What both of these guys have said. Patch panel FTW.

I would also recommend finding a good spot in the house for a wireless router, and ensure that you can have 2 wired ports there there, perhaps even coax should you choose to put your modem there. It might be ideal if this were by your patch panel, but you may want to put it in a spot that provides a good signal throughout the entire house.

 

[JimKiler]

What both of these guys have said. Patch panel FTW.

I would also recommend finding a good spot in the house for a wireless router, and ensure that you can have 2 wired ports there there, perhaps even coax should you choose to put your modem there. It might be ideal if this were by your patch panel, but you may want to put it in a spot that provides a good signal throughout the entire house.

There will be a loft on the top floor so I was thinking the router should go there but i would put the cable modem and a switch in the utility room in the basement. So you are right I need at least two cables between the utility room and loft and I was thinking on run to the living room and probably adding a switch there which i would have to buy. Right now I only need one cable for the PS3.

I want ethernet for the master bedroom. But i am unsure if I want it in any of other 3 bedrooms for my kids.

 

[seepy83]

Personally, I would try to stick with just 1 switch in the utility closet with the patch panel, and enough network drops in each room so that you don't need to put a switch there to handle X number of devices.

Like I said before, I would recommend you put ethernet in all of the bedrooms. You don't need to light up the jacks in your 3 children's bedrooms if you don't want the jacks to work, but you'll be saving yourself a lot of work in the future if that changes.

 

[JimKiler]

Personally, I would try to stick with just 1 switch in the utility closet with the patch panel, and enough network drops in each room so that you don't need to put a switch there to handle X number of devices.

Like I said before, I would recommend you put ethernet in all of the bedrooms. You don't need to light up the jacks in your 3 children's bedrooms if you don't want the jacks to work, but you'll be saving yourself a lot of work in the future if that changes.

Yeah, maybe I will wire those bedrooms after all. I was thinking i could do it later as long as i can run the wire from basement to attic but that maybe harder than I anticipate.

Also would putting the router in the basement affect reception greatly?

 

[seepy83]

Also would putting the router in the basement affect reception greatly?

It really depends on the size and construction of the house. It's definitely not optimal to put your wireless router in the basement unless you have a finished basement and that's where the majority of your wireless devices are.

On the other hand, you can always run additional Access Points if you want to keep your router in the same location as your patch panel and switch, and you need more coverage.

 

[ScottMac]

Do the whole house, at least two locs per room, at least two runs per loc (opposing corners works well .. not dead in the corner by opposing walls at opposite ends) and make sure you have the kitchen covered in at least three corners / counters. It won't be long before everything is "intelligent" and needs Internet access, or you want IPTV or streaming info (radio, TV, news/weather/sports)

I also ran to the balcony, the garages (x2) and every closet (x2).

While you're at it, pull two runs of RG6 quad to each location too. Cable is usually the cheap part ... the labor and termination is what can bite you cost-wise. SO put it in, whether you're ready for it or not ... if cash is tight, install the cable but don't terminate it.

 

[piasabird]

I like wired Internet over wireless. Seems like wireless gets goofy after a while for some reason. Maybe run a phone line to your cabinet as well if you ever use DSL. You may think you dont like it, but it may come in handy someday. If you like having a wired phone, I like having one near the computer or TV area or the office if you have a den/office/guest room.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

I would run several to each room while its cheap, you can use the same Cat6 jacks and cabling to provide phone as well as data. If you do two port outlets in 2 separate walls it will give you flexibility as to what goes where. That way a phone and data device can go in each place, or two data devices, it just depends on how you patch them on the backend.

Trust me, you dont want to run cable after its done, the cost goes up a LOT.

While you are at it, consider running Component/Composite/HDMI in rooms where you have entertainment devices so you can hide your receiver/bluray/etc in a closet

 

[The Green Bean]

In my new house, they put wired 5 paired twisted wire one in each room which will carry voice and data. All the wires lead to the basement where they will be installing a PBX and patch panel. I don't really see the need for running so many cables--you can buy a switch if one of your rooms need more than one connection.

 

[Emulex]

do cat6a instead of cat6 if you can afford it - longer distances if 10gb cat6a gear ever gets mainstream (too much power and too expensive switches). make sure its fireproof too you don't want to install low voltage wiring that can cause a fire.

 

[Mark R]

make sure its fireproof too you don't want to install low voltage wiring that can cause a fire.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean there. I was under the impression that LAN cabling didn't carry significant current, and therefore fire risk due to faults is negligible (the exception being severe voltage surges (e.g. lightning) carried into the building via incorrectly terminated phone/mains power/cable service drops).

Did you mean that OP should consider specifying low-smoke/low-toxicity cable? This wouldn't be a bad idea, if there is a lot of cabling being installed (multiple drops to each room). Standard cable is insulated with PVC - this is reasonably fire resistant, but the smoke is potentially quite toxic. Plenum rated cable is designed to produce less smoke, so is recommended if you are installing it in air-ducts. However, the plenum rating doesn't specify the toxicity of the smoke - some plenum rated cable is made by adding fire retardants to regular insulation - unforunately, a number of these fire retardants burn with highly toxic fumes. An increasingly popular choice is "low-smoke, zero halogen" cabling, which contains no toxic halogens. Unfortunately, there isn't an officially recognised spec for LSZH cabling, like there is for plenum. However, a lot of LSZH cabling is plenum rated, but you get reduced toxicity (over regular plenum), if it subsequently burns. The problems with LSZH are higher price, and a stiffer, less easy to handle cable.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I want ethernet for the master bedroom. But i am unsure if I want it in any of other 3 bedrooms for my kids.

Run wire now, while you're building the house. It will enhance the resale value.

If you need to implement network policy, then purchase a managed switch to control the ports (disable, filter, etc.).

 

[Doppel]

You guys are a little nuts. Yes more devices are hooking to the net but 99% of them are wireless. Sure, wired is faster, and if the drywall isn't up it makes absolute sense to wire up to some decent level but two per bedroom? Three in the kitchen? Internet-ready devices realize most people don't have cables run and never will, so they'll all cater to wireless.

 

[MtnMan]

do cat6a instead of cat6 if you can afford it - longer distances if 10gb cat6a gear ever gets mainstream (too much power and too expensive switches). make sure its fireproof too you don't want to install low voltage wiring that can cause a fire.

6a for the extra distance? Really, I think Bill Gates knows that and no one else is building a house where the 55 meters (180 feet) for 10G on 6 would be a limitation.

Huh? Are you referring to plenum rated cable? It is not "fireproof" but when it burns in a fire, it gives off less toxic gasses. It's a fire code/life safety thing, nothing to do with networking standards.

 

[seepy83]

You guys are a little nuts. Yes more devices are hooking to the net but 99% of them are wireless. Sure, wired is faster, and if the drywall isn't up it makes absolute sense to wire up to some decent level but two per bedroom? Three in the kitchen? Internet-ready devices realize most people don't have cables run and never will, so they'll all cater to wireless.

If you're running 1 drop to a room, you might as well get 2 spools of cable and run 2 at once. This will save you significant money if something happens that causes 1 of the cables to not work anymore (i.e. a rodent chews on it in the wall, someone is searching for a water leak and accidentally cuts one of the cables while opening a wall up, whatever else) or you simply have a need for more wired connections.

 

[alkemyst]

Huh? Are you referring to plenum rated cable? It is not "fireproof" but when it burns in a fire, it gives off less toxic gasses. It's a fire code/life safety thing, nothing to do with networking standards.

QFT...I don't know how so many think it's cable that will not spontaneously combust.

It's designed to not burn actively and when it is melting not to off-gas poisons.

 

[ScottMac]

QFT...I don't know how so many think it's cable that will not spontaneously combust.

It's designed to not burn actively and when it is melting not to off-gas poisons.

Actually, it's quite toxic. Plenum cable just has a higher flash point.

As mentioned above, Low Smoke, Zero Halogen is the least toxic, but can still kill you in concentration.

None of this is worth worrying about, with all the synthetics in anyone's house (includes floor finishing, paints, wall board, furniture, window treatments, toys, electronics, cleaning materials ... and pretty much everything else flammable), the trivial contribution of the burning UTP isn't even worthy of even the smallest glance.

 

[Emulex]

Well i've seen folks not use conduit and throw cable around - i just assumed that was the case. If you are stuffing the cable in conduit - good. yes the cable can melt and could give off gas or catch fire. lightning -> dsl router -> ethernet (ever notice there is no ground plug on the RG for uverse? where do you think a huge spark would go, to the next grounded object, over ethernet to your pc, low voltage wire is not designed to handle large voltage spikes and can burn. If you place the cable properly into conduit(? not sure if that is the word) that is metal like electrical you can be assured it won't set things on fire - Insurance and building inspectors see something that is not up to your LOCAL government code and you will be ripping it out to sell your house. Just saying.

Cat6a is not a bad idea imo - if you are doing this to last 10+ years spend a wee bit extra and you might find yourself in a better situation. Likewise running two cables in case one breaks - nice once everything is finished its a real pita to redo anything. Since you are buying cheaper non-plenum you could probably afford to use cat6a - and lower quality connectors now - 10 years from now you will enjoy the wee bit extra bandwidth rather than kicking yourself.

think about the folks that did cat3 when it first came out - They might be able to do gigabit with very short range and alot of retransmits - no chance in heck 10gb - and what is your option? rip it out.

Houses are expensive - do it right, be redundant. imagine if you had done cat3 10 years ago - you could run 2x100meg which is better than 0x1gb or 1x100meg because iptv/nas can easily saturate 100meg now. plus you can use cat5 for other things like telephone or out-of band devices (security alarm?) until it is all packet-based. POE for security cameras? can add up to alot of traffic and not everyone has vlan capable switches or wants the QOS/jitter. Why i ran cat6 to all desktops and separate wiring to phones. RAID-0 two intel 510's and copy that to another pc with the same setup and plug your voip phone with the pass-through switch and see how awesome your (Bandwidth tanks,voice quality suffers). It's not like the cost of the cable is that great compared to the cost of the rest of the house?

 

[Eug]

do cat6a instead of cat6 if you can afford it - longer distances if 10gb cat6a gear ever gets mainstream (too much power and too expensive switches). make sure its fireproof too you don't want to install low voltage wiring that can cause a fire.

Building a 10000 sq. ft. house or something?

Anyways, good quality 6a cabling is very expensive, and it's very thick too. (I'm not sure I'd want to bother with cheap no-name eBay 6a, if such cable exists.)

You guys are a little nuts. Yes more devices are hooking to the net but 99% of them are wireless. Sure, wired is faster, and if the drywall isn't up it makes absolute sense to wire up to some decent level but two per bedroom? Three in the kitchen? Internet-ready devices realize most people don't have cables run and never will, so they'll all cater to wireless.

I have a lot of wireless capable fixed devices. I run them all with wired Ethernet. Much more stable connection, and more consistent for things like streaming video. ie. Don't necessarily count on microwaving your popcorn and watching an HD video over 802.11n over any distance.

Plus, for devices which have optional wireless, going wired is MUCH cheaper. Wired is included free, but wireless often means either a $40 more expensive model, or else a $75 add-on.

Definitely two per bedroom. I also put two in the kitchen, but left it unterminated behind the wall. I wanted to put in a wall mounted touch-screen computer there but the GF didn't want that so I didn't.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Don't necessarily count on microwaving your popcorn and watching an HD video over 802.11n over any distance.

Plus, for devices which have optional wireless, going wired is MUCH cheaper. Wired is included free, but wireless often means either a $40 more expensive model, or else a $75 add-on.

This. Definitely. Imagine the horror when you're watching Netflix HD over 802.11N, and then you use the microwave for snacks, and it detects connection problems, and lowers your stream quality way down, and then likely doesn't recover. I've had that happen with my Internet radio stations.

 

[alkemyst]

5ghz for n

 

[Eug]

5ghz for n

If you're lucky. Most devices don't support it, so often it becomes a moot point whether your wireless router supports it or not.

Plus 5 GHz has significantly poorer range, which affects stability and speed.

(I have both a 5 GHz router and some 5 GHz capable clients, so I speak from experience.)