Finishing The Basement - Stage III - Home Network

[Ian]

Yes, I'm finally finishing the last part of our home project that I started back in 2006. For those that don't know what I'm talking about, here are a few links.

new-home-project-finishing-the-basement-t22448.html

finishing-the-basement-stage-t24953.html

So why am I just now getting to this? I was pretty happy with wireless and powerline networking so I really didn't have a need to use all the ethernet cables that I ran. We now have 10+ devices on our home network and with our kids watching videos online and streaming them from our home server, wireless is no longer cutting it. The utility closet in my office is also packed full of routers and satellite hardware and I really wanted to move some of it.

Here's where I'm at right now. All of the ethernet cables are now terminated in a patch panel (I forgot how much I hate doing physical networking). I also installed an old HP 100Mbit switch I had laying around and moved DirecTV's internet bridge from the utility closet.

DSCF2438a.jpg (141.68 KiB) Viewed 21888 times

I still need to move the DSL modem out of the utility closet. I'm probably going to have to run phone over ethernet to do this. Also, I'd like to replace the HP switch with a smaller gigabit one. This will bring the entire house up to gigabit speeds (already have gigabit in my office).

Does anyone have any suggestions for a heavy duty power strip? I'd like to find something that I could mount to the wall. I kinda like this one from Belkin.

http://www.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage. ... _Id=199275

I also plan to move a few computers and some UPS's in there so I may just get an electrician to install another outlet with 4-8 plugs in it. Thoughts?

[redk9258]

I wish I had a basement!

[stix]

Looks like you're missing some drywall, eh? Is this closet up to code? Or is that wall the outside wall with concrete behind it? With all the electrical activity seems you would want the fire-retardant aspect that sheetrock brings to walls and ceilings, especially in a family home. I like the idea of having an electrician install more circuits as preferable to a big powerstrip. I'd ask him about whole-house style surge protection for your closet. Maybe not the right way to describe it but you catch the drift.

[Ian]

It's in the same area as the water heater, furnace, etc. so its not dry walled. And yeah, its on the outside wall. I'm not too concerned about fire. I've seen much worse installs over the years.

[Wesociety]

Looking good Ian! So far I'm using mostly wireless in my house, but I really need to figure out how to get more space out of my small wall-dugout patch panel area in my laundry room so that I can get a router and gigabit switch in there to do proper wired networking across my whole house. I just bought an HDHomeRun, which is a dual tuner network device that'll be used for DVR capabilities, so wired networking is going to be needed here soon. Thankfully most of my house is already wired, I just have to get the router and gigabit switch installed near the existing patch panel. Oh and I think I need to run one more ethernet line out to my office. The front room of our house is where we put our office and of course it's the only one not pre-wired with ethernet cable.

[Dartman]

Hey Wes, I thought you dropped off the earth, good to see you posting anywhere again. Ian I got a cheap Trendnet gigabyte switch from New Egg a while back for like 20 shipped and it's a nice 8 port one that seem to work really well. Only bad part is it's the cheaper plastic cased version but it's worked great so far for me, and sometimes the metal cased version isn't much more expensive. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6833156309 That's the one I got for 20, and of course they have the metal version if you care. Once you go more then 8 ports they start getting much more expensive but that might be a good cheap option for you when it goes on sale again.

[Ian]

I almost bought that switch but Amazon was out of stock at the time so I go ta gigabit switch from TP-Link for in my office. I'm still looking for a heavier duty 8 or 16 port that I could mount on the wall.

You should follow Wes on Twitter. You'll hear about all the good vegan places in Phoenix.

[Wesociety]

Once you go more then 8 ports they start getting much more expensive but that might be a good cheap option for you when it goes on sale again.

Thanks man! Good to converse with you again! First I need to figure out my space situation, then I'll look for a switch. Thanks for the budget-minded recommendation!

You should follow Wes on Twitter. You'll hear about all the good vegan places in Phoenix.

Haha, trueness! I do tweet a lot about vegan stuff but that's because it's our life!

[Ian]

Very tempting...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6833181153

24 gigabit ports for $85

[Dartman]

Sounds like a great switch for your type of uses Ian and the price is great for that many ports. Most of the failure feedback is for places running them in business server type applications where it's constantly under heavy load.

[Ian]

Newegg has that Trendnet switch on sale this weekend for $22.99. There's also an ASUS for $23.98.

There's also a 16 port Zyxel switch for $60