Home Wired+Wireless Networking Setup

[reddevil0728]

Brief Summary

1) I am wiring up a place with Cat6 cables.

2) In total will have about 10 or so points.

3) The place is 3 stories tall.

4) Will be using high speed fibre broadband of a least 100mbps - 1000mbps, exact service TBD.

5) Will want to have comprehensive WIFI coverage.

Questions

1) Is there a difference between Cat6 or Cat6a or is Cat6a just an updated version of Cat6?

2) Would you recommend going for Cat7 instead or is it too overkill.

3) May I know if the equipments I would need would just be a) Router b) Network switch c) Wireless Access Point?

4) Is Network Patch Panel absolutely necessary for a simple home networking solution?

5) Would any Wireless Access Point provide comprehensive coverage for a room that is about 600sqft-700sqft or 55sqm-65sqm taking that it is a square room with just 4 walls and the AP will be in the centre of the room.

 

[kmmatney]

For the cables, the specs are:

Cat5e:
Gigabit Ethernet up to 100 meters
10 Gigabit Ethernet up to 45 meters

Cat6:
Gigabit Ethernet up to 100 meters
10 Gigabit Ethernet up to 55 meters

Cat6a:
Gigabit Ethernet up to 100 meters
10 Gigabit Ethernet up to 100 meters

So even cat 5e (which I have all over my house) is fine for Gigabit networks. I guess it depends on the price, but I would say Cat 6 should be fine. I have no idea about Cat7, but I would think that anything faster than the needs of cat6 would use fiber.

For starters you just need a network switch to connect all your wired connections (assuming they all go to a central point. The switch would then connect to a router, which I would assume would also be you access point. You only need one cable going between the switch and the router. I have a three story home, and a single wireless access point in the basement works for me. Whether you need a second access point will depend on your situation.

I don't have a network patch panel, with about 12 connections in my house - I just have all the cables in the basement going into an 8 port switch (I'm not using all the connections at the moment, so a few connections are just hanging there, and could be used in the future.

"5) Would any Wireless Access Point provide comprehensive coverage for a room that is about 600sqft-700sqft or 55sqm-65sqm taking that it is a square room with just 4 walls and the AP will be in the centre of the room."

I would hope so. I have a 4500 sq ft house, and my wireless router covers everything, at least for my needs. Most things that require video streaming is connected with LAN cable.

 

[reddevil0728]

For the cables, the specs are:

Cat5e:
Gigabit Ethernet up to 100 meters
10 Gigabit Ethernet up to 45 meters

Cat6:
Gigabit Ethernet up to 100 meters
10 Gigabit Ethernet up to 55 meters

Cat6a:
Gigabit Ethernet up to 100 meters
10 Gigabit Ethernet up to 100 meters

So even cat 5e (which I have all over my house) is fine for Gigabit networks. I guess it depends on the price, but I would say Cat 6 should be fine. I have no idea about Cat7, but I would think that anything faster than the needs of cat6 would use fiber.

For starters you just need a network switch to connect all your wired connections (assuming they all go to a central point. The switch would then connect to a router, which I would assume would also be you access point. You only need one cable going between the switch and the router. I have a three story home, and a single wireless access point in the basement works for me. Whether you need a second access point will depend on your situation.

I don't have a network patch panel, with about 12 connections in my house - I just have all the cables in the basement going into an 8 port switch (I'm not using all the connections at the moment, so a few connections are just hanging there, and could be used in the future.

"5) Would any Wireless Access Point provide comprehensive coverage for a room that is about 600sqft-700sqft or 55sqm-65sqm taking that it is a square room with just 4 walls and the AP will be in the centre of the room."

I would hope so. I have a 4500 sq ft house, and my wireless router covers everything, at least for my needs. Most things that require video streaming is connected with LAN cable.

Would it be advisable to get all those equipment of the same brand so the software they use are similar and easier to configure?

New Question

Is this how you setup the network.

1) Connect the Modem to the Router using an Ethernet Cable
2) Connect the Router to any of the Network Switch port using an Ethernet Cable.
3) Connect the wires from all the points to all the available ports on the Router and the Network Switch.
4) At each of the RJ45 points, connect a Wireless AP.

 

[Binky]

The older 802.11n models of the ubiquiti unifi units are very cheap now that the new AC models are out.

 

[reddevil0728]

The older 802.11n models of the ubiquiti unifi units are very cheap now that the new AC models are out.

Is it a well known brand? I hardly hear of this brand.

 

[Enigma102083]

Is it a well known brand? I hardly hear of this brand.

I deploy them quite often in professional environments. They are solid.