[TriLUG] structured wiring switch

Wed Dec 8 16:32:50 EST 2021

In my house I have what I passionately call my network closet but in
actuality it is the central location for networking, cable, phone lines,
and audio.  Hard speaker wires from all over the place come into the closet
where i also have a stereo and some Sonos Amps, cable from the pod outside
and to all rooms, phone line from pod outside and to all rooms, cable from
a sat dish on top of the house, security system, and networking cable from
all over the place.

It's all in what was probably once upon a time a coat closet (i bought the
house used).  In the closet I also have a shelf on the wall (simple do it
yourself brackets and piece of wood) that has my AT&T firbe modem (used to
be a spectrum box) and a 16 port network switch.  It all works great and is
very accessible - I like it and am sure I like it much more than I would if
it were in the closet.

If I were you, or if I had to do it again I'd do it the same way.  Have the
builder run everything into that closet - in the house - and make all
connections there.  Phone in from outside, cable in from outside, speaker
wires from rooms into there, and most importantly network cables to every
room I might ever want one.  Of course wifi is much better than it use to
be but still having some wires in strategic places where you might want
hard wires for things like access points if not just connections to
computers or tvs, ... etc.

Definitely tell him to put it inside ... just think about how many times
you have to go look at it to see if connections are good, working with it
as others have said, .. etc.  Also, do you really want your wifi
originating from outside in the garage at one extreme end of the house?
Probably not ... and if house is still being built a small closet is a
trivial tihng to add somewhere.  My closet is 3x4 and is plenty big even
with a stereo cart in it.  If not a new closet pick an existing closet to
run the wires into.

I think the box you're talking about is referred to as a "media panel"  Do
a goole search and you'll even find pics of them in living rooms ... that's
a stretch if you ask me though - things that look great when first set up
and like trash after being put to real use.  Beautiful thing in a closet
though.

Would be happy to send you some pictures or even have you stop by to see
mine if you'd like to.  Planning now will make you a happy camper for years
to come!

On Wed, Dec 8, 2021 at 3:58 PM Joseph Mack NA3T via TriLUG <
trilug at trilug.org> wrote:

> On Wed, 8 Dec 2021, Thomas Ingram via TriLUG wrote:
>
> > We're in the process of building a new house, and our builder includes
> > structured wiring for four ethernet ports as standard. The wires
>
> I assume the house is twisted pair ethernet.
>
> People are giving me their 1Gbps switches and cat6 cables. They've gone to
> fiber. Presumably these are cutting edge TriLUG people. I don't know how
> fast the rest of the world is going to follow, but consider in 20 years
> what networking hardware might look like by remembering what we had 20
> years ago (10Mbps coax). You may not be able to easily buy twisted pair
> ethernet cable or switches.
>
> > all terminate in a panel in the garage (inside on the outside wall),
> > along with a fiber optic line from outside. When closed the panel
> > resembles a breaker box mounted in the wall. There's no shelving with
> > the panel for extra equipment.
>
> this is for the convenience of the builder not you.
>
> My garage has no cars, just lanes of packed shelves, with the walking
> space between the shelves full too.
>
> The breaker box is in the furthest corner, which requires moving stuff to
> check it. It would have been just as easy to put the breaker box next to
> the door to the garage from the house.
>
> Your network box is going to be blocked by a wheelbarrow and lawn mower
> at least.
>
> I doubt if hot/cold will affect any switch/modem in the garage. However
>
> o the box will get spiders
>
> o dirt (ie sand) which will get its way into connectors and you'll have
> intermittant connectivity problems.
>
> o the house twisted pairs are protected from induced current from nearby
> lightning strikes by the Faraday cage of the house's aluminum backed
> insulation. The run of twisted pair from the network box to the house will
> not be protected. Expect the devices at the ends of the exposed twisted
> pairs to go silent in an electrical storm.
>
> Debugging problems is going to be hell. In winter you'll have to get all
> rugged up and take your debugging laptop with you, open the garage door
> to the house, and yell through the door to your wife who's in the closet
> on the 2nd floor
>
> "Honey is the 3rd green light from the left flashing now?"
>
> indecipherable
>
> "the 3rd green light?"
>
> no reply
>
> "the 3rd green light!!!!"
>
> go inside, walk upstairs and look yourself.
>
> compare this to having all your hardware in sight of where you are at the
> kbd. If something happens, you can cast your eyes on the flashing lights.
> If there's a problem you can debug it in your underwear.
>
> If you can't do anything about the location of this box, can you plug
> fibre into it and run that to your computer work area in the house (or
> through the house fibre networking).
>
> Joe
>
> --
> Joseph Mack NA3T EME(B,D), FM05lw North Carolina
> jmack (at) trilug (dot) org - azimuthal equidistant
> map generator at http://www.wm7d.net/azproj.shtml
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>
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