help me design my wired home network.

[stefcep2]

Hi

I've just got hold of an ariadne card for my A4000.  I currently only have mobile broadband but want to switch to wired broadband.

I want to create a wired (in the walls) network, but I know very little about what components and wiring  I need to buy and how to best set it up.  I have run telephone lines and aerial lines with wall plates and jacks so I'm ok with the wiring/installation side, just don't know what I need to buy and how to put it together.

So here goes:

I will have a central location for my broadband modem (kitchen where main phone line is).  From this I wish to have an internet connection point in 4 other rooms.  

I was thinking I would have wired connections from the modem that I can plug into  a wall-plate of four jacks on the wall next to the modem, then cable running inside the walls from each jacks to four different rooms, terminating in in single jack wall plates in each room, that I can plug a PC, Amiga, PS3 and laptop into.

So what specifically do I need?

Guessing:

1. a modem/router with at least 4 ports?  Recommendations and specs I should be looking for?

2.  Cable-what sort?  End connectors?

3.  Wall plates and jacks-what sort? a special tool to push the network cable into the back of the jacks?

[freqmax]

You don't need lot's of ports on the ADSL modem. But then you have to buy a switch. But this might be a good idea anyway for any serious network usage.

So:

ADSL <--> Switch  <--> Outlet .. Outlet <--> Amiga/PC/etc..

The outlets should have 8P8C (RJ45) connectors and TIA/EIA-568-B wiring. In between you should use Cat.5 cable. Buy some cheap "chrone" tool. And pay attention to cable lengths!

10/100 Mbit/s ethernet only use 4 out of 8 wires. So it's possible to make use of a splitter. For 1000 Mbit/s all 8 wires are used. For cheap cable use UTP, for extra immunity you can use STP cable, beware that FTP cable as a different impedance and thus can create problems.

1000 Mbit/s is likely only used PC-PC for massive filetransfers, video etc.. If you install a PC as a fileserver, you can eliminate most storage requirements of the Amiga. Also don't forgett a firewall!

[DonutKing]

You should really use at least Cat5E grade cable, not just plain Cat5, as the Cat5E is rated for gigabit connections, while plain Cat5 is only 100Mbps. They cost about the same so you might as well use the better cable rather than having to worry about upgrading it in the future. If you stream media between your PC, laptop and PS3 gigabit will be slightly better.

I'd actually recommend using Cat6 as the cost difference between Cat5E and Cat6 is nearly nothing (in my neck of the woods anyway) although if you're crimping it yourself it can be a bit harder to work with due to the slightly thicker cable.
Both Cat6 and Cat5E are rated for gigabit with Cat6 being slightly more robust, its doubtful you'll see any difference between the two in a home environment. Cat6A is rated for 10 gigabit which hasn't really hit the consumer sector yet so you can forget about that for now.

I wouldn't go to the expense of STP, standard UTP (unshielded twisted pair) cable is fine for home use. Ethernet is pretty robust against interference anyway. Even so, you should avoid running your network cables right next to power cables. If you have to cross them do so at a perpendicular angle. You should also avoid running your cables near flourescent lighting.
Having said that, I've seen plenty of installations that broke both the above rules and still functioned perfectly, using UTP.

As has been said, make sure all your cables are wired the same way on either end. If you wire a cable with 568A on one end and 568B on the other that's a crossover cable, used for connecting two PC's or two switches together. For all cabling in the walls and between an end-user device and a switch/router use normal straight through cables.

For the wall plates you'll want a KRONE punch down tool. And when crimping your own cables, please  make sure the plastic outer sheaf is crimped inside the RJ45 connector! there should be no coloured wires visible past the end of the plastic connector. I see people crimp their cables with a gap of up to 2cm between the outer sheaf and the RJ45 connector... its dodgy as hell, so don't do it

[freqmax]

I have to agree, go with Cat.5E or better, all depending on your budget.

10 Gbit/s might be overkill for home networking right now, but 1 Gbit/s is certainly handy. It's mainly down what your willing to spend. Equipment will be cheaper the longer you can wait. But cables and jacks tend to be more work to replace than a switch etc..

[Zac67]

Cat.5 doesn't exist any more, it's just Cat.5E today. That cabling will be fine for up to gigabit Ethernet (as will Cat.5).

Keep in mind that a network connection is very versatile. Depending on the where you want to run the cabling you don't necessarily need to run all wires from a central point. You can run the router connection up to the living room with a single cable, put a network switch there and connect everthing else to that. As long as you've got enough throughput you can run as many 'connections' through a single cable. Most people are still fine with fast Ethernet (100 Mbps), but gigabit is nicer if you want to run media servers and such while still being very affordable.

I started out connecting everything to my router but one day 100 Mbps wasn't fast enough any more, so its integrated switch was complemented with a gigabit one. When the TV and Wii were added I ran a single cable to the living room and put a second switch there, connecting those, another PC and a laptop to the rest.

[Iggy]

While it might seem like overkill, I'd go with Cat6 too.
Wired routers are cheap and most wireless routers have multiple RJ45 outlets.
Plates and crimp tools have been covered previously.

Just go for it.
The entire project is easier than you think.

Most of my home connections are hardwired too.

[freqmax]

There's a limit on how many switches that can be daisy chained or how high the hierachy can be.

[Zac67]

There's a limit on how many switches that can be daisy chained or how high the hierachy can be.

Actually... No.
The limit is with hubs since collisions need to be detected for CSMA/CD. A switched network is collision-free. You shouldn't chain switches indefinitely though, it does hurt latency a bit.

[OldB0y]

If you don't want the hassle of doing cabling, it may be worth giving these a go:

http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/19137873/-/Product.html

I've got four of these, two downstairs, two upstairs.  My router is connected to one, an Xbox360, PS3 and Blu Ray player connected to another via a cheap 5 port switch.  Upstairs I have my Wife's  Mac connected direct to one in a box room, in a second room I have another Mac,  a PC (and occasionally an A1200 with a PCMCIA ethernet card) and a NAS box connected to the fourth via another cheap Netgear switch.  

I use one of the Macs as a media server, and streaming media to my PS3 works pretty well with content up to 720p with 5.1 surround.  It struggles with 1080p, but then again my switches are only 100Mbit anyway so thats not surprising - can't say it really bothers me though.

[freqmax]

Wireless is nice, you get all kinds of cool interference with flouruscent lamps, TV, neighbours, solar CME, etc. Sharing all your data and access with anyone showing up in the neighbourhood. Trashes video and latency, caps speed at ~50 Mbit/s, expensive to expand.

[Darrin]

Wired?  Wired??  Wired???!!!

How quaint.  

[stefcep2]

Thanks guys!   Lots of good tips here.  I've looked at some crimping videos so I think I've got the general gist of that, no different to crimping phone line jacks, and its no hassle for me to run cabling in the walls since I've already run TV aerial through the same walls.

Just to get my terminology right: what is the difference between a router and  switch?

I've also seen the term "modem/router" used.  Do they make modem/router/switch?  Do I need a modem/router/switch or is a modem/switch all I'm looking for?

In relation to interference with power cables, is there a minimum distance that the network cables need to be away?

I actually considered the network over power lines but they cost a fortune here: thanks for the link.

[bbond007]

Thanks guys!   Lots of good tips here.  I've looked at some crimping videos so I think I've got the general gist of that, no different to crimping phone line jacks, and its no hassle for me to run cabling in the walls since I've already run TV aerial through the same walls.

Just to get my terminology right: what is the difference between a router and  switch?

I've also seen the term "modem/router" used.  Do they make modem/router/switch?  Do I need a modem/router/switch or is a modem/switch all I'm looking for?

In relation to interference with power cables, is there a minimum distance that the network cables need to be away?

I actually considered the network over power lines but they cost a fortune here: thanks for the link.

A router routes traffic between two different networks.

A hub repeats everything to every other node on the network..

A switch is a smart hub that only routes traffic to the appropriate node on the same network.

[freqmax]

Rather:

A hub repeats everything from any node to all nodes on the network. (bad)

A switch is a smart hub that only repeats wire packets to ports on the appropriate port.

A router exchanges high level traffic between different networks. (slow)

[bbond007]

Rather:

A hub repeats everything from any node to all nodes on the network. (bad)

A switch is a smart hub that only repeats wire packets to ports on the appropriate port.

A router exchanges high level traffic between different networks. (slow)

It all gets a little convoluted, for example my wrt54g is both a router and a switch (or at least a hub).