Ethernet wiring in a new build - Is there any real point anymore?

MickOR

Hi,

I'm currently building a house off plans and the electrician is about to start wiring so needs confirmation on requirements and placement of points.

I was considering getting it wired for Ethernet but am wondering is this almost redundant now in 2016 with wireless performance where it is today? (My network is Eir 100MB).

Our household is 2 adults & 2 kids (10 and 7).
Currently with 2 laptops, Eir TV on Sony Bravia LCD, 2 smart phones, 2 tablets and a Sonos wireless speaker system (so no requirement for ethernet for sound network). It would be good to have a scalable home network but I'm not entirely sure do we really need it if wireless is going to keep getting better.

Anyone any thoughts on above and what would be the simplest way to wire to future proof. The electrician has quoted for an Ethernet point in the sitting room and utility room but hasn't indicated if these are to be run back to one central 'hub' location.

Cheers

Stoner

Mick I think it's very important imo

Bring one to your door bell and to every TV point.

For CCTV bring one to a camera point over the front door and anywhere else you'd like a camera

Pick a central point in your house and bring one there so you can have a good WiFi extender

Bing one to wherever the internet comes into your house.
Bring one to your intruder alarm panel

You'll only need one cable per point as you can use switches to extend this but imo wired is very important. Very easy when you change passwords or routers at the cables require little maintenance.

Also it will speed up your WiFi network as the wired devices will not be taking up bandwidth on it.

For example I've a mini 8 port switch in my office, living and back room.

In the back room the following plug into this one box

PS4
Sony TV
Amazon fire TV
Panasonic amp
WiFi extender
X10 bridge

In the front room I've something similar but I've a couple of home automation hubs there too. And a satellite box

That's all from one Gbit switch that cost me 20 euro connected to one cable in my attic.

I've another Gbit switch linking the three in the house and that links to my internet router NAS drive CCtV etc.

At the very least link your internet entry point to a good central spot in your house (near power) so that you can get a good spot to distribute WiFi.
Remember you only have to cable them you don't have to terminate them all now, save money

Your future you will thank you imo. Wifi is great but an independent route dedicated to some fixed services is a better job.

wait4me

Yeah as Stoner says - wire it - you won't regret it.

But do have a think (and re-think it a few times) about where you want to you want to have a hub, a wifi extender etc.

hufpc8w3adnk65

Just hi-jacking this lads. I'm nearly finished my first fix in my own home. I've brought cat6 (at least one) to every room back to a central point in the attic. I've a second one to bring the "mains" internet from my modem to the attic switch.


Why would you bring one to the bell?

Never thought of the wifi extender... are these units big? Might bring one to a double socket on the landing for future.my modem will be down stairs.

Alarm panel will be in the attic next to the switch so that's covered

MickOR

Thanks for the feedback guys.

It is a pretty standard size (approx 1100 sqft) three bed semi so shouldn't have any massive problems with wifi signal as it's small enough but I think I will get it cabled at the least all the same. Don't think I'll ever bother with CCTV. Out of interest why would you bring one the doorbell and alarm panel?

Cheers

MickOR

MrMac84 wrote: »

Just hi-jacking this lads. I'm nearly finished my first fix in my own home. I've brought cat6 (at least one) to every room back to a central point in the attic. I've a second one to bring the "mains" internet from my modem to the attic switch.


Why would you bring one to the bell?

Never thought of the wifi extender... are these units big? Might bring one to a double socket on the landing for future.my modem will be down stairs.

Alarm panel will be in the attic next to the switch so that's covered

Is there any difference between "the one in every room going back to a central point in the attic" and the "second one to bring the "mains" internet from my modem to the attic switch" I presume the mains internet point is identical to the rest but used as the 'input' to the attic switch and then the rest are wired to the 'outputs' on the switch to send back down to the other points. Is this not the case?

Stoner

Alexandria Most Barber wrote:

Why would you bring one to the bell?

For a video intercom

bk

Also remember that ethernet cable can be used for others things beyond just ethernet and wifi.

For instance it can be used to carry HDMI single, so for instance you could have a TV in the bedroom running off a sky, etc. box in another room.

It can also be used for running multiple phone lines (less necessary today) and also 5.1 audio sound.

I've got two cat5e points in each room and to be honest, I now wish they were cat6 and that I had more drops.

Also BTW the future of faster wifi speeds is have multiple access points spread out across your house. Basically higher bandwidth, but the signal doesn't travel as far or even at all through walls. The best way to link these access points back to your incoming internet is by ethernet. This is basically how wifi is done in offices today.

Stoner

Alexandria Most Barber wrote:

Never thought of the wifi extender... are these units big? Might bring one to a double socket on the landing for future.my modem will be down stairs.

They are not big. Same as a router

hufpc8w3adnk65

Now you mention hdmi carrying on cat 6, I intend on having hdmi senders via the cat 6 from my attic to both Tvs down stairs. When someone needs to view the cameras then it's just a click of a button on the remote

Tom Hagen

first fixing at the minute. should i run all my cat6 cables individually from my rooms to the attic?

2011

Tom Hagen wrote: »

first fixing at the minute. should i run all my cat6 cables individually from my rooms to the attic?

When I bought my house all of the phone points were wired in star in CAT5E to one point. I brought them all of the cables to a 32 port gigabyte switch. I then plugged my broadband, a wifi router, a few cameras and a 5TB network drive into the switch. Now everything can "talk" to each other. All of the phone sockets have been replaced with RJ45 sockets.

I would find the attic a poor location for all of my kit.
Obviously CAT6 would be preferable.

Stoner

2011 wrote:

I would find the attic a poor location for all of my kit. Obviously CAT6 would be preferable.

I've mine in the attic. My attic is far better than yours !!!

I've all the kit up there , above the insulation.

I've all my TV points to the too. Plus four cables from the satellite and one from the Ariel

Magellan Murphy

My attic does not perform as well but it has two lights.

bittihuduga

guys - dont want to hijack this thread, is there a safety concern by running all cables to attic?
i was planning to run the cables to utility room, attic never came to my mind till now

also, if cat6 cable can carry hdmi signals, how would you connect it to tv? is it ethernet port on wall to hdmi port on tv?

hufpc8w3adnk65

For cat 6 to HDMI you use a pair like this
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Neet%C2%AE-Extender-Cat5e-network-cable/dp/B002ECYEYA


As for where you bring the cables back to its just about what's convenient. Attic is a common spot as sat dishs etc are more easily accessible then say a utility room (normally)