Dangers of the IOT Thread!

THE ALM

I supsect, like a lot of people checking the IOT thread, that it can become a costly and dangerous place unless you can keep a tight rein on the list of things that you want or need! I also find, while sitting here at work, that I am spending far too much time reading it!!! I am then spending more time checking out z-wave, ifttt, Alexa skills etc, etc, etc...

We originally just started with a Withings Home camera as we wanted to keep an eye on the place due to a spate of burglaries in the area, works great and a second has been added.

The next job, and what led me to this forum, was trying to get a bit more control of the heating system in the house. It is a basic system as is, with either the heating and hot water all on or all off. Reading the various options the Hive Heating was ordered and is awaiting an electrician for installation.

While all these things are great and I have a list of what it would be great to have, the list has been put down and I have taken a step back to look at the setup of the house and what needs done to make it all a bit easier in the long run and more home automation friendly.

We are in a ten year old house with no provision for broadband/networking at all and in an area that does not receive broadband. We have a 4g router connected to an antenna which provides our data connection and works as well as we can hope at the minute, ftth is planned for the area in the coming years so will have to make do for now. Everything is connected by wifi and includes 2 phones, a linux combi sat box, rpi3, 2 withings home cameras, smart scales, a tablet when on, a laptop when on, so not a great way to do it.

I have decided that the best thing I could do is a bit of a rewire, move the router and add a network switch. I have ordered and received 300m of Cat6 cable, 100 RJ 45 connectors and boots, crimping tool, punch down tool and cable tester, all for about €100 and will probably be the best value €100 I will spend on this project. Looking at switches so any recommendations are welcome.

We are lucky in that our house is a bungalow with great attic access which makes this all a lot easier. As there is coax running to all the bedrooms I am looking to pull this out while pulling the Cat6 through, no TV's in the rooms and I can run hdmi over the Cat6 if and when needs be. I can then run the Cat6 back to the utility room to the switch. We also have a couple of telephone points in the hallway and a bedroom which will also be pulled through and replaced with the Cat6. The router will be moved and positioned on a suspended panel in the kitchen and cable run back to the switch. The living room is a vaulted ceiling so getting the Cat6 to the tv point here is a problem and may just use homeplugs in the meantime. The plasterboard here did receive some water damage a while back and we may look to rip it out in the future and sort out the cabling then.

I consider myself fairly handy so will be carrying out the work myself and hopefully keep you posted as I go along. I figured if I don't get things organised at this early stage then it will only lead to a bit of a mess down the line.

I would hope then to add a Harmony Remote (we have far too many for all the devises) Ring Pro, NAS, Lighting.........

Hope I won't bore you all and time for a bit of work

bk

Sounds great, I think you are spot on with everything you are doing. Just a few points:

- I'd be slow to pull out the coax unless it is in the way, you may want/need it in the future.

- Make sure to run at least 2 cat6 cables to each room. HDMI over cat6 is a completely different protocol from ethernet. So you will need at least one cat6 for HDMI and another for ethernet.

I agree it is about the best value you will get for €100. You will have a great setup when FTTH finally comes and you will really be able to maximise the use of it.

THE ALM

Thanks bk, will have a look at what space is in the conduit when I start and see what number of cables I can use. Don't want to go chasing walls in the bedrooms although might consider it for the main living space if needs be.

The rate things are progressing with a connected home the more data points etc are going to be needed so trying to think ahead as to what will be needed, within reason.

Anything to look out for when buying a switch?

bk

One thing I think to watch out for in future is the idea of putting multiple wireless access points throughout a house to give really good wireless speeds and reliability.

The best place to put such access points is on the ceiling, roughly in the middle of a room, similar to a fire detector. Since you have a bungalow, it should be easy for you to do in future as the need arises, but it is something to keep in mind.

Sorry no recommendations on switches, I've just got a few cheap gigabit ethernet switches, they work fine, but it is something I need to revisit to get the most out of my network.

listermint

Because it's a bungalow it will be easier as no flooring.

But

Wire it cleanly so if you decide to put a floor up there or convert attic that you are not running into cable problems this may involve notching timbers. But doing it clean now will assist the future changes and troubleshooting.

THE ALM

thanks for the advice, certainly things to keep in mind.

The attic has loose fill insulation blown in so I will have to decide on a course of action with this as, from memory, all cables are running on top of the joists as is and the whole lot covered over with insulation, might be a hot sweaty day on the cards

Cabaal

Just to point out that wiring your house for cat5 and 6 could likely not be the best long term use of money.

Have a cousin who wired his house for fibre years back and was asking him about it recently and in the end he opted for a well built wireless network.

bk

Cabaal wrote: »

Just to point out that wiring your house for cat5 and 6 could likely not be the best long term use of money.

Have a cousin who wired his house for fibre years back and was asking him about it recently and in the end he opted for a well built wireless network.

Cat6 is the backbone of a well built wireless network!

Enterprise Wifi has gotten seriously good over the last few years. But how they actually do it is a cat6 cable to each room with a wireless access point from the likes of Ubiquiti or Cisco mounted either on the woof or side wall connected to the cat6 cable and back to a router.

Ubiquiti Wireless access points are very popular with consumer power users, but they require ethernet backhaul from each unit.

The next generation of wifi is called 802.11ad and it uses 60GHz frequency to deliver speeds of up to 4Gbps! Sounds great right, but the problem with it is that 60GHz radio waves won't penetrate walls. So it is a one room only solution.

What the future of wifi looks like is 60GHz wireless access point per room, connected to the router using cat6 cables running at 10Gb/s.

Fibre has the potential to offer even higher speeds then cat6, but the issue is that it is for enterprise only and thus seriously expensive for a consumer to install.

For the best bang for buck today. Install cat6 with a gigabit switch and two or more ubiquiti wireless access points running off the cat6. In the future you can then upgrade the switch to 10G ethernet when they become cheaper and switch out the ubiquiti access points for ones that support 802.11ad, all while using the in place cat6 cables.

Cat6 should be good for at least the next 30 years from what I'm seeing coming in the market.

p15574

I agree about leaving the coax, especially if there's no broadband - satellite TV might be the easiest TV option. Unless you're streaming over the net, converting video back and forth to get down a Cat6 cable will require expensive equipment. Handy to be able to pull it out to get the Cat6 in though, although maybe pull it back through again then. And if there's only one coax currently, I'd add a second one.

THE ALM

Will have a look at see what space is in the conduit, enough for a couple of cables anyway I would imagine, so hopefully the coax and Cat6 at least.

Good info there about the access points bk, I am aware of them although have never looked into them in much depth. They good actually be the solution to in-laws Nursing Home and expanding the wi-fi throughout the building although I could be talking myself into a job there. I think this would be a easy solution for them.

I have posted a related question on the midband thread that somebody here might know the answer to.

Just looking a bit of advice with regard to lengthening the cable on this antenna?

As I am looking to do a bit of reconfiguring in the house which would include moving the antenna, in doing so I would probably need a cable length of approx 15m instead of the 5m currently.

Would I be better removing the cable already on the antenna and replace with new, haven't looked at how it is connected yet so don't know if this is feasible or would I better better getting a fme connector and adding a second length of cable to the existing.

Would the signal loss over this length be significant?

Any recommendations for a good low loss cable?

Thanks for your help.

Having looked at the thread about using an old phone for a camera I am now going to check out ipwebcam:rolleyes:

Stoner

THE ALM wrote:

Any recommendations for a good low loss cable?

CT100 is a decent standard , most wholesalers have it as do satellite.ie

I've installed and connected a fair bit of this over the years and it's been fine for HD satellite use, although the satellite forum will have a better informed opinion.

I know that every joint degrades the signal. A guy from sky told me years ago that he could count the joints by looking at the test results.
He said the rule of thumb was 5db loss per joint (I think) he said one joint was the limit.

However I posted something similar here years ago only to be told that a guy had perfect HD satellite signal on a cable jointed 4 times.

But that was the sky guys opinion.

wexfordman2

THE ALM wrote: »

Will have a look at see what space is in the conduit, enough for a couple of cables anyway I would imagine, so hopefully the coax and Cat6 at least.

Good info there about the access points bk, I am aware of them although have never looked into them in much depth. They good actually be the solution to in-laws Nursing Home and expanding the wi-fi throughout the building although I could be talking myself into a job there. I think this would be a easy solution for them.

I have posted a related question on the midband thread that somebody here might know the answer to.

Just looking a bit of advice with regard to lengthening the cable on this antenna?

As I am looking to do a bit of reconfiguring in the house which would include moving the antenna, in doing so I would probably need a cable length of approx 15m instead of the 5m currently.

Would I be better removing the cable already on the antenna and replace with new, haven't looked at how it is connected yet so don't know if this is feasible or would I better better getting a fme connector and adding a second length of cable to the existing.

Would the signal loss over this length be significant?

Any recommendations for a good low loss cable?

Thanks for your help.

Having looked at the thread about using an old phone for a camera I am now going to check out ipwebcam:rolleyes:

On the antenna, lte800 goes down to 790mhz so your antenna will bit go down to that range, although not all of these operators have allocations below 800mhz.

If your in a rural area, watch that as most rural areas will I send the 800 LTE band.

On cable length, you should be able to get pre-made cables of foxed length to meet your needs, I would not go making up your own ones.
A connector loss of a pre-made cable should be around about 0.14db but one that you make yourself would be much higher.

Your antenna spec is 9db, so as long as your combined feeder and connector losses are less than that you are in positive territory.

So preferably get one pre-made cable tpnsuit your needs with a known loss. Otherwise buy pre-made sections and use adaptors to combine them, and allow for 0.5db for each cable length to give you some headroom.

The 9db gain on that antenna BTW does not saying if it is the 800, 1800 or 2100 band

THE ALM

Thanks for the feedback.

Been away for a few days so only getting another look today. Doing a bit of measuring I will probably get away with a 10m cable length so therefore may just buy an antenna with a 10m cable already made up and will save the messing trying to extend it myself. I would imagine buying cable, connectors and a crimping tool won't save me much money anyway.

Taking a few faceplates off and it looks like feeding 1 or 2 cat6 cables shouldn't be an issue thankfully and still be able to leave the existing cable in place.

A bit of research on switches now and see what the best bang for buck is and I will nearly be ready to roll.

BoardsMember

bk wrote: »

One thing I think to watch out for in future is the idea of putting multiple wireless access points throughout a house to give really good wireless speeds and reliability.

The best place to put such access points is on the ceiling, roughly in the middle of a room, similar to a fire detector. Since you have a bungalow, it should be easy for you to do in future as the need arises, but it is something to keep in mind.

Sorry no recommendations on switches, I've just got a few cheap gigabit ethernet switches, they work fine, but it is something I need to revisit to get the most out of my network.

Hi bk, on Access Points, is there a best practice re adding APs to areas of a house where the wireless from the router is bad? I intend rewiring with 2 x CAT6 cables to most rooms in the house to have the option of HDMI & ethernet in each room, wired back to a central hub.

But I am still unsure how to give good wireless in those rooms that have CAT6 and bad wireless from the router. I know an access point is the solution, but I don't know about configuration etc. The requirement would be that devices would automatically connect to the AP in rooms where I have one, and that when connected to an AP they would be on the same network as if they were on connected to the main wireless router, or on the ethernet. Is this possible? I read somewhere that you connect the AP to the ethernet, and configure it to have the same SSID and Password as the main router, but that seems like a hack. Is that the best solution? I'd appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.

bk

BoardsMember, good questions.

First question I'd have for you, is what wireless router are you using? Often times in typical Irish homes, simply upgrading to a good quality 802.11ac router and positioning it in a central location in the house and preferably high up (top of cupboard, etc.), can fix most bad wifi problems.

This is the simplest and cheapest way to go.

If that isn't enough to fix poor wifi coverage (very large home), then what I'd do is:
1) Turn off the wifi on the router, use it just as a router.
2) Get two or three Ubiquiti Wireless access points. I'd start with two as that should be enough to cover most homes, but you can add a third or even more if you find you need it.
Obviously these should be positioned roughly evenly in the home, preferably high up on the ceiling or wall similar to smoke alarms and connected back to the router over cat6.

The Ubiquiti Wireless AP's will all use the same network, access point name and password. For the most part your wireless devices should be able to roam across the different networks, connecting to whichever one is more powerful without you even noticing or doing anything.

The only issue with the Ubiquiti Access Points is that they are designed for enterprise use, so they can be a little tricky to initially setup for a novice, but not too hard either.

If you think you don't have the skill for setting them up (check youtube videos first), then perhaps Netgears Orbi might be a more consumer friendly solution, though that uses just two units and uses wifi rather then cat6 for backhaul, which is less preferable for your setup. There are also more consumer friendly systems like Google Wifi, Eero, etc. but they aren't available in Europe yet and it would be illegal to operate US ones in Europe until they are specifically designed to be used here, so I wouldn't recommend them until they are officially launched here.

listermint

bk wrote: »

BoardsMember, good questions.

First question I'd have for you, is what wireless router are you using? Often times in typical Irish homes, simply upgrading to a good quality 802.11ac router and positioning it in a central location in the house and preferably high up (top of cupboard, etc.), can fix most bad wifi problems.

This is the simplest and cheapest way to go.

If that isn't enough to fix poor wifi coverage (very large home), then what I'd do is:
1) Turn off the wifi on the router, use it just as a router.
2) Get two or three Ubiquiti Wireless access points. I'd start with two as that should be enough to cover most homes, but you can add a third or even more if you find you need it.
Obviously these should be positioned roughly evenly in the home, preferably high up on the ceiling or wall similar to smoke alarms and connected back to the router over cat6.

The Ubiquiti Wireless AP's will all use the same network, access point name and password. For the most part your wireless devices should be able to roam across the different networks, connecting to whichever one is more powerful without you even noticing or doing anything.

The only issue with the Ubiquiti Access Points is that they are designed for enterprise use, so they can be a little tricky to initially setup for a novice, but not too hard either.

If you think you don't have the skill for setting them up (check youtube videos first), then perhaps Netgears Orbi might be a more consumer friendly solution, though that uses just two units and uses wifi rather then cat6 for backhaul, which is less preferable for your setup. There are also more consumer friendly systems like Google Wifi, Eero, etc. but they aren't available in Europe yet and it would be illegal to operate US ones in Europe until they are specifically designed to be used here, so I wouldn't recommend them until they are officially launched here.

100% typically a single good router would suffice for most Irish homes. People don't often see that one of cost can save multiple access points .

BoardsMember

Hi - thanks for the respoonse bk, and listermint, much appreciated.

I have bought a few routers in my time, previously I had connected my own router into the ISP supplied router as I know generally they are pants; then turned off wireless on the ISP one & used my own router to provide wireless. I don't have the details of the last router I used but pretty sure it was a decent enough ac router, I'll check later. I even bought a second router and tried using that to boost the SSID of the primary, but that didn't work great, too much loss, things worked better connecting to the further away device.

It's not a very big house, about 1700 sq ft, but lots of very solid walls internally (1920s house). Typically, the bedroom on the return and the upstairs bathroom which is tiled floor to ceiling has poorest/no connection, i.e. furthest points. And we all know how important wifi is while in the toilet!!

Router I am using now is in the front room in the cabinet with television, xbox, amp etc, so I know this is not best placed re interference. But it is the new Virgin hub type router, so needs to be by the coax which I haven't looked at extending. The reason I didn't use my own router was because I did a bit of testing, and the speeds I got on wireless connection to my own router (connected via ethernet to the Vodafone HUB) was considerably slower than when connecting wireless to the Vodafone hub directly.

listermint

BoardsMember wrote: »

Hi - thanks for the respoonse bk, and listermint, much appreciated.

I have bought a few routers in my time, previously I had connected my own router into the ISP supplied router as I know generally they are pants; then turned off wireless on the ISP one & used my own router to provide wireless. I don't have the details of the last router I used but pretty sure it was a decent enough ac router, I'll check later. I even bought a second router and tried using that to boost the SSID of the primary, but that didn't work great, too much loss, things worked better connecting to the further away device.

It's not a very big house, about 1700 sq ft, but lots of very solid walls internally (1920s house). Typically, the bedroom on the return and the upstairs bathroom which is tiled floor to ceiling has poorest/no connection, i.e. furthest points. And we all know how important wifi is while in the toilet!!

Router I am using now is in the front room in the cabinet with television, xbox, amp etc, so I know this is not best placed re interference. But it is the new Virgin hub type router, so needs to be by the coax which I haven't looked at extending. The reason I didn't use my own router was because I did a bit of testing, and the speeds I got on wireless connection to my own router (connected via ethernet to the Vodafone HUB) was considerably slower than when connecting wireless to the Vodafone hub directly.

Based on what you've said the router is very poorly placed.

Have your signal is wasted out the front garden and the other half can't complete the rest of the house.

You would be best placed wiring a router to the middle of the house ideally hallway ceiling.it will improve the experience night and day.

dazberry

BoardsMember wrote: »

It's not a very big house, about 1700 sq ft, but lots of very solid walls internally (1920s house). Typically, the bedroom on the return and the upstairs bathroom which is tiled floor to ceiling has poorest/no connection, i.e. furthest points. And we all know how important wifi is while in the toilet!!

LOL - I live in a 700 sq ft house (circa 1930) - that is all brick and/or cast concrete - I have to have 2 routers, one at each end of the house - so I can get a good signal in the downstairs ... toilet

D.

BoardsMember

listermint wrote: »

Based on what you've said the router is very poorly placed.

Have your signal is wasted out the front garden and the other half can't complete the rest of the house.

You would be best placed wiring a router to the middle of the house ideally hallway ceiling.it will improve the experience night and day.

Thanks for that. Yes, I am getting the impression/understanding that the positioning is not ideal.

So then in the rewire I should probably look to get the coax & network wired back to a single point where I would have my Vodafone hub & other bits and pieces (NAS, multi media, Hue bridge etc); let the Vodafone hub do the ethernet network from there; ensure there is an ethernet port for a Ubiquiti correctly positioned.

Any advice on the switch/hub I should look at for the "network home"?

thanks.

bk

I agree with listermint's advice above. However I'd add, if you are going to follow this advice and need a new wireless router to do it, then I'd recommend buying a single Ubiquiti Wireless AP to put in the central location.

The reason being, they have fantastic wireless range and are specifically designed to mount on a ceiling and look ok, compared to a standard wireless router. Also if you find that it still isn't enough, then you can easily add a second or third Ubiquiti WAP to expand coverage.

The only thing I'm not sure of is if the Ubiquiti WAP's will work directly with the Virgin superhub or if you will still need a router between the Ubiquiti AP's and the Virgin Hub. The Virgin hubs are pretty locked down. The good news is you can also get some excellent wired only routers on Amazon for relatively affordable cost if you find you need it. I think you probably don't need it, but just something to keep in mind.

BoardsMember

Thanks bk.

Is this the type of model to go for?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ubiquiti-Networks-UAP-AC-LR-802-11ac-Dual-Radio/dp/B016K5A06C/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1485863672&sr=8-4&keywords=ubiquity+ap

bk

BoardsMember wrote: »

Thanks bk.

Is this the type of model to go for?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ubiquiti-Networks-UAP-AC-LR-802-11ac-Dual-Radio/dp/B016K5A06C/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1485863672&sr=8-4&keywords=ubiquity+ap

Yes, or this one:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/UBIQUITI-NETWORKS-UBI-UAP-AC-PRO-5Ghz-1300Mbps/dp/B016XYQ3WK/ref=pd_sim_147_4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=9MGBQYAGKRT0Z1Z811MS

The difference is this one supports higher bandwidth.

THE ALM

Not any further on with this project, laid up for a few days and trying to check out the options for a switch.

Trying to get a good feature set at a reasonable price without going a bit overkill. This one or this one ticks a lot of boxes although a compromise with each.

THE ALM

Switch ordered along with a Hive motion sensor, bulb and the new active plug. Will have a play around with those when I get them but should be able to use the motion sensor to activate the bulb or plug, useful if getting up in the middle of the night etc.

Will have a look at adding a poe access point as this might save me wiring cat6 to one or two rooms where it will never really be needed and a good wifi signal would suffice.

THE ALM

Got the Hive bits and pieces today so a bit of playing around with these this evening. Also picked up a Chromecast Audio for €15 from Currys, great at that price!

THE ALM

All the Hive bits and pieces set up, no problem. Have the plug set up to control the kitchen unit lights, replaces the original sensor that no longer worked. Have the light bulb in a side light in the living room and the motion sensor covering the back of the house.

Have the bulb set on a timer to come on in the evening at 70% and also have it linked to the sensor so that if the sensor picks up any movement between 23.00 - 06.30 then it will put on the light, hopefully act as a bit of a deterrent should the need ever arise. Sensor will also push a notification to me if it picks up anything.

Was all very straight forward and set up in minutes.

Also added an ifttt that if the withings home camera detects motion it will also turn on the light.

BoardsMember

bk wrote: »

Yes, or this one:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/UBIQUITI-NETWORKS-UBI-UAP-AC-PRO-5Ghz-1300Mbps/dp/B016XYQ3WK/ref=pd_sim_147_4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=9MGBQYAGKRT0Z1Z811MS

The difference is this one supports higher bandwidth.

Hi bk.

Wonder if you can advise on the PoE side of things. I have my ISP connection into a corner of the house. I'm planning a rewire. Should I plug a PoE switch and use a UBIQUITI as the Access Point for the whole house? Could you recommend a PoE?

Ideally, I'd like to turn the wifi on the ISP router off and just rely on the better wifi of the AP throughout the house. So I would have my Hue bridge connected via cable to my ISP Router, but everything else would be connected to internet via the AP.

Does this make sense?

bk

BoardsMember wrote: »

Hi bk.

Wonder if you can advise on the PoE side of things. I have my ISP connection into a corner of the house. I'm planning a rewire. Should I plug a PoE switch and use a UBIQUITI as the Access Point for the whole house? Could you recommend a PoE?

Ideally, I'd like to turn the wifi on the ISP router off and just rely on the better wifi of the AP throughout the house. So I would have my Hue bridge connected via cable to my ISP Router, but everything else would be connected to internet via the AP.

Does this make sense?

Well the Ubiquiti Access points actually come with a plug that allows them to be powered by POE, you wouldn't have to buy anything extra if you didn't want to.

Though they do sell POE capable switches if you do want a neater look and are powering multiple UAP's

You can turn off the wifi on your ISP supplied router (and actually recommended if you get Ubiquite APs) and use the Ubiquiti AP for wifi, but you still need that ISP router to act as a modem for the ISP connection and to do the actual routing.

Hope that all makes sense, let me know if you have any other questions?

BoardsMember

Thanks for the reply bk.

My amp & other AV stuff is all beside the ISP router. I've always had this plugged into the router to ensure best speed. The amp has a useful app I use all the time, but you need to be on the same network in order to access it. To continue to use the app for the amp I'd either need to connect the amp wirelessly to the AP, or else leave it connected via ethernet and leave the ISP wireless on so that I can talk to it. That seems to be a compromise, given wired is better than wireless.

Same with everything internet based, if it is wired (I intend to run two CAT6 to each room, all wired back to a central point) it will be on a different network to the wireless stuff. Does that not end up being messy or compromising on functionality of the various components that need to be on the same network to be reachable?

One example is the Hue bridge, I will never be on the same network when on the App, the bridge needs to be wired, whereas my phone will be on the AP wireless. Though I know there is the option for remote logon to the hue app.

I hope I have made the above query/concern clear??!!

bk

BoardsMember wrote: »

Thanks for the reply bk.

My amp & other AV stuff is all beside the ISP router. I've always had this plugged into the router to ensure best speed. The amp has a useful app I use all the time, but you need to be on the same network in order to access it. To continue to use the app for the amp I'd either need to connect the amp wirelessly to the AP, or else leave it connected via ethernet and leave the ISP wireless on so that I can talk to it. That seems to be a compromise, given wired is better than wireless.

Same with everything internet based, if it is wired (I intend to run two CAT6 to each room, all wired back to a central point) it will be on a different network to the wireless stuff. Does that not end up being messy or compromising on functionality of the various components that need to be on the same network to be reachable?

One example is the Hue bridge, I will never be on the same network when on the App, the bridge needs to be wired, whereas my phone will be on the AP wireless. Though I know there is the option for remote logon to the hue app.

I hope I have made the above query/concern clear??!!

Actually, if you turn off the wifi on the ISP router, but leave the ISP router to continue as the DHCP server (router) then all devices connected directly to the ISP router by ethernet or connected to the UAP wifi should all be seen to be on the same network as they are in fact on the same network.

Only if the app is doing something really weird, like looking at the wifi being used, might it cause a problem, but it really shouldn't do that.

BoardsMember

bk wrote: »

Actually, if you turn off the wifi on the ISP router, but leave the ISP router to continue as the DHCP server (router) then all devices connected directly to the ISP router by ethernet or connected to the UAP wifi should all be seen to be on the same network as they are in fact on the same network.

Only if the app is doing something really weird, like looking at the wifi being used, might it cause a problem, but it really shouldn't do that.

thanks, yes, that makes sense, I was overly concentrating on connection method rather than IP address/subnet etc. Cheers!

Stoner

I've a small switch in my AV cab.

I've the amp PS4 , fire TV ,TV, hue hub, media PC, lightwaverf hub, smartThings hub and xaomi all plugged into it.

I've a whole house wifi point downstairs and the ISP router upstairs with WiFi turned off but acting as the server as BK indicated. I've no issues bar the amp loosing the IP address as I don't use it enough and the session dies and I'm too lazy to reserve a spot for it and changed it to fixed ip.

So that's similar to the situation BK suggested everything can talk to each other.

BoardsMember

Stoner wrote: »

I've a small switch in my AV cab.

I've the amp PS4 , fire TV ,TV, hue hub, media PC, lightwaverf hub, smartThings hub and xaomi all plugged into it.

I've a whole house wifi point downstairs and the ISP router upstairs with WiFi turned off but acting as the server as BK indicated. I've no issues bar the amp loosing the IP address as I don't use it enough and the session dies and I'm too lazy to reserve a spot for it and changed it to fixed ip.

So that's similar to the situation BK suggested everything can talk to each other.

Ok, so that's exactly what I plan for, apart from running 2 CAT6 cables to some rooms while re-wiring. Presumably each of these will run from the switch to each of the points in the rooms?

bk

BoardsMember wrote: »

Ok, so that's exactly what I plan for, apart from running 2 CAT6 cables to some rooms while re-wiring. Presumably each of these will run from the switch to each of the points in the rooms?

Yup, I've a very similar setup to Stoners above. I've also got two cat5e cables (10 years old now, pre cat6, came pre-wired this way) running to each room, one to each side of the room. The cat5e connect back to a multiport switch which in turn connects to the router. The router doesn't have enough ports itself for all my ethernet connections.

BTW if renovating, you might want to think if you could put some of those cat6 cables in the ceiling or high up on the wall. Ideally wireless AP's should be positioned high up. Though I'd still put some of the cat6's at a lower level too for AV systems, desktop PC's, TV's, etc.

BoardsMember

bk wrote: »

Yup, I've a very similar setup to Stoners above. I've also got two cat5e cables (10 years old now, pre cat6, came pre-wired this way) running to each room, one to each side of the room. The cat5e connect back to a multiport switch which in turn connects to the router. The router doesn't have enough ports itself for all my ethernet connections.

BTW if renovating, you might want to think if you could put some of those cat6 cables in the ceiling or high up on the wall. Ideally wireless AP's should be positioned high up. Though I'd still put some of the cat6's at a lower level too for AV systems, desktop PC's, TV's, etc.

Thanks for the advice. Yes, planning to put one CAT6 in ceiling of the hall for AP, but will prob want to have a PoE switch chained in at the main multiport to power that, not really practical/aesthetically acceptable to have a power point high in the wall or under the ceiling.

Will prob leave another cable blanked in ceiling of the landing, if I go for one of the Uniquiti AP's with the potential for another to be added that should be more than enough.

Any chance someone could recommend a switch for me? Presume it is just a question of number of ports and speed?

bk

BoardsMember wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. Yes, planning to put one CAT6 in ceiling of the hall for AP, but will prob want to have a PoE switch chained in at the main multiport to power that, not really practical/aesthetically acceptable to have a power point high in the wall or under the ceiling.

Yup UAP's come with support for POE in the box, you inject the power at the switch. This is what it looks like:

BoardsMember wrote: »

Will prob leave another cable blanked in ceiling of the landing, if I go for one of the Uniquiti AP's with the potential for another to be added that should be more than enough.

Yup, great idea and good forward planning.

BoardsMember wrote: »

Any chance someone could recommend a switch for me? Presume it is just a question of number of ports and speed?

Any cheap one on Amazon, they are pretty simple devices. Speed should be gigabit switch. 10Gb switches exist, but they are quiet expensive, better to go gigabit ethernet switch for now and upgrade later when the price drops.

Obviously you will need as many ports as you think you will need. You can always buy additional switches in future if you need.

You can go all fancy with managed switches, etc., but massive overkill for home networks IMO.

BoardsMember

Thanks for posting that bk.

Had read through the spec, but hadn't thought about injecting the power at the switch using the injector, was thinking about a 4 port P0E switch, duh!

bk

BoardsMember wrote: »

Thanks for posting that bk.

Had read through the spec, but hadn't thought about injecting the power at the switch using the injector, was thinking about a 4 port P0E switch, duh!

You could of course use a 4 port POE switch too, Ubiquiti make some good ones.

It would be an extra cost, but it would also be a lot neater and no need for lots of extra power plugs/sockets and cabling.

If you have just one UAP, then the injector is probably fine. But if later down the line you end up with two or three UAP's then upgrading to a POE switch would maybe be worth it, rather then have two or three injectors hanging around.

Depends on what you setup looks like, just something worth thinking about. Easily changed in future, the injectors come with the UAP's anyway.

THE ALM

I actually got this switch although at a lower price than currently and it offers a good set of features, still have to get round to installing it yet. You could get a gigabit switch without the poe for a lot less but I was trying to futureproof a bit and allow for adding cameras, AP, etc down the line without having to add power cables in hard to reach areas.

THE ALM

Well I finally got round to setting up the switch. Had couple of Reolink POE cameras ordered Black Friday/Cyber Monday that arrived on Monday so I figured, as I was off Tuesday, I better make a start.

Decided to locate the switch in the Utility Room on top of some wall units meaning it is not in the way but still accessible. As our main electricity consumer unit is also there it is easy to pull cable down beside it which I can box in later.

Have a wholesale electrical shop beside us at work so picked up a box of cat6 cable and have connectors and crimping tools at the ready.

For the cameras I fed the cable up at the soffit through some air vents on a back and front corner of the house. As mentioned, we are in a bungalow so access to pull cable is good, but anybody who has to scramble about in attics on a daily basis has my sympathy as just getting down to the soffit to pull the cable up is bad enough with the dust and fibres from insulation, wear a mask!. Could also feed cable up through some ducting that is housing some coax that we don't currently use in the bedrooms, thankfully easy enough again. Drilled a hole through the ceiling plasterboard and fed cables through.

We currently only have 4g mobile broadband where we are and the router is located in the kitchen so connected another length of cat6 to this, fed it back outside, and back in again along with the cable for one of the cameras.

When making up the cables make sure to get a tester as this will show you that all cables are made up correctly, thankfully I only has to redo one end of cable.

With all that done it was only a matter of fixing the cameras in place, connecting everything up, and turning it on. The only issue I had was finding the network switch. It has an ip of 10.10.xx.xx by default so the laptop/pc has to have an ip in the same range in order to login to the switch to change the ip of the switch to the same range as your home network, normally 109.168.1.xxx.

With everything in the utility room out of the way I have also connected the Hive Hub and a rpi to the switch which is running HASS. HASS is still a work in progress (with the development of it it probably always will be) and currently have hive heating, lights and sensors set up on it, along with device tracking, kodi, chromecast, a denon avr, os3+ sat box, fitbit stats, weather and few other bits and bobs. Plan to pick up a cheap tablet and mount that in the kitchen and control HASS through it. Also following the google home, and echo forums with a view to adding one or the other for voice control.

We are using still using the router for wifi in the house but if I see a a deal on a Ubiquiti access point I will get one and add that to the switch.

Next day off I will do a bit of tidying up of cables etc. but happy with the outcome so far.

BoardsMember

bk wrote: »

Yes, or this one:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/UBIQUITI-NETWORKS-UBI-UAP-AC-PRO-5Ghz-1300Mbps/dp/B016XYQ3WK/ref=pd_sim_147_4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=9MGBQYAGKRT0Z1Z811MS

The difference is this one supports higher bandwidth.

I eventually got around to buying one of these. Very straightforward to set up, I only adjusted the power level to full on both of the aerials. The coverage throughout the house is fine, only one bar at the furthest parts but the internet speed is still good at that.

One thing people might be able to help with though - download speeds are not great when I use this cable:
http://www.cablemonkey.ie/cat6-ethernet-cables/13360-cat6-shielded-ftp-rj45-patch-leads.html
I got 10 a metre length of it to allow me to put the unit in the hall if the results closer to the source of the broadband were not good enough.

When I do a speed test with this cable I get about 90Mps download, when I use a bog standard cable I get 245Mps. It's not an absolute like for like test, the "fancy" cable is in place (fed through units, held in place with cable clips, with a lot of it is coiled up as only using about 4 metres) so the test is on the unit when it is on an external wall. When I use the bog standard cable I take the unit off the wall and use a short cable that is close to the PPOE switch. When I measure I hold the phone close to the unit in both cases.

I wish I had done a test of the speed before with the new cable before I had routed it through drilled holes in units etc. I thought that maybe I had damaged it but the upload speeds in the tests are identical so I dont think that is it, both around the 25Mps.

Any thoughts as to why the new cable compromises download speed so much? Is it expected behaviour for 10m lengths of cat6?

SemperFidelis

The new cable could be subject to interference, is it running close to any electrical cables?

Or it could just be a faulty cable or bad connectors on it. You should be able to get up to 10Gb/s over 100m on CAT6 so yours is under performing by a large margin.

BoardsMember

The spec on the cable would suggest that it should deal well with interference I would have thought. There are no electrical cables that I can see that might cause a problem, the only thing it comes close to is the sub woofer for the home cinema, but that was powered down during testing. It's literally out of the POE switch, out the back of a cabinet and up the wall. I wonder would it interfere with itself (no smutty double-entendre meant!), i.e. the fact that it is coiled up on itself?

I'll have to take a decent length of old cable from the office and route it as the new cable is routed and see how it performs. Will also test with the new & old cable un-routed to see how they perform. Thanks for the response, I just wanted to rule out it being an inherent issue with POE over 10m but that does not seem to be the case. Perhaps I damaged the cable when running it, but would have thought that would affect the upload as well as download speeds.

SemperFidelis

Send and Receive use different pairs within the cable so you may have put a nail through one pair and not the other.

BoardsMember

SemperFidelis wrote: »

Send and Receive use different pairs within the cable so you may have put a nail through one pair and not the other.

No nails went through nothing! Could have twisted while routing, will check later anyhow. Thanks.

BoardsMember

Just to update on this, it looks like the Virgin modem is the issue. It's the modem that is not giving the expected speeds, on wired or wireless. D'Oh!