Home Network Advice

[richo106]

We are just going through the final things of our renovation/building project and now on to home network

 

I am planning to install a network point to each room and to all TV locations. 

I am installing some kind of security cameras - looked in a POE full kit (plug and play type)

 

It is a 250m2 house over two floors

 

First question is where is the best location for router/network cab - 1 option is plant room downstairs (one side of the house) or option 2 is in the a central cupboard upstairs?

Does it really matter location? The cable runs won't be too long wherever they go

 

Next question is wi fi coverage? I have trying to read up on umbiquiti but found myself even more confused on what to get. I just want decent wifi coverage throughout the house. Whether it be plug in extenders or ceiling mount AP's

 

I am comfortable using cat5/6e cable and terminating ends but never had any experience in home wifi networking

 

Is there a simple wifi extender/mesh extenders that umbiquiti do?

 

Many Thanks

[Kelvin]

If the plant room is big enough for everything without compromising access then put it there rather than taking up cupboard space. 
 

In terms good Wi-Fi access. Don’t use access points or plug in extenders use a genuine mesh network (not every mesh network setup is genuinely a mesh network) The fastest on the market is probably the Netgear Orbi system. They have various setups but the two pack system should cover the house easily enough. You can add more satellites if it doesn’t. It’s not cheap but it is very good and very fast as it has a high speed backhaul setup between the Orbi devices back to the router. 

Edited September 11, 2022 by Kelvin

[Pocster]

Ubiquiti ( spell check ! 😑 ) mesh hubs are really good . 2 of those in an average size house should easily give you good WiFi coverage throughout .

[Thorfun]

+1 for Ubiquiti. do a search on here for that name and you'll find lots of information that will help you should you choose to go that route.

[PeterW]

3 hours ago, richo106 said:

Does it really matter location? The cable runs won't be too long wherever they go

Anything up to 100m/305ft is fine on Cat5 so you will have no issue with cable runs 

 

3 hours ago, richo106 said:

just want decent wifi coverage throughout the house. Whether it be plug in extenders or ceiling mount AP's

I use either ubiquiti or TP-Link Omada and probably err on the side of the TP-Link stuff these days as they have a very nice face plate that also creates a hotspot as part of the Omada mesh system so you get best of both worlds. A lot of people get hung up on network speeds and tbh you won’t notice it internally - your limiting factor will always be the router and it’s switching capability and the broadband speed. 
 

 

Edited September 11, 2022 by PeterW
Correct distance !

[Kelvin]

The standard length for a Cat5 cable segment is 100m including all the patch cables until you get to router/switch. 

[PeterW]

19 minutes ago, Kelvin said:

The standard length for a Cat5 cable segment is 100m including all the patch cables until you get to router/switch. 

max length on a Cat5 is as you say 100m/305 feet ..! Need more coffee ..!

[Kelvin]

Well technically 328ft 😉 

[joth]

There's quite a bit of heat put out by the ubiquiti kit, especially their PoE switches, and when you add a ADSL or cable router, maybe any other AV gear (camera NVR, server, etc) ventilation and cooling become an important consideration. I wish I'd put our node 0 downstairs as excess heat there is more useful, upstairs is generally too hot even without this extra heat source. 

This may also be a +1 reason to go for TP-Link mesh network. It's likely easier to setup and more energy efficient.