Economics of DIY and Self Building

[Nickfromwales]

2 hours ago, SteamyTea said:

How the (expletive deleted) did it go from an economics topic to tooling up CATs.

Cos I said so. 🫶🙃

[Nickfromwales]

2 hours ago, Kelvin said:

Some would argue that using cable in the first place instead of Wi-Fi is OTT. 

No way josé. 
 

You’re just panicking now because you’ve been rumbled for hiding in the comms cupboard; after convincing the better half that without these things life will cease to exist. You’re a dead man if she ever reads this. Lol.  

 

3 hours ago, Kelvin said:

CAT6a cable is unwieldy plus I like to keep some length in the cable  just in case. It’s much neater with a patch panel as all the cable is in some trunking and into the IDCs at the back of the patch panel then some short patch cables connecting to the switches. Cheaper too as I use toolless RJ45 plugs for the cable ends I do make up (that still technically need tools to make up 😂) 

I’m going to pm you with some institutes that can help you through these difficult times. Stay strong, you can make it back ok. We all believe in you, “go champ!”  
 

To clarify, the ONLY time this is justifiable, is when the wife is watching 90 day fiancé and hadn’t notice you standing in the (normally closed) doorway to the offending comms room, desperately trying to justify the massive time and money over investment in what…….just didn’t need doing whatsoever.

 

Plug the god damned cat6’s into the switch. Ffs.

 

With the time saved, go visit the coast and take some pics instead. That’s value. 
 

Patch panels in your home, = zero value. 
 

Just “No”. 👎. 
 

 

[MikeSharp01]

6 hours ago, Kelvin said:

gubbed

Great word - assume it means busted?

[Kelvin]

2 hours ago, MikeSharp01 said:

Great word - assume it means busted?

It does indeed. 

[Kelvin]

7 hours ago, Nickfromwales said:

No way josé. 
 

You’re just panicking now because you’ve been rumbled for hiding in the comms cupboard; after convincing the better half that without these things life will cease to exist. You’re a dead man if she ever reads this. Lol.  

 

I’m going to pm you with some institutes that can help you through these difficult times. Stay strong, you can make it back ok. We all believe in you, “go champ!”  
 

To clarify, the ONLY time this is justifiable, is when the wife is watching 90 day fiancé and hadn’t notice you standing in the (normally closed) doorway to the offending comms room, desperately trying to justify the massive time and money over investment in what…….just didn’t need doing whatsoever.

 

Plug the god damned cat6’s into the switch. Ffs.

 

With the time saved, go visit the coast and take some pics instead. That’s value. 
 

Patch panels in your home, = zero value. 
 

Just “No”. 👎. 
 

 

😂 well it’s done now so I don’t care. 

[bmj1]

I did a patch panel also. Hired 2 guys who punched down the 60 cables and terminated the other ends in 1 day. 

 

Felt like the right thing to do. 

 

Sorry for hijacking the thread, looks like networking setups are one of the more emotive parts of a self build!

[Nickfromwales]

1 hour ago, Kelvin said:

😂 well it’s done now so I don’t care. 

A bit late to start the 11 steps then.

 

I can’t save them all lol. 

[ToughButterCup]

On 22/07/2025 at 22:41, Gus Potter said:

Do my simple sums make sense?

...

 

Yes. And No.

 

Why Yes? The logic used is clear, simple, accurate.

 

Why No ? Because self-building  is about more than the build.

[Nickfromwales]

1 hour ago, Kelvin said:

It does indeed. 

A bit like when you get caught looking on cat6hub? 😜

[ToughButterCup]

11 hours ago, SteamyTea said:

How the (expletive deleted) did it go from an economics topic to tooling up CATs.

 

Because

 

Quote

 ...  Case in point is I insisted on building my own networking rack. Last thing I want is to have to call someone else out every time I need to make a change or expand the system 

 

illustrating the point - self building is about more than a house

[Kelvin]

1 hour ago, bmj1 said:

I did a patch panel also. Hired 2 guys who punched down the 60 cables and terminated the other ends in 1 day. 

 

Felt like the right thing to do. 

 

Sorry for hijacking the thread, looks like networking setups are one of the more emotive parts of a self build!

2 guys for one day to punch down some cables. Holy moly. @Nickfromwales will need to lie down. And 60 cables! 

[ProDave]

My even more tight economical solution was install lots of cat5 cables but only terminate the ones actually in use, which is about 4 at the moment.

 

The rest are there for future use and in the rooms are coiled up in the service void behind or next to socket boxes, and at the cabinet end, coiled up and labelled where they go ready to be terminated when required.

[Nickfromwales]

WiFi’s getting better and better too. 
 

Very impressed by the WiFi7 Ubiquity WAPs I put in a clients build last year. 2 units gave excellent cover for a 320m2 build (MBC PH TF). 👌

[LSB]

As some of you know we are building block by block. 

But, we are lucky as we own the host house with no mortgage and are converting the barn (old pig sty) to the new house.

So, it doesn't really matter how long it takes.

We also have a finite bucket as I work to pay the bills and he's building the house.

 

We make mistakes, lots of them and have to go back and fix, but ultimately we will have something to be proud of and our pension will be the sale value or income from the host house.

 

It will cost a lot less to build than buy - if you ignore all the time it's taken.