I’m building a house. Floor plan attached if it helps.
I’ve spent the last 3-4 days knee deep reading archived posts, watching youtube, and digesting as much information as possible. Over that time I’ve convinced myself I need a different set up roughly 12 times. Need some direction.
Budget: Not really a consideration. But less is obviously cool.
Background: I’m an enterprise software salesman buy trade, but not a network engineer. And even though I’m willing to roll my sleeves up and do a bit of learning, I really don’t want a massive – and especially not a continuous – project on my hands. I never plan to move again. The house won’t get great cell reception and I’ll be reliant on wifi calling in many cases.
Anticipated Gear List:
- 8-10 POE security cameras/NVR (hardwired)- whole home Sonos kit (16 speakers, 5 amps) (hardwired)- Multiple TVs (hardwired)- a host of IoT devices - hubs, doorbell, thermostat, other automation stuff (hub(s) hardwired)- 2 offices (computers and 1 printer hardwired)- Mesh/access points (hardwired) – this is the million dollar question
My (probably obvious) plan:
- pull all ethernet drops to a centralized location- ISP coax --> modem --> router --> POE switch- terminate all the ethernet cables to logical ports (save the POE ports for the cameras and anything else that needs power)
My Conflict(s):
I’m confident I could get it all installed properly. I’m not confident whatsoever that I could figure out how to deploy it once it was all powered up.
And, as a result, I don’t know what the hell to buy.
It seems Unifi is the default suggestion for most, and while I’m not sure is ISN’T what I’ll end up with, I do think it’s overkill for my specific needs. In our current home I have been running a google mesh and its…fine. It works, it’s not perfect, but it’s simple and essentially never has issues. Maybe I’m lucky or maybe I have very low expectations. I’m convinced I’ll have trouble troubleshooting or fixing things when they inevitably break with unifi - but I could just be psyching myself out.
I’d love to be able to set everything up once – and if I have to mess with it once or twice a year so be it – similar to my current set up.
Could I get away with this?
ISP coax --> ISP’s modem --> (need a router recommendation) --> random POE switch with enough ports to support all my gear? I might also add a UPS and surge protector.
Practically speaking, how would I initially configure/set up everything if I piece meal it together with various OEM gear? Let’s say ISP modem (should I get my own?), TPlink router, Netgear POE switch? Sorry if that’s a dumb question.
Similarly, how much more difficult/easy would a similar Unifi solution be?
Also, sorry for the rant. Struggling with info overload. I dumped so much time into this and have found myself with more questions than I started with.
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Hire someone/a company who is skilled at low voltage wiring.
I could theoretically have done all of it myself, terminating the cables really isn’t that difficult. I got the equipment and set the equipment up. But I did not run the actual wires, and watching them do it. I know my strengths, they saved me days worth of work. And I wouldn’t have done as good or clean of a job. They should be able to help you with AP placement as well.
A good rule of thumb is, everything that can be hardwired is hard wired. If you think you will need more ports, add them now. If you need. 2 ports at a location, make it 4 or 5. Now is the time to do it. Run fiber to the locations that will require the opening of walls should you need to run more lines. If you are setting up an out door AP or location, run fiber to the exterior wall, connect it to a switch, then use the switch to connect it the device to the network.
I would go with a full unifi stack for the hardware, I think it’s the best bang for the buck hardware for this purpose. If you hire an A/V company, they may want to use Araknis, because of your home automation and Sonos, but I have no experience with it.
Make sure the network closet has adequate ventilation.
All your runs come to a patch panel. You want cat 6 or Cat6A depending on home size. pure Bare copper. If anyone recommends CCA, ignore them and find another contractor. A good UPS is a must.