Re: [Hampshire] Home network cabling
On 7 June 2011 16:40, Rob Malpass li...@getiton.myzen.co.uk wrote: Hi all Keeping this as short as possible - if I want to have an ethernet socket in 2 rooms other than the room which contains the router, do I have to run 2 cables (one from study to room A and another from study to room B) or can I run one cable (from study to room A then on from room A to room B)? If running the cables internally I'd be running two cables each connected to the hub - but the more cables I run outside the bigger the hole I have to drill or the more holes I have to drill risking it look unsightly. I've had all sorts of different stories from local aerial installers who are happy to drill the holes but not sure of the wiring! Last question: one bloke told me I can't run the cables outside without fitting some sort of lightning rod at each end costing hundreds of quid - surely this is wrong? At least - ntl engineer who did exactly this at my old house didn't mention it when he did precisely the same job! I recently wired up my house to ethernet in every room and sat/freeview cables in each room. You have a central hub/switch in one room of the house, and then cables in a star formation out to each wall socket. The wall sockets are in the wall, with tubes traced up or down, inside the wall, from the wall socket. So I can re-wire them at any time if needed. E.g. On the ground floor, the wires track upwards to the ceiling. On the first floor, the wires track downward to the floor. Once there, the cables can be easily routed under the floorboards of the first floor to the central hub/switch. I can now run mythtv (Video over IP) and satellite tv to every room i want it in. I run 4 SAT cables and 2 Ethernet cables to each room. 2 SAT for Sky TV (if I want it) 1 SAT cable to carry Terrestrial TV 1 SAT cable to send the output of the set top box back to a central location, so that I can route it to other rooms if need be. For example, my lounge and kitchen each have a TV, and the Kitchen can view exactly the same thing as is being viewed in the Lounge. So, if you are watching a film, and get up to get a cup of tea or beer, you can still be watching the same film in the kitchen, and don't miss any of it. Eventually, I will only need Ethernet as Internet TV becomes popular. -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
[Hampshire] Home network cabling
Hi all Keeping this as short as possible - if I want to have an ethernet socket in 2 rooms other than the room which contains the router, do I have to run 2 cables (one from study to room A and another from study to room B) or can I run one cable (from study to room A then on from room A to room B)? If running the cables internally I'd be running two cables each connected to the hub - but the more cables I run outside the bigger the hole I have to drill or the more holes I have to drill risking it look unsightly. I've had all sorts of different stories from local aerial installers who are happy to drill the holes but not sure of the wiring! Last question: one bloke told me I can't run the cables outside without fitting some sort of lightning rod at each end costing hundreds of quid - surely this is wrong? At least - ntl engineer who did exactly this at my old house didn't mention it when he did precisely the same job! Cheers Rob -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] Home network cabling
Hi Rob, You would usually run independent cables from each ethernet socket. These then connect into a central hub or switch, or similar. Drilling as few holes as possible is always the best practice. It all depends how your house is constructed on what would be the easiest way to do it. If you choose to run cable outside, you just need to use external wiring (as to protect it from UV damage etc.). You would not require a 'lightning rod', just tie the wires close to the building like BT, Sky, VM do. If you have to drill holes into walls and what not, just be careful for internal wiring and pipes. Lifting floor boards and coming down through corners of the ceiling (which is what I've done for ethernet coax) covered with plastic fitting is another approach. Depends where the rooms are adjacent to one another. Hope this helps, Ian On Tuesday 07 June 2011 16:40:55 Rob Malpass wrote: Hi all Keeping this as short as possible - if I want to have an ethernet socket in 2 rooms other than the room which contains the router, do I have to run 2 cables (one from study to room A and another from study to room B) or can I run one cable (from study to room A then on from room A to room B)? If running the cables internally I'd be running two cables each connected to the hub - but the more cables I run outside the bigger the hole I have to drill or the more holes I have to drill risking it look unsightly. I've had all sorts of different stories from local aerial installers who are happy to drill the holes but not sure of the wiring! Last question: one bloke told me I can't run the cables outside without fitting some sort of lightning rod at each end costing hundreds of quid - surely this is wrong? At least - ntl engineer who did exactly this at my old house didn't mention it when he did precisely the same job! Cheers Rob -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] Home network cabling
On Tue, 7 Jun 2011 16:40:55 +0100, Rob Malpass wrote: Hi all Keeping this as short as possible - if I want to have an ethernet socket in 2 rooms other than the room which contains the router, do I have to run 2 cables (one from study to room A and another from study to room B) or can I run one cable (from study to room A then on from room A to room B)? If you have a hub or switch in Room A, then you can use your second set up. The hub or switch will provide the connectivity for Room B as well as for any devices located in Room A. If that isn't acceptable for whatever reason then you will need to use your first set up. I've had all sorts of different stories from local aerial installers who are happy to drill the holes but not sure of the wiring! Last question: one bloke told me I can't run the cables outside without fitting some sort of lightning rod at each end costing hundreds of quid - surely this is wrong? At least - ntl engineer who did exactly this at my old house didn't mention it when he did precisely the same job! Running cables outside the building increases the risk of EM interference (be it from lightning or whatever), but I don't believe it is a legal requirement. There is rugged Cat5e made for running outside buildings. It gets slightly more complicated when providing network connectivity between buildings on different electrical systems, but I will assume that's not the case here. Tony -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] Home network cabling
You could also run the cable through pipes outside, fit a junction box to the outside wall of your house. I'd use a switch in room A (they're very cheap and relatively power efficient) and just have one cable from central hub. Allows for better future expansion too. If speed isn't an issue then you could look into using HomePlug adaptors - works fine for my parent's iPlayer on Freesat box. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HomePlug (they can be quite fast in the right circumstances, but I'd definitely opt for cat5e in my bandwidth hungry and latency sensitive household). Cheers, Benjie. -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] Home network cabling
Watch out when passing cables through the space between the endpoints, that they don't snag on sharp edges of holes/masonry. I managed to wreck a long ethernet cable through a sharp edge somewhere cutting through the insulation somewhere. Also beware of snapping the wee plastic catches on the plugs. -- best regards, Victor Churchill, Bournemouth -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] Home network cabling
On Tuesday 07 June 2011 16:40:55 Rob Malpass wrote: Keeping this as short as possible - if I want to have an ethernet socket in 2 rooms other than the room which contains the router, do I have to run 2 cables (one from study to room A and another from study to room B) or can I run one cable (from study to room A then on from room A to room B)? If running the cables internally I'd be running two cables each connected to the hub - but the more cables I run outside the bigger the hole I have to drill or the more holes I have to drill risking it look unsightly. I've had all sorts of different stories from local aerial installers who are happy to drill the holes but not sure of the wiring! Last question: one bloke told me I can't run the cables outside without fitting some sort of lightning rod at each end costing hundreds of quid - surely this is wrong? At least - ntl engineer who did exactly this at my old house didn't mention it when he did precisely the same job! I have just done something similar while renovating my house. It's not that hard, but it needs a little thought. Ethernet is usually run in a star topology, that is, each outlet is connected to a central switch by a single cable. Variations on this involve using more than one switch. Running cables inside is easy if you readily have access below/above floors etc, but it is best done when redecorating! Running cables outside needs no particular protection, but protecting the cable will make it last longer. I would use 22mm plastic overflow pipe run so that the cables came out through wall boxes. 22mm pipe will take about 4 network cables maximum. You will probably need to hire an appropriate SDS drill, especially if drilling through brick. While you're doing this, put in more lines than you think you'll use. You'll find a use for them, I can assure you! I have found comms- express to be good for networking. http://www.comms-express.com Hope this helps, Tim B. -- OpenPilot - Open-source Marine Chart Plotter openDynamics - Open-source Vessel Motions Calculation Lead Developer http://openpilot.sourceforge.net http://opendynamics.engineering.selfip.org -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
