Home network planning help

[Psyffe]

I am building a house (3 story 3200sqFt) and am figuring out my home network setup. I'm wondering if I can do this setup or if I need to change up my plan.

Modem -> Managed network switch (likely TP-Link TL-SG1016PE) -> 2 PoE powered WAPs, likely TP-Link EAP 650 or 670.

Would that work? Or any suggestions for changes?

[SorryBella]

1 hour ago, Psyffe said:

2 PoE powered WAPs

If youre already going PoE, why wireless? But slight tease on semantics aside, that sounds pretty solid. Cross shop that with similar setup from other companies too, like Netgear and Ubiquiti.

[manikyath]

assuming that the modem is also a router, yes.

otherwise, stick a router between it and the switch.

 

beside the topic, here's some additional suggestions, if you're not already doing it:

- stick all your network cabling (or ideally, all cabling) in conduit. a house lasts 100 years if built well, your network cabling wont. from the start you should assume that you will be replacing the wiring eventually.

- put conduit with a pull string to just about every room. you may not need it now, but you will need it sooner or later.

- put a big wooden board on the wall wherever all your cabling comes from the rest of the house. it's pretty amazing to not need a concrete drill to mount new network equipment (because again - you *will* be replacing it)

 

Just now, SorryClaire said:

f youre already going PoE, why wireless?

i have no idea what you mean by this. the very point of PoE is powering WAPs....

[SorryBella]

Just now, manikyath said:

is powering WAPs

No, my mind was thinking about the data side being transmitted wirelessly, like those crappy plug and play wireless repeaters. I know OP didnt mean that.

[Omon_Ra]

7 hours ago, manikyath said:

assuming that the modem is also a router, yes.

otherwise, stick a router between it and the switch.

 

beside the topic, here's some additional suggestions, if you're not already doing it:

- stick all your network cabling (or ideally, all cabling) in conduit. a house lasts 100 years if built well, your network cabling wont. from the start you should assume that you will be replacing the wiring eventually.

- put conduit with a pull string to just about every room. you may not need it now, but you will need it sooner or later.

- put a big wooden board on the wall wherever all your cabling comes from the rest of the house. it's pretty amazing to not need a concrete drill to mount new network equipment (because again - you *will* be replacing it)

WAT?? ALL of the cabling in conduit? This would be extraordinarily expensive and time-consuming. There are certain areas in the house that it could make sense, but just no, that's too excessive. And your low-volt/electrician will want to murder you. It's one thing if you're in a a commercial construction project, but for residential there's no need. Cat6a will last a longgg time, and unless the runs are outside of the house, should not degrade when it's inside your walls/ceilings. I've worked on plenty of 50+ year homes with old voice line copper and as long as the lines are inside, they hold continuity and are not corroded or unusable (for voice, not for modern networking). It's copper wrapped in plastic, how that would last less than untreated lumber is beyond me. If you're worried about future networking expansion, run more wires during construction, like 2 drops per location instead of just 1. Just run it anywhere you may THINK you may need/want it in the future. The only time I could see needing to replace wiring in the future is for higher bandwidth devices and internal network speeds, but that would be a case by case basis and I would consider the locations of my LV panel and proximity to the locations of NAS's, offices, etc in the building process, rather than running conduit everywhere 'just in case.'

 

Otherwise, yes, you'll want a router between the modem and the switch. And the wood board is a good idea, though if your LV panel is in a closet, you can have the wires all come out above the shelf and keep your equipment there. Just make sure your electrician runs an extra outlet(s) near the wire termination location, if you aren't doing a dedicated LV in-wall panel.

[Psyffe]

Thanks for all the input! It’s new construction so I’m already planning on future proofing while it’s still cheap to do so. Drops to every bedroom, 2 in the game room on opposite sides walls, a couple different conduits and cat6e throughout though I’m considering 6a instead. 
 

After doing a bit more research, the UDM is an all in one right? I wouldn’t need a separate router, just the APs?

[manikyath]

4 hours ago, Omon_Ra said:

WAT?? ALL of the cabling in conduit? This would be extraordinarily expensive and time-consuming.

most cabling for installation optionally comes on spools in conduit.

 

in my parental house all the cabling is in conduit. yes, it's more expensive, but it's SO nice even 10 years down the road. also, stuff like this:

4 hours ago, Omon_Ra said:

Cat6a will last a longgg time

is straight up nonsense in the scope of building a house, which as i said, should last you 100 years.

 

that's like someone in the 90s sticking coax in the wall under the assumption that "it's really nice coax, it'll last a longg time"

 

PS, at least over here, i'm pretty sure all mains *has* to be in conduit either way. 

[seanondemand]

58 minutes ago, manikyath said:

 

Without knowing where you live, that is absurd - the amount of work that would involve every single electrical outlet being in conduit would be insane. In a new home, electrical is run and stapled between the studs (obviously not bare copper like in the early 1900s), never to be touched again. You are almost certainly mistaken about your folks' home. Not to mention the idea that in 2023, you're going to build a house that you're never going to open up the sheetrock/drywall in a hundred years? Sure, use conduit for the area behind the TV so you can add/remove HDMI or whatever media cables you need in the future; or run conduit from a utility room to key areas where cables are going to branch off. But to each and every drop? I'd say any electrician you asked for this will tell you to pound sand, except a smart one would just take your absurd amount of money. OP should run CAT6a.

 

4 hours ago, Psyffe said:

After doing a bit more research, the UDM is an all in one right? I wouldn’t need a separate router, just the APs?

Correct. 

 

[manikyath]

3 minutes ago, seanondemand said:

the amount of work that would involve every single electrical outlet being in conduit would be insane

it's the same amount of work.

the cable comes in conduit, if you order it in conduit. it's on the spool in the conduit, it gets put in the wall in conduit, it gets plumbed into the outlet boxes in conduit. 

3 minutes ago, seanondemand said:

You are almost certainly mistaken about your folks' home.

i am very much not, because we surprisingly regularly fish something trough the (frankly ridiculous amount of) conduit.

 

there's actually *one* cable that's not in conduit, and it's an old CAT5e cable, which "was gonna be good for a looooong time".. and is now the limiting factor in the network, because it's too thin to reliably do POE+ over the distance it spans, and it's the cable to where the access point now lives. i'd replace it.. but it involves some hundred straps, a trip trough the crawlspace in the basement, and ripping up some of the wooden flooring in the living room... so we just have shitty wifi now.

4 minutes ago, seanondemand said:

Not to mention the idea that in 2023, you're going to build a house that you're never going to open up the sheetrock/drywall in a hundred years?

you dont need to, if everything that is behind it doesnt need to be moved. i'm not saying you shouldnt rip up the drywall for an upgrade occasionally, i'm saying it is actually dumb to put in cables now that you *know* will be outdated long before the house needs serious work.. and you're not making sure that upgrading those will actually be an easy process.

 

it's like having to take the bumper off your car every time it needs an oil change.. yes, it's possible that way.. but if  you just design the car so that the oil filter is accessible, you dont need that extra work, and  you're aware it will need to be done ahead of time.

 

25 minutes ago, seanondemand said:

your absurd amount of money

cant immediately find prewired conduit with CAT6A, and i'm not gonna trawl DIY stores just to prove a point...

the conduit that's in every corner of our house is less than a buck  per meter just off the first few hits on google.. that means if you can buy it in bulk it's probably even cheaper, and prewired stuff is cheaper than "A+B" pricing for cable + the conduit it's in.

 

let's say you put in a kilometer of conduit into a house (that's an EXTREME overestimation, even with how over-conduited this place is..), that may be 500 bucks extra on the BOM to build the place.. and like i said: you can buy wire in conduit, so it's ZERO extra work for the electrician (in fact.. it's less, because you can do your own  CAT6A after the fact... low voltage doesnt need to be certified here, so i'm pretty sure that's not a thing anywhere else.)

 

and i guarantee you the first time you need to have some drywall person come over because you had to cut a hole to run a cable.. you'll be out those 500 bucks right away. if not on the drywall job, it'll be on the painting you'll need to do after.