We are remodeling part of our house and it may be time to properly set up a home network.
Currently we have a few devices in one room where the cable comes into the house and then the main TV, VoIP phone, PS4, Fire TV, Apple TV in another room and it is not super organized.
With the remodeling it will be a great time to get some Cat 6 networks drops installed, a patch panel, proper network switch, cable modem relocated, etc, all in a nice and tidy rack. Here is what I am thinking
Devices it will contain: Patch Panel
Modem
Wifi Router?
Phone base?
Smart Hub for Home Automation
Wall mount open frame rack 12U of space
- 1U Patch Panel
- 1U Network Switch
- 2U shelf
- 2U shelf
- 1U UPS
- 1U Power PDU
Table of Contents
Network Rack
Looking for a smaller rack to hold the devices. 12U seems to be a pretty standard size for the smaller rack. Additionally since security is not a big concern, I can go with an open fram rack.
Hinged Trip Lite Rack
Patch Panel Options
Trip Lite N252-024 http://amzn.to/2eQNDEx
Trip Lite N052-024 http://amzn.to/2xsxosy
Cable Matter Patch Panel http://amzn.to/2wVMaGx
Network Switch Options
Thinking it will probably be a 24 port switch and rack mountable.
Possible features include: fanless, power over ethernet, and unmanaged / smart manageced / fully managed.
NetGear
NETGEAR ProSAFE 8-Port 10-Gigabit Ethernet Smart Managed Switch (XS708T-100NES)
by NETGEAR
Link: http://a.co/dHrEspa
GS728TP-100NAS 192W 8PoE ports ($350)
GS728TPP 384W 24 PoE+ ($497.99)
TP Link
T2600G-28MPS (384W) http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/cat-39_T2600G-28MPS.html ($394.09)
T1600G-28PS (192W) http://www.tp-link.com/us/products/details/cat-40_T1600G-28PS.html ($266.99)
Shelf
StarTech 2U vented rack
Power Strip or PDU (Power Distribution Unit)
This is a fancy power strip that will mount into the rack making ever thing nice and neat. These are pretty straight forward, just looking for a rackmount power strip, ideally it can handle normal plugs and the larger “wall wart” plugs that could be associated with modem or wifi router.
Possible Options: outlets on front, outlets on back, right angle outlets, surge protection.
Tripp Lite RS1215-RA
Trip Lite RS1215-RA 15A, 15 outlet, outlets at right angles, no surge protection.
Price: Around $50 at Amazon
Tripp Lite RS1215-RA Front
Tripp Lite RS1215-RA Back
TrippLite DRS-1215
TrippLite DRS-1215 15A, 14 outlet, surge protection
Price: around $58 at Amazon
Tripp Lite DRS 1215 Front
Cyber Power (power strips)
CPS-1215RMS 12outlet 15A, Surge Protection, Plugs on Front and Back, plugs on back have more space.
Price: Around $50 at Amazon
Front
Back
Cyberpower CPS-1215RM Rackmount PDU Power Strip – 10-Outlet 15A 1800VA
Cyberpower CPS-1215RM – 10 Outlet 15A, No Surge Protection, all plugs on back
Around $44
Link: http://a.co/6qOThqo
My Power strip selection
I think I will go wit the cyber power PDU. It has a good number of plugs on both the front and back and should be way more than what I need.
UPS Options
These are typically 1U or 2U, I think I just need a one 1U unit, plus these are less expensive
sizes seem to be around 500KVA or 700/750KVA, not sure if it worth the extra money to bump up to the 700KVA unit
some options include better conditioned power, not sure if I need all that
Cyber Power
CyberPower 750VA / 560W / PR750LCDRM1U
Price 377.99 at Amazon http://amzn.to/2wSY4Sk
Cyber Power 500VA / 300W / OR500LCDRM1U
Price 149.99 at Amazon: http://amzn.to/2gWIVcr
CyberPower 700VA / 400W / OR700LCDRM1U
Price: 195.95 at Amazon: http://amzn.to/2wVRs54
Tripp Lite
500VA / 300W / SMART500RT1U
Price 155.50 at Amazon: http://amzn.to/2f0S0jZ
APC
Did not see any really good, current, affordable UPS Options. I will add some here if I find them.
Ethernet Cable
Looks like there some new standards since 2001 when cat 5e was the new thing.
The options seem to be cat5e (10/100) Cat6 (10/100/1000) and Cat7 (10/100/1G/10G)
I think for our house the Cat5e or Cat 6 is the way to go.
There seems to be a difference between solid copper and copper clad. Solid copper is more expensive and what you need to meet the cat6 standard.
Cat 6 cable option
Cable Matters: http://amzn.to/2wWYCH2 new is $149.99 at amazon or they have several boxes in warehouse deals for just under $100. Thinking the damaged packaging box could be the way to go.
MonoPrice: http://amzn.to/2f4J2SD here is another less expensive brand new it is around $130/1000 ft.
GearIT: http://amzn.to/2f4Jqkl this seems to be around $160/1000ft or $110 in a damaged box.
There seem to be several different variations of Cat6 cable. I will work to figure out what the differences are.
Solid – think this is Cat6
STP – Solid Twisted Pair think this is cat6
UTP – Unsheilded Twisted Pair
Plenum – Plenum Frare Safety Rating
Interested in Cycling, Running, Web Design, and reading reviews of products I will never buy. If you see me looking at my phone I am probably playing Pokemon Go.
To the person who stole my Fitbit, let’s keep it up. We had a great July, now is not the time to lose momentum.
