beginner's questions on network install

Hi there,

I have a few beginner's questions and wondered if anyone could help. Feel
free to point out any glaring errors in my plans.

I want to network up my house. I'm planning of having 10 network points
around the house.
So I think I am right in saying that I need to buy 10 RJ45 front plates, and
each front plate requires its own back box?

Each network point will connect back to a central point via CAT5 concealed
in trunking . At that central point, everything will connect up to a switch
that I have.
My dilemma is the best way to get the connections from the wall/trunking to
the switch.

Someone suggested to me that I should use a patch panel at this point, and
then use short leads to the switch from there. It sounds reasonable enough
to me, but the only wall mountable patch panels I can find seem to involve
some big glass front enclosure which seems rather bulky and like a lot of
additional expense. So should I be using a patch panel here or could I just
whack on another bank of front plates and back boxes at this end too as I
take it that would be cheaper if it's possible?

I'm going to go and buy this book very soon in the next few days
Cabling: The Complete Guide to Network Wiring by David Groth, Jim McBee,
David Barnett (Editor)
ISBN: 0782129587

..... but wondered if you could recommend any other books or websites with
any clear photos.
Cheers

Rob

"Rob" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:40bf48eb$0$58818$(E-Mail Removed).. .
> Hi there,
>
> I have a few beginner's questions and wondered if anyone could help. Feel
> free to point out any glaring errors in my plans.
>
> I want to network up my house. I'm planning of having 10 network points
> around the house.
> So I think I am right in saying that I need to buy 10 RJ45 front plates,
and
> each front plate requires its own back box?
>
> Each network point will connect back to a central point via CAT5 concealed
> in trunking . At that central point, everything will connect up to a
switch
> that I have.
> My dilemma is the best way to get the connections from the wall/trunking
to
> the switch.
>
> Someone suggested to me that I should use a patch panel at this point, and
> then use short leads to the switch from there. It sounds reasonable enough
> to me, but the only wall mountable patch panels I can find seem to involve
> some big glass front enclosure which seems rather bulky and like a lot of
> additional expense. So should I be using a patch panel here or could I
just
> whack on another bank of front plates and back boxes at this end too as I
> take it that would be cheaper if it's possible?
>
> I'm going to go and buy this book very soon in the next few days
> Cabling: The Complete Guide to Network Wiring by David Groth, Jim McBee,
> David Barnett (Editor)
> ISBN: 0782129587

Y'know, this is quite scary. I am going to be doing the exact same thing in
a few weeks, I've just bought that book, and my name is Rob! It's a good
book but is mostly aimed at the professional doing this for a living and not
the slightly more amateurish efforts you and me will be attempting. Having
said that it's almost all still relative to home installations and is very
clear.

I plan to use patch panels but thats because I'm going to run phone lines to
each room which might require moving round from time to time. I bid on two
24 port patch panels on ebay not expecting to win either, but ended up
winning both for a total of £24 inc P+P. One's even rated to Cat6! If you
don't want patch panels then as you suggest you can effectively build your
own with more wall sockets.

Where do you plan to get your trunking from? The problem I have is that it's
a rented house (12 month contract, university students) and so I can't make
too much of a mess. Hopefully the landlord will let me do it if I can make
it look neat. Still not sure how I'm going to get a massive bundle of cat5
cables down to the cellar though...

Rob

On Thu, 3 Jun 2004 16:51:04 +0100, "Rob" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:


>Someone suggested to me that I should use a patch panel at this point, and
>then use short leads to the switch from there. It sounds reasonable enough
>to me, but the only wall mountable patch panels I can find seem to involve
>some big glass front enclosure which seems rather bulky and like a lot of
>additional expense. So should I be using a patch panel here or could I just
>whack on another bank of front plates and back boxes at this end too as I
>take it that would be cheaper if it's possible?
>

Here's a link to a 12 port patch panel at B & Q

http://tinyurl.com/39grk

A patch panel is usually intended to mean a single row of ethernet connectors
on a 19 inch standard rack mount. Although the B & Q one is/looks smaller.

Clansman

"Rob Walker" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:40bf4d30$0$25317$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Y'know, this is quite scary. I am going to be doing the exact same thing
in
> a few weeks, I've just bought that book, and my name is Rob!

Yeah, that is a bit scary. How many fingers am I holding up?

> It's a good
> book but is mostly aimed at the professional doing this for a living and
not
> the slightly more amateurish efforts you and me will be attempting. Having
> said that it's almost all still relative to home installations and is very
> clear.

OK, cool, thanks for that Rob. How is it for pics? I will go get a copy
later and see what else is alongside it.

> I plan to use patch panels but thats because I'm going to run phone lines
to
> each room which might require moving round from time to time. I bid on two
> 24 port patch panels on ebay not expecting to win either, but ended up
> winning both for a total of £24 inc P+P. One's even rated to Cat6! If you
> don't want patch panels then as you suggest you can effectively build your
> own with more wall sockets.

The patch panel sounds like the easier option. Is there a way to house one
in this kind of setup without these glass front cabinets? It's the cabinet
which is taking it beyond how much I want to spend.
I wonder cowboy-ish it would be to have leads coming straight of the
trunking with their RJ45 male heads attached and putting them straight into
a switch?

> Where do you plan to get your trunking from? The problem I have is that
it's
> a rented house (12 month contract, university students) and so I can't
make
> too much of a mess. Hopefully the landlord will let me do it if I can make
> it look neat. Still not sure how I'm going to get a massive bundle of cat5
> cables down to the cellar though...

If getting a big bundle of cables back to one place is a problem, I was
reading one idea about putting cheap hubs around the location and then
having less leads to trace back... not sure how suitable that would be for
what you're doing.

Cheers

Rob

"Clansman" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Thu, 3 Jun 2004 16:51:04 +0100, "Rob" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>
> >Someone suggested to me that I should use a patch panel at this point,
and
> >then use short leads to the switch from there. It sounds reasonable
enough
> >to me, but the only wall mountable patch panels I can find seem to
involve
> >some big glass front enclosure which seems rather bulky and like a lot of
> >additional expense. So should I be using a patch panel here or could I
just
> >whack on another bank of front plates and back boxes at this end too as I
> >take it that would be cheaper if it's possible?
> >
>
> Here's a link to a 12 port patch panel at B & Q
>
> http://tinyurl.com/39grk
>
> A patch panel is usually intended to mean a single row of ethernet
connectors
> on a 19 inch standard rack mount. Although the B & Q one is/looks smaller.

Thanks a lot for that - that seems to answer my question about how I can use
a patch panel without the expense of cabinet.
Cheers!

Rob

"Rob" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:40bf48eb$0$58818$(E-Mail Removed).. .
> Hi there,
>
> I have a few beginner's questions and wondered if anyone could help. Feel
> free to point out any glaring errors in my plans.
>
> I want to network up my house. I'm planning of having 10 network points
> around the house.
> So I think I am right in saying that I need to buy 10 RJ45 front plates,
and
> each front plate requires its own back box?
>
> Each network point will connect back to a central point via CAT5 concealed
> in trunking . At that central point, everything will connect up to a
switch
> that I have.
> My dilemma is the best way to get the connections from the wall/trunking
to
> the switch.
>
> Someone suggested to me that I should use a patch panel at this point, and
> then use short leads to the switch from there. It sounds reasonable enough
> to me, but the only wall mountable patch panels I can find seem to involve
> some big glass front enclosure which seems rather bulky and like a lot of
> additional expense. So should I be using a patch panel here or could I
just
> whack on another bank of front plates and back boxes at this end too as I
> take it that would be cheaper if it's possible?
>
> I'm going to go and buy this book very soon in the next few days
> Cabling: The Complete Guide to Network Wiring by David Groth, Jim McBee,
> David Barnett (Editor)
> ISBN: 0782129587
>
> .... but wondered if you could recommend any other books or websites with
> any clear photos.
> Cheers
>
> Rob
>
Patch panel is the BEST way to go for cabling. But you can cheat bit. CAT5
straight into the switch is fine, provided you label up properly & it can
look a little messy with all those cables straight out of trunking. How
about concealing/ cupboard mounting the switch so you don't see any of it -
ensure adequate ventilation around unit & not on top of radiator / boiler
etc & should be fine for home use.
If you have multiple floors / large rooms etc - you could run just 1 CAT5 to
each floor/room then cheap hub/switch on eend & patch lead to each machine.
Crimpers are readily available - Black Box, Maplin etc & wiring
diagram/advice via Google.
HTH JonMaC

"Rob" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:40bf57a8$0$58817$(E-Mail Removed).. .
> "Rob Walker" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:40bf4d30$0$25317$(E-Mail Removed)...

>OK, cool, thanks for that Rob. How is it for pics? I will go get a copy
>later and see what else is alongside it.

The pics are all black and white, and mostly diagrams and tables. There's
also pictures of tools, equipment etc. Generally very good really.

> > I plan to use patch panels but thats because I'm going to run phone
lines
> to
> > each room which might require moving round from time to time. I bid on
two
> > 24 port patch panels on ebay not expecting to win either, but ended up
> > winning both for a total of £24 inc P+P. One's even rated to Cat6! If
you
> > don't want patch panels then as you suggest you can effectively build
your
> > own with more wall sockets.
>
> The patch panel sounds like the easier option. Is there a way to house one
> in this kind of setup without these glass front cabinets? It's the cabinet
> which is taking it beyond how much I want to spend.

Apart from ebay I'm not sure. I'm in the same position, I'd like a cabinet
but they seem expensive for what they are. I think you can just get 19"
racks that patch panels, switches etc will screw to. No idea where to get
any of this stuff though...

> I wonder cowboy-ish it would be to have leads coming straight of the
> trunking with their RJ45 male heads attached and putting them straight
into
> a switch?

I've heard that being suggested for home installs before and I'm sure it'd
work fine for your needs.


> > Where do you plan to get your trunking from? The problem I have is that
> it's
> > a rented house (12 month contract, university students) and so I can't
> make
> > too much of a mess. Hopefully the landlord will let me do it if I can
make
> > it look neat. Still not sure how I'm going to get a massive bundle of
cat5
> > cables down to the cellar though...
>
> If getting a big bundle of cables back to one place is a problem, I was
> reading one idea about putting cheap hubs around the location and then
> having less leads to trace back... not sure how suitable that would be for
> what you're doing.

Yeah I'm considering that. Maybe a cheap £10 5 port ebuyer switch per floor
or something. Would limit bandwidth but most traffic will be internet on a
2mb ADSL connection so it would be bareable.. Also I guess I could look at
gigabit for certain backbone links but I think that's getting a bit
expensive.

Rob

"JonMaC" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:c9nmf4$9gl$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Patch panel is the BEST way to go for cabling. But you can cheat bit.
CAT5
> straight into the switch is fine, provided you label up properly & it can
> look a little messy with all those cables straight out of trunking. How
> about concealing/ cupboard mounting the switch so you don't see any of
it -
> ensure adequate ventilation around unit & not on top of radiator / boiler
> etc & should be fine for home use.
> If you have multiple floors / large rooms etc - you could run just 1 CAT5
to
> each floor/room then cheap hub/switch on eend & patch lead to each
machine.
> Crimpers are readily available - Black Box, Maplin etc & wiring
> diagram/advice via Google.

Thanks for the tips Jon. I'm in two minds now. Clansman pointed me in the
direction of a nice patch panel that does what I was asking for (ie doesn't
need a cabinet), but if I can make my life easier by not bothering then
maybe I'll do that. And I gather I will need to get a punchdown tool to use
the patch panel?

The other bit I'm not looking forward to is wiring up to the wall outlet, or
backbox, or whatever is the right term! Hopefully the book I'm going to get
it will make it clearer how to do that bit. It would nice if there if there
was a wall port that had a female RJ45 behind as well so I can use moulded
plug cables and plug straight in without messing about with wiring. Does
such a thing exist?

I have my own crimping set, and have made cables before, but they tended to
be a tad flakey in some cases, so I really want to get as much off the shelf
as possible....

"Rob" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:40bf8b2b$0$58819$(E-Mail Removed).. .

> I have my own crimping set, and have made cables before, but they tended
to
> be a tad flakey in some cases, so I really want to get as much off the
shelf
> as possible....

Following on from the useful help yesterday, I have decided to make life
easier for myself (I thought) and run cable from wall jacks and having them
coming straight out of trunking and into a switch.
So I am about to buy my reel of CAT5e cable and I see that I have a choice
between Patch cable and Solid cable.
I did a bit of reading up at I'm assuming that when the supplier says Patch
cable, they are referring to Stranded cable, as that is the choice I can
find on another site, and that stranded cable is better for crimping into
RJ45 heads and that solid cable is better for wall jacks.

Since I am having cables that go from wall jacks to RJ45 heads, which cable
would any of you recommend?

Cheers

Rob

"Rob" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:40c0868c$0$58819$(E-Mail Removed).. .
> "Rob" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:40bf8b2b$0$58819$(E-Mail Removed).. .
>
> > I have my own crimping set, and have made cables before, but they tended
> to
> > be a tad flakey in some cases, so I really want to get as much off the
> shelf
> > as possible....
>
> Following on from the useful help yesterday, I have decided to make life
> easier for myself (I thought) and run cable from wall jacks and having
them
> coming straight out of trunking and into a switch.
> So I am about to buy my reel of CAT5e cable and I see that I have a choice
> between Patch cable and Solid cable.
> I did a bit of reading up at I'm assuming that when the supplier says
Patch
> cable, they are referring to Stranded cable, as that is the choice I can
> find on another site, and that stranded cable is better for crimping into
> RJ45 heads and that solid cable is better for wall jacks.
>
> Since I am having cables that go from wall jacks to RJ45 heads, which
cable
> would any of you recommend?

I'd say solid as it will work correctly with the wall jacks. You can get
RJ45 plugs designed for solid cable too.
Stranded won't work well with the IDC style connectors found on wall jacks
and patch panels.

Rob