I haven’t talked about this on this channel, but I think it is time I did. I use it all the time and every day.
Network
You might ask, What is a network? That is a good question. According to Wikipedia, a computer network is all about communication.
It is a collection of communicating computers and other devices, such as printers, smartphones, servers, and others. They are connected via WiFi and an Ethernet cable.
So that is a computer network, in a nutshell
Normal Network
This consists of the internet connecting to a house and hooking it up to a router, which sends out a WiFi signal.
Most houses aren’t wired for a computer network, which consists of an Ethernet cable connecting different rooms and computers to a central location.
Even the newer houses nowadays only have one or two Ethernet cables run. That isn’t much. Most things connect to the router via WiFi.
Networks also depend on speed. Some Internet service providers offer speeds ranging from 100 Mbps to 10 Gbps.
Mbps = Megabits per second, the unit of measurement for data transfer rate.
Gbps = Gibabits per second, the unit of measurement for data transfer rate.
To confuse you, you can have the 10 Gbps in the house, but only 1 GB is coming in. But for most normal networks, it is all about WiFi.
However, is this the best way to do things?
Will it give you the best experience?
For me, the answer is no.
My Network
Back in 1999, when I was building my first house, I went in on a weekend and ran Ethernet cable throughout the house. I also fixed the telephone cable (Cat 3). They had it daisy-chained to all the different phone ports in the wall. I fixed that and had a single line running from all the ports to a central location. I even added more phone lines, even one in the garage. That came in handy.
While others were getting 15 to 50 Mbps, I got 100 Mbps or higher. One of my neighbors had a high-speed internet connection, and he shared it with the others. It was called Airswitch. It was nice.
Fast forward to the present day. I built the home I am currently in a few years ago. Even then, they were only putting network cables in the following places:
- Living room
- For your TV
- Main bedroom
- For a TV
- They added a third cable that ran outside to connect the internet from the ISP.
But that was about it.
It was different for me. Since I am a computer nerd, I ensured I had the Ethernet cable where I wanted it. This is where I have the Ethernet in my current house.
- Living room
- 1 plug
- Main bedroom
- 2 plugs
- Bedroom 1
- 2 plugs
- Bedroom 2
- 2 plugs
- Hallway
- 1 plug
- Office
- 1 plug (should have done 2)
- Laundry room
- 1 plug
- 2 plugs in the eaves
- For cameras
- Garage
- 2 plugs
This was just the upstairs. It all runs to a central location. I don’t like where they put it, but it is doable.
Looking around at things, I wish I had put one in the kitchen. However, since landlines aren’t used, there is Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP). But that is OK. Life is life.
Future Proof
Now, you might be thinking, Justin, what about the future? Well, will your network be upgraded?
Yep, it can all be upgraded. How? Well, there is something called Smurf tubbing.
I have this run to all the plugs, which means I can snake newer cables through it to upgrade the network. So yes, it is future-proof.
Running the Network
Do I use a simple WiFi router to run the network?
I did for the first 6 months; this is what I used.
It was a Nighthawk WiFi router. The internet came into it and then returned to the switch to move it throughout the house. What is a switch? It is a device that can bring the internet in and then send it out to many devices via Ethernet cable.
This is a smaller one. I used something like this in my old house, but I now have a 24-port Netgear switch. This is what my network looks like.
- Network Racks
- Patch switch
- 24-port switch
- Gateway
- 8 plug power adapter
- NAS servers.
- 2 Access Points for WiFi
The gateway is from a company called Unfi. I’ve been researching, and I needed to start slowly to make the best network possible. Since I wanted to use the Unifi APs, I needed to get a Unifi gateway.
The internet comes into the house via fiber, which is converted to an RJ45 port, which plugs into the gateway.
Then a cable leaves the gateway and plugs into the switch.
Then the switch sends out the internet to all the devices.
The gateway has two fiber ports, which is nice. I need to hook it up to fiber, but that is a work in progress.
Down Stairs
Since the downstairs is unfinished, I can run Smurf tubing and network cable where I want to. We did finish two rooms already. There are two network plugs in each room: one on the wall where the TV package is and the other on a different wall.
A TV Package is where you have a plug and a pass-through plate on a wall to hang a TV and make it look nice, with no cords hanging down.
My only problem was that my access point downstairs was doing a mesh network, and the upstairs AP connected to it and supplied the internet. It was plugged into the network as the access point was being powered. That is called Power over Ethernet.
I discovered the network cable could power the device, but not move data through it. So, I fixed that by putting in a new cable. I ensured the new cable could push the power and the internet. That was a fun little project.
The Future
Now, some might say 24 ports are just enough or overkill. Well, it isn’t, I think a 48-port switch might be too small for my future network. Now, the current network is in the mechanical room. Where the water heater and the furnace/AC are, I guess that is where they put things in many houses. Since my basement is unfinished primarily, I can move the network to a different location. But, I will have a switch in that room to push out the network to those network cables.
If I find one, the downstairs cabling could all go to the new spot.
The plan is to upgrade to at least 10 Gbps in the house—well, for me anyway. My family would never understand how good 10 Gbps will be for transferring files to the NAS servers.
With the Smurf tubbing, I can put up to 5 cables into each. But I am thinking of only two cables in each one, and you can put 2 Ethernet jacks in each plug. Putting in a 10 Gbps cable and a normal one would be nice. (1 Gbps)
Overview
Well, that is how my network is set up at this point. It will get better over time, but it works as it should.I will update you when I update my network.
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