this post was submitted on 29 Nov 2023
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Home Networking
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I recently finished my basement (~150sq.m. / 1500sq.ft.), I'm nerdy so be prepared. I bought a 300m spool of CAT6a, and ran about 13 drops.
I ran (myself) network to about every other power outlet, 1 stud away from the power. And one to my ceiling (central) for a WiFi access point. This is hands down the most important one for me. Super clean looking and powerful WiFi. I also included power and network in 3 closets (never know where I'll want my NAS) and to the outside corners directly into weather resistant junction boxes so no wire is exposed (cameras). Each of the 3 rooms got 2 (opposing corners), the kitchen, all along the main room wall, and to a built in bookshelf that has become my TV cabinet (receiver/amp + Nvidia Shield feeding to a projector in the main room).
I did not bother with 2 runs everywhere because switches are just too easy and/or WiFi. Heck a basic switch can even be powered over POE so minimal wiring needed. And everything runs back to a "structured media cabinet" housing my fiber-ONT (so I had the ISP move my fiber here), router, switches, and network patch panels for the whole house. Ask the electrician (a low voltage kind) to "terminate to an Ethernet patch panel" so it's easier for you to use. Also demand that they do NOT staple the wires, and test each for at minimum perfect 1 gigabit performance, probably 10Gb at these ranges.
Most electricians still do not know how to terminate in 2023--and this is after seeing what type of garbage work they did in 1995 at my parent's home--NOTHING has changed in nearly 30 years. I would have them run the wiring and do my own termination. Use the money saved on termination to double up on wires in case one is damaged when being run.
That is pretty surprising isn't it? I do feel it's more complex than power wires, but not by much. And to be fair I've rewired a few ceiling fan/lights in my day or 2-switch light controls and the wording on those instructions makes ZERO sense. "be sure to attach the hot wire to the hot terminal on the fixture" ... but the fixture has zero indicators to which side is hot/cold and is symmetric to the drawing. However, one plate is copper and the other is silver (in color), so there IS a difference but what is it? stupid engineers. Don't say "hot/cold" or "+/-" for a device that can only be identified as "silver/copper". :p
It's just more precise work to do it right. Idiot working upstairs at my parent's house untwisted 3" before terminating jacks. And that's why those jacks only get 100Mbs. I'm going to have to re-terminate all of them, and have been saying that for nearly 30 years now! Thank God they didn't terminate all the jacks so I've got a shot at doing those right. The ones that were terminated correctly will iperf 700-900Mbs, so that's pretty good considering there was no gigabit standard when the wire was installed and was the only 400Mhz rated wire on the market that cost us 2x as much, but was a great investment. If 2.5Gb/5Gb runs over it, that will be pretty awesome. We put 2x ethernet and 2x coax in each room and still have areas that were underserved. 2x of each on each wall and ceiling is the only way to go.