adding unify ap make sense?

[InsaneLunatic]

Just bought a house and doing some major renovations.

- Raised bungalow.
- Bedrooms at one end of house and living room at the other (60 ft end to end).
- 2 car Garage past the living room
- 1000 SQR Foot addition past the garage.
... so a long stretch from one end to the other.

Setup:

I'm going to run Ethernet cable to: Bedrooms, Living room, basement and addition.

- Stream HD content from the net and a NAS to media boxes to 5 TVs
- 5 cellphones, 3 tablets, 6 laptops, 2 pcs

Current Equipment: Asus RT-AC66U and cheap trendnet TEG-550G Switch

Questions:

1 - Is cat6 worth the expense?
2 - My Internet guy wants to sell me the Unifi AP (2 of them)
--> They're only rated at N300. Adequate considering all media streaming will be hardwired?

Any suggestions? I don't really want to spend $800 on the Unify AC Versions.

Thanks

 

[stevech]

Unify - just say no. Go with mainstream, e.g., ASUS.
No need to spend more than $200 for an AP. Look too at Newegg.com, Engenius APs that look like smoke detectors, etc.
Beware fire codes on APs if wiring is above the ceiling. Use power over cat5 (not costly IEEE PoE). Keeps 110VAC wiring out of plenum/attic.
Cat5e good enough. Cat6 is a luxury, but not needed for 5+ years.

 

[InsaneLunatic]

Thanks for the reply,

As for cat6, I'm doing all this reno, so I don't plan on renovating again for a very long time. What I'm really asking is, if I go cat5e now, will I regret it in 5 years? Will I exceed it's capacity with all the new video tech coming?

I was thinking of adding another router as an access point in the addition, which should give me full coverage throughout.

 

[L&LD]

Thanks for the reply,

As for cat6, I'm doing all this reno, so I don't plan on renovating again for a very long time. What I'm really asking is, if I go cat5e now, will I regret it in 5 years? Will I exceed it's capacity with all the new video tech coming?

I was thinking of adding another router as an access point in the addition, which should give me full coverage throughout.

Save the $800 on the 'deal' you are offered on the AP's and put some of that towards CAT6 with at least dual runs into each room. This, you won't regret.

 

[InsaneLunatic]

Dual runs?

 

[stevech]

Crystal ball. I suspect that in 5-10 years residences will have fiber optics multimedia in most rooms. But then, fiber was to replace cat5 in office spaces by now and it hasn't.

But then again, today's TV coax in many rooms can handle 1-2GHz which corresponds to a zillion megabits/sec.

I don't think wireless (future WiFi) will be the media of choice for immobile things. Wireless is always more costly and less reliable.

So, no one knows. 5 years is probably short enough time frame to forecast.
Spending $ on cat6 is fine but it depends of the installation labor cost, not the cable cost.

 

[L&LD]

Dual runs?

Yes. Run not one, but two CAT6 cables to each room. Or four... if the budget allows.

This gives you flexibility by allowing for a more flexible network architecture, no matter where you think you want the control center today.

Not only can you connect two or more devices directly like this in each room, but you can also use the two runs as a return to the network closet, to put a main router in a remote location, for instance, but still have the rest of the network connected as optimally as possible.

As mentioned, the cost of the cable is negligible at this point when you're doing a ground up reno. The cost of the labor is also minimized at this point in time too. If you can physically pull the runs for the guy that connects everything, that can go down substantially too (and helps to offset the extra runs you are considering pulling).

 

[InsaneLunatic]

Yes. Run not one, but two CAT6 cables to each room. Or four... if the budget allows.

This gives you flexibility by allowing for a more flexible network architecture, no matter where you think you want the control center today.

Not only can you connect two or more devices directly like this in each room, but you can also use the two runs as a return to the network closet, to put a main router in a remote location, for instance, but still have the rest of the network connected as optimally as possible.

As mentioned, the cost of the cable is negligible at this point when you're doing a ground up reno. The cost of the labor is also minimized at this point in time too. If you can physically pull the runs for the guy that connects everything, that can go down substantially too (and helps to offset the extra runs you are considering pulling).

This sounds like a really good idea.

I will be installing everything myself with some help from a licensed electrician.

Can you give me links to info on these types of topology and how-to's?
Can you recommend and re-sellers or brands for cat 6 wire? Canada.

Thanks again!

 

[stevech]

I don't know about trans-border but this company is famous for low cost.

http://www.monoprice.com/

http://www.monoprice.com/Category?c_id=105&cp_id=10208

I urge you to plan out lengths and try to buy cable with connectors already affixed. For reliability reasons. Even if you have extra coiled up somewhere.

 

[Cloud200]

Personally, if I were in your situation, I would run 4x CAT6 cables to each room.
2 on opposite sides of the room.
Drop all the cables to an area you will place all networked equipment.
Make sure to use a patch panel and a standardized 19" rack either free standing or wall mounted.
Cheap example: http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=105&cp_id=10516&cs_id=1051602&p_id=8628&seq=1&format=2
I like having an open frame swing rack but eh . . . that's more of a luxury than a requirement.

Don't bother with using your router's wifi. Either get a wired one or a wireless one and disable the wifi on it.

For access points, just get anything POE, Dual band, under $150 that you can stick on the ceiling.
Eg. Zyxel NWA1123-AC
Getting a standardized 802.3af device helps when swapping switches or trying to troubleshoot. Also you wont burn out stuff if you screw up.

Don't use CFL light bulbs. Get LED ones instead. The CFL ones create an unnecessary amounts of noise on the 2.4ghz frequency.

One reason to want to use CAT6 over CAT5e today is you may see 2.5g and 5g ethernet standards coming out within the next 2-5 years. Longer distances and electrical noise may prevent you from reaching the higher speeds. Getting CAT6 will help mitigate that a bit. You could get CAT6a but I hate that crap. Stuff is worse to work with than RG11 quad. That reminds me . . . Don't forget to run Coax cable to rooms you may put a cable box in. Same concept as the ethernet. Home run it all to a central location and split them all from a single block.

 

[Cloud200]

I don't know about trans-border but this company is famous for low cost.

http://www.monoprice.com/

http://www.monoprice.com/Category?c_id=105&cp_id=10208

I urge you to plan out lengths and try to buy cable with connectors already affixed. For reliability reasons. Even if you have extra coiled up somewhere.

I STRONGLY disagree with this.
You run Riser cable in wall.
You connect Patch cables from the jack to the devices.

Riser cable is solid core.
Patch cable is stranded core.

Riser cable is terminated in a female jack on both ends with one side in a patch panel and the other connected to the client side wall plate.
Patch cable is terminated in a male jack on both ends and if you want to be really fancy can also have a boot at each end.

Edit:
Get a cable tester too.
Something that can do length tests, not just a continuity tester. Certifier is probably overkill for you.

 

[Cloud200]

This sounds like a really good idea.

I will be installing everything myself with some help from a licensed electrician.

Can you give me links to info on these types of topology and how-to's?
Can you recommend and re-sellers or brands for cat 6 wire? Canada.

Thanks again!

There is a decent site called smallnetbuilder. Has a diary on a home network done more or less right.
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/lanwan-basics/25182-homegrownnetworks
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/lanwan-basics/24222-howtohomenetpt1
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/lanwan-basics/24217-howtohomenetpt2
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/lanwan-basics/24835-howtohomenetpt3

 

[stevech]

Just don't try vertical wire runs (risers) in exterior walls stuffed with insulation.
If the walls are all open due to demolition, maybe you can do it yourself. But I say, buy pre-terminated cables.

 

[Cloud200]

Just don't try vertical wire runs (risers) in exterior walls stuffed with insulation.
If the walls are all open due to demolition, maybe you can do it yourself. But I say, buy pre-terminated cables.

The OP says "major renovations". I see that as walls being open. With a roll of fish tape and a few fiber pull rods a house like that can be wired, especially with the help of an electrician in a few days max.
Just be a little gentle on the cable. It isn't the same as BX and you do need to worry about kinking it.

Why the pre-terminated though? If its going to be done, let it be done right. I don't know of any pre-terminated solid core cables that end in females though. You wanted to use patch cables?

 

[InsaneLunatic]

Thanks for all the advice. It's been a busy week for me. I was putting doors and windows up this past weekend... That was -25 C weather!

A little more clarity on what I'm doing:

The addition is a complete reno happening right now, so walls and ceiling are bare and completely accessible. The main house I'm living in right now, so that won't come till the summer, and that will be roof, doors and windows, siding and basement. The main house won't be that easy.

I was thinking of having all the wiring in the addition go to a switch and a wireless router. From there, I was going to run wire to the house (2Wires?) and plug into my drop down box, as the main house will be the hub for the internet, NAS and all other network goodies.

I'm still looking into the links for wiring ideas you sent me cloud200. I work full-time and spending my extra time on the reno, so I havn't had a chance to do too much research yet. I'm going to have to order that wire now though, as that phase is coming up fast.

Thanks again

 

[System Error Message]

mothing ever makes sense and ubiquiti isnt doing well with wireless AC compared to consumer like ASUS or netgear for indoor wifi. For indoor use of wifi any good brand/model would do well as long as it is stable and can deliver the throughput and range you want.

CAT6 is worth it if you intend to do to upgrade to multi gigabit ethernet in the future (it could be 2.5G, 5G, 10G).