New House Network Design - UVerse ISP

[jcwillia1]

Typically ATT U-Verse is a modem&router combo. However, like others have suggested, ask them JUST for the modem and you provide a router. A home user router has WiFi capabilities, like the brands I suggested. You can add NAS via USB to most of these. Western Digital do good routers and even have one with built in storage and time machine capabilities for Macs http://www.wdc.com/en/products/network/routers/.

Are you building your home pre-wired with ethernet?

The advantage of using your own router with WiFi is that you can add additional access points to your network easily via ethernet. I don't know how ATT goes about providing extra access points. There are routers without WiFi, and I don't recommend going that route.

To "daisy chain" access points back to your router via ethernet they need to be the same brand. You can't use ATT's router with WiFi then 2 Belkin access points.

This is harder to explain over text I can imagine how hard this must be to understand.

EDIT: I looked over your OP, your ethernet lines all need to be run back to a central place. If you only have one ethernet on the two additional floors to the basement, you won't need to worry about a switch as long as your router has 2/3 LAN ports depending on if it has WiFi capability, as I suggested.

thanks for the info again. Does the brand constraint on access points pertain to wired switches and wireless access points or just WAPs?

yes all ethernet lines terminate in the basement

ok so on day 1 when the installer shows up, can I plug the
1) AT&T modem or router into my
2) ASUS Black Diamond and connect 3 ethernet lines/jacks to
3) the Family/TV Room and
4) the office
5) WD NAS
6) the Black Diamond blasts out wifi from the basement - won't be the best coverage for the whole house but it will work (maybe not so great on the second floor) for the short term.

That way I can hook up at least one device in the Family Room and in the office at any one time. I like the idea of the $20 gigabit switch for office and TV room (one each) I quoted a while back but I feel like you guys are shouting me down on that.

sorry guys, love your ideas but cash is tight right now.

 

[mlg321]

thanks for the info again. Does the brand constraint on access points pertain to wired switches and wireless access points or just WAPs?

yes all ethernet lines terminate in the basement

ok so on day 1 when the installer shows up, can I plug the
1) AT&T modem or router into my
2) ASUS Black Diamond and connect 3 ethernet lines/jacks to
3) the Family/TV Room and
4) the office
5) WD NAS
6) the Black Diamond blasts out wifi from the basement - won't be the best coverage for the whole house but it will work (maybe not so great on the second floor) for the short term.

That way I can hook up at least one device in the Family Room and in the office at any one time. I like the idea of the $20 gigabit switch for office and TV room (one each) I quoted a while back but I feel like you guys are shouting me down on that.

sorry guys, love your ideas but cash is tight right now.

You can mix and match switches and routers with/without WiFi, but when it comes to additional access points with WiFi you will need to stay brand specific in order to create streamlined WiFi.

Try that set up for now, and play around with the black diamond placement.

 

[jcwillia1]

so I was advised by the u-verse installers that they will bring switches during install so that we can test to make sure everything works before I buy even a single piece of tech.

which I think is really great - I don't want to have to mess around with returning stuff.

I also found this illustration which I thought was a good model for my set up :

http://www.dslreports.com/speak/sli...UyMzU1MC1BZGRpbmctYS1zd2l0Y2gtdG8tbmV0d29yay4

Difference being that my setup will have a WAP.

 

[clintb]

Typically ATT U-Verse is a modem&router combo. However, like others have suggested, ask them JUST for the modem and you provide a router.

If it's true U-verse, and not the "DSL branded under the U-verse name" then getting a regular old DSL modem is not an option. U-verse, being driven out of a VRAD in the neighborhood. DSL, being driven out of the DSLAM in the CO.

 

[stevech]

VRAD to home is usually copper. Ye old phone copper twisted pair. That's absurd.

A tiny few U-Verse installations are fiber to the home like Verizon's FIOS.

AT&T sales tends to lie about fiber to home.

 

[jcwillia1]

actually I've talked to the engineer who is in charge of digging the line - this does appear to be fiber to the premises.

This does make sense in a way - the entire area where I live is VERY new so whatever they would have laid down for service would be extremely recently.

That being said, I hope Comcast sets up shop in 12 months so I can switch to them but inferior service is better than no service

 

[RogerSC]

Wow, you may actually have competition at your place! It would be great to have a choice between fiber and Comcast...here the choice is between Comcast and AT&T "UVerse". AT&T keeps sending me ads about "high speed internet", which for them is 768Kbps. I used to be able to get 3Mbps DSL out of them, but now all I see is the 768Kbps "high speed".

Aside from the fact that their "high speed" internet only costs $20/month, it is pretty useless to me. Can't stream much at that speed *smile*.

 

[jcwillia1]

Wow, you may actually have competition at your place! It would be great to have a choice between fiber and Comcast...here the choice is between Comcast and AT&T "UVerse". AT&T keeps sending me ads about "high speed internet", which for them is 768Kbps. I used to be able to get 3Mbps DSL out of them, but now all I see is the 768Kbps "high speed".

Aside from the fact that their "high speed" internet only costs $20/month, it is pretty useless to me. Can't stream much at that speed *smile*.

I can remember a day where 768k would have knocked me flat on my butt with how fast it was... how time changes...

 

[jcwillia1]

finally opened the "white box".

What do I do with this? my first thought is to yank them all and cap them with ethernet plugs. also it looks like they didn't label my lines. amateurs.

 

[stevech]

looks like the formal point of demarcation between your (blue cat5) and their access. Since the cat5 doesn't have all 4 pair connected, that's 100BT.

whatever the blue cat5 goes to ... could be theirs or yours.

 

[jcwillia1]

looks like the formal point of demarcation between your (blue cat5) and their access. Since the cat5 doesn't have all 4 pair connected, that's 100BT.

whatever the blue cat5 goes to ... could be theirs or yours.

point of clarification - these are all mine - each one of those wires goes to a port on a wall somewhere in the house. This is what the builders put in, not U-Verse.

That whole assembly with the punchdown block and the cable splitter comes out, quite easily in fact and what's left behind is a metal pegboard to mount things on.

I'm about 95% of the way to yanking that out and putting a router or switch in there.

 

[jcwillia1]

finally opened the "white box".

What do I do with this? my first thought is to yank them all and cap them with ethernet plugs. also it looks like they didn't label my lines. amateurs.

bump

again, none of these are for phone, all data

pic

 

[sfx2000]

Just the basics.

LOL

There's upsides and downsides - any time one adds complexity, you add cost, and every application is different.

Most home networks, even advanced ones, don't need this level of management.

 

[clintb]

bump

again, none of these are for phone, all data

pic

The 110 block is all phone, not data. The CAT5/e/6/whatever have been wired onto a block for phone usage. I think you will find all of those blocks are bridged together, with each color forming one part of the bridge. Meaning, there will be continuity between all the blue portions, etc...

Get a small patch panel, punch down. Take what's necessary into an Ethernet switch. Done.

 

[jcwillia1]

The 110 block is all phone, not data. The CAT5/e/6/whatever have been wired onto a block for phone usage. I think you will find all of those blocks are bridged together, with each color forming one part of the bridge. Meaning, there will be continuity between all the blue portions, etc...

Get a small patch panel, punch down. Take what's necessary into an Ethernet switch. Done.

two parts of that I didn't comprehend :

1) What is a 110 block?

2) "Get a small patch panel, punch down"? Can you provide more on this? My thought was that every one of those lines gets capped with an RJ-45 head and goes straight into a switch - what are you suggesting?

 

[Dreamslacker]

two parts of that I didn't comprehend :

1) What is a 110 block?

2) "Get a small patch panel, punch down"? Can you provide more on this? My thought was that every one of those lines gets capped with an RJ-45 head and goes straight into a switch - what are you suggesting?

110 block refers to the punch block that the wires are connected to. In all likelihood, the builders simply left it there so that you can wire up those points as telephone points by punching down an incoming tel. line into that block (it joins all the wire pairs together for telephony).

This is common practice over here when the home owner doesn't specify that they want 8P8C (RJ45) plugs or a patch panel installed. This gives you the option to re-terminate the cables for data usage in future (as you intend to do now).

A patch panel (in networking context) looks like this:
http://www.excel-networking.com/_assets/images/Cat6A_PreTerm_0005.jpg

What you probably want is a small-ish patch panel that supports wall mounting (these are usually half-width units):
http://www.legrand.us/~/media/produ...PMP61289P1jpg.ashx?w=370&h=400&bc=ffffff&as=1

A patch panel will allow you to re-allocate data points to different network equipment by swapping network patch cords. This is preferred over terminating the cables directly with plugs since your cables are part of the structured installation and excessive plugging/ unplugging can cause breakages in the internal conductors.
By using patch cords, you need only replace the damaged patch cord and don't need to bring in a specialist to replace a damaged cable run to the wall sockets.

 

[jcwillia1]

110 block refers to the punch block that the wires are connected to. In all likelihood, the builders simply left it there so that you can wire up those points as telephone points by punching down an incoming tel. line into that block (it joins all the wire pairs together for telephony).

This is common practice over here when the home owner doesn't specify that they want 8P8C (RJ45) plugs or a patch panel installed. This gives you the option to re-terminate the cables for data usage in future (as you intend to do now).

A patch panel (in networking context) looks like this:
http://www.excel-networking.com/_assets/images/Cat6A_PreTerm_0005.jpg

What you probably want is a small-ish patch panel that supports wall mounting (these are usually half-width units):
http://www.legrand.us/~/media/produ...PMP61289P1jpg.ashx?w=370&h=400&bc=ffffff&as=1

A patch panel will allow you to re-allocate data points to different network equipment by swapping network patch cords. This is preferred over terminating the cables directly with plugs since your cables are part of the structured installation and excessive plugging/ unplugging can cause breakages in the internal conductors.
By using patch cords, you need only replace the damaged patch cord and don't need to bring in a specialist to replace a damaged cable run to the wall sockets.

thanks for this - very informative - seems like a lot of work to wire up a patch panel only to turn around and connect the business end of that panel into a switch.

Maybe this makes more sense if you have a lot more network cables running through your house?

I'm still back to cutting all the stripped excess wire down and creating RJ-45 plugs unless someone wants to tell me that's a bad idea.

 

[Dreamslacker]

thanks for this - very informative - seems like a lot of work to wire up a patch panel only to turn around and connect the business end of that panel into a switch.

Maybe this makes more sense if you have a lot more network cables running through your house?

I'm still back to cutting all the stripped excess wire down and creating RJ-45 plugs unless someone wants to tell me that's a bad idea.

Well.. It's your prerogative. As I mentioned, if you damage the cable(s) coming from the wall while plugging/ unplugging them, you may need to have the cables replaced (might involve hacking the walls). It is very unlikely that they do get damaged but I won't rule it out.

Alternatively, a patch panel ensures that the installed cables are fixed in position. Only the patch cords will be moved after installation. If they break, you can always drive out to your nearest computer store and buy replacements.

I see that you only have 4 cables running into the closet? If that is the case, a patch panel would be an overkill. You can make do with wall sockets and bases instead.

 

[jcwillia1]

Well.. It's your prerogative. As I mentioned, if you damage the cable(s) coming from the wall while plugging/ unplugging them, you may need to have the cables replaced (might involve hacking the walls). It is very unlikely that they do get damaged but I won't rule it out.

Alternatively, a patch panel ensures that the installed cables are fixed in position. Only the patch cords will be moved after installation. If they break, you can always drive out to your nearest computer store and buy replacements.

sigh - you guys are slave drivers

ok so please explain to me how I fit this :

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=105&cp_id=10514&cs_id=1051402&p_id=7299&seq=1&format=2

into this :

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1651&d=1385230289

 

[clintb]

sigh - you guys are slave drivers

ok so please explain to me how I fit this :

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=105&cp_id=10514&cs_id=1051402&p_id=7299&seq=1&format=2

into this :

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1651&d=1385230289

Ugh, precisely the reason I dislike those inset wiring solutions - no space!

What you might do is fashion some L brackets, or some wood brackets that will allow the patch panel to sit perpendicular to the back of the enclosure.

You absolutely want to fasten those cables down so they don't get moved around. Solid core cables should be moved as little as possible.