Hi all, I've been doing lots of reading and gathering of information the last few days trying to see the best way of setting up a new bungalow I'm in the process of purchasing.
It's quite large over 3000 square feet so I've been trying to work out the best way to provide full connectivity throughout. I am in the early stages but hoping to get some advice on the direction before going into too much detail if I'm on the wrong path.
I am looking to put in at least 14 ethernet access points to various faceplates dotted throughout, and then potentially 12 POE devices such as cameras and AP's for full WIFI coverage.
All walls are solid inside the bungalow so I am looking to put WIFI AP's in pretty much all rooms, hence the larger number of POE devices.
Is this really required I would strongly tell you not to do this. You will be very surprised, I'd be happy to send you a theoretical heatmap survey if you send me some building plans over PM, you will encounter massive 2.4GHz co-channel interference doing this.
I'm planning on putting everything in the loft space and monitor the temps especially in the summer months.
A few thoughts I have been mulling over that would be great to hear anyone's feedback or experience.
1) Should I split the POE and non POE connections across two different switches, one POE and one non ? Daisy chain switches OK any issues bottlenecks etc
Split them for the simple fact of cost
2) Should I use Cat6 or Cat6a cabling purely for future proofing - all devices will work well over Cat 5e, but as all new cabling will be laid use the opportunity to do it.
Comes down to construction and how many runs you're putting in but Cat6 is going to be a lot easier to work with. Cat6A has a ridiculous CSA and to be honest Cat6 will probably do 10G should you need it to in the future at the lengths you're looking at.
3) I am looking at rack mounting a keystone patch panel, switch (ideally fanless as I want noise kept to a minimum) and the standard ISP modem/router in the same rack.
If anyone has any recommendations for any of the components that would be great as I've literally scanned 100s of different ones looking at Amazon reviews and other reviews, a lot are US based so I was hoping for more of a UK opinion with link to UK suppliers.
Switch recommendation - TP Link for a domestic dwelling - Lifetime warranty, or if you want to get something a little nicer, Ubiquiti
Patch panel recommendation (if keystone any preference on jacks, some are wider some are angled some are lite - does it make a difference which ones I go for) Big buyer of Excel Networking, angled make patching easier but to be honest probably won't cause much issue
Rack recommendation RackyRax are crap, they're from Connectix, still with an Environ WR. 600 Deep to ensure you future proof.
I'm looking at setting up an NVR and using HiKvision POE cams as the CCTV solution.
Thanks