New home build. Need refresher on fibre connection.

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › New home build. Need refresher on fibre connection.

ermat

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#275877 14-Sep-2020 21:27

Hi guys. I built a new home 3 years ago. Have since moved towns and now building again. I don't keep up to speed with current trends in new home fibre/house modem & cabling setups so just wondering if much has changed in last 3 years.
Is cat6 still the cable of choice to run in a new home or have things moved on ?
I ran cat6 last time, is that still the way to go in new build ?Likewise the metal Cabinet in the hall, I suspected this was not the ideal location for the modem and that it was not optimal last time, are there any advancements in this area ?. . Appreciate any advice on this.

nztim

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#2564148 15-Sep-2020 06:22

Good Morning, Cat6 is still current standard, Cabinet should be as central as possible if wifi router is going to sit in there

If you are going to install a proper wireless access point solution throughout your home it doesn’t matter where the patch panel goes

Tip in the “main” entertainment area 2 cat6 outlets never seems to be enough

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

cyril7

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#2564149 15-Sep-2020 07:03

Hi yes Cat6 is still what I would concider all the go in typical residential situations where runs are typically less than 40m it can do error free 10Gig.

As for wireless in an inwall cabinet, plastic cabinets that are wifi friendly are now commonly available.

That said it never worries me, as I either never use an ISPs router, rather a mikrotik or edgerouter, and instead are more incline to install 2 or 3 decent ceiling wireless access points such as UniFi or Ruckus, or you could use the ISPs router in the cabinet and turn its wireless off and use a wireless system as mentioned

Cyril

ermat

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#2564150 15-Sep-2020 07:19

cyril7:
Hi yes Cat6 is still what I would concider all the go in typical residential situations where runs are typically less than 40m it can do error free 10Gig.

As for wireless in an inwall cabinet, plastic cabinets that are wifi friendly are now commonly available.

That said it never worries me, as I either never use an ISPs router, rather a mikrotik or edgerouter, and instead are more incline to install 2 or 3 decent ceiling wireless access points such as UniFi or Ruckus, or you could use the ISPs router in the cabinet and turn its wireless off and use a wireless system as mentioned

Cyril

So is a ceiling wireless access point such as UniFi etc just another wireless router fed via cat6 from the router in the cabinet ?

surfisup1000

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#2564155 15-Sep-2020 07:41

I think Cat6a right? Which is a faster than cat6 and allows greater lengths.

I'm not sure if there is much price difference.

10gb switches are still really expensive. Makes one wonder if they will stay expensive for a long time yet as 1gb is more than fast enough for some time to come. Even for 8k video streams , and even can max out mechanical hard drive speeds.

cyril7

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#2564179 15-Sep-2020 08:36

Hi, as mentioned, cat6 will do 10G with no packet loss or errors up to around 57m and typically much more, so how much faster did you intend to go. Yes Cat6a is higher performing and will allow that to be extended out to 100m, but still only 10G. If you want to do any speeds over that I recommend you consider fibre instead. To be honest why do you need more than 10G in a home environment, we still rarely use GigE to full capacity.

Ermat, a Wireless access point is a layer2 device, ie its not a router, its more like an ethernet switch with wireless capability, your router still is required to nat/route traffic from your ISP's WAN to your LAN, where as a Layer2 wireless access point simply bridges your LAN into a wireless access environment.

Cyril

ermat

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#2566036 16-Sep-2020 15:25

cyril7:
Hi, as mentioned, cat6 will do 10G with no packet loss or errors up to around 57m and typically much more, so how much faster did you intend to go. Yes Cat6a is higher performing and will allow that to be extended out to 100m, but still only 10G. If you want to do any speeds over that I recommend you consider fibre instead. To be honest why do you need more than 10G in a home environment, we still rarely use GigE to full capacity.

Ermat, a Wireless access point is a layer2 device, ie its not a router, its more like an ethernet switch with wireless capability, your router still is required to nat/route traffic from your ISP's WAN to your LAN, where as a Layer2 wireless access point simply bridges your LAN into a wireless access environment.

Cyril

Thanks Cyril, what brand wireless access point do you like ?

Lenovo

Shop now for Lenovo laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

cyril7

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#2566040 16-Sep-2020 15:30

Hi, cost effective solutions are UniFi, Ruckus and Aruba, all of those I would recommend, with UniFi being my most commonly used device. Typically I just use the AC-Lite model for ceiling and the AC-IW for wall mount applications, I mainly choose those models for price as typically you are trying to stretch a budget, however good things are to be said for the more expensive HD models should your budget stretch.

Cyril