Looking for a recessed 'home network' enclosure for 24 port Unifi Switch, power socket, patch panel and cables

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Looking for a recessed 'home network' enclosure for 24 port Unifi Switch, power socket, patch panel and cables

Benoire

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#295793 23-Apr-2022 17:36

I'm looking at restructuring my home network. Currently I run most of my network via ethernet that I've routed through the walls and pinned to the subfloor framing (classic 1960's raised subfloor etc.). I also have a 12u network enclosure which houses the switches. The cables route to this location.

As part of an external landscaping project, I am creating a new out building to securely keep my homelab and certain switches and move them out of the underside of the house (amongst other things such as my ebike etc.). To avoid running 24 cables (mix of wall patch and POE APs) outside in a conduit I am looking to install an additional recessed enclosure, route the internal house cabling back to this location and then uplink via SFP to the exteriour building via fibre optic. Does anybody know of any enclosures (e.g. Dynamix type) that can support the switch, power socket, patch panel and cables neatly? Width is likely to be around 400mm but height is unknown yet (haven't found nog but could potentially work around due to the wall not being load bearing.

Anyone got any pointers or thoughts?

Chris

Benoire

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#2905833 23-Apr-2022 17:45

Looking at the size of the POE switch I have (Unifi POE 24), its dimensions are: 442.4 x 200 x 43.7mm. Would something like this work? . DYNAMIX 28'' Recessed Plastic Network Enclosure, WiFi Ready, looks wide enough to have the switch mounted with its ports facing down (and heat up to the top), has plenty of cut outs which (again if placed at the bottom) would allow for unimpeeded feeding of cables in to a patch panel? I presume this: . DYNAMIX 8 Port Cat6 Slimline Patch Panel for HWS range T568A. would work for the patch panel.. and then all I'd need is a sparky to wire in the power socket?

nztim

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#2905845 23-Apr-2022 18:44

Can I please deter you from a recessed cabinet if you are going to put a 24 port switch in

Go for a proper comms cabinet they are cheap enough

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

cyril7

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#2905846 23-Apr-2022 18:48

Hi agree with Tim, a recessed cabinet and 24port switch is going to be tight, no chance of a 6ru or even a 3 or 4 Ru wall frame in the top of a closet?

Cyril

Benoire

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#2905861 23-Apr-2022 19:54

cyril7: Hi agree with Tim, a recessed cabinet and 24port switch is going to be tight, no chance of a 6ru or even a 3 or 4 Ru wall frame in the top of a closet?

Cyril

Alas I would if I had the space. Its a 1960's 2.5 bed home (i.e. 3rd bedroom was really the sun room but we use it as a bedroom) with only 2 cupboards (1 x 900mm wide and 1 x 450mm wide) with no other storage anywhere in side the house. Any comms unit would take up space that is currently used for family storage (e.g. towels, sheets etc.) hence why using an additional recessed unit was a thought. The only other options is to continue using the comms cabinet under the house but that is open to vermin and other undesirables, and can be got to by anyone interested in the flashing lights under the house or to house in the proposed 'building' in the garden but then I have to run new cables (and most likely mosture resistant as they would be placed under the garden) from each room to the new building as the current lengths are only cable of running within the footprint of the house.

Benoire

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#2905869 23-Apr-2022 20:09

nztim: Can I please deter you from a recessed cabinet if you are going to put a 24 port switch in

Go for a proper comms cabinet they are cheap enough

Hi Tim,

Given the spatial considerations in my post above, are there any other reasons apart from space for a 1u unit that you think I should be aware of? I know airflow is all important... the UI Unifi 24 POE (Gen 2) has active fans so it can draw air in etc. but are there other considerations? The ONT is mounted already in a recessed unit on the other side of the cupboard, so for me this 'unit' would only serve the single switch.

cyril7

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#2905930 24-Apr-2022 08:07

Hi, so how many outlets is the patch panel to support, sounds like it's not 24, so is a 24 port switch really needed?

Regardless it will fit, but tidy might be missing

Cyril

shrub

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#2905961 24-Apr-2022 10:31

would it be possible to put up a small shallow 6r cabinet in the laundry or hallway?

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/RACDNX1005/Dynamix-RSFDSL6-LITE-6RU-Swing-Wall-Mount-Cabinet

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Benoire

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#2905965 24-Apr-2022 10:42

shrub:

would it be possible to put up a small shallow 6r cabinet in the laundry or hallway?

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/RACDNX1005/Dynamix-RSFDSL6-LITE-6RU-Swing-Wall-Mount-Cabinet

The house is really this small that we don't have a dedicated laundry space and the hallways are ~900mm wide with a height of ~2400mm; there is unfortunately no way to place a cabinet (like the one I have under the house presently) anywhere within the house that is not in the way or highly visible...Its why I resorted to using the space under the house in the first place.

Benoire

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#2905977 24-Apr-2022 12:11

cyril7: Hi, so how many outlets is the patch panel to support, sounds like it's not 24, so is a 24 port switch really needed?

Regardless it will fit, but tidy might be missing

Cyril

Generally I run 4 ports per room with the lounge having 6. I also have two APs and a video camera connected via ethernet. I worked out that this gives ~ 19 ports required.

I was toying with the idea of upgrading the Gen 1 24 port switch to the little 8 port enterprise that has two 10GBe SFP+ links and 8 POE ports @ 2.5gbs... then I would run a single drop to each room and then use flex mini's to expand out as needed. That would allow for future 2.5GBs uplink from each port as needed... a lot more expensive but would not then require a larger switch in the enclosure.

cyril7

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#2905979 24-Apr-2022 12:14

You could just use cheap unmanaged at each room till you really need more speed/management on a room by room basis. A basic 5port is $30ish

Edit, do you really need to deliver more than a Gig to each room?, I presume you are not running a data centre, it's a three bed house, right?

Cyril