Anyone have their own home network?

[therealnickb]

I wired the house when my gaming son lived here. Just basic stuff. Still used WiFi with for some things. Range was the only issue.

My son moved so we gave the $30mo version WiFi a shot. The range is much better. One router covers almost as well as the two I was using.

Definitely not as stable or fast as the wired connections. At 25% of the monthly cost, I’ll deal with it.

[M1NM]

In the mid 80s an IT guy at work was buying a tract house that was being built. The contractor let him come in and wire the place. State of the art at the time.

[Dooligan]

[xfer42]

I think you would use that if you dont want to crimp/punch anything (premade cables).

Its more difficult to run ethernet that has a male/female connector on the end, plus its nice to have just the right amount of cable.

Thats one of my first ARs (Delton upper, Spikes lower) that's never used, so just decor. Conversation piece for when someone grabs a beer.


Edit:
Punching 8 wires into a keystone is much easier than crimping a male RJ45. Anyone that does enough male RJ45 may disagree once they have their technique down, but the keystones dont require any technique.

[rplusplus]

I have the home wired with CAT6 and a Mesh WiFi. Some things just like Wired better. Of course the NSA devices (Amazon Echo's) and tablets like the WiFi.

[MrFancyPants]

Uh, yeah, have been for years. My home network rivals many small business networks. I'm behind a complete Cisco network stack including a gigabit capable ASA (edge router), routers and L2/L3 PoE switches. Have an HP virtualization server, 16-bay SAN server, another 5-bay NAS, TP Link enterprise APs, PoE security cameras recording to a Linux DVR, various other devices. It's amazing how cheap you can buy Cisco hardware without the Smartnet overhead.

Mesh networks are the new hotness. Hardwiring is for people still stuck in the matrix.

Mesh networks are a gimmick only good for convenience, aimed at people who know nothing about networks and/or don't care about overall network performance and guaranteed service. They can't hold a candle to a dedicated hardwired backhaul. Not to mention they're highly insecure, especially out of the box.

[SactoDoug]

In my old house the hallway closet was the center of the house. I installed a new outlet at the top shelf. Ran all of my wiring there with the modem, router, switch and a UPS. From there I ran Cat 6 to the 3 bedrooms and the living room. It was a lot of time in the attic and learning how to use a flexible drill bit but I got it done.

[Excitable Boy]

Uh, yeah, have been for years. My home network rivals many small business networks. I'm behind a complete Cisco network stack including a gigabit capable ASA (edge router), routers and L2/L3 PoE switches. Have an HP virtualization server, 16-bay SAN server, another 5-bay NAS, TP Link enterprise APs, PoE security cameras recording to a Linux DVR, various other devices. It's amazing how cheap you can buy Cisco hardware without the Smartnet overhead.



Mesh networks are a gimmick only good for convenience, aimed at people who know nothing about networks and/or don't care about overall network performance and guaranteed service. They can't hold a candle to a dedicated hardwired backhaul. Not to mention they're highly insecure, especially out of the box.

Not as complicated as yours, but running Sophos security appliance here with Ruckus layer 3 capable switch and Ruckus WAP here, so pretty stout stuff. Small house with 2 primary users and under 30 devices, so running as Layer 2 flat network for the moment, but can add VLANs as needed without blinking.

In my old house the hallway closet was the center of the house. I installed a new outlet at the top shelf. Ran all of my wiring there with the modem, router, switch and a UPS. From there I ran Cat 6 to the 3 bedrooms and the living room. It was a lot of time in the attic and learning how to use a flexible drill bit but I got it done.

Good for you!

[Marauder2003]

All for email and Alexa.

Uh, yeah, have been for years. My home network rivals many small business networks. I'm behind a complete Cisco network stack including a gigabit capable ASA (edge router), routers and L2/L3 PoE switches. Have an HP virtualization server, 16-bay SAN server, another 5-bay NAS, TP Link enterprise APs, PoE security cameras recording to a Linux DVR, various other devices. It's amazing how cheap you can buy Cisco hardware without the Smartnet overhead.



Mesh networks are a gimmick only good for convenience, aimed at people who know nothing about networks and/or don't care about overall network performance and guaranteed service. They can't hold a candle to a dedicated hardwired backhaul. Not to mention they're highly insecure, especially out of the box.

[JohnnyMtn]

[MrFancyPants]

Not as complicated as yours, but running Sophos security appliance here with Ruckus layer 3 capable switch and Ruckus WAP here, so pretty stout stuff.

When I lived in CA and worked for a MSP 8-10 years ago, the company was a Ruckus partner and reseller, so I worked on a team designing and deploying Ruckus controller based wireless networks for our clients. Their radios were awesome back then and would compete with Cisco radios. Their beamforming technology was superb. I still preferred the Cisco management interface, but Ruckus was definitely impressive. I don't know how they are know, don't hear much about them anymore.

[sigstroker]

Congrats!
You want to wire everything that can be wired. Save the wireless for other stuff. Wireless is (at least was) half duplex and still more prone to random interruptions. Not a big deal for browsing, but definitely noticeable with games.

I have 15 CAT6 drops coming into my network closet so far. Half are for wired PoE cameras. Many took a good day to run, some several days (5300sqft home). I used to have the kids computers on WiFi, but when they would get 1 hour for computer time, it was typically spent downloading a 3GB update for Fortnite (each). The WiFi is just used for printer, Firesticks, Oculus, phones and guests.

Its a mess, but at least it has its own storage area. The drops started with the 110 block patch panel. I have a keystone patch panel that I planned to put in place, but dont feel like breaking everything. Thats why some cables terminate to a female RJ45, and have a patch cable connecting it to the switch. Have 2 NAS (4bay and 12bay) hosts running Linux (firewall, storage and VMs) and the beer fridge. Everything on UPS except fridge.

When the power goes out, I fire up an inverter generator, run an extension cord to the room, and plug each UPS to it and everything stays happy. Internet, WiFi, cameras, storage.

You can survive the apocalypse in there. You can get to your computer-based porn, your beer, and shoot anyone that interrupts your... whatever.

What else does anyone need?

[Excitable Boy]

When I lived in CA and worked for a MSP 8-10 years ago, the company was a Ruckus partner and reseller, so I worked on a team designing and deploying Ruckus controller based wireless networks for our clients. Their radios were awesome back then and would compete with Cisco radios. Their beamforming technology was superb. I still preferred the Cisco management interface, but Ruckus was definitely impressive. I don't know how they are know, don't hear much about them anymore.

Ruckus is alive and well. They are a very big player in high end residential deployments, which is the channel I work in. We sell a ton of Ruckus through a network vendor we rep. Their beam forming technology is considered best in class these days the hardware controller is going the way of the Dodo bird, having been replaced with a cloud based wireless controller UI.

[therealnickb]

You can survive the apocalypse in there. You can get to your computer-based porn, your beer, and shoot anyone that interrupts your... whatever.

What else does anyone need?

A bucket?