Hello everyone,
In about three weeks, we are supposed to finalize our electrical planning on site. Unfortunately, our electrician is somewhat old-fashioned, which makes it difficult for me to collaboratively plan a future-proof electrical setup with him. Therefore, I am currently educating myself to ensure that the networking in our single-family home is fundamentally future-proof.
Basically, it’s about the LAN network... LAN wall outlets are relatively expensive, so proper planning is even more important.
About us:
- Mid to late 20s – couple without children. Planning for 2 children in the near future.
- Single-family house with a usable basement, 2 full floors, and fully equipped with concrete ceilings
- Utility room in the basement with air-to-water heat pump, ventilation system, photovoltaic system
- The router is planned to be located in the office on the ground floor
- The upper floor includes bathroom / bedroom / 2 children’s rooms
- No satellite dish or cable TV — we will use Internet TV exclusively!
Now, I am struggling to network our single-family home sensibly but as cost-effectively as possible.
I have the following questions:
1. Slightly off-topic: In the living room, I would like to have an in-wall conduit installed on the TV wall (the TV will be wall-mounted) so that no cables are visible. Is this sensible and affordable? I will get exact prices from my electrician if this makes sense at all. Would it also make sense to install power outlets at TV height? How do you plan the connections on your media wall reasonably? What should be considered?
Since we plan to use a Magenta TV box and thus IP-TV, a total of four LAN ports in the living room area would presumably be useful, right?
2. How many LAN outlets and especially where should LAN outlets be installed? Mainly: which cable? Is CAT6 sufficient?
→ Such a double LAN outlet certainly costs close to €200, so planning must be really sensible.
Is it really necessary to install 2 double LAN outlets in each children’s room? I always wonder: what is actually going to be plugged in there?
One port for the TV and one port for a multimedia device should be enough, right? So four connections would probably be overkill, correct?
The fact is: It will certainly take years or decades before our children actually use these outlets... Who knows what changes might happen by then? Therefore, could we not cost-effectively use empty conduits (empty pipes) instead?
Is it also possible to “branch off” from an existing double outlet afterward to add more ports for the room? What should be considered here? Or should we consider having an empty conduit prepared in another spot in the room so that a socket can be installed later?
3. How do you solve the “router problem”? Should the one router be placed in the office (ground floor) with LAN outlets in the existing bedrooms upstairs to ensure a stable LAN connection? Or is a router upstairs absolutely necessary?
4. How important are LAN outlets in the utility room? Should the router possibly even be located in the utility room? Because of the concrete ceiling between basement and ground floor, a second router would almost certainly be needed. How should this situation be handled with a basement?
5. What do you think about installing empty conduits for CAT cables in the kitchen / hallway etc. to enable later retrofitting? Is this relatively affordable in new builds?
I would appreciate any feedback so we can make the best possible plans 🙂
In about three weeks, we are supposed to finalize our electrical planning on site. Unfortunately, our electrician is somewhat old-fashioned, which makes it difficult for me to collaboratively plan a future-proof electrical setup with him. Therefore, I am currently educating myself to ensure that the networking in our single-family home is fundamentally future-proof.
Basically, it’s about the LAN network... LAN wall outlets are relatively expensive, so proper planning is even more important.
About us:
- Mid to late 20s – couple without children. Planning for 2 children in the near future.
- Single-family house with a usable basement, 2 full floors, and fully equipped with concrete ceilings
- Utility room in the basement with air-to-water heat pump, ventilation system, photovoltaic system
- The router is planned to be located in the office on the ground floor
- The upper floor includes bathroom / bedroom / 2 children’s rooms
- No satellite dish or cable TV — we will use Internet TV exclusively!
Now, I am struggling to network our single-family home sensibly but as cost-effectively as possible.
I have the following questions:
1. Slightly off-topic: In the living room, I would like to have an in-wall conduit installed on the TV wall (the TV will be wall-mounted) so that no cables are visible. Is this sensible and affordable? I will get exact prices from my electrician if this makes sense at all. Would it also make sense to install power outlets at TV height? How do you plan the connections on your media wall reasonably? What should be considered?
Since we plan to use a Magenta TV box and thus IP-TV, a total of four LAN ports in the living room area would presumably be useful, right?
2. How many LAN outlets and especially where should LAN outlets be installed? Mainly: which cable? Is CAT6 sufficient?
→ Such a double LAN outlet certainly costs close to €200, so planning must be really sensible.
Is it really necessary to install 2 double LAN outlets in each children’s room? I always wonder: what is actually going to be plugged in there?
One port for the TV and one port for a multimedia device should be enough, right? So four connections would probably be overkill, correct?
The fact is: It will certainly take years or decades before our children actually use these outlets... Who knows what changes might happen by then? Therefore, could we not cost-effectively use empty conduits (empty pipes) instead?
Is it also possible to “branch off” from an existing double outlet afterward to add more ports for the room? What should be considered here? Or should we consider having an empty conduit prepared in another spot in the room so that a socket can be installed later?
3. How do you solve the “router problem”? Should the one router be placed in the office (ground floor) with LAN outlets in the existing bedrooms upstairs to ensure a stable LAN connection? Or is a router upstairs absolutely necessary?
4. How important are LAN outlets in the utility room? Should the router possibly even be located in the utility room? Because of the concrete ceiling between basement and ground floor, a second router would almost certainly be needed. How should this situation be handled with a basement?
5. What do you think about installing empty conduits for CAT cables in the kitchen / hallway etc. to enable later retrofitting? Is this relatively affordable in new builds?
I would appreciate any feedback so we can make the best possible plans 🙂
M
majuhenema3 Jan 2022 11:27I spent some time yesterday evening continuing to study the topic and believe I have understood the basics.
How is the wiring and connection inside the network cabinet usually handled in practice? Is this typically done by the electrician?
How is the wiring and connection inside the network cabinet usually handled in practice? Is this typically done by the electrician?
M
MBPassion3 Jan 2022 11:41You need to inform the electrician exactly where you want the connections installed in each room and mention any special requests. The electrician will then run the cables and connect them to a patch panel in the technical room. If there are more than 16 cables, I recommend a 19-inch rack to house the patch panel and a 19-inch switch, along with devices like a router, NAS, or similar. For fewer cables, smaller network cabinets are also available. Almost anyone can install the switch, and then only short patch cables need to be plugged from the patch panel to the switch ports.
If you want to use Power-over-Ethernet (PoE), for example for access points, it makes sense to choose a switch that offers PoE on at least some ports.
Do you already know how many connection points you want to install in all the rooms?
It’s best to discuss this directly with the electrician.
If you want to use Power-over-Ethernet (PoE), for example for access points, it makes sense to choose a switch that offers PoE on at least some ports.
Do you already know how many connection points you want to install in all the rooms?
It’s best to discuss this directly with the electrician.
If you don’t arrange anything specific with the electrician, they will usually just mount a patch panel on the wall, and you’ll have to figure out what to do with it.
It’s best to clarify everything with the electrician early on and also check whether it is implemented as agreed. This way, you can also discuss the capacity limits. (Who brings the network cabinet. Connecting sockets inside the network cabinet, grounding the network cabinet!)
It’s best to clarify everything with the electrician early on and also check whether it is implemented as agreed. This way, you can also discuss the capacity limits. (Who brings the network cabinet. Connecting sockets inside the network cabinet, grounding the network cabinet!)
M
majuhenema3 Jan 2022 12:49MBPassion schrieb:
It’s best if you discuss this directly with the electrician.hanse987 schrieb:
Ideally, clarify everything with the electrician early on and also check if it is actually implemented as planned. Then you can also discuss the performance limits. (Who provides the network cabinet. Connecting sockets inside the network cabinet, grounding the network cabinet!)Thanks for the feedback. I was basically uncertain whether I have to rely on a skilled electrician for the integration, if someone entirely different does it, or if it’s standard practice for the electrician.
MBPassion schrieb:
Do you already know how many connections you want to have installed in all the rooms?Honestly, I didn’t expect to get so much help from you on my completely inexperienced and poorly prepared question. That’s why I didn’t bother digitizing my handwritten sketches/preparations to share here. But I’ll gladly do that tonight. 🙂
M
majuhenema3 Jan 2022 18:16Here is our network distribution. Generally, we have initially planned only one connection per room and no double outlets. You would probably position a second LAN connection in the flexible rooms (office, utility room, children’s rooms 1 and 2) at a different location, right?
Before I ask a few more detailed questions: What would you change? Where is something missing or where could we save a socket? For each room, we are also planning a satellite connection. Our viewing habits are approximately 50% linear TV and 50% streaming.
Basement
- Access point in the office (large symbol)
- 1x doorbell, 1x garage/wallbox, 1x office (later possibly children’s room?)
Ground Floor
- Access points in the utility room and living area (as suggested by you), 3rd access point outside next to the LAN outlet for the awning/shading
- 1x utility room, 2x exposed concrete walls for TV, 1x outside for awning/shading
Upper Floor
- 1x access point in the hallway
- 1x children’s room 1, 1x children’s room 2, 1x master bedroom
Before I ask a few more detailed questions: What would you change? Where is something missing or where could we save a socket? For each room, we are also planning a satellite connection. Our viewing habits are approximately 50% linear TV and 50% streaming.
Basement
- Access point in the office (large symbol)
- 1x doorbell, 1x garage/wallbox, 1x office (later possibly children’s room?)
Ground Floor
- Access points in the utility room and living area (as suggested by you), 3rd access point outside next to the LAN outlet for the awning/shading
- 1x utility room, 2x exposed concrete walls for TV, 1x outside for awning/shading
Upper Floor
- 1x access point in the hallway
- 1x children’s room 1, 1x children’s room 2, 1x master bedroom
majuhenema schrieb:
having to hope for a competent electricianWhen unmotivated electricians meet unmotivated builders, this is what you get. He was skilled, just unmotivated when it came to the network. It really annoys me that everything is just hanging around there, especially since I look at the keystone jacks almost every day, which I want to fix.
That’s why: insist that electricians terminate the CAT cables into keystone jacks with enough cable slack at a proper free location (!) and then take matters into your own hands by tidying everything up neatly in a 19" rack yourself.
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