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 🙂
Regarding patch panels and keystone jacks: In my experience, there are indeed slight differences in fit. Not every keystone module from every manufacturer fits snugly into every keystone patch panel, even though the standard is specifically designed for this. 😳
Please do not install Cat6 cable! Cat7 has been the minimum standard for decades. Cat7a is also an option, with an approximate price increase of €100 per 500m (1640 ft) duplex cable.
For each wallbox, provide 2 LAN cables (one for the network, one for a possible serial connection to "system devices"—in our case to the Zappi HUB or Harvey). Of course, use a sufficiently sized power cable. The electrician will calculate the required size based on the connection length.
Also plan a network connection for an inverter. Here as well, use duplex cable—better to have more than you need—and the additional cost should be minimal since the inverter is usually located close to the electrical panel and the network cabinet.
Please do not install Cat6 cable! Cat7 has been the minimum standard for decades. Cat7a is also an option, with an approximate price increase of €100 per 500m (1640 ft) duplex cable.
For each wallbox, provide 2 LAN cables (one for the network, one for a possible serial connection to "system devices"—in our case to the Zappi HUB or Harvey). Of course, use a sufficiently sized power cable. The electrician will calculate the required size based on the connection length.
Also plan a network connection for an inverter. Here as well, use duplex cable—better to have more than you need—and the additional cost should be minimal since the inverter is usually located close to the electrical panel and the network cabinet.
F
fromthisplace13 Jun 2022 22:21i_b_n_a_n schrieb:
Regarding patch panels and "keystone" jacks: In my experience, there are actually minor differences in fit. Not every keystone module from every manufacturer fits perfectly into every "keystone" patch panel, even though the standard was designed exactly for that 😳 That's how I understood it too. The patch panel into which he clips his keystones can’t cost him much more. So that’s what we agreed on.
i_b_n_a_n schrieb:
Please, he must not install Cat6! Cat7 has been the minimum standard for decades. Cat7a is possible too (about €100 more per 500m duplex cable). When I asked him which Cat cable, he said, "Yeah, uh, Cat 6 or 7 I think…" then I said, "Cat 7 is the minimum, definitely not Cat 6."
i_b_n_a_n schrieb:
For each electric vehicle charging station, please provide 2 LAN cables (one for network, one for a possible serial connection to system devices—like the Zappi HUB or Harvey in our case). Of course, a sufficiently rated power cable is needed. The electrician will calculate this depending on the connection length. This is really bothering me right now. Our roof can only accommodate 11.7 kWp (kilowatts peak) of solar panels. So I’m considering whether to have just one charging station with two cables for the cars, which would charge one car first, then the other. In that case, would one power cable and one network cable in the garage, plus a connection from the photovoltaic system to the switch, be sufficient?
B
Bauenaberwie5 Jul 2022 12:22Hey,
next week the ceiling will be installed and then concreted. We want to lay the cables for lighting and the access point now. Is a protruding network cable enough for the access point, or is it better to use a flush-mounted box? Basically, I can simply mount the access point directly onto the ceiling with anchors, but is there any reason not to?
Thanks!
next week the ceiling will be installed and then concreted. We want to lay the cables for lighting and the access point now. Is a protruding network cable enough for the access point, or is it better to use a flush-mounted box? Basically, I can simply mount the access point directly onto the ceiling with anchors, but is there any reason not to?
Thanks!
B
Bauenaberwie6 Jul 2022 09:45Ok, thank you. I will then install the conduit with a pulling wire in the traditional way. That should work, right?
As a general rule, I would recommend installing all telecommunications cables in conduits to allow for easy replacement. Unlike electrical wiring, these cables may need to be changed in the medium term.
A typical setup for access points (APs) is to attach a keystone jack to the installation cable and connect the keystone jack to the access point using a short patch cable. For concrete ceilings, a mounting box is needed to house the cable section with the keystone jack, and the access point is then installed in front of the box. In suspended ceilings, the excess cable can be pushed into the ceiling void, so no mounting box is required.
A typical setup for access points (APs) is to attach a keystone jack to the installation cable and connect the keystone jack to the access point using a short patch cable. For concrete ceilings, a mounting box is needed to house the cable section with the keystone jack, and the access point is then installed in front of the box. In suspended ceilings, the excess cable can be pushed into the ceiling void, so no mounting box is required.
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