ᐅ Which smart home system is best for our new build?

What do you want to secure against what?

If you want to use VLANs, you need a router that supports them. That means you’ll be moving away from the AVM ecosystem, as their devices usually only support an additional guest network at most. In that case, you’ll be looking at semi-professional routers. These require some time and knowledge to set up properly. I’ve stuck with the Fritzbox as my router because I haven’t wanted to put in the effort to learn something new. Instead, I’ve decided to only connect devices to the network that I “trust,” meaning, for example, no cheap low-quality devices from China. Additionally, you can block these devices from sending data back home.

hanse987 schrieb:

This will be the speed of your internet connection. But there are also scenarios where higher speeds within the local network are useful, especially if the laptop is only connected via Wi-Fi.

Those definitely exist, but in those cases the laptop is connected via LAN, just like the NAS.
I don’t do data backups using a laptop over Wi-Fi.
Wi-Fi is mainly needed for TVs, smartphones, tablets.
And these devices need to handle larger amounts of data than my internet connection allows.

I tend to doubt that.

So I think you can relax about the access points. As I said, we’re talking about a single-family house, where each floor needs to be covered with 60–100m² (650–1,100 sq ft).
Not an industrial hall or a hotel with 500 rooms.

I have one more question about PoE.

I would like to install a PoE switch in the basement for distribution to the rooms.

Can I then connect a small PoE switch in the rooms (if needed) that does not require an additional power cable?

Can devices that do not require PoE be connected to a PoE switch, or would they get damaged?

Pacc666 schrieb:

Can I connect a small PoE switch to the rooms (if needed) that doesn’t require an extra power cable?

You want to split the PoE again? No, it doesn’t work that easily. In that case, you need another PoE switch or injector.

Pacc666 schrieb:

Can devices that don’t need PoE be connected to a PoE switch, or would they be damaged?

That’s definitely possible. Usually, the switches themselves detect which devices require PoE and which don’t.

Just buy an 8- to 24-port PoE switch (depending on how many ports you need). You can then connect all your devices to it without any problem.

@Mycraft I will install Cat Duplex cabling everywhere.

However, if I need more than 2 LAN connections in one place, for example behind the TV, I plan to install a small PoE switch there (4 or 5 ports).

For the second PoE switch behind the TV, I will need an injector because the first PoE switch in the basement cannot supply enough power to operate an additional 4-5 port PoE switch.

Pacc666 schrieb:

I will install Cat Duplex cable everywhere.

That’s what I assume.

Pacc666 schrieb:

But if I need more than 2 LAN ports somewhere, for example behind the TV, I wanted to install a small POE switch (4 or 5 ports) there.

Thinking now about still relying on workarounds later is counterproductive. Think carefully (better ten times) about where you will definitely need LAN now and in the next 10+ years. Especially in the media corner, I would probably go for 4 ports right from the start. It’s better to save on connections somewhere else.

Pacc666 schrieb:

For the 2nd POE switch behind the TV, do I need an injector because the 1st POE switch in the basement can’t provide enough power to run a 4-5 port POE switch?

No, an injector supplies the necessary power to the specific cable line but is also a workaround. A second POE switch would of course supply the required power for the connected devices.

By the way, most POE-powered devices are currently access points and IP cameras, possibly telephone systems. So, behind the TV you will most likely need regular LAN, not POE. Unless, of course, you still plan to hide a POE access point behind the TV.