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 🙂
Why is that? You will probably receive a TAE socket from the telecom provider, which is the termination point for the incoming line from outside. Then, connect the Fritz cable (TAE to RJ45) to it, and from there either use a coupler or a small patch panel to connect to your home wiring (RJ45 to RJ45) leading to the patch panel where the rest is located. From the patch panel, use a standard Cat patch cable to connect directly to the DSL port of the FritzBox.
F
fromthisplace12 Jun 2022 22:41Finally, thanks again. Tomorrow I will suggest to my electrician to wire it the same way as @MBPassion.
MBPassion schrieb:
F
fromthisplace12 Jun 2022 22:56Araknis schrieb:
That would be the simplest option. I don’t have all the details at hand, but do you have an access point solution for the Wi-Fi? Using the built-in Wi-Fi of the Fritzbox from inside the metal enclosure probably won’t work well. Thanks for thinking along. Yes, access points are planned on all three floors, with two on the ground floor. You already helped me with that starting at #42 on page 6.
I think I’m making myself a bit too anxious. However, when I first met the electrician, I got the impression that networking is more of a burden for him (roughly quoted as "Well, if you absolutely need access points. For me, the Fritzbox handles that"), so I will probably have to give him clear instructions, preferably with a good reason, so I don’t just come across with the argument "because I want it that way." I’ll be happy to report back on how that goes.
Overall, though, I’m looking forward to the moment when everything works and we have properly integrated devices and a fast, stable Wi-Fi network. We are neither heavy private nor professional users, but the current repeater solution is really frustrating. At the same time, many friends and acquaintances who have built houses in recent years didn’t set up anything at all here and have no home network.
Is it the same for you?
Well, that’s the widespread misconception in the "take it or leave it" prefab house / general contractor / property developer world. There’s only the electrician for anything that is long and round but not a water pipe. Very few electricians have knowledge of network technology, let alone the necessary testing equipment for it, especially not the bulk and standard electricians in this sector. But that’s just how it is.
F
fromthisplace13 Jun 2022 13:30So, the shell construction inspection with the electrician is done. It actually went quite well.
For him, installing and equipping the network cabinet is not a problem. However, he said he would prefer to provide the patch panel himself to ensure his keystone jacks fit properly. For the house entry point, he will install a TAE socket in the network cabinet, just like @MBPassion (I had your photos as a reference 🙂 ).
He said he would be installing Cat 6 or 7 cable. Here, I specifically insisted that it should be at least Cat 7.
All in all, I’m feeling optimistic.
How have you handled the issues of electric vehicle charging station(s), network, and photovoltaic systems in your homes?
For him, installing and equipping the network cabinet is not a problem. However, he said he would prefer to provide the patch panel himself to ensure his keystone jacks fit properly. For the house entry point, he will install a TAE socket in the network cabinet, just like @MBPassion (I had your photos as a reference 🙂 ).
He said he would be installing Cat 6 or 7 cable. Here, I specifically insisted that it should be at least Cat 7.
All in all, I’m feeling optimistic.
How have you handled the issues of electric vehicle charging station(s), network, and photovoltaic systems in your homes?
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