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 🙂
B
Benutzer2003 Nov 2021 09:52The "problem" with UFO antennas is that they radiate evenly in a circular pattern. When mounted vertically, a lot of the Wi-Fi signal goes up/down/right and left, but no longer radiates evenly in all directions. That is why there are special wall-mounted solutions.
Benutzer200 schrieb:
The "issue" with the UFO antennas is that they radiate evenly in a circular pattern. When you install them vertically, a lot of the Wi-Fi signal is directed upwards/downwards/sideways, but no longer radiates evenly in all horizontal directions. That’s why there are specific wall-mounted options. The question is always whether this is theoretically measurable or practically noticeable. Our access point in the home office was placed under the desk for the first six months, buried under cables, radiating in all directions except into the room. Now it is mounted on the ceiling, in an optimal position. Have I noticed a difference? So far, not in any situation.
opalau schrieb:
The question is always whether it is theoretically measurable or practically noticeable. No matter where I place my upstairs access point in the hallway area, the signal always has to pass through my bathroom’s aluminum composite pipe wall heating. I have very little flexibility there. In the Germany region, I already experience constant switching within 5G. In Taiwan, the access point transmits at +20%, and the signal reliably reaches its destination.
Placing it more centrally upstairs would actually work, but with the disadvantage of needing to install even more cable conduit. From an aesthetic standpoint, I get even less approval for that.
B
Benutzer2003 Nov 2021 10:10opalau schrieb:
The question is always whether it is theoretically measurable or practically noticeable. Depending on the room conditions, it can indeed be practically measurable or noticeable. In most cases, however, it is probably not that significant.
But if I already have the option to choose between different variants, I would definitely go for the appropriate one.
exto1791 schrieb:
Is the patch panel a separate box next to the standard electrical distribution board?
Is this ultimately mandatory as soon as I plan several LAN connections? The cables logically have to be routed centrally from all rooms to the basement.
You need, or rather one needs, a switch because the FritzBox alone does not provide enough LAN ports for multiple LAN cables, correct?
So I would need a switch with the appropriate number of ports and transmission speed so that all LAN cables have their corresponding place in the patch panel. Look at the picture in post #13: the patch panel is the metal plate with the labeling strip. It’s a completely passive distributor without any intelligence—it’s just for plugging in cables. You don’t need it because of having many LAN connections but to allow changing the source-to-destination assignments of all network cables without tools. The installation cables are permanently connected on the back of the patch panel, and on the front you simply plug in as was done in the old days by the telephone operator managing calls.
For many LAN connections (many = more than your IAD, i.e., FritzBox, has itself), you need a switch. The switch is intelligent and increases the number of LAN ports available from the IAD, as well as forwarding data to the NAS device next to the FritzBox. The switch is the device below the patch panel, identifiable on the left by something like a blue QR code. Here, it also provides Power over Ethernet, so the IP phone doesn’t require a separate power adapter. The switch has specifications like transmission speed, etc., whereas the patch panel is just a simple terminal strip without any electronics.
Where you could find specialists for this, I wrote about years ago (very politely and without links!) and ended up receiving a warning for it. So now I have to rely on my own explanation skills :-(
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
To come back to the Magenta TV box:
Is it actually not necessary, if I understand correctly?
Magenta TV Smart plan with the MAGENTA app --> just connect the LAN cable to the TV and stream online TV via the MAGENTA app? Or am I missing something here?
Telekom also directly recommended this plan to me over the phone, saying that the box is probably unnecessary if there is a LAN connection?
So I wouldn’t have any issues setting up the connection between the Magenta box and the TV but could just watch via the app?
Since my contract will initially be for a maximum of two years (after that, I plan to look for a cheaper contract with another provider anyway – unfortunately, I am tied to this one because of the house connection), I’m sure it would be better not to rent or buy the TV box at an expensive price.
What do you think? Or am I misunderstanding something?
Is it actually not necessary, if I understand correctly?
Magenta TV Smart plan with the MAGENTA app --> just connect the LAN cable to the TV and stream online TV via the MAGENTA app? Or am I missing something here?
Telekom also directly recommended this plan to me over the phone, saying that the box is probably unnecessary if there is a LAN connection?
So I wouldn’t have any issues setting up the connection between the Magenta box and the TV but could just watch via the app?
Since my contract will initially be for a maximum of two years (after that, I plan to look for a cheaper contract with another provider anyway – unfortunately, I am tied to this one because of the house connection), I’m sure it would be better not to rent or buy the TV box at an expensive price.
What do you think? Or am I misunderstanding something?
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