Home Ethernet Question

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  • franktate
    Automated Home Sr Member
    • Feb 2007
    • 70

    Home Ethernet Question

    I'm sure it's the same for everyone here - my home is being filled with devices that want to talk to each other and want to connect ot the internet.
    I recently changed my Internet provider to Sky who provided a very poor router. This brought it home just how many deviced I had connected.
    So I decided it was time to set up a wired network and look forward to crawling in loft spaces and pulling wires.
    I have bought a couple of 8-port gigabit switches and some Cat3e cable.

    My Broadband router is in the office upstairs along with a Network capable printer, NAS (for the Sonos system) and office PC (which is running Harmony Pro with CCTV).
    Downstairs in the living room I have an Network capable TV, PS3, Sky+ Anytime and a WD Live Media Player (which has a USB storage drive attached with lots of films on it).

    The kids have a Wii connected by WiFi in their room. The kitchen has a wireless O2 joggler.

    We have a Laptop, Netbook, Advent Vega, Mobile Phones, DS ect connected via WiFi.

    On top of all this we have a Sonos system with 1 Bridge, 4 players & 2 controllers.

    I have discounted a power-line solution as I am running lots of X10 modules and don't want to upset the system as it's taken me years of frustration to get it right.

    OK, Im getting to the question!

    I am going to install one 8-port switch in the office and one in the living room. Should I connect these directly to each other and the one in the office to the broadband router or should I connect both to the broadband router? The router is not gigabit. Does it matter which way I wire it?

    My intention, once I have got this first stage installed, is to install another couple of media players. One in the kids room (which will be conected to the downstairs switch) and one in our bedroom (connected to the upstaris switch). Any advice?

    Thanks for taking the time to read the question; hope there's some good advice out there.

    frank
    Last edited by franktate; 15 June 2011, 11:07 AM.
  • toscal
    Moderator
    • Oct 2005
    • 2061

    #2
    CAT3e cable don't you mean CAT5e cable.
    I would connect each switch to the router.
    IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
    Renovation Spain Blog

    Comment

    • franktate
      Automated Home Sr Member
      • Feb 2007
      • 70

      #3
      Thanks Toscal. Yes, I meant Cat5 not Cat3 - it was a hard day of research and my eyes and hands were tired.

      So I will connect both up via the router. Should I buy a gigabit router or is that just over the top for what I want it for?

      frank

      Comment

      • bmcomp
        Automated Home Jr Member
        • Dec 2004
        • 28

        #4
        Hi Frank,

        I wouldn't connect both switches to your router unless the ports on the router are gigabit. If not the traffic crossing from a node on one switch to a node on the other switch would be limited to talking at 100mbs (the routers port speed) rather than the gigabit speed available on the switches. So unless a node is talking to another node on the same switch nothing else will make use of the gigabit speed.

        If you connect one switch to the other then to the router the only time the nodes will not be using gigabit is when its accessing the router/internet/node on wifi.

        Hope that helps.
        B
        Last edited by bmcomp; 16 June 2011, 02:09 PM.

        Comment

        • kris2lee
          Automated Home Jr Member
          • Mar 2010
          • 19

          #5
          Depending on switch but usually switch internal bandwidth is higher than 1 gigabit per second. This means that all the nodes can utilize 1 gigabit speed with each other.

          Now even when router has gigabit speed then you still will have bottleneck in the router side because router will allow only 1 gigabit per second through one port.

          You still might find this connection useful when you want to separate devices into different groups that do not need (or should) interact very often at high speed with each other.

          But for example do not connect your home server (or NAS) and devices that need to access it into different switches.

          Comment

          • sheepwalkelectronics
            Automated Home Lurker
            • May 2011
            • 6

            #6
            As bmcomp says I would definitely connect the two switches to each other, that way there is not a 100Meg bottleneck between the two switches, and then plug everything else into the switches rather than the router.

            Upgrading the router to gigabit is almost certainly a waste of money as the chances are your wireless devices are all 54Meg at best so the 100Meg link between the router and the GigE switch is never going to be a bottleneck.

            Paul
            UK supplier of 1-Wire products.
            http://www.sheepwalkelectronics.co.uk/

            Comment

            • franktate
              Automated Home Sr Member
              • Feb 2007
              • 70

              #7
              Thanks for all the replies. I have drawn up a quick diagram of what it will look like when it's finished.

              I have bruises and scratches all over my body after crawling around the loft and trying to pull cables between rooms. I'm looking forward to getting it all finished.

              The dotted lines on the diagram are to signify wireless connections. Unfortunately the Wii and the Printer do not have Ethernet ports.

              The NAS has an unusual quirk in that it doesn't get recognised by the PS3, TV or media players. I dare not change it as it works perfectly with my Sonos system, unlike the last NAS I bought.

              I have another 2Tb drive attached to the Living room Media player which stores all the movies. This also acts as an aditional backup for the Sonos NAS as I would cry if I had to re-rip all my CD collection again!

              frank
              Attached Files

              Comment

              • TimH
                Automated Home Legend
                • Feb 2004
                • 509

                #8
                Originally posted by franktate View Post
                The NAS has an unusual quirk in that it doesn't get recognised by the PS3, TV or media players.
                Can the NAS operate as a DNLA server? The PS3 can stream media from DNLA servers.

                See this other thread for more info:

                Have a look at the very first bit, also scroll down to the "embedded devices" section...


                HTH,

                Tim.
                My Flickr Photos

                Comment

                • franktate
                  Automated Home Sr Member
                  • Feb 2007
                  • 70

                  #9
                  The NAS is a Buffalo livestation. Yes - it says it works with all DNLA devices. It lies. I have spent many night trying to update drivers and re-flash the NAS - all with the same annoying end result.
                  I initially tried it with the PS3 a few years ago, so I assumed it was something to do with the PS3 as the PC could see the drive perfectly.
                  Last year I bought a TV with DNLA capabilities - that doesn't see the contents of the drive either.
                  As I wanted to play downloaded and backup films on the TV and I got fed up of copying them onto a memory stick and running up and downstairs, I bought a WD 2T hard drive which sits behind the TV. This has been OK for the last year but recently I found myself getting frustrated again at the lack of format support on the TV. The TV won't play certain files even after a flash update to the latest firmware.
                  So I now have a WD Live attached to the TV with the WD 2T drive attached to that. Everything works like it should have done years ago. I can even share the WD HDD contents accross the network to the Laptop, Netbook and, eventually other media players.
                  And that's where I am in the story - with a home WiFi at maximum capacity. Most of the ethernet cables are now in place. I just have the cable between the two switches to install. I have a few more scratches and bruises than I had a couple of weeks ago and I have lost a couple of nails. I have decided that I am not cut out for manual work. Still, the satisfaction when it is all complete will be worth it.

                  frank

                  Comment

                  • toscal
                    Moderator
                    • Oct 2005
                    • 2061

                    #10
                    Not too sure if this will work for you. But as regards to your NAS, how do you try and connect from the PS3 to the NAS.
                    My NAS is a home built using NAS lite from Server Elements.
                    I had an issue with an old media center, Pinncale's Showcenter 1000.
                    To get the showcenter to see my NAS I had to manually type in the ip address of the NAS then the disk number. I have 3 disks on my NAS.
                    Even though the software could see the NAS as a mapped drive X, Y and Z it wouldn't except this, and I had to type in the ip address 123.123.123.123/disk-1
                    Then when I upgraded to the latest version of XMBC (my latest media center) it wouldn't see it when it used, had to do something similar there and enter the location manually. I could either enter the ip address or its name such as NAS1/disk-1.
                    I have also found that some things prefer using forward slash / while others like the backward slash\.
                    IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
                    Renovation Spain Blog

                    Comment

                    • franktate
                      Automated Home Sr Member
                      • Feb 2007
                      • 70

                      #11
                      Mmmm! I will have another mess around with it when I've finished the wiring.

                      frank

                      Comment

                      • TimH
                        Automated Home Legend
                        • Feb 2004
                        • 509

                        #12
                        Originally posted by franktate View Post
                        The NAS is a Buffalo livestation. Yes - it says it works with all DNLA devices. It lies. I have spent many night trying to update drivers and re-flash the NAS - all with the same annoying end result.
                        Ah, ok, I just thought I'd mention it in case you weren't aware, but you've obviously already seen it and bought the t-shirt (and now probably ripped it up!)

                        Good luck,

                        Tim.
                        My Flickr Photos

                        Comment

                        • franktate
                          Automated Home Sr Member
                          • Feb 2007
                          • 70

                          #13
                          Now finished all the cable laying. WD TV Live boxes in bedroom, kids room and living room all working perfectly. Streaming HD video and audio to each. Tested them all at the same time and they all work OK. (I like to try and crash anything I install).
                          The whole project cost me £248 (£68 for New/special offer WD from Amazon, 2 x factory reconditioned WD's from Amazon marketplace £65 each, £30 on two Gigabit switches and £20 worth of Cat5e cables).
                          Of course if anyones starts from scratch they will need a NAS and and PC to rip the discs.

                          On the Buffalo Livestation. I'm looking to replace with a bigger one. That's another project.

                          frank

                          Comment

                          • toscal
                            Moderator
                            • Oct 2005
                            • 2061

                            #14
                            If you are looking for a bigger NAS then why not roll your own.
                            Just get a cheap motherboard with 6 SATA connectors, possibly something in the mini-itx or micro ATX camp. A small usb stick and some 1TB drives. Use NAS Lite. And hey presto. You can even dump the stick and get the system to boot from disk1.
                            The version of NAS Lite that you may want is NASLite-M2 or the original NASLite-2.
                            Last edited by toscal; 12 July 2011, 07:17 PM.
                            IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
                            Renovation Spain Blog

                            Comment

                            • franktate
                              Automated Home Sr Member
                              • Feb 2007
                              • 70

                              #15
                              Thanks toscal. I have just stripped down a pc which wouldn't work with a cd or dvd drive. The thing sent me mad. Thought it was the cable so swapped it. I thought it was the drive, so ordered another. Changed settings for hours and eventually gave up. I had to revent back to an older PC (hence my comment above about the PC being passed it's use-by date.
                              The new/old PC that crashes with a DVD drive attached would be perfect for the task. I could even strip out the Buffalo disk and add that to it.
                              I suppose I need to buy a second hand monitor. I have 6 other hard drives knocking arround somewhere from various other projects - Multimedia box under TV - scrapped for being too noisy and hard to navigate, old NAS that didnt work with Sonos and the plug adaptor got damaged, ex-Sky HD box drive due to a self upgrade to a 1TB drive, etc.

                              I can feel another project coming on!

                              frank

                              PS:
                              The new Sky HD boxes are f-ing awkward to upgrade. The wife had to help! More screws and clips than the space shuttle.

                              Comment

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