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Thread: Home Network Diagram for media distribution

  1. #1
    Automated Home Sr Member franktate's Avatar
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    Default Home Network Diagram for media distribution

    While I'm in the posting mood - here is the wiring diagram for my home network.

    Problem: Slow and dropped wifi signals. Not able to send HD video from Nas to my media players. Sonos controllers occasionally would not see the sonos network.

    Journey: Many hours messing around with routers. Various channels tried. Switched lots of things (Sonos, telephones, lights etc) off to try and stop interferrance.

    Solution: Cat5e wiring and two 8-port switches. Now got a gigabit ethernet house.

    Outcome: No more dropped wifi. Faster transfers of large HD files. Able to view HD video in Living room, kids play room and bedroom.

    Cost: The whole project cost me £248
    New/special offer WD Live TV from Amazon -£68,
    Two factory reconditioned WD's from Amazon marketplace £65 each
    Two 8 port Gigabit switches £15 each
    Cat5e cables 1@20m and 1@25m - £20


    frank

    House Network diagram.jpg

  2. #2
    Moderator toscal's Avatar
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    Default

    oops posted in wrong thread. Now corrected.
    Last edited by toscal; 26th October 2011 at 06:39 PM.
    IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
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  3. #3
    Automated Home Lurker
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    I realise this thread was started a long time ago but as a new member I have just seen it. I have recently finished installing CAT5 network throughout the house because I too was fed up with dropped wifi signals.
    I have a 1950s house which I have been gradually doing work to including wiring and heating improvements. As I have been laying cable and pipe runs I have also laid network cables. each room has a minimum of two outlets which run back to a central switch cabinet in my study which also houses the router, printer etc. Yes there are a lot of cables but they are concealed in trunking where they show otherwise they run under floor above ceilings or in voids. I have used an old heating duct which ran from sub floor to roof space for the main cable access which made life easier.
    I have 24 runs all together but at the moment not all are used. I have worked on the theory that its better have too many than not enough.
    As part of this development I have also installed Owl Intuition to control heating and monitor electrical use and Mi Home to control electrical devices throughout the house. So for example if teenage daughter leaves hair straighteners on after a fixed time in the morning they will default to off anyway when she should be on her way to college. Bathroom and stairway lights etc only stay on when someone is in the zone otherwise they go off.
    All sockets in set groups will go off at set night times so they cant be left on all night or all day depending on what that socket is used for.
    All sockets can be over ridden as can light switches.

  4. #4
    Automated Home Legend chris_j_hunter's Avatar
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    having sockets included in the automation is something we wish we'd done more of - we have a few, plus most of our appliances are included in the automation, but now wish we'd everywhere always run a pair - one automated, one not, at every free-socket location ...

    Chris

  5. #5
    Automated Home Jr Member
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    11n 300Mbps Wireless 4 Port Router with ADSL2+ Modem is the best for solving your problem i think.

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    It provides USB share ports, as well as the

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    - Featuring ADSL 2+ modem and Router combination, no need for additional hardware
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    - Easy installation and network management
    - Integrated 4-Port 10/100Mbps LAN Interface; Fast Switch for Computers, Game Consoles, Media Centres
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    - Support Quality of Service (QoS) – gives you full control over outgoing data traffic
    - Safe&Secure™ 24/7 Firewall for maximum online protection

  6. #6
    Automated Home Lurker
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    Quote Originally Posted by franktate View Post
    While I'm in the posting mood - here is the wiring diagram for my home network.

    Problem: Slow and dropped wifi signals. Not able to send HD video from Nas to my media players. Sonos controllers occasionally would not see the sonos network.

    Journey: Many hours messing around with routers. Various channels tried. Switched lots of things (Sonos, telephones, lights etc) off to try and stop interferrance.

    Solution: Cat5e wiring and two 8-port switches. Now got a gigabit ethernet house.

    Outcome: No more dropped wifi. Faster transfers of large HD files. Able to view HD video in Living room, kids play room and bedroom.

    Cost: The whole project cost me £248
    New/special offer WD Live TV from Amazon -£68,
    Two factory reconditioned WD's from Amazon marketplace £65 each
    Two 8 port Gigabit switches £15 each
    Cat5e cables 1@20m and 1@25m - £20


    frank

    House Network diagram.jpg
    Hi there franktate,

    I have only just recently joined this forum and immediately my interest was brought to your thread and especially looking at your map for your Home Network Diagram. When I got to see it I was interested but immediately had a lot of questions. I hope you don't mind me asking a few.

    I have been continuously updating and modifying my network and I am always faced with loss of WiFi etc and have spent a considerable amount of money bit by bit in trying to improve the WiFi around the house. Now I do realise that your thread was posted several years ago (2011) and wondered if you have updated it since and would love to see a current diagram and added accessories maybe that have improved it.

    I will do a layout of my home and with everything listed. I have 3 kids - granted they are at the stage of leaving the nest so to speak (granted that is getting harder and harder to get on the ladder) but they are still with us. I have a very very heavy duty tech consuming household and at a peak period there could be anything above 25 devices on wifi and more than 30 devices on ethernet. This I believe is causing the issue really but I also think that modem/routers supplied by internet providers (Eir, Sky, Vodafone, Virgin to name a few) are not of great quality nd one is better off by far to purchase their own modem/router which would be of better quality also providing that the internet getting to your home is of good standard as some places in my hometown are still only getting 7mb download. Thankfully not me, so please if you can have an updated diagram if it has been upgraded.

    I will upload my diagram as soon as I have it completed. Oh and you listed 2 gigabit 8-port switches - I am using 4 gigabit 8-port switches. What ethernet cabling are you using? I have Cat-5 but need to change this to the better Cat-8 if possible. So many questions. It would be great to iron out our projects to agree of the best.

    Looking forward to hearing from you and hope you are still online considering it is some time ago now that you posted this.

    Regards

  7. #7
    Automated Home Lurker
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    Default Networking and WiFi

    As there is no reply so far:

    As long as you are using the appropriate grade of Ethernet cable for the equipment speed - CAT5e minimum for 1Gbit - there is no advantage in changing cable types as Ethernet is not a variable-rate system and changing cable type will not affect speed or throughput.

    With any cable length up to at least 100m between devices, you will get the highest speed both devices connected to that cable support. Too long and there are no guarantees it will work at any speed.


    If you are installing new cables, a higher rated type is OK to allow for future upgrades, but there is no need to change for the sake of it.


    Re. routers, some do not have Gigabit rated ethernet ports, so you are better off with all your devices connected to a gigabit switch setup and just a single link from the switch system to the router, for the internet feed.


    On my setup I have a 24 port stackable gigabit switch for the main data distribution point plus a couple of smaller ones to provide extra connections on my desk and at a second cluster of gear in the loft, both of which should eventually be replaced when I get around to pulling more cable runs in.


    Speaking as a radio & electronics designer/programmer for several decades:

    WiFi (at least on 2.4GHz) is grossly mis-sold and not at all suitable for what many people expect it to do.
    A few years ago, when 54Mbit "11g" was the fastest standard, it was possible to squeeze in three independent systems in the 2.4GHz band, using channels 1, 6 & 11.

    Now, 11n gear takes half the band or more and it's virtually impossible to have any two WiFi systems with overlapping coverage and not have interference and speed reductions.
    So-called range extenders make the problems far worse as they have to receive then retransmit everything, so doubling the on-air time and adding to "hidden station" problems.

    It does not take many users trying to stream things from different systems within a 100 - 200m range of each other to totally block the 2.4GHz band.
    The whole idea of selling video devices that connect via 2.4GHz WiFi for streaming services is absolutely ludicrous and totally impractical.

    And that's not counting other gear that works on 2.4GHz, which causes interference but is not recognised by WiFi devices as they use different modulation types or data formats.

    The only way to avoid loss of WiFi connectivity is to avoid using it, at least for anything that can possibly connect by other means - ethernet or homeplug, or at least use 5GHz where there are many more and wider channels.

    The problem is, everyone else needs to the same, while equipment advertisers and retailers are telling them to use WiFi and forget cables.

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