Building a Home Network

Building A Home Network From Scratch - The Insand Outs of Building a Home Network

cabling, How To, Home Network, Wiring

{mospagebreak toctitle= Introduction}

Introduction

With interest rates at an all-time low in the U.S., many Americans are now able to build or buy their first homeor, if they are already a homeowner, to upgrade to something better. Buying or building a home offers thosewho are technology-minded the opportunity to consider the integration of home connectivity up-front. Manynew, custom-built homes now offer some level of basic home connectivity as an option; but this is a newphenomenon. Considering that the Internet has become a mainstream feature of our collective lifestyle in justa few short years, unless the home you are buying is fairly new it is likely that you are pretty much left to yourown devices when it comes to networking.

First, you have to consider the pipe into your house. Normally, your choices are either DSL (DigitalSubscriber Line) or Cable modem; but as many have discovered to their dismay after they have signed onthe dotted line of the purchase contract, neither of these options may be available. Generally speaking, thefurther the home is located from a metropolitan area, the fewer options for Internet connectivity there are.While satellite and ISDN options do exist, they are probably the least desirable solutions.

While we don't suggest that Internet connectivity options should outweigh other factors in a home purchase, ifhigh-speed Internet access is important to you, then it is wise to do some basic investigation as to whatoptions are available at your home location. An hour spent on the telephone with local cable and InternetService Providers (ISPs) may make the difference between satisfaction and regret with a home long after thesale has concluded.

Regardless of which high-speed Internet solution you opt for, in most cases it terminates into some sort of anEthernet connection. Once your network provider has been selected, the next step is to consider thedistribution of Internet connectivity within your home. Whether you want a computer connection in an office/extra bedroom now as well as what you may need in the future are important considerations. Do you have or

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are you planning to have children, or to have more children? Will each child eventually need access to acomputer? Do you want to be able to access the Internet in more than one room in your home? Will you beworking from home? Depending on the number of people in your household and the number of computersthat you now have or may eventually have, it is prudent to plan ahead. It is far easier and less expensive inthe long run to install a planned computer network before or as you are settled in your home than it is to laterhave to tear out and replace wiring in order to upgrade network connectivity.

Homes with multiple computer systems (laptop and/ or desktop computers) require a more complex type ofconnectivity than when a family shares one computer in a central location. It has become almost mandatoryfor school-aged children to have computer access for homework research and report and paper writingassignments. In the majority of U.S. urban families, the computer has become a required tool. Each childmay have his or her own computer, the kids may share their own computer, and the adults may either work athome or need to access their work VPN from home, necessitating access to the Internet by multiple users atthe same time.

These decisions can become more complicated when you factor in such elements as print and file sharingfrom within your home network. (Do your really want your kids to use your expensive color printer paper toprint out fifty pages of PC gaming cheats? We didn't think so.) In addition to home printers, other devicesused in your home may also require Internet connectivity. Devices such as the Turtle Beach Audiotron,Series 2 Tivo and Microsoft Xbox, for example, also can require Internet connectivity if you wish to get themost use out of them.

This article explores my experiences with planning and addressing my family's growing needs for connectivitywith our new home purchase. Hopefully it will provide you with information and insight for planning andimplementing your own home network, as well as some "dos" and "don'ts" to help you avoid some of thecostly lessons I have learned as part of this process. Whether you already have a temporary or permanentnetwork in place, wired or wireless, in-wall or surface mount, you will find very useful information here. And,many of these practices can be adapted for use outside the home, as well. While much of our design focus isfor a home network environment, much of this information is applicable to the typical office environment, also.Find a comfortable chair, get your favorite beverage and read on!

Wired or Wireless?No discussion of home networking would be complete without a brief discussion of wired and wirelesssolutions. While wireless solutions offer perhaps the most convenient solution for many home computerusers, they may not present the best solution.

"Wireless" is the current buzzword these days, and it seems every hardware product vendor is touting his orher particular ability to provide it. The word "wireless" evokes visions of being able to wander around variousrooms in your home or even outside without the network line that tethers home users to a single place.However, depending on the version of wireless you select and/ or are able to afford, your results might notmeasure up to "manna" grade, or even a mediocre grade, over time. The physical construction, design andlayout of your house can affect whether or not wireless is a good solution, and you may have to invest inmultiple access points (in infrastructure mode) linked together via Ethernet to provide coverage for wirelessaccess to the various locations within your house.

If wireless coverage isn't an issue, a more important factor might be connection speed. From our testing,many 802.11a 54-Mbit solutions certainly don't have the amount of signal penetration that is required forwireless access in many multi-story homes and office environments. For example, if you have computersystems in the kids' room on the second floor and your family room is located on the first floor some distanceaway, you may or may not be able to achieve a connection from both places, depending where the accesspoint is located, and other factors such as walls, furniture and other obstructions. While some second-generation 802.11a products do address these issues, wireless may not be practical in many home situations


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where you have multiple floors and require multiple access points.

The new 802.11g products do appear to be the solution for the future of wireless, and their performance isbetter than that of the traditional 802.11b products. But the biggest snag is that the 802.11g products arecurrently expensive and the standard for 802.11g is not fully evolved as of this writing. However, if you wantsupport for the widest range of current wireless standards, the 802.11g products offers expensive, yetpromising solutions.

If you cast aside the potential issues with the variations of wireless and just compare the line speed, 54 Mbit(which is offered by the best wireless) cannot hold a candle to the 100-Mbit speed offered by Ethernet. If youcompare this to the more widely available 11-Mbit 802.11b products, 11 Mbit many not even seem practical interms of performance.

Perhaps most importantly, with any wireless solution you have an ever-present data security concern. Datasecurity is a fact of life with wireless, and while much has been done to address this issue, any time you putyour data over an access point "into the air," it is potentially subject to being intercepted by someoneunauthorized to receive it. Clearly, wireless offers the advantage of easier installation and eliminates the needfor cables, but it does have its downfalls.

Wired for SpeedWhat about wired networking? Prices have come way down for wired products, and 10/100-switchednetworks are now more affordable than ever. Although Gigabit Ethernet is making an impact, at least for themoment most of its use is limited to enterprise and server applications, due to the fact that Gigabit Ethernetswitching is expensive. While Gigabit Ethernet NICs continue to plunge in price, the price of switchescontinues to be the voice of reason when considering Gigabit Ethernet for any environment.

Linksys EG0801SK

Depending on the number of computers, the "price per port" cost of a switched 10/100 Ethernet installationcan be very affordable and, in most cases, far cheaper than wireless. The overall bandwidth of a 100-Mbitswitched installation is far greater than that of any of the current wireless products. Although you lose theflexibility that wireless offers, often times you already have a connection integrated in most notebooks, so it isnot that difficult to get mobile.

Making Our ChoiceIf your applications are simple - Internet sharing, printing, file sharing - if you only have three or four systemsthat are in fairly close proximity, if your budget allows it and if speed isn't your primary concern, wirelessmight be a better option for you. However, if you are going beyond these standard Internet functions andmust share your Internet connection with devices other than computers, and if you are not put off by cuttingholes in your wall, then wired switched 100-Mbit Ethernet is a better option.


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If your kids have their own computers and spend a lot of time playing networked multiplayer games eitherover the Internet or against each other, for networked gaming performance a wired 100-Mbit solution isclearly best. In our case, we currently have two boys at home that enjoy networked gaming on their owncomputers, as well as an Xbox that is Xbox Live enabled in our family room. In addition, we use Audiotrons tostream MP3s across our home network to various places within the house. This means that we push thecapabilities of the network when both boys are using it and my wife and I are also using it for work andresearch.

DLink DLW-810+

In our situation, we chose to go with a hybrid strategy of all three options. We elected to include 100-Mbitwired, 802.11b wireless, and 1000-Mbit input for two of our servers, as well. While this certainly is not thetypical configuration that most home network users would choose, after much discussion it was obvious thatwe needed to consider current and future use; this resulted in our decision to install a state of the art solutionthat would address all of the possible uses of our network. I also spend a considerable amount of timeworking in my home lab doing testing and such, so we had to factor this into the solution, as well.

The Pre-Planning ProcessOnce you have made the commitment to installing a network within your home, the next choice, as we havediscussed, is determining the type of network that best suits your applications. In our case, we chose100-Mbit switched Ethernet as the backbone of our network. And from a performance and conveniencestandpoint, we opted to sprinkle in a little wireless and 100-Mbit Ethernet as well.

After looking at all of the possible options for Internet connectivity, we were lucky enough to be able toconsider five different options for connectivity. After spending considerable time weighing the pros and consof each of these options, we elected to go with business class cable modem service.

One of the two cable TV providers in our area has prioritized traffic on their cable connection by using avaguely described method to give priority to business class customers over other users on their system. Inaddition, they offered a package that included twice the bandwidth than standard consumer class service for


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the same price. They do offer the option to upgrade to a more expensive package that offers more bandwidthand performance, at higher cost.

Additionally, business class service comes with an SLA (Service Level Agreement) that offers improvedcustomer support and response times than that of the normal consumer level service. After using thebusiness class service for about a month, we are happy with the performance, and it is clearly better than thestandard consumer level cable modem service we have had previously.

Laying Out the PlansThe next step is to figure out what kind of design you need. Of course, some advanced planning as to wherethings are going to be is necessary. We started with a rough sketch of the basic floor plan of the house. Ifyour home is new or if you are lucky enough to know whom its builder is, you might be able to get rough,"sales-style" drawings with a diagram of all of the rooms and floors of your house, which will make theprocess much easier.

In many cases you may be able to locate the actual blueprints of your house, which will make the processmore exact, provided you know how to read the blueprints. The blueprints contain the actual roomdimensions, which makes jack placement easier. One of the major complaints with wired solutions is jacksthat turn out to not be conveniently located once the project is finished. The key to satisfaction is to do it rightthe first time.

We didn't do anything elaborate in these room drawings, but we had a sheet of paper representing each floorin the house and all of the rooms on each floor. Once we had drawings of all of the rooms, we selected therooms and places within the rooms that we knew were going to require network connections. The networkinstallation we did in our previous house taught us a valuable lesson: if in doubt, add more jacks, rather thansubtract them from your plan. We learned from the other home installation done several years ago that thoserooms where my wife initially vetoed a need for network jacks were the rooms where we later wished we hadinstalled them.

Once you have figured out the most important locations for your required network jacks, we recommend thatyou consider other possible areas for future expansion of your network. As you will see in our design, wetried to anticipate our future needs by placing at least one jack in almost every room in the house. While thismay sound a a bit overkill, our network infrastructure needs increased far more than we ever thought theywould, and we were glad that the rooms with jacks were ready to be connected.

Designing for Wall PlatesOnce we sorted out the placement of the network connections, the next things to be considered were thepossible integration of telephone (land lines) and coaxial (RG-6) connections into the same wall plates as thenetwork connections. Our new home was built in 1996, and was far from ideal for either phone or cableconnections. While phone and cable connections were available inside the house, the installation of theseconnections was of very poor quality with substandard materials.

Regarding the cable connection for the television cable, these were just wires that were drilled in via holes inthe wall or the floor. There were no faceplates or anything that resembled a "fashionable" solution. As is oftenthe case, the cable TV was not roughed into the house from what we could tell; hence, the lack of faceplatesand properly installed connections. While these cables probably would have worked, they were ugly lookingand were placed in the wrong locations for our proposed setup.

Since we knew we were going to need multiple telephone lines into the house for residential, business, andfax purposes, the four phone jacks that were in existence at the time we purchased our house were far shortof what was needed. As with Ethernet connectivity, we wanted a minimum of at least one phone jack inalmost every room in the house. To add to this problem, we wanted to continue to use DirecTV as our


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satellite provider, but also wanted to integrate the use of our off-air antenna so that we could continue to takeadvantage of the over-the-air, High-Definition signals that are broadcast for the local networks within ourarea.

Like almost all satellite receivers, each receiver requires a connection to a phone line so that it can "dialhome" upon occasion to report billing information to the satellite provider (pay-per-view, for example) andverify the residence address for the reception of subscribed season ticket sports packages. Besides this, wewanted the flexibility to switch over to cable TV/ digital cable if we chose to do so at some point in the futureby changing a few cables. We also wanted speaker jack plates to be placed on the walls of both sides of thefamily room for our rear surround-sound speakers.

It became clear to us that in addition to having a termination point for the network, we were also going toneed some sort of a distribution panel for the satellite/ coax, as well as the telephone. A distribution panelseemed to offer the best solution, because it offered the flexibility to change the provider or configuration ofthe installation easily without altering the internal layout of the placement of the jacks themselves. Werealized that integrating the network, phone, and coax connectivity into one plate would be the best solutionfor us, even though this meant we would have to rip out all of the existing phone and coax within the house.

A project that began as a simple network installation was morphing into something more complex, for sure.From our last home network install, we learned that it is more cost- and time-effective to pull the additionalcables for the coax and phone at the same time as the network, as you can reuse some of the existing platelocations (i.e., holes in the wall). Choosing to add the coax and phone to the network installation made themost sense and provided the maximum amount of flexibility.

Now that we had a good idea of what an entire installation would entail, another key decision had to bemade: should we try to do this ourselves or bring in an experienced contractor to install the cabling? Aftermuch discussion with my wife, we opted to use a contractor.

Finding and Selecting the Right ContractorSelecting a contractor for any project isn't easy unless you personally know one whose work you trust, orhave seen the work of a recommended contractor. The selection of a contractor is directly tied to the endresult that you are going to achieve. We wanted a contractor who was skilled in home network connections,and one who also understood the complexity of enterprise computer networks and the installation of Ethernetin a network, as well as our conceptual environment and our desire to integrate the Ethernet, telephone, andcoaxial into our "wired" lifestyle.

We first "let our fingers do the walking." Under the listings for Computer Cabling we found a number ofcontractors. The problem was that most of those who responded had neither home installation experiencenor the financial incentive to work on a home installation, considered a "small" job by their standards. Someof the contractors didn't even return our calls; some who did call back failed to show. One of the contractorssuggested that we might do better if we looked for a contractor specializing in home automation.

We had heard the term "Home Automation" previously, but since our primary focus is on the network side, wewere apprehensive to hire a home automation contractor for several reasons. One thing that concerned uswas that a home automation contractor would try to sell us things that we didn't need or want. Our fears werefairly justified, since several home automation contractors that we met had very little networking experience.Their knowledge of computer networking might be described as "basic," at best.

Several had adequate knowledge of the home theater component that we wanted installed, and offered somegreat ideas for improving our home theater design by adding remote controlled blinds and lighting features.While this sounded really attractive, from a financial perspective we were not ready to go for it. This might bea future option, but for now our focus is on Ethernet, telephones, and coaxial.


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After talking with more than forty contractors, we narrowed the list down to six. We invited each one to cometo the house and look over our plans. During the time that we were interviewing contractors, an interestingtwist of fate occurred. We mentioned our networking plans to long-time THG reader Jim Dietz (who happensto be the Director of Operations at the company where my wife is employed), and he suggested that wecontact Newcome Electronic Systems, the contractor he uses for all of the company's on-site cabling needs.Jim further said that Newcome had diverse experience in complex network installations and might be closerto what we were looking for. In the meantime, we proceeded with the bids we had scheduled and haddiscussions with each of the other contractors.

Jim arranged for us to speak with Tim Newcome, the owner of Newcome Electronic Systems(www.newcome.com), and after an initial conference call, we thought Newcome might be able toprovide a solution for our needs and budget. We arranged for Tim to come out. Due to the short time framebefore our move-in date, we knew that our decision needed to be made quickly.

The Contractor ArrivesUpon arriving, Tim went over the basics we had already covered in our phone discussion. He brought alongone of his lead engineers and project managers so that we could discuss the process and arrive at a plan forimplementation. One of the unique things Newcome presented over other contractors we had spoken withwas that they have specialists in the company that handle professional cabling, as well as home theater/home automation. After a few minutes of discussion we concluded that Tim's company could provide exactlywhat we were looking for.

The complexity of your installation will dictate the type of contractor you need. We recommend that you lookfor a contractor who is willing to work with you to realize your vision of the finished product. It is important tofind out the type of products they use, the extent of experience they have in home installation, and mostimportantly, to verify that they are insured. Compare the bids, the materials, their schedule for completion andhow they propose the finished product will look.

The end product explanation is probably most important: for example, many of the bids we received did notinclude the installation of the satellite dish and the reporting and testing of all of the network jacks, factorsthat we considered very important. Most importantly, find out what kind of warranty they offer on theinstallation and the parts installed. Remember, the installed parts may be covered by a separate warrantybeyond the warranty provided for the labor itself.

The Start of a PartnershipTim Newcome and his project manager, Doug Sherwood, understood what we were trying to accomplishbetter than all of the other contractors that we contacted. Working with Newcome became a partnership,which is really what we needed. Tim and Doug took note of our thoughts and helped work them into anoverall plan of attack. Newcome agreed that they would do all of the Ethernet, phone and coaxial runs to theplates, and it would be up to us to provide the satellite installation and electrical installation where necessary.We had already selected other contractors to handle those tasks, so we were off to the races.

The key thing to be decided was the termination point location for all of the network cabling. We chose alocation in the corner of my new lab in the basement, as it seemed the most logical place. After someprompting and discussion, we chose to forgo the initial design idea that I had proposed to mount a four-foot,19" style rack on the wall and instead go with a six-foot, 19" rack that would be bolted to the floor, whichwould provide the maximum in available space and flexibility for future expansion. In addition, behind thenetworking rack there would be an AV cabinet that would be mounted to the wall, which would act as atermination point for all of the phone and coax cabling.


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Locating the termination point

Before we could proceed much farther, the next decision to be made was the brand of equipment that wewould use for the plates, patch panels, jacks, connectors, and other miscellaneous equipment necessary tocomplete the project. Tim and Doug suggested using products from Siemon Cabling Systems(www.siemon.com). Newcome has used products from Siemon for some time and they received a strongendorsement from him and Doug. While we were not familiar with the Siemon product line, we agreed to lookat what Siemon had to offer.

Siemon is a big player in the networking and telecommunications space, but doesn't seem to have the brandrecognition that many other companies have. Much of this is due to Siemon's role as an OEM manufacturerfor other companies. Siemon recently celebrated its 100-year anniversary, and offers a complete product lineof networking products, in addition to a well-stocked portfolio of home cabling solutions(www.homecabling.com). After a brief look at Siemon's website, I was convinced these products wouldmeet and likely exceed our expectations. Best of all, these were products that the Newcome team wasfamiliar with.

For our cable solution, we chose Comscope as our cabling provider. While Comscope offers a variety ofintegrated cabling systems that are targeted at residential installs that feature Ethernet, phone and coax all inone cable, we chose a non-integrated cable due to the fact that it was easier for our installation. If you aregoing to choose a simpler configuration where this is an option, it is worth considering as it offers theadvantage of having to pull fewer cables and running individual cables for each jack.

Tim and Doug examined our initial installation locations and several things became apparent right away. Weknew where were wanted connectivity, but really didn't have a good plan to reduce installation time while stillpreparing for the future. It was suggested that we come up with a few standard configuration plate layoutsthat we could standardize from room to room. While this initially seemed like a waste of time, in hindsight,this was actually quite logical.

The Wall PlatesBefore we standardized the plate configurations, my wife was concerned whether the plates would matchpaint colors and dcor within our home, and if the connectors on the plates would be easily identifiable.Several methods can be used to make the jacks easily identifiable; they normally involve some sort of color-coding. Since all of the Ethernet jacks would not be in use all of the time, I was leaning toward using angledjacks that would protect the jacks from dust entering the connection housing. They have a more elegant


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appearance than normal jacks and plates used in most installations.

We agreed to go with regular white jacks and plates, while taking advantage of the Siemon color-coded iconsthat would appear above each jack. The one feature my wife really liked, and it's an option that is oftenoverlooked, was that the jack number labels are covered by an insert that can be removed to reveal the jack/port number, but can remain hidden and out of sight if desired.

The chosen wall plate

Once the jack and plate types were settled, we then figured out the standard configurations for each type ofplate. We settled on four basic configurations; Tim and Doug would have preferred to cut this number downto as few as one or two, but they realized that the unique nature of our installation made four different typesmore practical.

A "Type One" plate would be the standard plate, which would have connections for one voice and oneEthernet port. A "Type Two" plate, which became known as the A/V plate, would have connections for onevoice, one Ethernet, and two RG-6 coax connections. A "Type Three" plate was an Ethernet-only plate thathad connections for two Ethernet ports and was primarily used in the lab space in the basement only.

A "Type Four" plate was what we also called a dual/ dual, which means that it had two Ethernet connectionsas well as two phone connections. The Type Four plate was only used in two places where we wanted to


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have both a voice and fax line, as well as a network printer and wireless access point.

In addition to these plates, we also decided that we wanted the additional expandability offered by someadditional Ethernet connections, both in our first-floor office and behind the television in our family room. Weadded two 3Com NJ100 network jacks in these two rooms. This gave us four additional 100-Mbit switchedports for future expansion use, and we then had to run one single cable for these two NJ100s.

We felt that although the devices plugged into the NJ100s would not be a direct connection to the mainnetwork, the ability to have these extra ports available made sense, as we already had some NJ100s fromour previous home network installation. We also liked the advantage of being able to squeeze a total of sixports into one hole in the wall.

The 3Com NJ100

Which Category Cable?The next decision in the design process was not as clear cut: should we spend the extra money and go withCategory 6 cabling, or just stay with standard Category 5e? There were good arguments on both sides of thisquestion, and the price difference between Category 6 and Category 5e cabling really wasn't all thatsignificant. Category 6 would be able to handle Gigabit Ethernet over copper, while most Category 5e shouldbe able to handle this, as well. Would Category 6 be able to handle 10 GBit Ethernet over copper or someother standard that would clearly be an advantage over the long term?

Opinions on this topic vary, and many claim that the installation of the Category 6 cable to spec has more todo with the performance potential of the cabling than with the differences between the Category 6 and 5eproducts. Tim and Doug recommended that we go with Category 6 cabling for the Ethernet so that we wouldbe better prepared for the future, and since the cost was not that much more, this made the decision eveneasier. We took their recommendation and opted to use all Category 6 products to have a true Category 6certified installation. (Later in the article we will tell you about how Doug tested our Category 6 installation to


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make sure that all was up to spec.)

For the phone cable we opted for regular Category 5 cabling. While we could have gone with Category 3cabling, the cost difference was minor, so we chose to go with the higher quality cabling. (We have noevidence that it makes a difference for ordinary telephone service lines (POTS) one way or the other.)

For the coax cabling we opted for RG-6 that is compatible with either satellite or cable TV installations. Wechose to color-code all cabling, with the Ethernet Category 6 being blue, the phone Category 5 cable beingwhite, and the RG-6 coax cable being black. We carried this color-coding over to the wall plates as well, withthe icons above each connector being these same colors. While it is not required to color- code all of thecables, it does make the cabling pulling process easier, as well as help to determine which cables are whichwhen they are hanging out of the wall. Of course, before any cables were pulled we labeled them accordingto a numbering scheme.

With the planning mostly done, my "to do" list was shorter than before. Once the work was roughed in, thecontractors would finish the construction of the lab in the basement. Doug would then return to add the finaltouches to the project.

Running Cables - PrepThe first step was to place Post-It notes in each location of the plates. As you will remember, we determinedthe four standard plate configurations that we would be using and which connections each plate offered. Weexamined our drawing of the plate locations and placed additional Post-It notes on each wall for each of thelocations that had the plate type number and the connection number written on it.

Sticky notes indicate proposed jack locations

Labeling each of the connections with a number is very important. Doug created a method where each andevery plate had an assigned number. Multiple types of the same type of connection were labeled with a letter.For example, a plate was numbered 1008 in the first floor office. In the data patch panel you would find aconnection that was labeled 1008A. If this plate had a second data connection it would be labeled 1008B.The 1008 number carries over to the voice and coax as well, with these being labeled using the samenumber scheme. As long as you know the plate number, you can find the connection quickly within the patchpanels for the voice, data and coax.

Once all of the locations were selected and labeled, we then needed to find a pathway to get the cable fishedinto the existing walls. The challenge was running the cable to the second floor, as there was no direct


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access from the termination point in the basement to the second floor. The first floor was fairly easy becausewe had ample access provided by the full basement and crawl spaces under both the first floor office andfamily room. The termination point that was located in my basement lab was being built from the ground up,so we had the ability to run the cables during the framing process prior to hanging the drywall.

Tape multiple cables before pulling

Getting the cabling to the second floor can present a challenge in any installation. Depending on the age ofyour home and its design, this task can be more or less difficult. Doug examined several options for doingthis while keeping the cabling inside the house. Many installers like to take the easy way out and will want torun the cable outside with some sort of casing like Panduit, for example, and bring it into the attic this way.but is this the way that you would want it done? I don't think so. Perhaps in older homes this is the onlyoption, but it is NOT the preferred method. The better option is to take advantage of existing raceways, ducts,and areas that can be used to route the cabling.

In our case, Doug tapped the knowledge of Newcome team member Jeff Harris, who has over ten years ofexperience installing alarm systems into pre-existing homes. Jeff spent considerable time examining both ourbasement and the attic to determine the best solution for running the wiring up to the second floor. Jeff alsohad to consider building codes and dos and don'ts for running cable up to the second floor. Fortunately, Dougfound an old coax cable from a previous cable TV installation that helped clue him in as to how to do this.

Running Cables - PullingWhile it might seem easier to merely snag one of these coax cable or phone wires and tie a pull string to it torun the cable up, this is not really the proper method. The reason is that these cables are often roughed induring the framing and electrical install portion of the construction of the home, and often the wires arestapled to the framing or studs.

Thus, when you pull on these cables they go nowhere. Doug and Jeff determined that the coax cable for thecable TV in the front bedroom was installed after the home was built and used a raceway to gain access tothe attic before being dropped down into the wall itself. It was clear that they could follow this path next to theraceway to pull the cables up to the second floor.


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Securing cabling to framing

Each set of cables that goes to a specific plate is known in cabling-speak as a "run." A cabling run consists ofthe cables required for that specific plate. For example, a plate Type One run would consist of one blueCAT-6 Ethernet cable and one white CAT-5. As you can see here, the color-coding of the cables makes iteasy to identify them as they are being pulled.

Before each "run" is pulled, it is important to label the cables with the correct number. In our setup, thismeans that we used labels to identify the plate number on the cable. As you can see in the picture below, theends of the cable are taped together using electrical tape, and then taped to the cable fish. Once ready, thecables are fished up the path to the attic. It is important to remember to attach and send another pull stringup with the cables, so that once the cables are fished up to the attic it is just a matter of attaching the cablesto the pull string and pulling them up.

Label before pulling

Once the cables are pulled to the attic, preparations are then made to figure out the final placement of theplate on the wall. While attics are often nasty places due to the insulation, proper safety precautions are amust. Due to the insulation covering open spaces, it is important that you know where you are stepping andthat you are putting your weight on a solid place.


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Besides that, you will notice in the pictures that Doug is wearing a mask, which is always the correct thing todo when working in this kind of environment. In our case, we had to move some of the insulation out of theway in order to uncover where the walls and ceilings were. Once we did this, we used a stud finder to makesure that we had the right spot before we put a hole in the wall. Once all of these evaluations were made, itwas time to start knocking holes in the walls.

Doug works in the attic to get the cabling down the walls to the second floor

Running Cables - Wall Plate InstallCutting the holes for the plates into the walls was definitely a difficult experience for me. Although I have cutnumerous holes in other people's walls in order to fish cable, it is scary to watch someone cut a hole in thenewly painted wall of your new home. All kidding aside, things were fine once the holes were cut and thecables were then fished down from the attic to the bedrooms on the second floor.

After the cables have been fished down from the attic, a metal carrier was placed into the cut hole to allowthe attachment of the plate. For the cutting of the holes, a standard drywall saw was used; however, nocutting occurs until the proper height and location are determined. In order to get a good square cut at theproper height, a tape measure and level are used. While there is some play in the metal carrier to get theplate level once you place the connectors on the end of the cable, it is important to make sure that you cutthe hole at the right height.


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First line up and measure the distance of the carrier insert from the floor, then make an outline of the carrier.Of course you should have used a stud finder prior to this to make sure that you don't hit a stud by accident.

The cut is then connected through the four points.


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The completed hole.

The last step is to secure the carrier to the wall with the supplied screws. Once this is done, the cables arethen fished through the carrier.

We had to repeat the process of pulling cables up from the basement several times because we didn't haveenough boxes of cable to pull all the runs at once. If you are going to tackle this job yourself, you will find thatyou will need at least one box of cable per connection in the plate. The most complex plate configuration wehad was the Type Two plate, which required us to pull four cables at a time per plate.


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In this configuration, we were pulling one CAT-6 for Ethernet, one CAT-5 for the telephone, and two RG-6s forthe two satellite connections. As you can see, if you have a large quantity of cable to pull, you can save timeif you have multiple boxes of cable to pull from. Again, it is important to remember to label both the cables onthe start of the pull and the end before you cut it off. This will save significant time during the finalpunch-down process.

Running Cables - Dealing with Floor JoistsOnce we had the second floor complete, we moved on to the first floor. The first floor was not really as muchof a challenge as the second floor. Our biggest concern when dealing with the first floor was how to route thecables around the floor joists. For this task, rather than drilling holes in the joists themselves, Dougsuggested that we use carriers/ hangers to route the cables around the basement ceiling, which would giveus a nice clean look and allow for the addition of future cabling, if needed.

Cable hangers instead of drilling through joists

Once the decision was made as to how to secure the cables to the ceiling, the process was pretty much thesame as it was for the second floor. Each pull was routed to the desired location via the ceiling hangers andthen cables were fished to the waiting plate locations in the wall. As with most homes, the insulation canpresent problems when fishing the cable, so it is important to move the fish slowly and make sure that youhave placed your holes in the right place.

In most cases, it is easier to do inside walls rather than outside walls. This is due to the degree of insulationand accessibility of these locations. This strategy might lead to you having the plates in less desirablelocations, but it can make installing them a lot easier.


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The new lab in the basement was built from the ground up. This made the installation of the jacks very easy.Each carrier was screwed to the framing, and the cables were run through it. The cables were then coiled upand left hanging by the carriers. This allowed our general contractor, Kevin, to make the cutouts in the drywallbefore hanging it. One additional item of note is that we placed extra pull strings in strategic locations in theceiling, which provides the option to pull additional cables into the lab if needed in the future.

Finishing the basement lab

Once we had all of the cables run to all of the plates in all three locations in the house, most of the difficultpart was over. Fishing the cables and cutting the holes for the plates were really the hardest parts of theentire process. While we still had to wait for the contractors to finish hanging the drywall in the lab space inthe basement, Doug was able to continue work on terminating the jacks on the first and second floors.

Connecting the jacks for the network, phone, and coax on the first and second floors of the house was notgoing to take as long as it would for the contractors to finish the build-out of the lab. The lab itself still neededto have the drywall hung, as well as the bench build-out completed. Beyond this, we wanted all of thepainting to be completed before Doug returned to finish the termination.

As with any project of this magnitude, you are always at the mercy of the contractors. In our case, we werelucky that all of the contractors worked well together and could work around each other's schedules. If youhave a pre-existing home and you are just looking at running the network cables, then you will not experiencethis kind of delay. While it didn't take that long to hang the drywall, the mudding of the seams and waiting forthe mud to dry between coats slowed down the final process. In our case, nearly a week passed before wewere ready for Doug to return to finish the termination.

Jack TerminationWhen Doug returned, he started on the second floor and worked his way down to the basement one plate ata time. Since all of the carriers for the plates were already installed, all that needed to be done was toconnect the wires to each jack and then snap the jacks into the plates. At the same time, we also placed thelabels in the label holders, which identified each jack number.


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Finished wall plate


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Wall plate with labeling covered

The most important thing about terminating the Ethernet jacks as well as the phone jacks is selecting whichwiring pattern/ standard you are going to use, and then sticking to it. While this may seem like a pain, eachjack has to be wired correctly in order to "pass" when it is tested.

While you might not have access to a tester if you choose to do the installation yourself, there are a variety ofdevices available for this task. Although these testers are not as sophisticated as the one that Newcomeuses, they are good timesaving tools. Since this was a CAT 6 installation, we had to pay very specialattention to the bend of the cable coming into the plates. The CAT 6 specification is very specific about theamount of bend each cable can have at the termination points.


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568A wiring standard pin out for termination

Once we had all of the jacks connected and snapped into the plates, we then started the screws to securethe plates to the carriers on the wall. During this process, Doug used a torpedo level to make sure that theplates looked straight and level. As we explained earlier in the article, the carriers allow for a little movementin each direction, so you are able to get the plates reasonably straight as long as the hold that you cut for theplates are within reason.

Nothing is more unsightly in an installation than a plate that is not straight and level. It will stick out like a sorethumb if you don't have anything in front of the plate, particularly if there is an outlet close by that is correctlystraight and level. Speaking of the electrical outlets, it is recommended that you place your networking platesat the same height as the outlets. Again, use a tape measure and take those measurements before you dothe cutting, or you might be doing some drywall patching.

Cabling waiting termination

One by one, room by room, the process of connecting the jacks to the waiting cables was completed. Slowlybut surely we began to get an idea of what the final results were going to look like. We were a little surprisedwith the number of plates behind our TV in the family room. Including the plates to the rear surroundspeakers, the 3Com NJ100 and the electrical outlet, we had a row of five plates.

While we could have combined the two Type Two AV plates into one, we opted to go with two plates to allowbetter access to the jacks on each plate. Looking back on it now, we still believe that was the better decisionfor the best access, but we do admit that five plates in a row does look a little ugly. We have the TV andaudio rack in front of the plates so it isn't noticeable but is still accessible and convenient, which were theoverriding factors here.

Central Termination - PhoneOnce the construction and painting of the new lab in the basement were finished, we could continue with thefinal punch-down of the cables into the final termination points. We chose to use Siemon's 20" CommandCenter Enclosure to house both the phone and RG-6 coax. For the Ethernet, we went with a more elaboratescheme and I wanted to use a standard six-foot, 19" rack.


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Siemon's 20 inch Command Center

The Siemon's 20" Command Center Enclosure is targeted at residential installations. As you can see in thepictures, it uses a slanted type customizable shelf system to house termination points. With such a system, itis possible to enclose all of your Ethernet, phone and video cabling needs in one enclosed point. Using thissystem, it is possible to house both an Ethernet patch panel and a switch, as well as your cable or DSLmodem.

This is perhaps the most common strategy in residential installations. In most cases, this is suitable andperhaps the best solution to consider. While it isn't the cheapest option available, it does look the best, rightat home next to the electrical breaker boxes in your basement. We have seen similar solutions from othervendors that could be considered, as well. Based on our experience from this installation, however, we cansay that it is best to select one vendor to supply the solution that you are going to use. If you choose Siemonfor example, it is best to stay with their complete solution because it has been tested and configured to fittogether better.

The Siemon's 20" Command Center Enclosure that we used in our installation housed the distribution pointsfor both the phone POTS lines, as well as the RG-6 coax for the satellite. The termination block includes aconnection point for every phone jack in the house. We built in expandability to handle the distribution for upto four phone lines, but currently only two are connected. The satellite receivers, Tivo, and FAX machine allshare a dedicated line, while all of the other phone connections are for our standard voice phone service.


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Command Center prior to installation

Phone lines being punched down

Central Termination - CoaxFor our DirecTV satellite installation we chose to use Bill Coughlan from B&M Installations. Bill had the kindof experience that we wanted in both satellite and home theater work. He has done many sophisticatedinstallations, but he rarely gets the chance to deal with a solution that was as elegant as ours. Bill's part was


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to mount and aim the DirecTV triple LNB dish and install our terrestrial antenna.

Once the dish was ready and the terrestrial antenna mounted, Bill was able to bring the four RG-6 lines fromthe DirecTV dish and one RG-6 line from the terrestrial antenna through the crawl space under the familyroom. He was able to take advantage (by design) of the already mounted cable hangers in the ceiling of thebasement and run his RG-6 cables straight to the Command Center Enclosure.

Bill from B&M installs the 18x24 triple LBN DirecTV satellite dish

Once the RG-6 from the dish and the antenna were in the command center, it was as easy as placingconnectors on the cables and testing the signal strength using our Philips DSHD800R (Hughes DirecTV HDReceiver Clone) HD receiver. The signal strength was right on the money for the DirecTV signal as well asthe over-the-air broadcast HD signals.

One interesting feature in our design was the use of a patch panel system for the incoming coax connections.With this design we added the flexibility to change programming providers quickly and easily. Each of theincoming connections uses a short RG-6 cable to connect to each of the coax connection points within thehouse. This makes switching providers as easy as running the coax cable in from the new provider (whetherit is a cable TV provider or another satellite provider), and connecting it to the correct coax jack within thehouse.

Also, we have the ability to move our four DirecTV receivers between rooms by simply patching theconnection to the correct jack in the right room. Another interesting feature is that we can run the RF outputfrom a receiver back into the jack and send the picture from that receiver to a TV or monitor in another room.We felt this would be a handy feature for sending a TV or satellite signal to a PC in another room. Althoughyou could only watch the channel that is tuned on that receiver, it would be possible to use an RF remotetransmitter system to change the channel from another room, if we really needed this capability. All of thiscan be accomplished just by changing the patch cables in the Command Center Enclosure.


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Command Center with two phone lines and satellite coax installed

Central Termination - EthernetWe considered various options for the termination point of the Ethernet. As I come from a corporate ITbackground, it was difficult not to consider the possibility of using a freestanding 19", Telco-style rack. With arack such as this, we would gain the clear advantage of being able to integrate the patch panels, switches,and a shelf for a few other things. In most typical home installations this would be considered "overkill," butIstill felt that having a standard 19" rack was the best way to go on a long-term basis. While we looked at wallmounted, 19" rack solutions, we kept returning to the floor mounted rack because it better suited our needs.

Once the decision was made to go with a 19" rack, we were surprised how difficult it was to locate a 19" rackthat is smaller than six feet tall. Since most 19" racks are used in enterprise applications and are normallyseven feet tall, we were forced to get a seven-foot rack and cut it down for our installation. This proved to bethe most cost-effective solution.


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Rack waiting for installation

Once we had the carpet installed in the computer room, we were able to bolt the rack to the floor. Animportant note here: normally, you don't want carpet in an environment with this quantity of electronics due tostatic electricity concerns. Since this was a residential installation, however, we wanted carpet, so we wentwith a lower pile that was hopefully a little more static-free. In the areas in front of the racks and the bench,we have floor mats to provide a grounding surface to prevent static discharge, but we still have to beever-mindful of the fact that we do have carpet in the lab.

Drilling holes to mount the rack to the concrete floor


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Bolts inserted into the concrete floor

Rack installed

Of course, if you are going with a 19" rack mount solution, you need to select patch panels. Since ourinstallation was CAT 6, we selected two of the 24-port Siemon Max Series MX-PNL-24 patch panels. Sincethe MX-PNL-24 takes regular snap-in jacks, it is easy to replace the blanks with jacks should the need ariseat a later time. The cabling was then run into the rack and terminated to the patch panel using the T568Awiring standard, which is normally recommended because of its wider range of compatibility with existingstandards.


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Ethernet GearWe wanted to "go for the gusto" and use a Layer 3 managed switch, but the prices were just too high. Afterexamining all of the possibilities, we opted for a 48-port 3Com 3C16476 switch that offered us two Gigabitover copper Ethernet ports in addition to the 48 10/100Mbit ports. While we could have used a switch thatoffered fewer ports, we tried to take into account any future expandability, and we found that the 3C16476offered a good balance of performance and expandability for our design.

Of course, the 3C16476 was rack mountable, which was a requirement. Doug suggested placing the shelfjust above the switch to help stop dust from entering the ports by taking advantage of the shelf's overhang.

3Com 3C16476 48 port 10/100 switch with dual gigabit Ethernet uplink

On the shelf above the switch is the FR314 firewall with stateful packet inspection. Although Netgear is nolonger selling the FR314, the FR314 features a subset of the SonicWall SOHO2's capabilities at a moreattractive price point. While anyone who wants serious firewall capabilities would like the SonicWall products,the FR314 offers a good feature set beyond what is found in other products, which makes it one of the mostsought-after firewall devices.

We like its content filtering and emailed reports, which are more than what most devices offer. While Netgeardoes not provide as many firmware updates and upgrades as I would like, it is still a solid product that youcan find on Ebay periodically.

Switch and LAN gear

Also on the shelf is the cable modem and a Quantum 1100/40 SNAP server. Beyond that, we also chose to


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use a Geist rack mounted surge protector for its colorful addition. With the additional room in the rack, myplan is to add a small 4U server as well as a rack mount UPS for this server, as well.

Ethernet Gear - moreA rack like this is really well-suited to adding a lot of heavy things, such as a rack mount server and a rackmount UPS; using guides and a little creative engineering, it will be possible to make it work by supportingthe backs of these units so as to not put serious stress on the rack itself.

Rear of rack

The dressing out of the cabling itself was a lot of work. Once the cables were terminated into the back of thepatch panels, Doug spent several hours working with the cable and patch cable to get a very organizedappearance. While this doesn't improve the performance of the network, it makes everything look moreattractive, an improvement over what many people throw together. It is obvious just by looking at the strategyDoug used that he has a lot of experience. Notice how the power cables run down one side and all of theincoming Ethernet come in the other side.


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The finished rack

Here is a look at the rack with everything dressed out and ready to go. The wiring has a nice, neatappearance which is as good as many data centers that I have seen. It does take a lot of time to make it lookthis nice, but the reality is that it is far worth it to have it look this way rather than having cables running everywhich direction.

Cable Verification & Adding WirelessOne big advantage of using a contractor is the fact that they normally test the installation to certify that thecabling is installed correctly and that it performs up to the established specifications. Of course, you can juststart plugging stuff into the network and if it works, well then it must be installed right, but the reality is thatthis is not a good indication of the performance of the installation. With CAT 6, this is important due to factorssuch as the bend radius. A poor installation can cause many problems in the future.

Newcome used an Agilent Wirescope 350 to test all of the cabling installed. The Wirescope 350 is able totest the installation by sending a signal across the cabling and to test the cable and ensure the installation isup to spec. We tested all of our CAT 6 Ethernet and only found one problem with one jack. Once this wasfixed, all of the cabling was fully up to CAT 6 specification. This means that I should have no issues movingto Gigabit over copper at some point in the future using any of the cabling that was installed.


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Agilent Wirescope 350 in action

Although it wasn't really necessary, we also tested the CAT 5 ports that we used for the telephone, as well.Should we later determine that we no longer need to use these ports for phone, it would be possible toconvert the jacks to run at up to 100-Mbit Ethernet, as well. Due to the color coding of the cables, this wouldnot really be an option we would want to explore, but at least we are confident that the cabling will perform inthe months and years ahead.

One important part of the testing is detecting potential problems before you realize that you have them. TheWirescope 350 is so sophisticated that it is able to tell you - in most cases - what the connection problem is,even if it is the jack, the patch panel or something as simple as a flipped wire pair, which can help isolate theproblem. Best of all is the fact that you get a nice printed report with the testing results of all of the jacks.

As we explained in the introduction, we chose to use all three solutions in our installation. So far, we haveused both 10/100 Ethernet and 1000-Mbit Ethernet via the uplink in our 3C16476 for our server. Finally, weadded two wireless access points into the mix to provide wireless access on all three floors of the house.

We chose the 3Com Wireless Access Point 6000 for our 802.11b wireless needs. We felt that the moreenterprise-designed product, such as the 6000, was better able to meet our needs and offer the performanceand flexibility that we wanted. The 6000 offers better functionality in dealing with multiple access points ininfrastructure mode.


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3Com Wireless Access Point 6000

We chose a two access point solution, although we could have gotten by with just one of them. We wanted tomake sure that any wireless device that we had could receive 11-Mbit performance regardless of its locationwithin the house.

Based on our usage patterns and a site survey we placed one access point at the top of the stairs on thesecond floor and one in the family room. Both of the access points are locked down and connected on anisolated segment outside the primary network to address security concerns, and are locked down using MACaddress locking, so that only authorized wireless NIC cards with recognized MAC addresses can connect tothe access points.

Conclusion: Great Results that Exceeded Our ExpectationsOnce we finished moving, we were finally able to set up our computers and start testing the network.Needless to say, we are thrilled with what our newly installed infrastructure offers. The locations of the wallplates are right where they need to be, and the careful pre-planning we gave to placement was worth thetime involved.


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Doug stands in front of the closed Command Center

While we are overjoyed with our network installation, an installation like this one isn't for everyone. We tendto be early adopters of technology and generally ahead of the curve as far as home networking products andinnovations go. While we sprinkled some corporate style networking infrastructure into our mix, this isn'tnecessary to incorporate your own networking ideas into your home.

The decision to use a contractor (or not) will be dictated by the complexity of the project and your comfortlevel regarding handling a project like this by yourself. That said, however, if you opt for an entire housewiring as we did and want professional-looking results, you will likely achieve better results if you choose anexperienced contractor to help with your design and install the network as you have customized it.

An important factor to consider is the level of pre-planning and flexibility that can be incorporated into yourdesign. For example, if you are going to have more than two or three wired network jacks, the use of a patchpanel can add flexibility. Another example is the use of a termination point housing, such as the SiemonCommand Center that we used for the phones and coaxial cable in our design. This allows maximumflexibillity in allowing the configuration to meet your needs.

Having a professional-looking installation that is well designed is obviously a big plus if and when you plan tosell your home. While network installations aren't "commonplace" yet, we predict they will become more invogue and in demand as more people become technology-enamored and discover what it really can do forthem. This will add to the resale value of your home if you find a buyer who recognizes the value of thisnetworking.


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Closing ThoughtsWe are very happy with the contractor we chose and with our end results. After several false starts and toomany discussions with contractors that didn't have the experience to meet our needs, Newcome was clearlythe right choice. The team at Newcome is professional, experienced, knowledgeable and has the creativedesign "vision" that the other contractors lacked, helping us arrive at an installation that was functional, not tomention a work of art.

Newcome provided us with a design and installation that exceeded our expectations in every way. Newcomehas multiple locations throughout the U.S., so if you are interested in discussing an implementation for yourhome, it is possible for you to contact them for a consultation. We highly recommend Newcome based on ourexperience with this project.

Doug with the finished rack

With the changes in home connectivity options and the huge impact that the Internet has made and willcontinue to have on our lives, the sky is the limit as far as the growth of home networking is concerned. Newdevices will continue to improve connectivity and increase functionality. Considering the innovations thathave occurred in just the past three years, it is exciting to imagine where the home networking industry maybe in another three years. And, as we have demonstrated in this article, a properly planned and installedinfrastructure in your home will be able to grow and accommodate new technological advances for sometime.

An investment in a quality home network infrastructure is something your family will use and appreciate more


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and more over time. A properly planned and designed installation can add a level of convenience to yourhome that allows technology to work for you, making tasks more easily done and providing all the membersof your home with capability. Imagine: no more family quarrels over who is hogging the Internet connection orwho has the printer tied up with his game cheats when another deserving family member needs to do someresearch on the Internet and print it NOW. We are network enabled, and we love it.

Related Items:How To: Diary of a New Home Network- Part 2Homegrown Network: A Concrete ExampleHow To: Diary of a New Home Network - Part 3How To Improve Network Performance - Part 3Homegrown Networks

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Building a Home Network

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Transcript of Building a Home Network