Currently I'm doing renovation for my home and would like to pull the network cable, can suggest which cable or network configuration are using is the best and for the future? Like using cat6e, using ubiquiti unifi and etc.

Wireless more less hassle and headaches.

Well, maybe some info would help?

1. How many floors?
2. Distance from your IT rack?
3. Budget?
4. Considered mesh wifi or powerline?
5. Number of data points?

By the way, "best and for the future" is very vague. Do you want the most expensive stuff or most high tech equipment available in market?

Without knowing much about your house and your requirement, don't expect to get a good recommendation from people.

if u need constant high speed internet speed such as over 300Mbps, pull ethernet cables better, cat6e or above (if u plan to use 10Gbps network in future)

wifi can bring u more troubles than you think

unless buy very high grade wireless standard router, or if u have knowledge to deal with the problems




This post has been edited by squall0833: Dec 27 2019, 02:03 PM

For Cables, if you're looking to future proof ( using 10Gpbs ), would recommend using Cat6a or Cat 7 cables, but these can be expensive ... Cat6 would be affordable, but limits you to 1Gbps.

For Configuration, depending on the number of points ...
Option A: you can either connect all points directly to your router, or if more, would require a switch, which comes in 8, 16, 32 ports ... (wired solution)
Option B: you could connect multiple routers ( eg 1 in each floor ) to provide with a cable, and broadcast wifi on each floor for unrestrited coverage (wireless solution)
Option C: you can get the WiFi mesh devices, like from D-Link and TP-Link or Asus ...

Option A gives you better and stable speeds ...
Option B provides speeds as good as your router can broadcast
Option C dependent on device wifi speeds


Also, a mistake which i learnt from ... when laying of the PVC pipe cables during renovation, ensure that it's simple and that cables can be replaced in the future, as too many turns or jamming 3 cables in a small pvc pipe can be troublesome to replace, or may require hacking. Also, before cementing, test the connections after terminating it ... as I've got 2 cables that are basically dead in the wall.

Best is to determind where your router / switch is going to be ... then run cables up to the ceiling, and then back down to each room, so that it would just be a straight drop for each cable, while free on the ceiling.


Cheers and all the best.

Put at least 2 ports per room with CAT6.

for most homes a wired WDS setup with 2 units of cheapo C1200 is more than enough, and with new wifi 6 technology which 2.4ghz band have speed improvement, no longer need the so called mesh system which is not real mesh when use in home setting(because real mesh needs 2 internet points) but just a normal WDS setup which already supported by most wireless router

1. Determine fiber landing point.
2. Pull UTP cable from that location to every room/space/floor

From there it's a matter of customizing what you need for end device connectivity.

maybe can put few mesh wifi for use, if just normal use internet

If got enough budget, I suggest you buy PoE based mesh wifi. At least it will eliminated the use of power cord for each AP and become less clutter and very clean setup.

Edit:
Technical mistake. You might want to Google "PoE Access Point". There's no point of mesh network if you are able to lay ethernet cable for every floor/room.

This post has been edited by MrSpeedy: Dec 27 2019, 03:01 PM

First thing is planning. Where's the router location, and how many points needed. This depends on where you need to put Wifi APs, and where you need wired connection eg gaming PCs. If a single floor is large with many walls in-between, you many need 2 Wifi APs for that floor.

Use a good cable of at least CAT6 eg Dintek.

If you got budget, go for Ubiquiti Unifi system. It's better than consumer-grade mesh system, even with wired backhaul. Otherwise, just start with a decent router, entry-level routers as Wifi APs, or basic wired mesh system.

Why using 2 ports of CAT6?

1. 3 floor
2. Will put my rack at ground floor.
3. resonable (cat6a can list for how many year?)
4. planning pulling the cable to extend the wifi signal also each room it have dedicated lan
5. i think around 8-10

U might have other equipment later.

If 2 ports, u will also need a 16 or 24 port switch.

Always plan for the future.

With just around 10 points, it should not be expensive to install CAT6a STP (shielded twisted pairs).

My friend went with branded CAT5e UTP for his 3 storey house, and some points already spoilt within 2 years. It may be due to poor installation, manufacturing or material. Anything can happen, so don't go expect "once installed, all is well".

So if you are going to conceal the cables, better make sure they are good quality to reduce the risk. Once installed, you would need to hack the walls to replace the faulty cables. Otherwise, surface trunking with some good paint job is the better alternative.

Don't place the data cables in same trunking as electrical wires, even if the cables are shielded. Always separate data cables from electrical wires in different conduit. And make sure the cable length has at least 1-2m spare and there is enough room in each conduit pipe (normally 1" PVC) in case you need to expand or relocate points in future. Also be careful not to bend the cables too much.

It is recommended to put at least 2 ports for each location, even if you only need 1. If one port is not working, test with the other. And if both are not working, it could mean the problem lies elsewhere and not the cables. I would suggest using double gang faceplate with modular jacks. Remember to terminate both ends, test before you plaster the walls. If you don't have cable testers like Fluke, you can always use 2 PC or laptops to ping each other for some time (set fixed IP on both clients), then monitor if there is any dropped packet. Try shaking the cables a little to see if it causes disconnection.

Having AP in each floor is fine, but understand that there will be a short disconnection when you move from floor to floor. This is because connecting to the AP is not a seamless transition. If you want to have zero disconnection, mesh wifi would be the one you need.

Even Mesh Wifi with fast roaming will have delay, just very low delay (below 1 second), short enough not to disconnect video calls / streaming.

Ubiquiti Unifi APs also support fast roaming.

For my home, I mix & match different models with same SSID. There's a 5-10 seconds delay, but since I take 10-20 seconds to walk up the stairs, by the time I'm at first floor, my phone is already connected to first floor AP. Works well most of the time.

In many cases, I believe having 1 AP for each floor is almost necessary, especially on 5 GHz radio and concrete ceilings.

This post has been edited by taqu: Dec 27 2019, 06:29 PM

I thought 802.11r (Fast Roaming) need WPA2-Enterprise (RADIUS) to work, now 802.11r works with WPA2-PSK?

IIRC 802.11r works on IOS even on PSK, Windows 10 only via WPA2-Enterprise, Android unsure.

Seeing that TP-Link recommends turning fast roaming off on their Decos, perhaps fast roaming on consumer mesh Wifi is still infancy. The seemingly seamless roaming on today's mesh Wifi probably still traditional roaming.

This post has been edited by taqu: Dec 29 2019, 01:56 PM

Most flagship level Samsung devices support 802.11k/v/r.

https://support.samsungknox.com/hc/en-us/ar...aming-Algorithm

TP-Link Deco fast roaming is based on 802.11 k/v/r and it works well. I believe it is disabled out of the box as it may cause issues on some non-compliant WiFi devices.

Edit: I have observed Deco performing sub 100ms roaming with 0 packet drop consistently. It's not Ruckus level 50ms roaming but it's really good for a cheap consumer level gear.

This post has been edited by blacktubi: Dec 29 2019, 03:44 PM

Nice to know that.

+1, Deco serves well for most of the normal family usage

a switch + cat6a wire to dedicated room + router

a 2iq can figure it out.

If pulling the cat6a cable, which brand are recommend?

i saw shopee are selling this https://www.dintek.com.tw/index.php/powerma...enum-cable.html

Dintek is not bad, the link which u attached is 23AWG cable, good spec, it can even run 10G in short distance, and good for PoE too. And don’t forget about the connector, many reno sifu will only use cat5 connectors, it’s better u get cat6 connectors for them to install as well

the short distance is under 100m?

Just plan the location where do you want to put your main router(unifi). I think the CCTV/Alarm technicians should know what to do for the rest. Tell them where do you want to put your unifi router. So they can help you to plan on the cat6 wiring. Later that, you just need to buy a gigabit switch to connect all the LAN cables.

Also better to have install Cat6 ethernet wall socket in every rooms especially for the living room and the corridor area on every floor at the outside of bedrooms. The rest cat6 ethernet wall sockets can be install in every bedroom near the TV (if you have TV in bedroom) or near to computer table area in study room.

This post has been edited by junclj: Dec 30 2019, 10:01 AM

1. what switch that i need to use?

2. what about if i put 2 cat6 cable insist of 1 cat6a cable for each room?

Go with the suggestion, 2 port per room/termination point. If planning to upgrade to 10gb, then use cat6a. Go for branded cable, Dintek, Plenum, Hubell. Less headache next time.

ok thx

This is my network setup and equipment. Everything Ok? Or can make it better? Please gv some comment/suggestion.

I assume there is a machine to run Unifi controller app. A Raspberry Pi will do.

I also assume the 3 UAPs are going to be ceiling-mounted.

If you want DPI on your network, you need USG over Mikrotik Hex.

Looks good to me.

The Unifi is not the controller app is TM Unifi.

Sorry, I mean Ubiquiti Unifi, it needs to run its controller app to centrally manage its access points.

its quite a joke that amount of equipment

my 7000sf 2storey bungalow serve by single c1200 ap + x86 router, 100mbps for 20 devices run iptv, torrent, live streaming, fps gaming without issue

If you are looking for improvement on Wi-Fi, Ubiquiti APs run better with controller online, not much, but somehow better on speed and roams, so just get a Raspberry Pi to run 24x7 for budget or go for Unifi Cloud Key.

Should be below 30M, but some said below 50M, depends on your luck I think.

I do a research regarding this 2 brand cat6a cable

http://www.nissencable.com/zh-cn/1/328/pro...0/info_123.html

https://www.dintek.com.tw/index.php/powerma...-23awg-pvc.html

both of this cable support POE? And which is more reliability?

your setup pretty much like mine

unifi---mikrotik hap ac2 (disable wlan)---dlink dgs-1100-24p

then from switch i got

1 ubiquiti nanoHD on first floor
1 ubiquiti AC Lite on second floor
1 ubiquiti AC Lite on second floor Master bedroom

i run cat5e lan cable for each of the room plus my hall+ my poe cctv point + each of wireless access point location

like darren said, i also run my Unifi Controller on raspberry pi 24/7. cheap way instead of cloud key.

all my networking item centralized in my store room underneath my stair. make sure u got some ventilation in and out from this location

overall, the wireless coverage has been great and no dead point for 5ghz band i can say.. everything seems working smoothly

Well not quite true for ubiquiti unifi gear...

I installed a 3APs network in a church and I tried doing wifi calling, WhatsApp call and FaceTime audio call, all are able to be handled well to handover from one AP to another AP without much noticeable delay.

I would say the enterprise network devices are built differently.

i would love to try enterprise AP. but is it recommended for home use? not too much and overkill?

Enterprise Wifi definitely better with full support of 802.11 k/v/r.

Use Belden better than Dintek.

I can only say once you try it you will never look at the consumer grade network gear anymore... The only decision point is the price, haha.

iPhone users might not feel much difference because the iOS is doing very well in roaming between AP, but the experience is definitely different for cheap Android phone...

I tried the Asus Lyra which is considered one of the best for consumer networking category, iPhone is doing good but for the Xiaomi phone, sometimes you can notice the wifi drop for a few seconds before it gets connected to the next AP. I don't entirely blame the network gear but the Android phone also does not scan and roam proactively. However, when the same phone is used for ubiquiti system, even Android phone like this also can be 'handed over' seamlessly just like iPhone, with no disconnection of course.

I can only say Enterprise grade has reasons why it is a category for itself.
Whether to use it for home, I guess it depends on your expectation and whether you can accept small little compromises like those mentioned above...

This post has been edited by Hummingbird: Mar 3 2020, 03:09 PM

Y the heck u guys need so much LAN port at home for? 2 LAN per room?? LAN port in the corridor???

What home consumer devices has LAN port anymore?? business laptop, desktop and media server

Desktop computer, network printer, smart TV, tv box/decoder, Xbox or playstation, soundbar, NAS, CCTV or even additional expansion of wifi AP. So why not?
And what if the default port is dead? The second port is always good as a backup.

This post has been edited by Hummingbird: Mar 7 2020, 03:56 PM

Desktop and media sever still have LAN ports and can be added/upgraded via PCI-E if necessary, media server/NAS will always use an ethernet connection not wifi for performance and reliability reasons....

This post has been edited by yongtjunkit: Mar 7 2020, 05:05 PM

want their home to be nurturing ground for esports for their kids

It is preferable to have LAN ports for wired connections, as it is much better than wireless connections.

How about this cat6 utp cable?

https://www.dintek.com.tw/index.php/powerma...-pvc-cable.html

their description said "Cable has been tested over 500Mhz and has shown performance testing results allowing 10Gbit Ethernet transmission up to a length of 70mtrs"

So it can run up to 10Gb in 70meter?