Looks good. potentially, you could benefit from router only unit in basement, and AP in the living room. That way you will be able to upgrade or add wireless at any point and have a bit easier troubleshooting if anything goes wrong.
I agree, separating the router and wireless access point is better because you can always upgrade one or the other. It also saves you a cable run because the router can be in the closet.
I would only change the blue line that uplinks to the router to yellow. Everything else looks about right.
If you want a cleaner overall setup though. Consider a wired only router (~$50 USD), tucked away next to the modem. Then just an Access Point(s) ($75-150 USD) somewhere central to provide WiFi.
Congrats!!! I'm proud of you.
Now. Rabit hole ... don't be scared, it's hardest part is plugging the wires in correctly.
It's a little more involved, really just the same steps as a fully consumer setup just twice on two devices. But it's sooooo worth it having discreet devices that are compact and highly functional. Don't overlook maintenance. It's now 3-way, ISP-device, router, access point(s). It's not hard, but you might have to "reboot" more than one device if things go weird. Bonus: if you know which device went weird you 'only' have to restart that one.
I'm currently recommending:
1. Wired-only Router: TP-Link Omada TL-ER605
2. Access Point: Omada ... whatever suits your pleasure (https://www.tp-link.com/us/business-networking/omada/wifi/)
3. A network switch with POE injection capabilities (60-90W total): maybe TL-SG105PE but any brand with POE is swapable). It's not required if the AP comes with a POE injector, just cleaner if you have multiple POE capable devices (multiple access points, camera, ... etc. there's tonnes).
The Omada thing allows for a central controller (OC200, $100) or just a free software that you run on a computer to control everything with the 'Omada' label. This is ONLY *needed* if you have multiple Access Points (AP) and want to support client roaming between APs nicely. If it is just one WiFi AP then you don't need it at all, it becomes just a convenience controller (one place to control everything Omada). With just one AP, you configure the router as you normally would, in a wizard, it just won't ask about wireless details. Then you connect the AP and configure it via the wireless wizard, this is the 2nd half, for wireless access. Once it's all plugged in it is the same (via wizards) that you're used to, just split between Router and WiFi.
TIP: everything above is the same if you were to switch brands to something like Ubiquiti UniFi .. same-same, just more expensive and IMO harder to setup for ideal performance. Omada just 'worked', while UniFi was slightly more capable it required advances tweaking after factory-reset that I just wasn't interested in doing. My side-by-side factory settings placed Omada around 200% faster than UniFi. With the effort I believe UniFi could exceed Omada, I just don't have the patience/time/bother for that extra management.
Do what this guy said. You can get ruckus r350 access points around 100 bucks if you are patient enough. They take a little bit more setup than a regular consumer grade system, but they are versatile and reliable. Please also look at used poe switches, check into Cisco sg300/350 as a reliable entry point. I haven’t checked prices but iv gotten some as cheap as $100 there as well… just wire it in a place that is open to where noise won’t matter! Fans can potentially kick up a ruckus! No pun intended. Routers are fidgety, I use Sophos and Dream machines from unifi depending on use case. I think dream machine would fit your bill if you got one cheap enough. All in you’re looking at 500-600 bucks which is about the same cost as a cutting edge high performance router, but you will get access to expansion, send wifi around the house simply by adding a wire and an access point. Want a camera, you can add that. Want to setup two or more isolated networks, easy.
I’m a Ruckus dealer, started doing ubiquiti, did araknis for a bit, switched to cisco and meraki, and iv ended at ruckus. It’s been the best for me in my experience. We sell the 550s for $1,000 each like hotcakes. I personally have the 350s, which I am recommending to you, and I think they are stellar performers for their price.
You are a Ruckus dealer; do you think recommending Aruba or Rukus to a 1st-time homeowner with no network experience is the right solution?
Buying used gear of eBay is great for a knowledgeable IT person, no warranty, no support, and way too complicated vs Ubiquity or Omada stuff which is still overkill.
The guy only has 5 rooms, and 1 access point would cover his whole house. So a $1000 Rukus is a better idea than $80 Ubiquity for a non power user.
Sorry I disagree.
Generally they are good skills to learn. Reddit is an amazing community where OP can post questions and get help setting up the network. I would even go out of my way to assist if they so asked me for that. So yes, I think that overall there is a learning curve but I’m about empowerment not dumbing things down.
Edit:
Also, I think I either misspoke or it was interpreted wrong. I was telling OP to find an r350 or r550 for sub $100 on eBay. I would never tell them to spend the kind of cash on a new unit at msrp. That pricing is part of the overall package of having a pro come in and dial it in for you.
As a Rukus dealer, you are dealing with customers with more technical skill sets, not the average guy buying a mesh at Costco.
Sure Reddit is full of people wishing to learn more about networks like I did 40+ years ago. This brand-new homeowner with 5 devices has enough on their plate and expressed no desire to learn networking they did not ask about AP. So to me, Ubiquti/Omada was upsell and learning enough.
Ubiquity or Omada they get their single AP brand new for $85.00 on Amazon w/30 day return and 1 year warranty. Omada they can call tech support and talk to humans. Great peace of mind for a non-techie person.
As IT company owner 1/2 my life is dumbing down or translating Nerd talk to businesses who just want their computers to work.
I will message you next Rukus-worthy client I get as it is good stuff for the right application
Ruckus is not bad for ANY deployment really. It just may not be necessary. Unleashed is very easy to use and very intuitive. Even the sg350 I recommended is easy to get running. I’m not saying they are going to make use of all the features, I’m just saying it’s a great bang for your buck. Please tell me that the $80 ubiquiti ap, and a tp link switch are going to hold up the same weight even in just the reliability and stability department. My solution is not very much more expensive and can setup very simply, but also allows a great deal of expansion and flexibility.
I have no skin in the game, I personally think they would be happy with just about anything that worked, maybe even a net gear or eero mesh. I can only make suggestions
Looks good, the only thing i would change is your patch panel... Instead i would get a keystone jack panel and terminate all the cables with keystones instead, i hate those punch down patch panels, makes it a pain to change things later. I started just using keystone passthroughs and terminating all the cables with RJ-45's so that i can move cables between ports, swap to different panels, or upgrade to a larger panel later without having to pull all the punchdowns and start over. I also found that those cable matters punchdowns don't like damp environments, like a basement, had one that went faulty, flipped it over and the little fingers in the punch down that the wires get pinched into were getting rusty from moisture, turns out they are copper or brass plated steel contacts. Ended up replacing it by terminating all the cables and putting in a keystone panel instead.
Also you might want to consider a router in the basement with the modem and put a dedicated AP up in the living room, eliminates one run of cable and makes later router and AP upgrades a lot easier.
100% agree with these suggestions.
Blank keystone patch panel.
(2) Ubiquiti access points, 1 in the basement, and one in main house. These are ceiling-mounted with Cat6 POE cables
Ubiquity Dream SE on the higher end does give you 2 POE ports. Or on the cheaper end you could do Dream router or Cloud?? routers. Main advantage you can use Ubiquiti admin ecosystem to manage entire network.
AP allow you to easly expand if you want WiFi in the back yard, or upgrade to WiFi7 in the future, just swap out AP.
Consider a small UPS to protect the modem, router, switch in basement.
Enjoy
Agreed... I switched to ubiquiti gear about seven years ago, haven't touched the router since I got done setting it up. Multiple access points and just got a U7-PRO to add 6E Wi-Fi last month, man is that nice having wired speeds to my laptop sitting in my living room.
I agree that they should definitely get an unloaded panel then use keystones but adding that coupler and just putting RH45 ends on is kind of bad in practice. Most of my cables go to a jack then click into the panel. That being said, I do have some cables exactly like yours because I wanted yellow jacks for my cameras and those RJ45 passthrus were available at work lol. I just wouldn't use them when I want full speeds since a lot of the couplers are pretty cheaply made
Haven't had any trouble with the couplers whatsoever, most of them are going on 8 years now, full gigabit speeds no problem whatsoever. Just don't buy the cheap big box store ones, go for good name brand stuff. I prefer to have flexibility rather than anything like punch downs. Every keystone Jack in my house is passthru, of course I also validate and test every cable before use.
A pass thru keystone is the kind that takes an RJ45 connector on both ends, some call it a splice or coupler, but they are also sold as and called a PassThru.
I like doing this because i can terminate both ends of a run, put my tester on it, validate the cable run is good and within spec, then put on the passthru keystone and pop it into the panel at the rack and into the plate at the wall jack location and its done. If the jack gets damaged its just removing the plate and replacing the passthru with another one without any cable end damage like a punch down keystone. And on the rack end i can quickly move cables around between panels without any cutting or punching down. Just makes everything more modular.
How modular do things need to be? If you are a DIY, bravo and I applaud your effort, if you’re a pro then just use a keystone and an end. Carry a patch cable with your tester so you can test keystones. The only situation that makes sense to use what you’re talking about is if you are using a liquid-tight variant.
If you don’t like keystones for some reason, check out Vertical Cable’s ends and termination tool, we use it pretty much exclusively.
I've had jacks get damaged by kids jamming stuff into them, unless your coiling up a foot of extra cable on each box for every wall jack to make sure you have enough to install a new punch down keystone jack every time you have to cut the cable and redo it simply using terminated ends and passthrus are effective and fool proof. I can terminate a cable faster than most can install a keystone jack anyway so it's also time saving.
Back when I used to work for a computer shop that did home networking install we had to deal with damaged jacks a lot, you only got so many reinstalls on a jack before you didn't have enough cable in the box and you were screwed. One time a school hired us to fix their networking, over 50 damaged keystone's without enough cable in the box to repair because it had been done before. Thankfully the cables came down from a drop ceiling and we were able to get just a bit more cable from slack in the ceiling to fix them, but I terminated them and used a passthru, let them damage that, takes seconds to replace it without damage to the cable anymore.
I want everything 100% modular. I have had to replace cables and jacks and upgrades or reconfiguring an entire rack panel, with passthrus it takes me seconds to unplug a few cables at the panel and plug them back in. With keystone's terminated on the end I have to move the whole jack, takes more time and it's not beneficial at all. When I was doing Poe camera installs for a couple years the number one problem we got was keystone's that failed, I think it was the current flowing through them for the Poe power, regardless of brand they saw a pretty high failure rate. I started using passthrus and that problem went away, no more trouble calls for cameras dropping out.
I have lots of personal reasons for doing it, is never caused any issues, it's cheap and quick, and keeps the cable integrity for future changes and repairs. It's mostly diy for me these days, I don't work in the field doing this stuff anymore, but even my home network is done the same way and has been for nearly a decade for some of the runs. Actually starting to pull a few of them out and replace with CAT6 because the initial install was done with CAT5E when all we had was slow Internet providers. Now we have fiber and I'm upgrading some of the networking to 10gb along with fiber runs between switches.
To each their own. Our experiences tend to steer us on our own unique path. I can respect that. Doesn’t sound like you’re green and just don’t like terminating keystones.
As a point of reference, I always use dielectric on my outdoor terminations or when I’m doing cameras if no weather seal exists for the connection. It prevents corrosion but typically now it’s unnecessary as most cameras have weathertight connectors. Outdoor boxes and junctions, weathertight all the way unless we are in a pinch due to space then it’s still old school dielectric.
I haven’t run into an issue where poe ever damaged a termination and iv gone up to 90 watts on it.
I think, just my opinion though, that the damage was more due to our dry winter air and large static build up. But many others claimed it was purely the current going through them. It was always a matter of debate but we never figured it out other than the punch down pins would lose connection to the wires after a while, you could wiggle the wires and it would work again, and passthrus always fixed it permanently, whereas the same jacks not running poe through them on the same panel would be fine. But the jacks that failed were at the rack not at the cameras outside, moisture was not a factor.
If you are not poor and want it done right, you put router right next to the IPS modem and switch and you place through the house Access Points(APs). Using PoE where power goes by the same cable data goes. Ideally you get POE switch for that if planning more of them and maybe some cameras down the road.
Common decent APs are ubiquity - `UAP-AC-LITE` or newer version with wifi6 `U6-LITE`
Its not about gaming PCs being on wifi, its about phones, and notebooks too....
If you use a patch panel, you can avoid crimping on RJ45 connectors entirely, which is the most likely point of failure for someone who is inexperienced with structured cabling. Don't even buy an RJ45 crimper -- just a punch-down tool, keystones, and pre-made patch cables.
Funny, I never really seen discussion on this around to know the proper english terms.... googling... seems [solid wire vs stranded](https://www.truecable.com/blogs/cable-academy/solid-vs-stranded-ethernet-cable#page_comments=1) are the terms I am looking for...
ok lets try
If your cable through the house is not done by an amateur they use cat6 **wire**(solid copper core) as oppose to **stranded**(bunch of copper super thin hairlike wires twisted together). The wire will be more rigid and have different impedance and what not and by its spec require keystone(patch panel or room socket) termination not just regular rj45.
But of course shit would work anyway, with any cable and rj45... but there are official proper ways to do things right and then you get that possibility of 10Gbit at 50m
But IMO the more important benefit is how tidy it will be when you can later pick and choose exact cable length, and cable color, and now you use patch cable - stranded cable, which is malleable, soft and not rigid, and if you fuckup rj45 clicky part by stepping on it, you just change that one cable... so its generally more resistant to failures, replacing removable part - not requiring extra work.
Imagine if you you would have electrical sockets around the house not sockets but some 1.5m cables sticking out. Now you should understand.
Only the worst hacks in the industry would wire a home with stranded cat cable. I’d say more realistic is cat 5, even my house (new build 2024) was wired in cat 5 (spec builder allowed no mods). Iv since pulled a crap ton of cat 6 and cat 6a, and am planning my Single mode fiber drop between floors (up a garage wall, through our theater room to the attic, down the laundry room, and into the rack area under the stairs, I’m exhausted just thinking about it).
Contrary to many’s belief, category 5 is still very viable, with a multitude of purposes, even if you can’t run a long range multi gig connection. Lots of things in your home can never saturate even a 10/100 connection and cat 5 does gig. I know I know, I said I’m pulling a fiber line, but that’s because the builder ran my ISP feed line next to a crap ton of high voltage (240v 200a)
It's the industry standard. Better organization, less points of failure and better managment. Anyone that does it the way you described doesn't know what they're doing.
I don't see how adding a point of failure equates to less points of failure but it is indeed the standard. I've always found it to be redundant for no reason. All the extra work of stripping a cable and untwisting the pairs to punch down and then also having to source and use factory patch cables just to connect to the switch that could have just accepted the RJ45 end on the run to begin with. But I don't make the rules, I just follow them lol
One of the easiest methods of doing this is with PowerPoint (or free options: LibreOffice, Google Slides, Numbers if you have a Mac). Make a completely blank (white) presentation with one slide, insert photos, use textboxes and built-in arrow and line tools into said slide. Export as a PDF or image.
Yeah I’ve made them that way before, just wondering if anything exists that “pins” the lines between devices so if you move a device you don’t have to individually re-draw all the connections again
My mind immediately went to Visio for that. But I believe that you can connect arrows to shapes or images in PowerPoint as well.
Might have to make an invisible shape (no background, no border), connect the arrow or line to that shape, move the shape over the port, then lock the invisible shapes together with the image itself.
You might want to consider a different modem than the SB8200 for use with Xfinity. That modem does not support high- or mid-split DOCSIS channels required to get Xfinity's enhanced upload speed.
I just installed a Hitron CODA56 at a client's home and they're now getting 1gb/100mbps throughput. Not sure if that's of any importance to you now, but if you get a work-from-home job or become a frequent uploader to Youtube or TikTok it might make a difference. The CODA56 also has a 2.5GBE LAN port, in case you upgrade to multi-gig Internet in the future, and is roughly the same price as the SB8200. I had no problems activating the Hitron through the client's Xfinity app.
I don’t think that’s gonna work. Your modem needs to go to your router first. Then you can have the rest go to wherever you want. Most residential ISPs are only going to allow a single IP address to be assigned to you.
what about PoE cameras, if your going to go all out on this might as well install the cables for at least 4 cameras on all sides of the house.
As your doing the cabling anyways, might as well do it, even if you dont have cameras yet, because doing the cables again will be a pain in the ass.
Hell I would go even further and drop like 1 cable by living room to get 360 degrees Wifi from ceiling
* [https://www.tp-link.com/us/business-networking/omada-wifi-ceiling-mount/?filterby=6271%7C5730%2C5712%7C6439%7C6440](https://www.tp-link.com/us/business-networking/omada-wifi-ceiling-mount/?filterby=6271%7C5730%2C5712%7C6439%7C6440)
* Having ceiling wifi in key locations of the house is really nice.
Think of all the possible scenarios you could use CAT6 for, do it once, even if the cables wont be used, they are there.
I'd suggest getting SG108E over SG108 because the -E is "smart". Has a webUI for port monitoring (if you mount this thing in a place not easily accessible saves you from going to take a look at the lights every time you suspect a cable is down), VLANs and QoS. I have a few of them myself, they both cost a little under/over 30, a really minor difference. You say you're both gamers, QoS might be worth it for that alone, prioritize the ports you connect your gaming PCs on and deprioritize everything else.
If you're feeling fancy, grab the SG108**PE** or SG1008P instead - they have support for [PoE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_over_Ethernet).
This means that with the separate-router-and-AP approach you can get use a PoE AP. That means it is powered by switch over the network cable, so there's no need to have a separate power adapter at the AP side!
It's especially useful when you're mounting an AP to the ceiling or something, but you could also grab something like the TP-Link [EAP115-WALL](https://www.tp-link.com/en/business-networking/wall-plate-ap/eap115-wall/) or [EAP615-WALL](https://www.tp-link.com/en/business-networking/wall-plate-ap/eap615-wall/) for a really neat and tidy living room setup.
Having done this to my house about 2 years ago, perhaps consider running double wires to each socket in each room for future use. 2 wires for each bedroom and 4 for the living room
Should work, but personally off the Arris i would put the switch then run everything off the patch panel.
It seems very loopy to go from Arris to port 12 to your living room to the wifi router back to port 1 then back to basement then into the switch then back to patch panel to go back out to the bedrooms.
If the Arris doesnt do NAT/Routing and your signal from basement is weak where you need it id consider seperating the two out so it goes Modem -> Router -> Switch -> Patch panel. Then put an Access Point (AP only not a router/AP) that simply acts as such where you best need it.
But thats me.
Looks good. potentially, you could benefit from router only unit in basement, and AP in the living room. That way you will be able to upgrade or add wireless at any point and have a bit easier troubleshooting if anything goes wrong.
Thank you, I’m going to look into this now. I like that idea more!
I agree, separating the router and wireless access point is better because you can always upgrade one or the other. It also saves you a cable run because the router can be in the closet.
Could also save a cable run or if you run the cable you have a second port in living room
I would only change the blue line that uplinks to the router to yellow. Everything else looks about right. If you want a cleaner overall setup though. Consider a wired only router (~$50 USD), tucked away next to the modem. Then just an Access Point(s) ($75-150 USD) somewhere central to provide WiFi.
Separate wired routing from wifi APs is the way to go. Get a used commercial grade AP or two off of eBay (Aruba or ruckus).
I like your suggestion better and will definitely be looking into it instead
Congrats!!! I'm proud of you. Now. Rabit hole ... don't be scared, it's hardest part is plugging the wires in correctly. It's a little more involved, really just the same steps as a fully consumer setup just twice on two devices. But it's sooooo worth it having discreet devices that are compact and highly functional. Don't overlook maintenance. It's now 3-way, ISP-device, router, access point(s). It's not hard, but you might have to "reboot" more than one device if things go weird. Bonus: if you know which device went weird you 'only' have to restart that one. I'm currently recommending: 1. Wired-only Router: TP-Link Omada TL-ER605 2. Access Point: Omada ... whatever suits your pleasure (https://www.tp-link.com/us/business-networking/omada/wifi/) 3. A network switch with POE injection capabilities (60-90W total): maybe TL-SG105PE but any brand with POE is swapable). It's not required if the AP comes with a POE injector, just cleaner if you have multiple POE capable devices (multiple access points, camera, ... etc. there's tonnes). The Omada thing allows for a central controller (OC200, $100) or just a free software that you run on a computer to control everything with the 'Omada' label. This is ONLY *needed* if you have multiple Access Points (AP) and want to support client roaming between APs nicely. If it is just one WiFi AP then you don't need it at all, it becomes just a convenience controller (one place to control everything Omada). With just one AP, you configure the router as you normally would, in a wizard, it just won't ask about wireless details. Then you connect the AP and configure it via the wireless wizard, this is the 2nd half, for wireless access. Once it's all plugged in it is the same (via wizards) that you're used to, just split between Router and WiFi. TIP: everything above is the same if you were to switch brands to something like Ubiquiti UniFi .. same-same, just more expensive and IMO harder to setup for ideal performance. Omada just 'worked', while UniFi was slightly more capable it required advances tweaking after factory-reset that I just wasn't interested in doing. My side-by-side factory settings placed Omada around 200% faster than UniFi. With the effort I believe UniFi could exceed Omada, I just don't have the patience/time/bother for that extra management.
Do what this guy said. You can get ruckus r350 access points around 100 bucks if you are patient enough. They take a little bit more setup than a regular consumer grade system, but they are versatile and reliable. Please also look at used poe switches, check into Cisco sg300/350 as a reliable entry point. I haven’t checked prices but iv gotten some as cheap as $100 there as well… just wire it in a place that is open to where noise won’t matter! Fans can potentially kick up a ruckus! No pun intended. Routers are fidgety, I use Sophos and Dream machines from unifi depending on use case. I think dream machine would fit your bill if you got one cheap enough. All in you’re looking at 500-600 bucks which is about the same cost as a cutting edge high performance router, but you will get access to expansion, send wifi around the house simply by adding a wire and an access point. Want a camera, you can add that. Want to setup two or more isolated networks, easy. I’m a Ruckus dealer, started doing ubiquiti, did araknis for a bit, switched to cisco and meraki, and iv ended at ruckus. It’s been the best for me in my experience. We sell the 550s for $1,000 each like hotcakes. I personally have the 350s, which I am recommending to you, and I think they are stellar performers for their price.
You are a Ruckus dealer; do you think recommending Aruba or Rukus to a 1st-time homeowner with no network experience is the right solution? Buying used gear of eBay is great for a knowledgeable IT person, no warranty, no support, and way too complicated vs Ubiquity or Omada stuff which is still overkill. The guy only has 5 rooms, and 1 access point would cover his whole house. So a $1000 Rukus is a better idea than $80 Ubiquity for a non power user. Sorry I disagree.
Generally they are good skills to learn. Reddit is an amazing community where OP can post questions and get help setting up the network. I would even go out of my way to assist if they so asked me for that. So yes, I think that overall there is a learning curve but I’m about empowerment not dumbing things down. Edit: Also, I think I either misspoke or it was interpreted wrong. I was telling OP to find an r350 or r550 for sub $100 on eBay. I would never tell them to spend the kind of cash on a new unit at msrp. That pricing is part of the overall package of having a pro come in and dial it in for you.
As a Rukus dealer, you are dealing with customers with more technical skill sets, not the average guy buying a mesh at Costco. Sure Reddit is full of people wishing to learn more about networks like I did 40+ years ago. This brand-new homeowner with 5 devices has enough on their plate and expressed no desire to learn networking they did not ask about AP. So to me, Ubiquti/Omada was upsell and learning enough. Ubiquity or Omada they get their single AP brand new for $85.00 on Amazon w/30 day return and 1 year warranty. Omada they can call tech support and talk to humans. Great peace of mind for a non-techie person. As IT company owner 1/2 my life is dumbing down or translating Nerd talk to businesses who just want their computers to work. I will message you next Rukus-worthy client I get as it is good stuff for the right application
Ruckus is not bad for ANY deployment really. It just may not be necessary. Unleashed is very easy to use and very intuitive. Even the sg350 I recommended is easy to get running. I’m not saying they are going to make use of all the features, I’m just saying it’s a great bang for your buck. Please tell me that the $80 ubiquiti ap, and a tp link switch are going to hold up the same weight even in just the reliability and stability department. My solution is not very much more expensive and can setup very simply, but also allows a great deal of expansion and flexibility. I have no skin in the game, I personally think they would be happy with just about anything that worked, maybe even a net gear or eero mesh. I can only make suggestions
Just make sure that the cable from the modem goes to the WAN port on the router and that the switch is connected to a LAN port on the router.
Looks good, the only thing i would change is your patch panel... Instead i would get a keystone jack panel and terminate all the cables with keystones instead, i hate those punch down patch panels, makes it a pain to change things later. I started just using keystone passthroughs and terminating all the cables with RJ-45's so that i can move cables between ports, swap to different panels, or upgrade to a larger panel later without having to pull all the punchdowns and start over. I also found that those cable matters punchdowns don't like damp environments, like a basement, had one that went faulty, flipped it over and the little fingers in the punch down that the wires get pinched into were getting rusty from moisture, turns out they are copper or brass plated steel contacts. Ended up replacing it by terminating all the cables and putting in a keystone panel instead. Also you might want to consider a router in the basement with the modem and put a dedicated AP up in the living room, eliminates one run of cable and makes later router and AP upgrades a lot easier.
I've switched to keystone panels as well. Far easier, less time, better cable management.
100% agree with these suggestions. Blank keystone patch panel. (2) Ubiquiti access points, 1 in the basement, and one in main house. These are ceiling-mounted with Cat6 POE cables Ubiquity Dream SE on the higher end does give you 2 POE ports. Or on the cheaper end you could do Dream router or Cloud?? routers. Main advantage you can use Ubiquiti admin ecosystem to manage entire network. AP allow you to easly expand if you want WiFi in the back yard, or upgrade to WiFi7 in the future, just swap out AP. Consider a small UPS to protect the modem, router, switch in basement. Enjoy
Agreed... I switched to ubiquiti gear about seven years ago, haven't touched the router since I got done setting it up. Multiple access points and just got a U7-PRO to add 6E Wi-Fi last month, man is that nice having wired speeds to my laptop sitting in my living room.
Thanks for the detailed reply. I am shopping around again now haha I’m glad I posted before buying anything!
Will definitely change to the keystone panel instead, appreciate the insight!!
I agree that they should definitely get an unloaded panel then use keystones but adding that coupler and just putting RH45 ends on is kind of bad in practice. Most of my cables go to a jack then click into the panel. That being said, I do have some cables exactly like yours because I wanted yellow jacks for my cameras and those RJ45 passthrus were available at work lol. I just wouldn't use them when I want full speeds since a lot of the couplers are pretty cheaply made
Haven't had any trouble with the couplers whatsoever, most of them are going on 8 years now, full gigabit speeds no problem whatsoever. Just don't buy the cheap big box store ones, go for good name brand stuff. I prefer to have flexibility rather than anything like punch downs. Every keystone Jack in my house is passthru, of course I also validate and test every cable before use.
What the hell is a pass thru keystone
A pass thru keystone is the kind that takes an RJ45 connector on both ends, some call it a splice or coupler, but they are also sold as and called a PassThru. I like doing this because i can terminate both ends of a run, put my tester on it, validate the cable run is good and within spec, then put on the passthru keystone and pop it into the panel at the rack and into the plate at the wall jack location and its done. If the jack gets damaged its just removing the plate and replacing the passthru with another one without any cable end damage like a punch down keystone. And on the rack end i can quickly move cables around between panels without any cutting or punching down. Just makes everything more modular.
How modular do things need to be? If you are a DIY, bravo and I applaud your effort, if you’re a pro then just use a keystone and an end. Carry a patch cable with your tester so you can test keystones. The only situation that makes sense to use what you’re talking about is if you are using a liquid-tight variant. If you don’t like keystones for some reason, check out Vertical Cable’s ends and termination tool, we use it pretty much exclusively.
I've had jacks get damaged by kids jamming stuff into them, unless your coiling up a foot of extra cable on each box for every wall jack to make sure you have enough to install a new punch down keystone jack every time you have to cut the cable and redo it simply using terminated ends and passthrus are effective and fool proof. I can terminate a cable faster than most can install a keystone jack anyway so it's also time saving. Back when I used to work for a computer shop that did home networking install we had to deal with damaged jacks a lot, you only got so many reinstalls on a jack before you didn't have enough cable in the box and you were screwed. One time a school hired us to fix their networking, over 50 damaged keystone's without enough cable in the box to repair because it had been done before. Thankfully the cables came down from a drop ceiling and we were able to get just a bit more cable from slack in the ceiling to fix them, but I terminated them and used a passthru, let them damage that, takes seconds to replace it without damage to the cable anymore. I want everything 100% modular. I have had to replace cables and jacks and upgrades or reconfiguring an entire rack panel, with passthrus it takes me seconds to unplug a few cables at the panel and plug them back in. With keystone's terminated on the end I have to move the whole jack, takes more time and it's not beneficial at all. When I was doing Poe camera installs for a couple years the number one problem we got was keystone's that failed, I think it was the current flowing through them for the Poe power, regardless of brand they saw a pretty high failure rate. I started using passthrus and that problem went away, no more trouble calls for cameras dropping out. I have lots of personal reasons for doing it, is never caused any issues, it's cheap and quick, and keeps the cable integrity for future changes and repairs. It's mostly diy for me these days, I don't work in the field doing this stuff anymore, but even my home network is done the same way and has been for nearly a decade for some of the runs. Actually starting to pull a few of them out and replace with CAT6 because the initial install was done with CAT5E when all we had was slow Internet providers. Now we have fiber and I'm upgrading some of the networking to 10gb along with fiber runs between switches.
To each their own. Our experiences tend to steer us on our own unique path. I can respect that. Doesn’t sound like you’re green and just don’t like terminating keystones. As a point of reference, I always use dielectric on my outdoor terminations or when I’m doing cameras if no weather seal exists for the connection. It prevents corrosion but typically now it’s unnecessary as most cameras have weathertight connectors. Outdoor boxes and junctions, weathertight all the way unless we are in a pinch due to space then it’s still old school dielectric. I haven’t run into an issue where poe ever damaged a termination and iv gone up to 90 watts on it.
I think, just my opinion though, that the damage was more due to our dry winter air and large static build up. But many others claimed it was purely the current going through them. It was always a matter of debate but we never figured it out other than the punch down pins would lose connection to the wires after a while, you could wiggle the wires and it would work again, and passthrus always fixed it permanently, whereas the same jacks not running poe through them on the same panel would be fine. But the jacks that failed were at the rack not at the cameras outside, moisture was not a factor.
This is fine…everything is fine.
If you are not poor and want it done right, you put router right next to the IPS modem and switch and you place through the house Access Points(APs). Using PoE where power goes by the same cable data goes. Ideally you get POE switch for that if planning more of them and maybe some cameras down the road. Common decent APs are ubiquity - `UAP-AC-LITE` or newer version with wifi6 `U6-LITE` Its not about gaming PCs being on wifi, its about phones, and notebooks too....
I'd get at least a sixteen port switch. You've already used up 75% of your switch with very little room for growth or if a port goes bad.
Was thinking about this as well… glad for some reassurance!!
What is the benefit of using a patch panel as compared to just plugging the runs to each room directly into the switch?
If you use a patch panel, you can avoid crimping on RJ45 connectors entirely, which is the most likely point of failure for someone who is inexperienced with structured cabling. Don't even buy an RJ45 crimper -- just a punch-down tool, keystones, and pre-made patch cables.
I have an 8 in 1 for 90 degree keystones. One squeeze does it all
Who calls it an 8 in one. Weirdos, don’t trust this guy
They will curse your name when they punch their finger down like we all have. Good times
Funny, I never really seen discussion on this around to know the proper english terms.... googling... seems [solid wire vs stranded](https://www.truecable.com/blogs/cable-academy/solid-vs-stranded-ethernet-cable#page_comments=1) are the terms I am looking for... ok lets try If your cable through the house is not done by an amateur they use cat6 **wire**(solid copper core) as oppose to **stranded**(bunch of copper super thin hairlike wires twisted together). The wire will be more rigid and have different impedance and what not and by its spec require keystone(patch panel or room socket) termination not just regular rj45. But of course shit would work anyway, with any cable and rj45... but there are official proper ways to do things right and then you get that possibility of 10Gbit at 50m But IMO the more important benefit is how tidy it will be when you can later pick and choose exact cable length, and cable color, and now you use patch cable - stranded cable, which is malleable, soft and not rigid, and if you fuckup rj45 clicky part by stepping on it, you just change that one cable... so its generally more resistant to failures, replacing removable part - not requiring extra work. Imagine if you you would have electrical sockets around the house not sockets but some 1.5m cables sticking out. Now you should understand.
Only the worst hacks in the industry would wire a home with stranded cat cable. I’d say more realistic is cat 5, even my house (new build 2024) was wired in cat 5 (spec builder allowed no mods). Iv since pulled a crap ton of cat 6 and cat 6a, and am planning my Single mode fiber drop between floors (up a garage wall, through our theater room to the attic, down the laundry room, and into the rack area under the stairs, I’m exhausted just thinking about it). Contrary to many’s belief, category 5 is still very viable, with a multitude of purposes, even if you can’t run a long range multi gig connection. Lots of things in your home can never saturate even a 10/100 connection and cat 5 does gig. I know I know, I said I’m pulling a fiber line, but that’s because the builder ran my ISP feed line next to a crap ton of high voltage (240v 200a)
Its better organized and i hate prefer keystones or punch down panels instead of crimping.
For the average home owner? Almost nothing
It's the industry standard. Better organization, less points of failure and better managment. Anyone that does it the way you described doesn't know what they're doing.
I don't see how adding a point of failure equates to less points of failure but it is indeed the standard. I've always found it to be redundant for no reason. All the extra work of stripping a cable and untwisting the pairs to punch down and then also having to source and use factory patch cables just to connect to the switch that could have just accepted the RJ45 end on the run to begin with. But I don't make the rules, I just follow them lol
What did you use to make this diagram?
One of the easiest methods of doing this is with PowerPoint (or free options: LibreOffice, Google Slides, Numbers if you have a Mac). Make a completely blank (white) presentation with one slide, insert photos, use textboxes and built-in arrow and line tools into said slide. Export as a PDF or image.
Yeah I’ve made them that way before, just wondering if anything exists that “pins” the lines between devices so if you move a device you don’t have to individually re-draw all the connections again
My mind immediately went to Visio for that. But I believe that you can connect arrows to shapes or images in PowerPoint as well. Might have to make an invisible shape (no background, no border), connect the arrow or line to that shape, move the shape over the port, then lock the invisible shapes together with the image itself.
Not sure what they used, but Lucid Chart is great for stuff like this.
PowerPoint as u/lonomer described!
You might want to consider a different modem than the SB8200 for use with Xfinity. That modem does not support high- or mid-split DOCSIS channels required to get Xfinity's enhanced upload speed. I just installed a Hitron CODA56 at a client's home and they're now getting 1gb/100mbps throughput. Not sure if that's of any importance to you now, but if you get a work-from-home job or become a frequent uploader to Youtube or TikTok it might make a difference. The CODA56 also has a 2.5GBE LAN port, in case you upgrade to multi-gig Internet in the future, and is roughly the same price as the SB8200. I had no problems activating the Hitron through the client's Xfinity app.
Good to know. I’ll check it out, thanks!!
Newbie here too, one thing I don’t understand is why the TP-link connected to the patch panel (e.g. grey lines) what is that for.
I don’t think that’s gonna work. Your modem needs to go to your router first. Then you can have the rest go to wherever you want. Most residential ISPs are only going to allow a single IP address to be assigned to you.
Learned this the hard way when doing my network a little over a month ago. Certain devices were acting as if they were on a different network.
It does in the diagram.
Yeah I see it now. Connecting it to the patch panel through me off
Your diagraming skills are better than half the professionals I’ve worked with so you’re off to a good start.
I think drawing the patch panel complicates things a bit. Just label your patch panel according to the outlet and things would be a lot clearer.
what about PoE cameras, if your going to go all out on this might as well install the cables for at least 4 cameras on all sides of the house. As your doing the cabling anyways, might as well do it, even if you dont have cameras yet, because doing the cables again will be a pain in the ass. Hell I would go even further and drop like 1 cable by living room to get 360 degrees Wifi from ceiling * [https://www.tp-link.com/us/business-networking/omada-wifi-ceiling-mount/?filterby=6271%7C5730%2C5712%7C6439%7C6440](https://www.tp-link.com/us/business-networking/omada-wifi-ceiling-mount/?filterby=6271%7C5730%2C5712%7C6439%7C6440) * Having ceiling wifi in key locations of the house is really nice. Think of all the possible scenarios you could use CAT6 for, do it once, even if the cables wont be used, they are there.
You may wish to add a few more ports here and there for networked printers or other future projects
That's almost identical to how I have my setup. Works well.
That will work just fine
If your budget allows, go with 2.5gbe. Gigabit ethernet is long in the tooth and if you ever decide to set up a server, you'll be glad you did it.
I'd suggest getting SG108E over SG108 because the -E is "smart". Has a webUI for port monitoring (if you mount this thing in a place not easily accessible saves you from going to take a look at the lights every time you suspect a cable is down), VLANs and QoS. I have a few of them myself, they both cost a little under/over 30, a really minor difference. You say you're both gamers, QoS might be worth it for that alone, prioritize the ports you connect your gaming PCs on and deprioritize everything else.
Will definitely do this, thank you!
If you're feeling fancy, grab the SG108**PE** or SG1008P instead - they have support for [PoE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_over_Ethernet). This means that with the separate-router-and-AP approach you can get use a PoE AP. That means it is powered by switch over the network cable, so there's no need to have a separate power adapter at the AP side! It's especially useful when you're mounting an AP to the ceiling or something, but you could also grab something like the TP-Link [EAP115-WALL](https://www.tp-link.com/en/business-networking/wall-plate-ap/eap115-wall/) or [EAP615-WALL](https://www.tp-link.com/en/business-networking/wall-plate-ap/eap615-wall/) for a really neat and tidy living room setup.
Just a sec is the router behind the switch?
Having done this to my house about 2 years ago, perhaps consider running double wires to each socket in each room for future use. 2 wires for each bedroom and 4 for the living room
Love the diagram. Nicely done!!
Should work, but personally off the Arris i would put the switch then run everything off the patch panel. It seems very loopy to go from Arris to port 12 to your living room to the wifi router back to port 1 then back to basement then into the switch then back to patch panel to go back out to the bedrooms. If the Arris doesnt do NAT/Routing and your signal from basement is weak where you need it id consider seperating the two out so it goes Modem -> Router -> Switch -> Patch panel. Then put an Access Point (AP only not a router/AP) that simply acts as such where you best need it. But thats me.
Looks good to me. I’m a fan of AP’s as well. Cleaner overall. Side note, how do you make those cool diagrams? Lol I see many people doing it.
Pretty much, but no need for a patch
The patch panel is a bit... much
Almost there, just missing a loop that would cause a broadcast storm lol
Add another unmanaged switch just for the funsies!