Installing a Network Rack and CAT6 Cabling in my 1960s House
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- Опубліковано 2 чер 2024
- In this video, I show how I went about wiring CAT6 ethernet network cabling in my 1960s house, connecting it all up by installing a combination of new and old prosumer/enterprise grade networking equipment in a network cabinet in an upstairs cupboard.
I run my own web development business from home and so I rely heavily on my home network and fibre internet connection to have rock solid performance and reliability. This is especially when it comes to handling large amounts of data transfers as my client's websites range anywhere from a few megabytes to hundreds of gigabytes. Good, reliable WiFi coverage is also a must.
This wasn't my first experience of running ethernet cabling, but it was my first time working out the best route for cabling runs in a home, and building a network rack.
It's a long (and possibly boring) video, but hopefully gives lots of useful information as to how it can be done, some of the issues I faced, and how I overcame them.
I hope you enjoy the video.
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Chapters
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00:00:00 Intro
00:00:23 Equipment
00:03:53 Old Setup
00:09:10 Cabinet Locations
00:14:10 Final Location
00:17:38 Starting Work
00:20:32 Working Out Cable Runs
00:28:27 Running Cables
00:42:40 Unboxing Network Cabinet
00:52:33 Adding Electrical Socket
00:55:01 Mounting the Cabinet
00:59:00 PDU Installed
00:59:54 Installing Shelf
01:00:33 Just Chatting
01:02:32 Switching Old to New
01:07:26 Patch Panel Installed
01:08:42 Insatlling UDM-PRO
01:11:39 RJ45 Wiring
01:12:42 Removing Old Setup
01:13:58 Adding to New Setup
01:15:20 Network Rack Tour
01:17:20 Wiring the Office
01:19:00 Finishing Up
01:20:39 Outro Pics
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Affiliate links to everything I genuinely used in this video
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My Network Equipment & Rack
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V7 World RMWC12UV450-1E 12U Network Rack: amzn.to/3lpTNRW
24-port CAT6 Patch Panel: amzn.to/3Z1MMV7
UniFi Dream Machine Pro (UDM-PRO): amzn.to/3yVy5rM
UniFi Pro 48-Port PoE Switch (USW-PRO-48-POE): amzn.to/4070nM6
UniFi AC WiFi Access Points (UAP-AC-PRO): amzn.to/408gatZ
UniFi In-Wall Access Point (UAP-AC-IW): amzn.to/3yYF3fQ
APC SCL500RMI1UC 500VA Lithium-Ion Smart-UPS: amzn.to/3JYf2U4
Ubiquiti Compatible SFP+ RJ45 10G Module Transceiver (connects my computer to USW-PRO-48-POE giving it a 10Gbe connection): amzn.to/408h4Xp
10Gtek® 10Gb/s SFP+ Cable 0.3-Meter, SFP+ Direct Attach Twinax Passive DAC Cable (connects USW-PRO-48-POE to UDM-PRO): amzn.to/42JyfAz
StartTech 1U Server Rack Shelf: amzn.to/3yYwT7i
LMS Data 6-gang PDU: amzn.to/3yXTTDl
Cabling & Tools
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1aTTack 0.25m CAT6 Ethernet Patch Cables: amzn.to/42obRMG
StarTech 0.50m CAT6 Ethernet Patch Cables: amzn.to/3n6PZoV
Oren CAT6 100m Indoor Ethernet Cable (23 AWG Pure Copper): amzn.to/3FK8GFn
Mr. Tronic 50m Outdoor Ethernet Cable (CCA): amzn.to/406cxoB
Rhino Cables CAT6 Ethernet Faceplates: amzn.to/40t0RvG
VCE RJ45 Passthrough Crimp Tool: amzn.to/3FM31P9
VCE RJ45 Passthrough RJ45 Connectors: amzn.to/3JzTwnd
Splinktech RJ45 Connector Boots: amzn.to/3JICWSu
Raspberry Pi Units
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Raspberry Pi 4B 8GB: amzn.to/3JZiFcE
Raspberry Pi 4B 4GB: amzn.to/3JV76TD
Argon One M.2 Raspberry Pi 4 Case: amzn.to/3LD2bbj
WD WDS500G2B0B 500GB M.2 SSD: amzn.to/3LCn3iW
Raspberry Pi PoE+ Hat: amzn.to/3JANZNl
As an IT/networking professional and I’d say you’ve done a pretty good job with this project. The tool you want for identifying cables is a ‘tone and probe kit’. Invaluable, especially on large jobs. Even a cheap one would be fine for small/infrequent tasks. But the method you used (belling out) is good when that’s the tools you have to hand. I’d probably recommend pulling more cables while you have the floors/ceilings open, even if you don’t terminate them immediately - you’ll thank yourself later when you realise you need another cable for something if you have many spares around the house.
Home networking for the first time can be time consuming and difficult but you did a good job.
This was a monumental project. I’m thoroughly impressed.
A lot of work for a great result. Well done!
Just came across this now, brilliant install. I had struggles myself as I have a 50s house with stone walls and didn't consider a 2nd AP might be needed, so may have to run another soon.
Would highly recommend velcro ties rather than plastic in the cupboard
What a fantastic video. Great job, well explained. I'm planning an almost identical job even down to the cupboard on the landing and second AP currently in my daughter's cupboard. Looking forward to watching the next vid. Thanks.
Nice work, you must have very understanding partner, I'd never had got away with all of that gear above the door 😀
Great video. I did the same thing for my 60s house as well (ground floor only, upstairs will do this year) with the same 12U. As Simon mentioned below, you can use a cheap tone and probe kit. For upstairs I intend to install a couple of AP's via the loft (and one on the porch to deal with any WIFI line of sight connectivity issues when installing a doorbell) and CCTV (PoE) directly via the joists (as opposed to external). Well done
Nice work. I just did new networking in our 1914 house.
Great video!
Fantastic.
It was clear, informative and entertaining.
Velcro is good on the bundle of orange cables coming down from the rack in case add more.
Really enjoyed the video.
Will be interesting to see what the temps are like in your cupboard. I opted for a 6U cabinet in the garage as it’s a lower ambient temp.
Thanks! They’ve stayed between 26°C and 29°C for the past year. I have an idea of how to vent the cupboard if I need to though.
Wow, tons of work, Great👍.... I ran a cat6 from my living room to room too..but it looked more lesser work compared to yours...😇
Thanks for a great video 😊 I'm not as good as you but I'm trying to fix a network myself. There will be 22 CAT6a sockets.
You can do it!
Good luck with working with CAT6A cables - they are so much more thicker than CAT6 - I really struggled to do a lot of the pull throughs on joists and through walls when I had 3 cables at a time
The mrs is going away in June for a week. I am now planning on doing this while she is away. She doesn't know so the result will be interesting lol.
One thing I am still puzzled with and I've watched a quite a few of these videos is when you bring all the cat cables into the rack from various locations within the house, why do people connect them into a patch panel and not directly into a network switch for example?
Sounds good. Once the cables are terminated in a patch panel, they won’t really be moved about. As such the patch leads with take all the stress and strain of being disconnected and reconnected. Replacing a short cable is much cheaper and easier than replacing metres and metres of cable.
Thank you Jack. I thought I was going mad. Cheers for clearing it up.
I'm doing a basic setup in my 60s council house all brick construction so I'm dreading it. I do currently have a cupboard in my hallways which corresponds to cupboard upstairs so most o it can go via there but getting to the edges of the house with cable is going to be a pain I really don't want to. Pull up carpets. I currently use power lines but we are upgrading from 60 to 600mbps so really need a proper wired connection to devices such as ps5 and also our network storage.
Yeah, I found that this was the only way to do it. I used the opportunity of doing it before I had to renovate the upstairs of my house. To do it properly, carpets need to come up, sadly.
The ethernet jacks are technically euro modules, meaning they can support other faceplates. Only seen it once in the wild but you can get MK Logic Plus faceplates which match your sockets. That's what I plan to use when I next move house
That is true, yes, but I didn’t mind. They’re worked perfect for a few years now. I would recommend 45° angled Ethernet jacks too so they point down rather than out at a 90° angle.
@@jackrmcconnell that's a good shout in the right circumstances 👍
bt modem o.0 its an Open Reach ONT, I do like Unifi stuff, but the lack of multi-gig on it, or it costs a ton >.< such a shame as I just love how simple it is, and although internet 1gb+ is rare it'll become the norm eventually, currently on 2gig with Virgin, and the only limitation is my unifi stuff, grabbed a 10gb qnap switch and its been solid.
Great job. What about the heat generated from all the devices?
It was fine but I ended up putting in some fans in the top of the rack and a mechanical extractor in the ceiling and that’s kept the temperature on check. Along with the louvred vent in the door, the temps are fine and air is fresh.
Excellent work Jack, the multimeter trick was genius! 👏
Out of interest, what were you using for your UniFi console before the Dream Machine?
Thank you! I was using a Ubiquiti CloudKey Gen 2 previously. The UDM-PRO made for a nice upgrade.
@@jackrmcconnell Nice; I have a G2 Cloud Key at the moment but I’m planning to get more cameras and considering an upgrade to the UDM. UniFi is an expensive habit! 😆
@@JossAcklandsSpunkyBackpack it is indeed but you can find some great deals on EBay and the UnifiUK Facebook group.
Great video Jack, I am tackling this exact job tomorrow, where they m12 anchors just to double check?
Thank you! The anchors in the wall? I honestly don’t know. It was a while ago now, sorry!
@@jackrmcconnell ah no worries, I will do some measuring and stop being lazy!
I recently wired up my house too coincidentally also with the same network cables you have. I haven't connected my switch and router devices in yet. I have everything placed under the stairs cabinet. I also have an upstairs hallway cabinet like you and never crossed my mind to put everything in there. How is the airflow and temperature like in there? Do you also have the two APs as one wifi network? If so, I'm guessing you have to manage the dhcp ip address split separately?
Airflow is fine. I added fans to the top of the cabinet, a louvered vent to the bottom of the door, and a mechanical extractor into the ceiling to keep the air moving and the cupboard cooler, which is all much better. The APs mesh together to allow roaming between them - UniFi handles all of that for you automatically.
@@jackrmcconnell excellent!
If you don't mind me asking, how long did this project take you to complete?
I think a couple of weeks total. If you set aside the time you can do it in a couple of days I think. I was doing it on and off between work and whilst the decorating was about to begin.
Running the equipment in the roof would be fine. Equipment can run a lot hotter then people think check out the specifications.
Whilst I agree on the theory, in practice, I’ve found that running equipment that runs hot in a hot environment isn’t a good idea. Last summer, my roof ran to nearly 50°C for days on end and that just wouldn’t be a safe environment for hard drives or other components to sit in, not to mention the additional power requirements for cooling, or the dust.
If you have a dream machine, why didn't you plug the ubiquiti ap into that directly, and let the unify system run your ap network?
The Dream Machine Pro does run my network (including APs) but doesn’t have PoE to power the APs directly, hence the need for a switch with PoE.
@jackrmcconnell makes sense. I made the assumption that your rackmount DM had poe (mine does).
Oops moment for me. Thanks for the reply.
It's still a beautiful setup.
I now need to revisit mine and reassess
You had a radiator in the closet?
Originally it would have stored a hot water tank. Often, when these are removed, a radiator is added and the it’s used as an airing cupboard.
I though data cables are meant to stay well clear of any electrical cables, about 150-200mm away....?
Yes and no. Depends on the length of the run and what voltage I think. Either way, all network/server racks are like this. Plus you wouldn’t be able to plug a network cable into a computer and run power to it otherwise!
Wouldn't have been better if the rack was facing the door? Much easier to work too!
Not in my case - I measured the cupboard and it was wider than it was deep so if I had put it the other way around, I wouldn’t have been able to open the door fully, or be able to get around the side.
There's a missconception that cables need to be 100% copper, the electricity flows over the surface of the wire not inside it, a copper covered aluminium cable is ok, but it depends on the thickness and quality of the copper cover.
Im from the UK also and was planning on starting a network rack since i have 1GB broadband with the new HUB 5 Wifi 6 Router and was sick of using wifi for most devices. Id rather be hard wired and have ethernet ports in all rooms up stairs, as almost every room in my house is brick wall and that's whats putting me off. I have a question about the orange Ethernet cable you used here, how good is it and how about the quality/speeds?... You're full fiber and only getting about 150mbps on wifi?.... thats not full fiber, im getting over 700mbps on wifi on mine and 1146Mbps wired.
The service from BT is called full fibre as that’s what they call their non-copper installations. There are various packages you can buy from them. Mine is called Full Fibre 100 and is for a 150Mb download speed. They do others too, going up to about a 900Mb connection, I think. Not sure what the fibre is fully capable of but I imagine a lot fast than that even. The brick walls are frustrating and prevented me from putting in more connections in other rooms. You could flush mount everything but it wouldn’t look as neat. If you have really good wifi though, you may not need wired. My two wifi APs cover the whole house incredibly well and they’re very reliable.
@@jackrmcconnell Ahhh right, i have great wifi speeds/coverage but i actually want to get rid of it for the devices that i can actually hard wire, and only use wifi for mobiles really. Just haven't figured it out yet on where im going to set the rack up.
@@svgmateYT Ah, got ya. Hoping the bit in my video helps with working out placement. Best of luck!
@@jackrmcconnell Honestly it helped a lot, i never even thought of going under the floor boards! LOL. Every wall down stairs and up stairs is solid concrete/brick, only walls that's plasterboard is the wall in the top hall into the bedroom that's all.