Improving my Home Network Rack - New Patch Panel & Better Wall Mounting
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- Опубліковано 29 чер 2024
- In this video I will be making a couple of improvements to my home network cabinet where I replace the original Gripit plasterboard fixings with a much stronger metal framework. I'm also replacing my original patch panel with a new keystone based one while also trying a new patch panel layout which I hope will make the cabling much neater.
Metal struts and fixings from: directchannel.uk.com/
Patch panel and keystone modules from: www.cablemonkey.co.uk/
RJ11 Keystone Module: amzn.to/3C5Ut1D (Affiliate)
Inline 16A Flex Connector: amzn.to/3m3cHv3 (Affiliate)
www.camerongray.me/
/ camerongray1515
Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
03:24 - Demonstration of Strut Channel System
07:31 - New Patch Panel
14:35 - Dismantling the Original Network
15:54 - Fitting the Keystone Jacks
23:19 - Modifying the PDU Cable
25:28 - Removing the Cabinet
26:17 - Installing the new Cabinet Fixings
33:47 - Installing the new Patch Panel
36:02 - Tips on Labelling Patch Panels and Network Ports
38:33 - Installing Network Equipment in Rack
41:10 - Tour of Completed Rack
42:25 - Conclusion
AFFILIATE LINKS NOTICE:
Product links under this video marked “(Affiliate)” are affiliate links where I may receive a small commission on qualifying sales. Affiliate programs that I am a member of include, but are not limited to: Amazon Associates, eBay Partner Network and AliExpress Affiliates.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Purchasing through these affiliate links will not cost you any more money, however the commission earned significantly helps fund the production of videos on my channel. - Наука та технологія
Hardware used in this video:
Metal struts and fixings from: directchannel.uk.com/
Patch panel and keystone modules from: www.cablemonkey.co.uk/
RJ11 Keystone Module: amzn.to/3C5Ut1D (Affiliate)
Inline 16A Flex Connector: amzn.to/3m3cHv3 (Affiliate)
As a former network technician, i love seeing these types of videos! Great work and definitely worth the effort!
I work as a network engineer and do work on sites occasionally, primarily with optical networking, but I really enjoy watching these kinds of videos to see how people do their home stuff. I don't have the motivation to actually do it at my place - currently have a juniper fw sitting on the floor with an access point on top of it which was put down the day I moved in, and was "good enough" and remained ever since lol.
I can relate to that! I enjoy my day job but a lot of the time, after working with tech all day, when I get home the last thing I want to do is do more tech stuff.
It's really constructive to have you watching and commenting, fair play 👍 I know what you mean though, I design houses and extensions for a living, my own house is in desperate need of extension/alternation, but can I be bothered?!? Going back a long time when I was a strawberry picker...I did not want to see strawberry's out of work hours! 😁
i loved my job. i worked 24/7 for 6 months in the middle east. i was a marine communicator. my skills helped me upgrade my network. my entire house is wired. 2 drops per room. i filled a 16 port switch.
@@defective1331
I was wondering why you had so many Ethernet cables in a household. I do have 2 going to my living room ,but singles in the other areas . I despise wireless ,and will hardwire everything if I can . I wanted the 16 port switch but it wasn’t in stock so I purchased the wus 24 port . I was concerned about it only having 95 watts of poe , but I’m thinking I’m fine as I’m only running 5 G4 pro cameras and an AP pro on it .
@@MajorTendonitis i stream my tv only. and wires means no interference. and wifi sucks. it cuts on and off when it gets to a year old.
how many cameras do you have on your 24 port poe switch. do you have a poe ethernet multichannel nvr
That chain is a good idea, have used it myself a few times. I take mounting heavy stuff very seriously. I have seen a rack fall off the wall that was mounted on plasterboard, it narrowly missed a child sitting under it(it was in a classroom), glass everywhere and cut the poor kids leg, terrifying could have killed the poor lad.(i did not fit the thing )
I think you have done a very good job there.
That keystone looks good but i like the angled excel one.
Thank you for this, I was given some network switches, patch panels, etc. a good while ago. I bought 305m of CAT6 + 3 x Unifi AP's for house and detached office (external runs will be replaced with fibre later, to alleviate electrical grounding & lightning concerns). This will be a very useful video to refer to, as I've only got the arrangement working and not particularly aesthetic (understatement). Your level of detail is worthy of respect. 👏
Another awesome video on your network and a total eureka moment with your tips on labelling! Ive always used my label maker, stuck the label over the card insert of my network modules and cut to size- total B***ache! I’ll definitely be doing your method going forwards! 👍🏻
Great job! Love the keystone patch panel - an inspiration for me to upgrade my patch panel with the same, for ease of maintenance and future upgrade. Many thanks!
Just wanted to say i really enjoy the longer network videos :)
I remember when the you did the original install. It's cool to see the progress and growth of the equipment..
I love these videos. As an IT tech guy living in a rented apartment it's really nice getting to watch you mess with all of the networking in your house since I can't do such things myself in here~
Yeah, it sucks trying do to stuff like this in rented places, I remember running cables under carpet or mailing cable clips into carpet or into the top of door frames to run networking without leaving visible damage.
Slimline cables actually work really well. The Cat6 version lies about being rated for 10g, but still overall pretty good.
Good video, I've just done a very similar thing, upgraded my cabinet and moved from IDC to Keystone. I generally don't come across many Keystone installations in the UK but they are so much easier to work on, but a more expensive option.
Quite a cool idea, I have used unistrut for fitting cable tray/basket and mounting large external junction boxes and much more but never like you have.
I'd recommend a full hacksaw with bimetal blade or better yet, angle grinder, a files also nice to keep the ends smooth, you can also get plastic caps
Love your videos Cameron. Hoping to get my own setup underway soon using yours as inspiration!
The cable tester on that CCTV Tester is so useful. I originally got it because of your video for CCTV work, but now I'm dipping my toe into networks it's been so useful
Again, really well made informative video, thank you!
Nice one Cameron, you can rest easy now with a job well done.
Looks like a fun little project.
I love the Unistrut install.
I have a few suggestions to clean it up even further.
Move the keystones to the right so they align vertically with the ports on the 16 port switch. Then use much shorter patch cables.
Move the patch panel into the 2nd U location.
Move the 16 port switch into the 3rd U location.
Lastly, move the POE to the 1st U location.
Hey dude, nice vid. I’m also in the UK. I’ve got a server rack plonked in my lounge running a few poweredge servers, UDM Pro and a bunch of other stuff. I had considered mounting the comms equipment in a separate cabinet similar to yours. Haven’t decided yet 😂
Great video! Thanks
Very nice to see what was my inspiration to sort my home network out get a refresh. The slim RJ45's are nice. I would have thought you would have got something like those and then positioned the keystones to the right to line up with the switch so they're more vertical rather than cutting across. You could also then have a cable going from the cloud key and your second switch running into a keystone jack, then patch to the POE switch. Would give a super clean look
Thanks! The port alignment was really just to take up some of the slack in the cables, otherwise the cables would be too long and press against the door. May try shorter cables in the future. I could certainly have used through coupler keystones for the other kit in the rack and this seems to be a bit of a trend amongst the home network community but it's not something I like - just adds in additional connections and possible points of failure IMO. I'll keep things neat enough so that they are maintainable but I'm not super bothered about a flawlessly neat rack.
Nice video.
Thank very much.
Well done 👍👍👍
I install these at work. Whenever we meet a wall without studs that hits atleast one of the predrilled mounting holes, we drill out 2 small holes on the backplate in the network cabinet itself where the stud is located and insert big strong flatheaded screws. That solution is absolutely strong enough. This seemed way overkill. Anyway great video to watch!
My issue is that the wall only has a single vertical timber stud so I wouldn't be remotely happy mounting such a wide cabinet to that. If there was a couple of studs but they just didn't line up with the holes in the cabinet, I'd be totally happy to drill new holes in the cabinet. This solution is definitely overkill, but £50 of metal fixings to protect £500+ worth of equipment plus the cabling running through the ceiling (and the ceiling itself which would probably come down if the cabinet fell) seemed worth it.
You can make that so much neater. Put the PoE switch on top, then the patch panel, then your regular switch. Move the keystones to the right side. then just use 1' patch cables to go where you need them. Move the DSL jack to the right.
The "PoE switch" is an injector so it really needs to be between the patch panel and switch as the cables are patched through it. My issue is that there isn't much space in the cabinet, in particular between the door and the front of the equipment. Even with 15cm patch leads, I imagine the cables would stick out too far and would squish against the glass. The way I did it here meant that all of the slack of the cables was used up in the horizontal distance across the rack and therefore they don't stick out far enough to significantly get in the way of the door. All I really care about is that it's totally maintainable and easy to understand, I'm not necessarily bothered about making something /r/cableporn worthy, it sits in a cupboard out of sight. I'd probably do more if I had a larger rack with more space between the equipment and the door but there's no point replacing it currently when I have other things I need to spend money on first.
I was also thinking about that and get shorter thinner cables to line them up straight down from the patch panel, it would just be icing in the cake. Really well done though.
Fabulous video
Was using the UniFi gen 1 24port switch myself until I bit the bullet a few weeks ago and ordered the gen 2 24 port POE. Much neater, and looks superb with UDM pro 😎
Yeah, I'll likely move to a PoE switch in the future but that's a while off budget wise and depends if I stick with UniFi or try another platform.
Wow. I had no idea tool-less keystone jacks were a thing. I just wired my whole house with standard punch-down jacks and I wish I had known about them before!
Your old patch panel. You can remove the screws in the back and then they come into banks of 6 which you could have easily fit through the hole
A 5 port unmanaged switch?
Never thought id see you using an unmanaged switch
good job on this project... btw, you might have mounted the power in the back of the rack just behind the patch panel... that way you can get free space between switches for better airflow...
My 8U and now 12U rack that is mounted in my Closet is lagged screwed into a single stud that runs in the middle of the closet. Well, the 3/4" Plywood is mounted to the single stud. The new 12U rack is pretty heavy and so are the stuff mounted in it including the UPS and it's rock solid.
I use those Struts at work. Even much larger ones to hang like heavy Transformers on using long All-Threads. I still think he would have been just fine using 3/4" Plywood lag Screwed into the single Beam. You can screw the lag bolt down in a straight line in 2, 3 places and it'll be pretty strong. This seems a little bit of overkill.
I love Keystone Patch Panels. If a port goes bad, you can easily replace it with a new Keystone instead of a whole new Patch panel that you would have to rewire everything. No thanks. That small rack is clearly not going to go anywhere. It's beyond overkill, but if he feels safer going that route, then by all means. Here in the U.S., you can get that strut stuff at Home Depot. But anything larger or specialty stuff, I'll order from McMaster. I can get most of their stuff Overnight.
Always great to see other people's setups.
Got these keystone jacks, and they were great to install/terminate, but most of them broke over a year later when removing from the patch panel.
The latch that clips into the patch panel breaks very easily when removing. Otherwise they are very nice to terminate, really like the tooless design.
I'm replacing them with passthrough rj45 so I don't have to re-terminate them if they break.
There is a system called MoCA Media over Coaxial Cable which means if you have a lot of TV sockets in the house then they can be used to carry data as well as the antenna signal to the TV.
one of the patch panels i bought basically allows you to plug a cat6 ethernet cable into it without having to make and terminate your own cables this means that unless you need made to measure cables then you can save yourself the agro by buying premade cables
Those work and I've seen them used although I find it easier to connect to keystone modules than to crimp RJ45 connectors. Not sure where I'd use the through coupler ones personally as I'd always use solid core bulk cable for structured cabling rather than patch leads. Then I'd never use a patch panel as a way to run patch leads from the front to the rear of a cabinet, I see it done but to me it just adds points of failure that could be avoided by just using a brush plate.
Great video with some good tips for the future when I get round to sorting out my own cabinet. What is the PoE injector you are using?
Really enjoyed your home network videos. They definitely inspired me to planning out my own home network that I'd like, which lead down a rabbit hole about Networking, then Home Assistant and Automation and Blue Iris. The time you spent thinking about the little details like Labels and cabling is so worth it because that cabinet looks great. Curious what your thoughts are on using the BT Openreach modem over the standard ISP modem.
I've just always used the openreach modem since I've been using it since it *was* the ISP modem (they used to provide them with FTTC services before they integrated VDSL modems in their routers, they also used to send out an engineer to "install" the modem along with a VDSL filter faceplate). If your ISPs router supports bridge mode I suppose you could use it as a modem however the one Plusnet supplied doesn't. Additionally the openreach modem (or other options such as the DrayTek Vigor 130) have a nice form factor that can fit in a rack whereas ISP routers tend to be bulky vertical standing things that look silly shoved on their side in a rack.
Ah that makes sense. I have an openreach modem and tempted to segregate out the devices. Not sure if the vodafone router supports bridge mode though. Supposedly the openreach modem can achieve better speeds and stability benefits in some circumstances.
@@camerongray1515 BTW: They can't use a modem if they use fiber or VDSL - both technical are digital technologies. Possible do you mean a fiber2ethernet or VDSL2ethernet box? Sometimes they integrated it into the router. Do you need a MODulator/dEModulator only at old analog technology over copper lines.
Modern router are typical a (fiber/VDSL2)2ethernet box, WAN-port ethernet, bridge ethernet2ethernet, 4-port switch 1000 MBit together into one small box with one power connector. Theoretical do you can use only ubiquiti products for this way and not only a switch! Then do you can easy control the way, e.g. failback over 4G/5G, or over cable.
VDSL still sends signals over a regular analogue phone line, it just uses a wider frequency range than ADSL so you're still definitely using a modem for that - the "Openreach Modem" is absolutely a modem in every sense of the word. Sure for fibre it's not technically a "modem" in the official sense of the word, it's usually some sort of ONT in the case of PON domestic/small business installs or some sort of provider managed switch in more commercial installs (or various other options, I've seen simple passive media converters with some early FTTP setups for example). That said, I'm not a fan of being pedantic about terminology, if I know what the person means and it's not in some sort of situation where ambiguity could be dangerous, that's fine. If someone tells me that they're having an issue with their "modem" or their "hub" when talking about their ISP provided "router," refers to an outage with their internet connection as the "wifi being down" or asks "Why did you run all those cables in your walls? Is it so you can plug your computer into the WIFi?" then I can usually still work out their intent. Not everyone has to be an expert in every area of technology and I'd rather simplify things to help them understand than give them the "well... actually..." treatment and baffle them with precise terminology related to devices that they view as "the box that makes the internet work."
@@camerongray1515 The Openreach Huawei modem were routers with the original firmware. Openreach had their own firmware and used them as modems only. These ones can be unlocked. The ECI one as far as I know no one has unlocked them. The Draytek V130 or the newer V166 are true Ethernet modems but can be use as a basic router.
Use unistrut to mount cabinets to the side of towers and onto chimneys, and all sorts of stuff.
nice video
That looks like a clean and sturdy mounting system, I like it. The overall setup also looks pretty clean. One thing I dont understand is, why do you use the left ports of the patchpanel instead of the right ones? Is it because you dont want to run "over" the POE injector ports? Otherwise I think it could look even cleaner that way with some shorter cables.
The reason I did it that way was purely because of the length of my patch leads. Had I right aligned the ports the cables would have stuck out too far and hit the door. The current patch leads are 15cm which is already really short, getting something shorter would be tricky. Easy enough to rearrange in the future though!
@@camerongray1515 Oh got it! They look much longer on video. I use 25cm ones for a much shorter distance, but my rack is much deeper. Than I guess your solution is as good as it gets with the limited space you have!
Actually, my mistake, the cables are probably closer to 30cm including the ends, I had it in my head that they were 15cm and obviously never thought to measure. I'll likely buy 15cm ones when I try the slim cables and at that point I'll consider rearranging the patch panel.
@@camerongray1515 a small number of my 25cm cables are quite bit longer than others, really disappointing :/.
I would recommend using a .5 m dac cable to go from your UDMP to your switch.
It would work, but it wouldn't provide any significant performance improvement over a regular CAT6 cable as the US-24 switch I have only has SFP ports, not SFP+
Why are you using a flat DSL cable ? Just kiddin. Thanks for the video. Great job !
Nice job Cameron. When you first described how you ere going to configure your 48 port patch panel to match your 24 port switch I envisioned that you were going to replicate the panel ports directly above the switch and use short patch panel leads. Is there a reson you didn't do this?
The cables I had were fairly long so by aligning them the way I did, the slack was used up across the horizontal distance. While I could get shorter cables in the future, I'd likely struggle to get ones short enough that the door doesn't crush them when it shuts as there isn't much space between the front of the equipment and the door.
Great video, thank you. Just one question, did you connect anything to the big earth stud, if not why not ? In past life we would earth every single panel & equipment with stud to a earth bar then back to building earth.
As far as I'm aware it's not necessarily required in simple setups like mine from an electrical perspective as all of the equipment installed is either itself earthed or double insulated. If on the other hand I was installing equipment with exposed mains terminals or single insulated wires then the enclosure would need to be earthed. Obviously regulations may vary between countries but I'm not aware of anything in the UK that would require it in this situation. I've also seen similar cabinets in offices which have been installed by contractors that don't have earth bonding. On the other hand, I have seen bonding installed in higher end data center settings but not sure if this is a requirement for those or just an extra layer of safety given the high value environment.
Nice video! Can you please share which Angled Wallplate are you using? :) couldn't find them on amazon...
These are the particular modules I'm using: www.comms-express.com/products/excel-keystone-mounting-adapter-with-white-shutter-angled/ which take a regular keystone jack in the back and mount into a euro module faceplate. That said, if you're outside the UK you may have difficulty as different countries have different standards around the shape and size of electrical accessories.
i’ve used gripits to mount a 55” Oled with a vogel’s slim wall mount.
Gripits did scare me as i was not 100 percent they opened correctly. mind you, the tv was up for a few years before we moved house so i assume it was all good.
Yeah, they're pretty good, my concern with this was more the fact that the cabinet protruding from the wall creates a sort of cantilever force with the gripits being pulled away from the wall surface. With a TV on a flat to wall bracket it's more of a sheer force which puts less stress on the plasterboard. The 113kg rating of blue gripits is only for sheer force, the ratings for cantilever and tension forces are significantly lower.
Really enjoyed the video. I wish I’d known about those Connectix keystone patch panels when I moved from my floor standing 42u rack to 2x 8u wall mounted racks; they would have saved me much headaches and crude 4 letter words 😀
I’m curious about the use of a Cloud Key & a UDM Pro - I thought they did the same job?
Either way, keep up the good work!
The UDM-Pro can certainly act as an NVR for UniFi Protect, however my issue is that if you need the cloud remote access for Protect (which is required for the mobile app, even on the same LAN), you also need to enable cloud access for the UniFi controller. By keeping them as separate devices, I can keep remote access enabled for UniFi Protect on the CloudKey while keeping the UniFi controller on the UDM configured for local access only.
@@camerongray1515 Ahhh yes, that makes perfect sense as to why you’d keep them separate; I never did understand why UI forces you to enable cloud access on the UDMP (I would assume it’s for either Talk or Access), I hadn’t realised that the Cloud Key didn’t require you to enable cloud access; I probably would have gone down this route had I known.
I was running a UniFi controller on a Mac mini that the psu decided to go pop in, taking out the hard disk in the process - either way you live and learn.
I really appreciate the reply, thanks.
Cameron, just a thought in case you redo your inter connects maybe you could consider changing the the starting position of the of the first Keystone in the Patch Panel so that #1 lines-up with #1 of the Switch in that you could use all 6" or 15 cm cables 🙂for a better look?
That was a consideration and something I'd possibly do in the future however in this case I wanted to be able to use the existing cables. There also isn't much space between the door and the switch so it might be a bit tight to bend them neatly. Definitely something I'd do in the future though.
Nice job. What's the attraction of those old openreach white modems? Ive always wondered why they sell so well second hand when loads of newer options
What newer options? When I looked into it there was only the Draytek Vigour which is about 3-4x the price of a decent condition Openreach modem. Plus the Openreach modem has a second LAN port which can be useful. At the end of the day, it works so why pay more?
I personally got mine free when I first had an FTTC service installed (they used to provide them before ISPs started providing routers with built in VDSL modems) but I find the openreach ones are not only significantly cheaper than other options but they also just work without any configuration or tweaks. I've previously used a Netgear DM200 and even to just use it as a modem you have to change a bunch of settings as by default it acts as a router (despite being sold as a modem) and I couldn't get it to support RFC4638 baby jumbo frames which the openreach modems do.
regarding your rj11 cable, I have been putting rj45 connector on one side of an rj11 cables to use it with standard Ethernet patch panels ( for analog telephones) , I think it would solve your situation with esthetics for the DSL port.
I used to do this with my old patch panel, but now with a modular patch panel I'd rather use an actual RJ45 module as it feels more "self documenting" and prevents issues around people getting confused and plugging ethernet devices into the DSL port and vice versa.
I would've taken the PoE first, then the patch panel and the Unify below it. Everything could then be patched with short cables ... and without them hanging in front of a device.
Very Interesting video. Your network cabinet is something I aspire to have at my home down here in New Zealand, but as others have said I dont have the time or motivation to install one. Just one question, where is your Optical Network Terminal or have you done away with it and connected the fibre directly to the dream machine? Great videos keep them coming.
I don't have a fibre to the premise connection, it's a VDSL2 connection using the white modem on the shelf connected to the UDM with the green CAT6 cable. FTTP in the UK is still relatively new and in the vast majority of installs will be a GPON system where the fibre is terminated into a wall mounted ONT with the end user expected to connect this to their router.
Really enjoy watching your videos ! would love to set something like this up in the future. I'm a bit of a novice, but keen to learn. How did you learn and what's your advise for someone like me to get started ?
To be honest, I'm almost entirely self taught, especially when it comes to the actual wiring side of things. The actual cable and faceplates.etc are relatively cheap so can always just get a few bits to play around with and practice, before I cabled my flat, I lived in a rented flat were I ran a single CAT5e run to each bedroom under the carpet which at least gave me practice terminating jacks. As for the construction stuff, a lot of it is literally just down to common sense and problem solving - working out the best routes to run each cable given any obstructions/layout of the building and figuring it out if there's any ways that you can make your life easier, such as following existing cable routes. Only main thing to think about when running cables (assuming you're in the UK) is to make sure you're running them within the appropriate wiring zones to comply with regulations: flameport.com/wiring_regulations/BS7671_selected_subjects/zones_concealed_cables.cs4. There's also a lot of very good electricians that have UA-cam channels - Artisan Electrics, Nick Bundy, Cablesmith Electrical who show themselves doing work - even though it's more focused on mains electrical installations, they often show good techniques for routing cables through a building.
@@camerongray1515 Thanks for the reply 👍 a friend of mine is an electrician, so he's going to help me with the cabling side of things. So the plan is to educate myself with setting it up and getting confident with how it all works on the network side of things. It's going to be a little while yet, as it's something I want to do when I buy a place with my partner, so I just want to put some time a side to learn, but don't know where to start.
How about using 2 x 24 port keystone units. Then you could place them above and below each port of the switch. The the patch leads can be shorter and straighter.
That would definitely work, but in such a small cabinet I wouldn't want to waste 1U of space.
hi. where did you get the cabel implementation in the roof?
Good video. What is the cost of your structure setup? This is a lot of work. Why do you not buy server cabinet?
Not sure of the exact cost but for just the cabling and not any of the switches/router.etc I'd suspect the current setup to cost around £300-500 in parts depending on what you go for (for example, I paid more for stainless steel faceplates, white plastic ones would have been much cheaper). I do have a server cabinet in my office (albeit a 20U one that actually only has a single server in it). The reason I went for a smaller wall cabinet for the structured cabling was because I simply don't have space in any of the cupboards for one. I was also thinking about what happens if I move in the future - a small wall cabinet with all the cabling terminated could be useful for future owners, even if they just want to patch a couple of the ports into their ISP router. If everything was terminated into a larger cabinet in one of the rooms or one of the cupboards was taken up by a large cabinet, future owners would probably want to just rip it all out to get the space back.
Nice upgrade . I have a 6’ network rack in my basement and am trying to figure out my options also . I have the dream machine pro and recently purchased the unifi 24 port poe rack mount switch .
I think the cleanest look would be a keystone panel like you did,but I’m thinking that it just adds another connection to the equation. I’m debating to run my Ethernets under the switch , and use a cable management cabinet that sticks out and looks like crap imo .
Decisions decisions
I wouldn't be too worried about a patch panel as long as you're using it correctly - Patch panels are designed for terminating structured cabling (as in, cables that are running through the building) and in that situation the additional connection isn't likely to be a problem, they are used in this way in basically every commercial installation without problem. It also means that the structured cabling stays fixed in place rather than being bent around into the jacks on a switch. Structured cabling is generally solid core cable which isn't really designed to be bent around and terminated in RJ45 jacks so a patch panel lets you terminate the structured cabling and then use patch cables to run it into the switch, it also makes it easy to do things such as patch 2 of the network drops together to give a direct cable between network points, this can be ideal for things like HDMI-over-CAT6 systems. Where a patch panel isn't appropriate is where I see a lot of "homelab" people using them to interconnect different items within a rack, essentially adding a connection purely to bring a cable from the rear of the rack to the front - in my opinion this is unnecessary and feels like a case of "I want a patch panel but I don't have structured cabling so I'll just shove a patch panel in here for the sake of having a patch panel"
Great Points made here ,thank you for the lengthy post. You’ve actually convinced me to add a patch panel
Btw , subbed
@cameron grey How do those Connectix keystones compare to the Excel ones? If I remember correctly you used Excel keystones with angled euro module fronts around the flat?
They're both pretty similar although I like the fact that the Connectix ones come in a bulk box whereas the Excel ones came in individual bags which was more fiddly and less environmentally friendly. The ability to use a zip tie on the Connectix ones was also a nice touch. That said, the Excel euro module keystone shutters are still my favourite way of terminating a network jack and Connectix don't offer an alternative (their angled module protrudes from the front of the faceplate slightly) so if I'm using those I'd probably end up using the Excel modules so that I can order both parts from the same place.
@@camerongray1515 Thank you for the reply. Have you done any drops where the cable comes from below with the angled euro modules? Just wondering if its hard to terminate nicely.
Not personally but you'd definitely need a fair bit of space in the back box to bend the cables around, doable but you'd want a 47mm box for sure. With a dry lining box I'd be tempted to still bring them in the top so the bend is inside the wall rather than constrained to the box however with a metal box sunk into a solid wall, you'd probably just need to use a deep box and bend it carefully inside it.
Partly thanks to your previous videos, I got rid of my old Linksys WRT router and I managed to replace it with a UDM Pro SE.
Looking forward to when I can get it in a rack.
Nice! But I would move the ports to the right side of the patch panel and get smaller patch cables. It would look a lot better IMO. Abraço!
That's true, I did it this way purely due to the lengths of cables I had (and 15cm being generally one of the shortest widely available patch leads). Easy enough to rearrange in the future though!
Actually, my mistake, the cables are probably closer to 30cm including the ends, I thought they were 15cm. I'll likely buy 15cm ones when I try the slim cables and at that point I'll consider rearranging the patch panel.
@@camerongray1515 I bought from ubiquiti a couple of 10cm Patch Cable to test, and they measure 20cm from jack to jack. The 10cm is only the thin cable part. It's the thinnest cable I ever seen, and 1.7€ each not that cheap. But they work well I guess...
I was about to say this. Could probably use 6"/15cm cables, or even custom make some cables if you've got time to waste!
i put rj45's on the end and female to female keystones. maybe i will put a patch panel.
Where did you get the brush plate for the ceiling? I need something like that...
It's just a basic letter box draught excluder: www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Internal-Letter-Box-Draught-Excluder-White---78-x-338mm/p/218011. That said, make sure that your ceiling isn't classed as a fire barrier as this would mean that you'd need to take steps to protect the hole against fire spread. In my case, the plasterboard is a drop ceiling below a concrete ceiling above so it's fine, however this would be different in say the downstairs floor of a house where the wooden floorboards of the upstairs rooms is immediately above the downstairs ceiling
@@camerongray1515 Thanks for that -- I'm in the US so I found something on Amazon for $15. We don't have a lot of letter boxes in our doors here so it's not something that came to mind :)
what is the plate/dust cover called where your cat6 cables are coming in?
It's a letter box draught excluder. Just bear in mind that it's not suitable for installing on a ceiling that is acting as a fire barrier, in my case here there is a concrete ceiling above so the plasterboard isn't a fire barrier but in other types of construction it may be a consideration.
I've seen those U-channel profiles used here in Hungary, but I am yet to find where can I buy them. I don't know the name used here. It would be really handy for on-wall installation of cable trays, compressed air lines and similar stuff.
If you look for the brand name "Unistrut" you may be able to find it, places selling the branded stuff may then give you the correct words to look for. A lot of places selling other brands list it as "Unistrut compatible" as well.
It's available in my local home center here, but I'm in the USA. Maybe check if your closest home improvement store has an electrical department.
Is there a specific reason for using a separate PoE injector or did you already own this switch and just didn't feel like replacing it for a PoE-capable one?
Also I wish manufacturers would make devices like the switch or the PoE injector half-width so you could mount them both into the same U and save a bunch of space in small cabinets this way ...
Purely just because I already had the switch and didn't fancy replacing it given the additional cost of a PoE switch. Whenever I next replace my switch I'll be going for a PoE one but wasn't worth the extra cost at the time. Half width stuff like that would be great, Dell have some switches which can do that which is really neat, wish it was more common. Can have a 12 port 10gbit switch and a 24 port gigabit switch side by side in 1U.
I would prefer the confidence of your new fixing given the cost of equipment in there, great solution.
Out of interest how did you get a open reach modem as apposed to the hubs they offer as standard as that would suit me better too?
If you're using an external router the openreach modems are great as long as your router can connect using PPPoE, works out of the box as soon as you set up the PPPoE connection on your router.
@@camerongray1515 thanks for the response. Yes I'm in the process of moving my network stuff into a cabinet and tidying everything up cause I have a few switch's and access points and it's a rather convoluted. So looking at going down a similar route to yourself, guess what I ment to ask was did you request the modem only or is a legacy item.
@@regallee you can get them on eBay for relatively cheap
I got mine from back when they provided them with FTTC installs but they're widely available for cheap on eBay.
Got mine from eBay for around £18 I think. Stated “used” but mine was still sealed in a bag.
I have the same patch panel could you upload your template for the numbering so the spacing is correct for me.
You probably already knew this but you could have terminated your telephone into an RJ45 keystone module and the connected your RJ11 into that. RJ45 is design to be compatible with RJ11 cables. I have also seen people crimp RJ45 cables onto RJ11 cables.
This would definitely have been an option, however I personally prefer using an RJ11 connector in this type of situation as I feel that it is more "self documenting" - as in, it can't be mistaken for a regular network drop and you physically can't accidentally plug a network device into it. It's also worth bearing in mind that doing this does run the risk of damaging the outer pins of the RJ45 connector due to the plastic of the RJ11 connector pushing them down further than they normally would be. If the connector is left in for a long period of time, it's possible that they won't spring back up to their proper height and therefore may not make a good connection if the connector was used with an RJ45 jack in the future. Not really an issue in this case since the jack would only be wired for the phone line, however, if I wanted to connect a phone to say, a wall port that may be used for network in the future, I'd much rather use an RJ45 to RJ11 adapter/cable to prevent this issue. As you say, it's also possible to make up an RJ45 to RJ11 cable and in fact this is what I was using with my old patch panel since this was entirely RJ45 connectors where I still wanted to use the last one for the phone line.
@@camerongray1515 fair dos. Makes sense to me!
I would mount the patch panel at the top and a cable organizer next, there are ones hiding the wiring with a cover. in fact i would also mount the PDU in the rear side of the rack and use two cable organizers or just enjoy the newly created space
Then question one: why uplinking the Unifi switch to that port on UDM-PRO? you got sfp on both
Then question two: why not selling the old controller as UDM-PRO is perfectly capable of doing it all? i am running it for almost 1 year now with zero issues on UDM-PRO
A cable manager like that could work although don't think I have the depth between the front of the rack and the door. The PDU could go in the back but I'd then have issues accessing it to connect stuff, I'll likely get a slightly bigger rack down the line which would give more space for a front mounted PDU and cable management.
The reason it is uplinked in that way is purely because I already had the SFP RJ45 module so it made sense to use that to free up the rest of the RJ45 switch ports for other devices, the switch only has gigabit SFP so there wouldn't really be a benefit to using it over a regular CAT6 cable.
The reason I use the UDM-Pro and separate CloudKey Gen2 Plus is that I use the UDM as the controller and the CloudKey as an NVR for UniFi protect. After updating to UniFi OS, remote access can only be enabled/disabled on a whole device basis. Therefore if I wanted to run the NVR on the UDM and enable remote access for UniFi Protect (which is required for the mobile app to work), I'd have to also enable remote access to the UniFi controller which I wouldn't like. By continuing to run them on separate devices, I can keep remote access disabled for UniFi controller while still having remote access enabled for UniFi Protect.
There is a really good video on the mountain hardware on the efixx UA-cam channel
That SFP/RJ45 adapter module triggers me. Just get a cheap DAC SFP/SFP cable. Should be dirt cheap for a 6-inch or 1-foot, better bandwidth to your UDM, and will put less strain on the port.
I already had the module so may as well have used it. A DAC wouldn't provide any extra bandwidth, the SFP port on the switch is still gigabit. Now, if I had a more recent switch with an SFP+ port then it may be worthwhile but as it is currently in see little reason to spend the extra money to replace what's working fine.
I might have a PD unit you can have...female IEC sockets at rear. Get in touch if you are interested pal.
Did you know an RJ11 male fits perfectly (and works) in to an RJ45 Female socket?! No adapter required!
He had it working like that in the old patch panel
@@wojciechkonowrocki37 Looked to me that he used a male RJ11 to male RJ45
Why didn’t you put the patch keystones on the right side of the patch panel and use 6in patch cables?
The patch leads are already 15cm (so basically 6in) - there isn't enough space in front of the door to fit the slack without bending it if it was all right aligned. The benefit of it being keystone based though is that it's super easy to rearrange if I were to change things in the future
Actually, my mistake, the cables are probably closer to 30cm including the ends. I'll likely buy 15cm ones when I try the slim cables and at that point I'll consider rearranging the patch panel.
If you don't like the rj11 keystone then why not use an rj45 and crimp a standard plug onto your modem cable, non standard I know but it would work and fit as expected
That's what I had previously, personally prefer it this way as the DSL port on the patch panel can't be mistaken for a network port.
Good video, no DAC cable between the switch and UDM ?
The switch only has gigabit SFP ports so a DAC wouldn't give any benefit. The SFP RJ45 module is a layover from previously when I needed a single extra RJ45 port on the switch so I may as well just keep using it since I have it, otherwise I'd just use one of the regular switch ports at a fraction of the cost of a DAC cable.
@@camerongray1515 I like the looks of a 1foot dac cable coiled up nicely!
Sure, they look nice but I can't really justify the cost given it'll function the same as if I were to just run a CAT6 cable between RJ45 ports and not use SFP at all.
@@camerongray1515 the 27$ SFP DAC to go from the 2 devices isn't that much money + you get an extra port & can remove a SFP to rj45 device.
I can do but it honestly doesn't bother me, I really don't understand the issue with an SFP to RJ45 module that works perfectly fine other than "it doesn't look nice". I use DAC cables where appropriate (such as at > gigabit speeds) but I really don't see the obsession with them, it's just a cable.
Why did you not mount the powerstrip on the back post of the rack? Then all your power stuff would be out of sight.
I could have done but given the rack is full of equipment it would end up being difficult to access all but the leftmost couple of outlets. I'd generally rear mount PDUs in a floor-standing rack where I have access to the rear however not in a situation such as this.
Why the CKG2 and the USMP Cameron? Don’t they have a lot of mutual functionality?
The UDM-Pro can certainly act as an NVR for UniFi Protect, however my issue is that if you need the cloud remote access for Protect (which is required for the mobile app, even on the same LAN), you also need to enable cloud access for the UniFi controller. By keeping them as separate devices, I can keep remote access enabled for UniFi Protect on the CloudKey while keeping the UniFi controller on the UDM configured for local access only.
@@camerongray1515 Ah! I see. I have the Cloud Key Gen2 (non-pro) for UniFi Network and the UNVR for Protect so I never ran into that. Not quite ready to step down from some of the advanced features of MikroTik RouterOS to the UDMP just yet.
Ahhhh those patch leads... Nice mounting etc but those patch leads are an abomination. Get a brush 1u panel, remove the poe injector panel and replace the patch leads as you had said but get a least 0.5m ones. Other than that good job!👍
Couldn't be looking at those patch leads on any of my installs.
In what way? Fit a brush plate and stuff the slack through it? Sure it would look better but I'm not going for the /r/cableporn look. Personally I'd rather go for some sort of front mounted cable management bar instead of a brush plate (which I'd use for running cables to the rear of the rack rather than for storing slack) but I don't have the front depth for that. I'm also relatively space limited and while I could remove the PoE injector to get an extra space, I'd then need to spend a significant amount of money on a new PoE switch. There's always a balance between functionality and overall appearance but in my mind, if it's functional and easy enough to maintain then it doesn't have to look flawless.
Still something to improve, cables could look cleaner than this, especially the stray orange ones.
It'll never be possible to make something like this look absolutely perfect without ridiculous amounts of effort which will go out the window as soon as something needs quickly changed in the future. It's hard enough when you come up with a cable colour coding scheme which will last until you need to connect a device which you don't have a suitably coloured cable for then, bam, the colour scheme is out the window! Cables have to go to other devices in the rack (hence the ones that go over the top of the patch panel) then there are some patch leads that run directly between ports on the patch panel to provide direct links between room ports. My goal was not to provide some sort of Reddit /r/cableporn setup, it was to provide something that works for my needs and is easy enough to work on in the future.
It kind of hurt me towards the end of the video seeing the SFP on the switch going to the RJ45 port on the UDM Pro :(
Purely doing that because I already had the SFP to RJ45 module so freed up the main switch ports for other devices. As the switch only has gigabit SFP ports there would be no real benefit to using that vs just running a regular CAT6 cable between the devices.
I would have to make up the patch lead to length.
It's definitely possible but for me it's a balance of aesthetics vs reliability. I've just had too many issues with self crimped patch leads to trust them in situations where a pre-made cable is suitable. Nowadays I tend to only crimp to either pass a cable through a small hole or, if I have the time, to replace a faulty connector on an otherwise decent cable.
I agree 100% that keystones are the way to go, but I'd bet you a box of Covid tests that that would fit through the hole in the cabinet.
I'm a sparks by trade and theres nothing wrong with what you done but could you not have just found the studs and drilled holes in the back of the cab to suit.
That's the issue though, there's only one stud on that wall so I couldn't mount the cabinet across two of them. Otherwise that's exactly what I'd have done
@@camerongray1515 ah ok, you would also get away with using plasterboard anchors like you did, as long as you got 2 solid fixings into that one stud
2:45 you overcompensate 😂
Why not make your own patch leads to get the perfect length?
It's definitely possible although I'm not bothered that much about the appearance of stuff like this as long as it's maintainable. I generally much prefer to use pre-made patch leads as I find them to just be so much more reliable than manually crimping RJ45 connectors. I'll do it if I have to (such a if the cable needs to pass through a small hole or potentially to replace a broken end on an otherwise good cable if I have some spare time to kill) but for most of the stuff I do, I feel pre-made patch leads are a more attractive option due to the time savings and overall reliability.
You could’ve simply placed one shelf bracket under it fastened to the centered stud…
I did consider this however it would only really be suitable maybe as an emergency support to catch the weight if the plasterboard fixings were to fail - the stud is off centre and the metal on the bottom of the rack is too thin to trust fixing it to the shelf bracket and expecting it to support its weight without it tipping over sideways.
@@camerongray1515 that would’ve solved the “I’m worried it’ll fall” issue, but what you ended up doing looks much better and is rock solid. It was just a LOT of work! I always massively over build anything I mount on a wall, as I worry about “what if’s” to an obsessive level.
Imagine showing this to a normal person, telling them this is a good video. They'd be worried for the levels of nerd, going on.
😆😅
Do you think you could talk a little slower in your videos? I find I have to watch at 0.75% playback speed so I can get the most enjoyment out of your content. Hope I don’t come across as rude.
It;'s a totally valid criticism (and you're probably the least rude person who's pointed it out!). It's something I try to do but I do struggle with it, probably doesn't help that my videos are generally unscripted so I'm usually rushing to say something before I forget what I was going to say (my memory is absolutely shocking!). Also doesn't help what I'm so bad at working out what to say, most of the clips you end up seeing are like my 5th attempt by which point I'm getting frustrated and rushing! While it's not a solution, I have UA-cam's auto captions turned on so those might help a bit, they get some words wrong but they're generally reasonably accurate.
@@camerongray1515 I see. It is a “me” issue rather than a “you” issue, but I appreciate that you’ve already been thinking about it! I do enjoy your content either way
Love the advice on the labels but then you go and make an absolute mess with the jumpers 🥲🥲
Rubbish!!
Good video though.
Rather than calling someone else's work "Rubbish" you're more than welcome to provide suggestions... I wasn't going for something extremely aesthetically pleasing, I was working with extremely limited space between the front of the equipment and the door and with the cables I already had all while trying to install it quick enough to film a time lapse with a camera that has a habit of overheating if left recording for too long! It's still perfectly accessible and maintainable and sits hidden away in a cupboard.
@@camerongray1515 it was more a joke because you said rubbish. Sorry it didn’t come across that way. I think you did an excellent job. The only thing you could do is replace the switch with one that has ports to the left or right instead of middle. But jumpers are cheaper than a switch.
I mean, I could move the keystones to the right hand side of the patch panel, but the issue is that there isn't enough space in front of the switch to bend the cables over without the slack getting crushed by the door if I did this. By left aligning the ports on the patch panel, the slack from the cables could be "used up" across the horizontal distance rather so that it doesn't get in the way of the door.
test
I hate the way the keystones were done. Should have been flipped. Bad wiring job in my opinion. Makes the patch cables longer than they have to be and ugly.
Are you referring to the fact they're left aligned rather than right aligned? It was done intentionally - there is very little space between the switch and door, therefore left aligning them meant that the slack of the cable was used over the horizontal distance rather than sticking out forwards. Even 15cm patch leads would likely be too long to not get crushed by the door. Of course it's super easy to change in the future so I can't see why it's a "bad wiring job" - can easily be adjusted if the cabinet is ever replaced with a deeper one or if it's rearranged. At any rate, it's equally as maintainable and I'm not really bothered about appearance, it's hidden away in a cupboard.