Slightly Crazy Network
By Dane Elshof
- 359 views
- View Dane Elshof's images
When my parents built their new house, I installed a structured media panel from Leviton and ran at least two Cat 5e cables to each room (including bathrooms 
) and coax for TV (not shown). My dad forgot to have the electrician (my aunt) install an outlet inside the panel, which is in a closet, so there was no easy way to get power to the router, switch and the Motorola radio. With two PoE modules from Linksys and the module included with the Motorola radio, we could send power to these devices over the Cat 5e from the nearby desk. There are about 30 runs of ethernet, some of which are used for phones, totaling about a mile and a quarter of cable. I couldn't convince them to buy a 24 port switch, so we have a four port router and an eight port switch that are both full. The whole system was pretty economical: ~$300 for cable, ~$200 for Cat 5e Quickport connectors, LV boxes, and faceplates, $100 for the panel, and probable $200 for the router, switch and PoE modules and of course, free labour. If you scale back slightly 
I'm sure you can get a system for about $500, so instead of buying another netbook, think about doing a wired home network.
Unfortunately, there is no Wifi yet.
) and coax for TV (not shown). My dad forgot to have the electrician (my aunt) install an outlet inside the panel, which is in a closet, so there was no easy way to get power to the router, switch and the Motorola radio. With two PoE modules from Linksys and the module included with the Motorola radio, we could send power to these devices over the Cat 5e from the nearby desk. There are about 30 runs of ethernet, some of which are used for phones, totaling about a mile and a quarter of cable. I couldn't convince them to buy a 24 port switch, so we have a four port router and an eight port switch that are both full. The whole system was pretty economical: ~$300 for cable, ~$200 for Cat 5e Quickport connectors, LV boxes, and faceplates, $100 for the panel, and probable $200 for the router, switch and PoE modules and of course, free labour. If you scale back slightly I'm sure you can get a system for about $500, so instead of buying another netbook, think about doing a wired home network.Unfortunately, there is no Wifi yet.
Recommended Comments
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.