Finishing my smart home network

Upgrading my comms rack by replacing my hard wired patch panel with some Keystone Jacks, adding some power distribution, moving some Unifi networking components around, tidying up the cabling and generally giving a good old clean out.

[willatherton]

As someone that just transitioned from a retail router to OPNSense and then upgraded to 2.5gb networking, this summarizes the love/hate relationship we all have with our home network well. Nice work!!

[lets-automate]

Good work Alan. I like that you just show it how it is and don't cut out the bits where you had problems etc. It gives a more realistic representation of how it will go for other people doing it...and that's why I keep coming back to watch more. 👍

[MartinHiggs]

Looking great 😊 - Just a thought for anyone else watching and inspired. You can get various colour keystone jacks e.g. data, wifi, internet connection, cameras. Instead of a 48 port you could split into 2 x 24 one either side of your switch and smaller patch cables. Wish I had the space for a small rack.

[CarAudioInc]

Glad to know I'm not the only one who goes ham when the network is down. Dope vid!

[klaneos]

I would suggest using flush cutting side cutters when tidying up excess cables on the keystones. Great effort on this rack BTW!

[mihonalmighty]

Looks good, a clean rack is so important.
At work we always patch with 1 meter cables, but at home i actually bought ubuiquti cables for the perfect length from patchpanel to the switch, looks really neat.
It started to get so messy with cables i found in the cable bin in the server room :D

[pete]

Getting so much inspiration and ideas for my home network. Cable and tools are ordered. The fun commencing next week

[CassioRogerioEskelsen]

Great job! I imagine the sense of accomplishment after seeing everything ready! I'm going to go through this in a few weeks, I'm already thinking about the back pain I'm going to have :)

[tuurbow]

Not bad. A couple recommendations though. You definitely should have labelled the keystone jacks at the patch panel and on the wall plate. An example of a naming convention I use is: I.D. 1.1 (first floor, wall plate jack 1). I.D. 2.4 (second floor, wall plate jack 4). I usually label all the jacks in one room in sequential order. I.D. 1.1 I.D. 1.2 I.D 1.3 etc.

I would have moved the switch directly below the patch panel and ordered 6" and 12" CAT6 cables. This would allow you to free up more room in your rack and clean up the cabling.

[halko]

Nice job! Looks so much neater and is easier to work with in the future. Well worth the massive effort.

[marcuscps]

Great video. I'm another Londoner doing the same process. I just finished my house renovation so I was lucky enough to have a clear canvas and wired the whole house myself, including external CAT6Es for cameras and doorbell. You are a great source of info and inspiration. Keep it up!
Now I just need time to actually start the smart devices journey. 😂

[ONAD]

Try some slim patch cables inside your rack, that made _my_ day when I found out about their existence. Even cleaner / slimmer / more manageable 🙂

[nertia]

Thanks for introducing me to Neffex! xD

[jimbates]

I was all set to comment about using cable testing equipment and then you showed the very same tools I use. They've saved me lots of headaches over the years. I put flag-label cable ties on each end of my cables and write their unique identity on each end. I maintain my cable inventory in a spreadsheet with their room location, patch panel location, switch port assignment, purpose, and static IP address when appropriate. During my home's construction, I pulled dozens of cables to every conceivable TV and audio location (coax for antenna, coax for satellite, and multiple Cat6 for possible video distribution through a centralized video switch). The security system is hard-wired. All my security cameras are PoE, and all streamed video is hard-wired. I use wireless as little as possible, so having a well-maintained structured wiring plant like you've made is essential. Great job! You'll soon forget the pain of doing it and will reap the benefits for years to come. Beer will also help dull the pain.

[speedsd]

look at those bunch of cable. I would love to see and if you could share the wiring diagram to understand and learn how you design and manage your home network system.

[WPGinfo]

Jobs we all love to put off for as long as possible... Nice video!

[accordxtc]

Slim patch cables make a huge difference. Also a wall mounted rack would have saved cables being stretched over the room.

You would have gained floor space and had zero bending plus cleaner setup

[lsav]

Great video, there is just so much that if you dont know then you dont know. I wish this video existed before i set up my rack. Thanks

[mclarknz]

I moved into a new build house back in May, and the new builds in NZ have a mini patch panel, so I ran patch leads from the mini patch panel to my rack. Luckily my wardrobe is a triple wardrobe as some of the developers install the patch panels in the wardrobe or a garage for those that have one.

[gerryf]

Just did the same thing on moving into a new house. 35 cables and I'm even older than you!! Knees and back, oh my. Did lable the cables for future reference and the use a color coded the patch cables. Super OCD. Add a UPS for backup power and orderly shutdown on power failure. If you have a lot of POE ports, maybe you need an air intake and top of rack fan system. The home server rabbit hole, just a layer deeper than the HA rabbit hole.