I'm in IT Support, so you don't have to be too gentle, but i'm a complete novice when it comes to getting it done in a home environment where the money doesn't flow like cheap wine at a singles night!
Obviously i want to future-proof to an extent, but at the same time I'm on something of a budget.
My intial idea was thus (excuse the fact that i don't have this in diagramatic form)
- 12RU Cabinet in Garage w\ Patch Panel
- Telstra first point to the wall where the above cabinet will be (So i can patch it to wherever i like)
- 2 gang data to every living type area (Bedrooms etc) (In my line of work it's against my constitution to put single data anywhere)
- 4 gang data to Home Theatre + Living Area (for TV) + Study
Then when discussing with my cabler mate, he tried to talk me out of all the data (due to sheer expense) and into WAPs and just a few wired data point to TV areas running back to the study. Certainly better on the wallet, but not so much for the quality...especially when kids turn up and have PCs in bedrooms etc.
My main questions are:
- Is it worth shelling out extra for Cat6, or is Cat5e just as good for the time being? (Given the relatively lean traffic)
- Do you get raised eyebrows asking for your First Telstra point to be put up near the ceiling of your garage?!! Am i even legally allowed to patch Telstra into a home network in the way i described?
- Any major issues having a cabinet in the Garage...dust, heat etc? My other idea was to have it in the Study near the floor and behind the door. I don't like stuff near the floor in carpeted areas though due to dust and fluff.
- Have heard bad things about people getting their (licensed) Sparky to terminate Data...coz most of them don't do it regularly enough to be good at it. I was thinking of getting the sparky to throw the cables, but leave the terminating to my mate who'll do the gig for a bed and a carton after handover.
- I forget.
![Surprised :o](./images/smilies/icon_surprised.gif)
So, please discuss if you feel you can. And excuse my potential ignorance...very steep learning curve here!