Network closets: Your pics and....

ThomasPI

ThomasPI

Pulling my weight
May 9, 2017
304
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Let's see your network closet setups....

We're close to starting to build our new house and the plan is to prewire for cameras while we build and do the install on cameras once we are in. House is 3 stories and we're going to have a cable chase that'll run from the ground floor right on up to the 3rd floor with all of our wiring running to a security closets then into our network closet up on the 3rd floor.

Current plans are:

1. 2 CAT 6 cables to every camera location
2. Ground and second floors will be setup for WAPs if needed.
3. Dedicated network closet up on the 3rd floor. Closet is large enough so hopefully heat won't be an issue.
Camera wise, I'm thinking 8 to 10 with a dedicated BI desktop in the networking closet. Modem, router etc etc etc will all be up on the 3rd floor in the closet.

Here's a pic of the setup on the 3rd floor. Network closet will be in the spare room closet to the right and I work out of my house and my office is to the left. My desktop, laptop and printers are all WIFI.

I'd like to see some pics of y'alls setups and if anyone has any suggestions, I am all ears as they say.
Thanks !3rd floor.jpeg
 
Last edited:
ThomasPI said:
Let's see your network closet setups....

We're close to starting to build our new house and the plan is to prewire for cameras while we build and do the install on cameras once we are in. House is 3 stories and we're going to have a cable chase that'll run from the ground floor right on up to the 3rd floor with all of our wiring running to a security closets then into our network closet up on the 3rd floor.

Current plans are:

1. 2 CAT 6 cables to every camera location
2. Ground and second floors will be setup for WAPs if needed.
3. Dedicated network closet up on the 3rd floor. Closet is large enough so hopefully heat won't be an issue.
Camera wise, I'm thinking 8 to 10 with a dedicated BI desktop in the networking closet. Modem, router etc etc etc will all be up on the 3rd floor in the closet.

Here's a pic of the setup on the 3rd floor. Network closet will be in the spare room closet to the right and I work out of my house and my office is to the left. My desktop, laptop and printers are all WIFI.

I'd like to see some pics of y'alls setups and if anyone has any suggestions, I am all ears as they say.
Thanks !View attachment 22943
Click to expand...

Hi ThomasPI,

sounds like you're ready for some fun... btw I added a vent into my closet, works well
Suggested vent for closet - if your closet gets too hot

Here's some notes I've made for new construction:

New Construction additional notes:
  • Before the drywall goes up is the most affordable time to add wiring. Pull wires to all locations you may use - better to over do it now than under do it.
  • Pull N+1+ cat5e/cat6 wires to each location, N=the number you plan to use, pull at least one extra line.
  • Remember to add wiring for alarms, extra electrical sockets to support your security cameras, media center, data center ( that's where your switch, NVR, NAS will be ), as well as the front entrance, wifi access points and routers, voice control units like Echo Dot, speaker/audio wiring,..
  • Pull electrical and several cat5e/cat6 lines to your front gate area. ( 2 sets of underground conduit is best - one for electrical the other data/cat5e/cat6 )
  • Plan for the option to install video intercom / video doorbell by the front door and gate. ( example of such a product http://www1.dahuasecurity.com/pro...-7391.html ) Plan for future upgrades as this tech is changing quickly.
  • Have the electricians install METAL boxes - I have seen too many subcontractors and later tenants break plastic gang boxes.
  • Inspect the job site regularly - even daily, Inspect for straightness and squares, many subcontractors measure only once...
  • Consider hiring an independent inspector to help you.
 
It is great that you are going to pre-wire for cameras, but don't stop there. People have a blind spot the size of Texas when it comes to wifi.

ThomasPI said:
My desktop, laptop and printers are all WIFI.
Click to expand...

Wireless connections are for devices that run on batteries. Everything that can be wired should be. Save yourself and others from years of connectivity problems and run network cables to your office, bedrooms, media center, and locations where you want to install wifi access points. Unless you like slow speeds and intermittent connections.

Lastly, in case you don't know much about network cables, I have a few tips:
* Buy cables that use pure copper, NOT Copper-clad aluminum (CCA).
* Get at least cat5e cable. If you want to be really future-proof, cat6a is supposed to be good for 10 gigabit links at 100 meters. Cat6 is in the middle, rated for 10 gigabit links at short distances.
* Do not run network or telephone cable near electrical power wiring. Keep it at least 1 foot away and if the cables must cross, do it at right angles to minimize the exposure to EM interference from active electrical wiring. Metal conduit can help shield the network cable if you can't keep it far away from electrical wiring. This isn't a load of BS, I have seen for myself connections that simply refuse to work when the cable is run almost in contact with a breaker box.
 
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drunkpenguin said:
I installed some PVC pipes going from that closet up into the attic so I can run new cables whenever I want.
Click to expand...

Nice. I did that through just one wall between my living room and server room (a.k.a. spare bedroom). It is so nice having that.
 
A tripplite 13U on casters lets me pull it out of the closet to work on with ease:
JUkAZD4.jpg
 
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bp2008 said:
It is great that you are going to pre-wire for cameras, but don't stop there. People have a blind spot the size of Texas when it comes to wifi.

Wireless connections are for devices that run on batteries. Everything that can be wired should be. Save yourself and others from years of connectivity problems and run network cables to your office, bedrooms, media center, and locations where you want to install wifi access points. Unless you like slow speeds and intermittent connections.
Click to expand...

This cannot be emphasized enough. Wire is cheaper and faster than fighting with Wireless. (Especially if you have neighbors close.) And if you are talking about new construction, there shouldn't be much of a cost difference between running 2 wires and running more. If your builder wants to charge an arm and a leg for prewiring, either find a local installer that will do it reasonably for you, or order yourself some boxes of cable and put it in yourself.

When you are planning for your drops in each room, make sure you plan for worst case scenarios. Overestimate everything. Once you start counting up the actual devices that you may be using, you may be surprised how many drops you are looking at in each room. And what you may need next year maybe different than this year. For example, if you are talking a media room where there will be TV's, you can end up with lots more than 2 drops needed. Smart TV's are shipping with Ethernet jacks. As are Blu-Ray players, Game consoles, Satellite Boxes, Media Servers, etc. My rule of thumb was If it had a jack, it got a drop. And then I added 1 or 2 spares, depending on the type of room. Also, be aware that some of the newer smart thermostats are shipping with Ethernet connections to get them off wireless as well, so if you have the walls open to begin with, adding a cable where your thermostats are going, may help to future proof things a little bit. Also, are you going to want monitors or tablets in various rooms for viewing cameras, or home automation? If so, you may want some single Ethernet drops near doors for that as well.

I got fed up with wireless in my place last summer, and put well over 3000 feet of Cat6 into the house. I was running through hot attic spaces in the summer time and fishing through existing walls, but I was able to do it myself over a few weeks. I put a minimum of 2 Cat6 Drops into each room that I touched. (And I did not do any drops into bathrooms, the kitchen, or most closets.) Family room, media room, and master bedroom ended up with 6 drops each. And even with 6 in those rooms, they can fill up fast. Since I was working with existing construction, I ended up splitting my system up a little bit. I have the bulk of my camera feeds coming into a closet and into a dedicated POE Switch on the other side of the house from the main network "closet" to run the cameras. That's the one closet that I put a separate Ethernet drop into so I have a direct feed from switch to switch.

My network "closet" is the top of an existing water heater closet. It was the only space I had that was located where I needed it to be. I had to go back and add a power circuit in the ceiling to give me a place to plug things in. I was fortunate in that I had removed an attic fan that had its own dedicated circuit a year ago, so I just re-purposed that existing wire which had been capped in the attic.

My closet isn't pretty, and I'll probably end up redoing it at some point in the next year or so as I'm not thrilled with the angled rack I have in there. But it works right now, and its easy to service and maintain. Eventually I'm going to a tank-less water heater in that closet, so that will give me more room to work with as well.

Wiring.jpg
 
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Thanks points noted for sure some of which I didn’t consider !
 
CountZero said:
This cannot be emphasized enough. Wire is cheaper and faster than fighting with Wireless...
Click to expand...

What is wrong with you @CountZero...those cable times should be the same color as the patch cable bundles yikes.gif

(Seriosly bro: b e a u t i f u l)
 
LOL. Thanks for the kind words!

I totally understand that its a little OCD for a home install. Its the main network rack so I figured it might as well look decent. And it does make working on things really easy if its neat like that. I do need to tidy up the weather station hub on the right side, but it may not live there permanently. Sadly the entire system is not that neat. The switch in the back closet that has all the cam connections looks more like network spaghetti. Those cables just exit the ceiling and plug into the switch directly, and I pre-made all of those cables extra long so I didn't hose myself by having it slightly short in the attic when I routed it. If I ever replace the camera cables, I'll just run bare Cat6 cable and terminate at the switch like i should have done to begin with. I started with the cams and then decided to upgrade the network about 6 months later.
 
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