New Construction Home Advice for non-Network Guy - eviltoast

I’m building a house. Floor plan attached if it helps.

I’ve spent the last 3-4 days knee deep reading archived posts, watching youtube, and digesting as much information as possible. Over that time I’ve convinced myself I need a different set up roughly 12 times. Need some direction.

Budget: Not really a consideration. But less is obviously cool.

Background: I’m an enterprise software salesman buy trade, but not a network engineer. And even though I’m willing to roll my sleeves up and do a bit of learning, I really don’t want a massive – and especially not a continuous – project on my hands. I never plan to move again. The house won’t get great cell reception and I’ll be reliant on wifi calling in many cases.

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Anticipated Gear List:

- 8-10 POE security cameras/NVR (hardwired)- whole home Sonos kit (16 speakers, 5 amps) (hardwired)- Multiple TVs (hardwired)- a host of IoT devices - hubs, doorbell, thermostat, other automation stuff (hub(s) hardwired)- 2 offices (computers and 1 printer hardwired)- Mesh/access points (hardwired) – this is the million dollar question

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My (probably obvious) plan:

- pull all ethernet drops to a centralized location- ISP coax --> modem --> router --> POE switch- terminate all the ethernet cables to logical ports (save the POE ports for the cameras and anything else that needs power)

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My Conflict(s):

I’m confident I could get it all installed properly. I’m not confident whatsoever that I could figure out how to deploy it once it was all powered up.

And, as a result, I don’t know what the hell to buy.

It seems Unifi is the default suggestion for most, and while I’m not sure is ISN’T what I’ll end up with, I do think it’s overkill for my specific needs. In our current home I have been running a google mesh and its…fine. It works, it’s not perfect, but it’s simple and essentially never has issues. Maybe I’m lucky or maybe I have very low expectations. I’m convinced I’ll have trouble troubleshooting or fixing things when they inevitably break with unifi - but I could just be psyching myself out.

I’d love to be able to set everything up once – and if I have to mess with it once or twice a year so be it – similar to my current set up.

Could I get away with this?

ISP coax --> ISP’s modem --> (need a router recommendation) --> random POE switch with enough ports to support all my gear? I might also add a UPS and surge protector.

Practically speaking, how would I initially configure/set up everything if I piece meal it together with various OEM gear? Let’s say ISP modem (should I get my own?), TPlink router, Netgear POE switch? Sorry if that’s a dumb question.

Similarly, how much more difficult/easy would a similar Unifi solution be?

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Also, sorry for the rant. Struggling with info overload. I dumped so much time into this and have found myself with more questions than I started with.

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  • koga7349@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    The Unifi access points are awesome and can be powered by PoE. I would pick a few good locations, one centerally in the house and one on each end of your house to mount ceiling access points. I would go Unifi for the router (aka the gateway), switch and access points. You could use Unifi also for the cameras, but just know that their NVR does not work with non-Unifi cameras which was a deal breaker for me. I got Vivotek cameras and NVR instead.

    I would get the following:

    • Unifi USG Lite
    • Unifi 24 port PoE switch
    • Unifi access points x3
    • Unifi cloud key (stores the configuration)
    • Many NVRs have PoE ports built in so you don’t need to connect the cameras to the main switch

    Tips:

    • Run a CAT6 line to the doorbell for a PoE doorbell camera
    • Run 2x CAT6 to the outside near utilities. I switched from coax to fiber and was able to install the ONT (optical network transceiver) outside thanks to these two wires. One is for powering the ONT and the other is for data.
    • Ceiling mount access points look best in my opinion
    • Run a spare CAT6 line to the attic for future use such as additional cameras or access points
    • If you have a basement run a length of wide conduit between the basement and attic for future wire pulls
    • Adding a monitor to your NVR in the server rack is nice to see the cameras
    • If you are wiring speakers request 12awg stranded copper speaker wire

    As for bringing your own modem many ISPs won’t let you anymore. Most likely you will have to use their modem/router and then connect your router to theirs. The Unifi setup is straightforward enough if you watch some videos, no need to get into VLANs or multiple subnets or anything complex.