I'm looking for some suggestions in how I should wire a new house for a LAN:

The house will have more than eight ethernet jacks througouht.. so I was thinking I should either get a 16 port router or two 8 port routers.. Leaning toward 16 for simplicity.

I also need 100% wireless coverage in every room - for this I was thinking multiple wireless access points in the ceilings (which is how i've seen some schools / businesses do).

I'll probably want around 4 wireless access points in a few strategic locations, including a wireless router that can handle these WAPs.

My question to the community:
Could anyone suggest a model of router / WAPs that would work for this configuration? I want a reliable network, and can't have any faulty WAPs in the ceiling - they will be hard to replace..
Do all WAPs use an ethernet port?

Any suggestions would be great!

Brett

First, figure out exactly how many connections you plan on having and buy a patch panel large enough to hold them all.

If you're planning on using a SOHO router, plan on a single router and a switch with enough ports for all connections...not multiple routers.

Unless your house is extremely large, 2 AP's should be all you need. I just installed wireless in the residence of our University President's residence and it only required two. And that's about a 4000 sq foot house.

If you're going to ceiling mount the units, I would ensure you have easy access to them. A drop ceiling would be best. As far as I know, yes, all AP's require an ethernet connection.

Thanks for the reply.

The house will need 10 ethernet jacks. AND, i'll need 2 (maybe 3) ports for the APs. AFAIK, there are only 8 and 16 port hubs, thats why I was going for the 16. I'm not sure if I know / if there is a difference between a patch panel and a hub. I know most of basic routers are 4 port, and include the basics to get the LAN going (DHCP, port forwarding, etc). I thought the 16 port would be the same, or are you saying i'll need a patch panel (16 port) and a router?

I'd like to go with atleast 3 APs, as the house will be four floors. My current house has three, and 2 APs just barely does it for me (still with some dead spots).

Could you point me in the right direction as far a brand names for the APs / patch panels / router?

Thanks again,
Brett

Ok, I'm not sure if you know the difference between a hub and a switch but even if you don't, take my word for it, a switch is a better choice than a hub. From the sounds of it, you'll need at least a 16 port switch.

A patch panel is the panel you terminate the other end of the cables to (ie: not the end in the wall with the keystone and faceplate where you're plugging your PC into). Basically it's just a panel with RJ-45 connectors. Here's a link to a Canadian supplier (I'm in Canada and this is one of the suppliers we use) that shows a 16 port patch panel. Note: This would require a wall mount bracket of which they list one at the bottom of the page.

In a nutshell, this allows you to terminate all cabling in one location. Preferably one near where your highspeed internet connection will be coming in. For a home install, I'd recommend in the basement somewhere near the main telephone line. Build a small shelf underneath the patch panel to hold your router and switch. Then you have your main DSL or cable line into the router, the router plugged into the switch, all connections from the patch panel into the switch as well (including AP's). Your modem, router and switch should all fit on the shelf.

I use a D-Link DI-604 router at home. It's a 4 LAN port router and runs around $40.00 (CAD). The wireless AP's we deployed in the president's residence were D-Link DWL 2200AP's. I don't remember offhand the cost of each of those but I'm pretty sure it was $100.00 or less each (again CAD). We used equipment that wasn't enterprise level for his residence as he gets his highspeed internet via a local ISP and the residence isn't actually hardwired into our work network. I found them very easy to configure and setup. There are of course many other brands so feel free to check around and price some out.

So the patch panel would go into a switch?
Could I get both of those in one box?
ex:

http://www.buy.com/prod/smc-ez-net-...
http://www.superwarehouse.com/p.cfm...

Or would these not work?

Thanks,
Brett

Brett,

Neither one of those links are a patch panel, try this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...

The patch panel is like a row of outlets. It just a row of connectors. You would use a short patch cable to connect from the patch panel to the switch.

Basically a 16 port patch panel has 16 rj45 ports. These ports are hardwired to the network cable that goes to the rooms where the wall plates are, with another rj45 port.

You then use another patch cable to go from the wall port to the computer.

Ok, those links are switches. A patch panel is a central location (panel) for terminating multiple cables.

Most of the patch panels we use here where I work are 48 port panels and in every wiring closet, we have anywhere from two to four of them depending on how many cables are being terminated.

Without a patch panel, you would have 16 loose cables, all with RJ-45 connectors on the end. This get's messy and unless the cables are marked well, can be very confusing also.

With a patch panel, all is neat and tidy and you can go around to all the walljacks and label them with the number of the patch panel port that they terminate at. This also makes troubleshooting network problems a lot easier and faster.

Once the cables are terminated in the patch panel, you then use patch cables to connect from the patch panel to the switch.

Don't forget, you'll want to test each cable. If you can borrow a good high quality tester/certifier do so. Those cheap testers with blinking lights aren't all that good.

Thanks so much for the suggestions!

So once I get a patch panel (16 port), i'll buy a patch cable to go into a switch. Do I need a special type of switch in order for it to work with a patch panel? Or could I use an ordinary d-link or linksys switch (ie your DI-604)? Is there a limit to how many these switches can handle?

Thanks again,
Brett

The DI-604 is a DSL router with a built-in 4 port switch. You need to get a 16 or 24 port switch and connect each port from the patch panel to the switch. Then uplink that switch to one of the LAN ports on the DI-604 router.

Alright..
How does this shopping cart look?

24 Port isn't much more, why not go with that in case I need to expand..

Switch
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ... 71.99

Patch Panel
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ... 23.99

Wireless AP's
http://salestores.com/trendw74.html
42.69

Patch Cables
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ... 24 @ 1.29 (free ship)

Does all of these items look compatible?

I'll have an internet connection into the WAN port on a regular linksys router, then a patch cable from router going to the WAN(?) port on a switch, then 24 patch cables going to the 24 ports of the patch panel, going to wall terminations.

Brett

That all looks good. You will want to get a wall mount bracket for the patch panel. As I said before, mount the bracket. Pull/punch/test all cables and then mount the patch panel in the bracket.

Install a shelf below the patch panel (I would make it anywhere from a foot to two feet below the patch panel.

Put your DSL/Cable modem on the shelf along with your router (I have a D-Link DI-604 myself. It's been working perfectly for two years now) and switch.

Connect the incoming highspeed to the modem. The modem then connects to the routers WAN port. Connect the router to the switch using a crossover cable. It doesn't matter which LAN port you use to connect the router to the switch.

Then, connect all wired patch panel ports to the switch and you should be ready to use the network in every room you've pulled cables into.

Don't forget the other end....where the cables are terminating in the wall. You'll need keystones to terminate the cable to (this is an RJ-45 jack that fits into a faceplate that you can mount in the wall and then plug your PC into) and faceplates to hold the keystones.

Make sure when you get the keystones and faceplates that the keystones fit properly into the faceplates. Different brands can be different sizes so make sure before you purchase. It would suck to buy them and find out the keystones don't fit in the faceplates (it's happened to us here at work thanks to zipper head who "know's it all" who unsurprisingly, doesn't work here anymore.....LOL)

Oh and one last thing. You'll need a punchdown tool for punching the cables into the patch panel and keystones. Don't forget, beg or borrow a good quality tester (preferably one that does certification as well) and test every circuit.