Last week, I wrote about some ideas around improving the networking setup at the new house. It’s a nice place but a few of us are sharing a lot via my single WiFi router and I’d like to make improvements. Here are the key reasons for a change:
- Stable and fast network throughput to every room in the house at near gigabit speeds
- Wireless access that works from my mailbox all of the way to the boat dock and in all levels of the house
- A shared media setup that allows all of the house tenants to share our content such as TV shows, Films and Music. We’ve been utilizing sneaker-net but it’s not ideal
- LAN Gaming via PC & Xbox 360/One
- Shared Printer Access – I get asked to use my printer quite often and I’d like us all to share a single printer
Initially, I made this network diagram:
The purpose here is to make sure I cover all of the needs and then I created a thread on the Reddit Home Networking section to solicit feedback. Great feedback overall there. So here’s what the hardware setup will be like:
Hardware:
- Modem: Arris TG862G DOCSIS 3.0 Residential Gateway (I preferred the Motorola 6141 Surfboard but I have Comcast Voice so needed to get this dual-modem that supports 105 Megabit (Docsys 3.0) and VoIP via Coaxial.
- Router: Cisco 2811 Integrated Services Router which is an old favorite that I used to configure back in my IT days. It’s overkill for us but is rock-solid and is rack-mountable.
- Switch: Cisco SGE2000 24-port Gigabit Switch. It meets 3 requirements for me. This switch supports VLANs, has all Gigabit ports and is rack mountable in a 1U configuration.
- Battery Backup / Surge Protection: APC Smart-UPS RM SMT1000RM2U 700W/1000VA 120V 2U Rackmount LCD UPS System – Battery backup is a huge importance when dealing with a site-wide network connection. This will keep the phone + internet live and power the hardware including access points during a power-outage.
- Wireless Access Point: Ubiquiti Networks UniFi AP Enterprise WiFi System – I have an access point I like a lot but wanted something more versatile with a more powerful radio for increased range. I bought 2 of these.
- Network Printer: I’d like to upgrade to a color Laserjet at some point but for now, I’m using a printer Apple gave me for free when I bought my iMac last year. HP Envy 100 e-All-in-One D410a Printer is a WiFi printer that supports Apple AirPrint but doesn’t have an Ethernet port. It’ll work for anyone on the network and will reside in the server cabinet for anyone to print to that wants to do so. We’ll have a tip-jar for ink replacements.
Cabling / Mounting:
- Tripp Lite SRWO8U22 8U Wall Mount Open Frame Cabinet for mounting all of this hardware.
- Cat6 Patch Panel 110 Type 24 Port
- Premium Cable Management, Metal D-Ring, 1.75 inch
- Single Sided Shelf, 3.5(H)X10(D)X19(W), 30Lbs – I got an extra shelf for holding the modem or hardware that can’t be mounted
- 1000FT 24AWG Cat6 550MHz UTP Stranded, In-Wall Rated (CM), Bulk Ethernet Bare Copper Cable – Blue
- Cat6 RJ-45 Toolless Keystone – Blue
- Cable Tie 4 inch 18LBS, 100pcs/Pack – White
- Wall Plate for Keystone, 4 Hole – White
Network Attached Storage (NAS):
I wanted hardware that was versatile and expandable that could live on my Gigabit switch or plugged into my iMac via USB3. I settled on the Sinology DiskStation DS214play Diskless System Network Storage with two 6-terabyte Western Digital Red WD60EFRX 6TB Ientellipower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5” hard drives.
The drives will operate in RAID 1 and initially I’ll attach them to my iMac and that of my roommate’s to copy all of our media to the drive. It has a built in XMBC and DLNA server on the NAS so we can stream content from it to our entertainment devices including phones and tablets. I will use it to store my iTunes Library (which is around 4 terabytes) and eventually, I want to get an old Mac Mini w/ OS X Server which will act as a full time iTunes home server for us all to share. The Mac Mini w/ OS X Server will also manage Time Machine backups to the NAS from the 4 Macs in the house and user permissions, etc.
Sinology is a very popular NAS choice right now and I’ve researched them quite a bit. I wanted to get a 4 disk setup since Hard drive capacities aren’t doubling every 12 months like they used to but I think 6 terabytes of storage using RAID 1 (Mirroring) is a good starting point. I can remove Parity and go RAID 0 if I need more space and there aren’t HDs out there with more than 6TB capacity.
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The timeline / due date of this personal project is to be August 14th which is when I go to California for a few weeks. I’d like to have everything completed by then. This weekend, we’re running cables and getting all drops terminated and tested. I think we’ll do 20 drops total across 4 rooms.
After that, I’ll spend a full day configuring the router, switch and access points and getting all devices migrated off WiFi and over to the Cat 6 setup. Pending any hiccups, this is a 2 weekend job.
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The retail cost of the entire job is quite high but I shopped around and got all of this equipment used except for the cables and Western Digital drives. The Switch, Router and battery backup were free and the Modem I bought a few weeks ago as an alternative to paying Comcast $10 a month for a modem rental fee.
Cables arrive Thursday. I’m stoked to start this project!