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.
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
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)
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?
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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When you say “I’m building a house” what does that actually mean?
If you are using one of the large builders you have some obstacles that will likely preclude you from achieving your goals.
If you have a builder constructing your home on the property you own, speak with your builder. He likely has experience with a low voltage company that can set you up with what you need and will know how to work with the builder wo conflict.
