Network planning in the existing house - cable ducts?

  • Erstellt am 2021-09-01 13:00:07

Orandus

2021-09-01 13:00:07
  • #1
Hello everyone,

we are four people living here (2 adults, 2 children) in a terraced house built around 1980.
Basement: 2 storage rooms, 1 guest/music/hobby room.
Ground floor: living room, kitchen, guest toilet
Upper floor: children's room, bathroom, laundry room
Attic: bedroom, office

The problem: We are unable to establish a stable WLAN network. There are constant drops or spikes in speed. When it works, I get about 80 MBit download and 40 MBit upload in the office/attic, but it is not stable.

Previous solutions: several attempts with WLAN repeaters, then additionally PowerLan, and currently 4 Telekom Mesh repeaters + Telekom WLAN router are in use.

Desired solution: switch to the Ubiquiti Unifi series including: DreamMachine Pro (DMP), 24 port PoE switch and various Wifi6 APs. TVs, printers, PCs, NAS and smart home bridges should be connected via cable; mobile devices will then be served via APs.

And now I would like to ask for your opinion:
The plan is to place a small network cabinet with the DMP and switch in one of the storage rooms in the basement. From there, 2 holes will be drilled through the ceiling into the living room (where a new floor will be laid anyway), so that I can access both sides of the living room and install 2 or 4 sockets. On one side, an additional hole will be drilled from the living room into one of the children's rooms, through which 2 further duplex cables will go upstairs to supply both children's rooms with LAN (the 2 rooms are next to each other, I would then drill another hole through the wall).

For supplying the attic and for mounting the APs, which are to be attached to the corridor ceilings of the ground floor, upper floor, and attic, I can’t think of a better solution than to go through the open stairwell and also use a long cable duct there, from which the individual cables will then be distributed via a smaller cable duct towards the corridor ceiling. The stairwell is located directly next to the storage room with the network cabinet, so a simple hole can also be drilled there.

All cables should be “hidden” behind screwed cable ducts, since otherwise we would have to renovate too many rooms. They will end in double-keystone surface-mounted sockets or directly in the APs on the ceiling.

I don’t like these many cable ducts. I might be able to lay the cables in the living room via chases in the screed, since, as mentioned, the floor will be replaced anyway. In the children’s rooms, they are not disturbing as they will be installed low on the wall near the floor and mostly covered by furniture. Above all, the long route via cable duct through the stairwell bothers me most at the moment, but for a complete renovation including embedding in the wall, we currently lack time and resources. But if I can’t think of anything else, it has to be done this way. It is also a rather dark stairwell during the day; maybe I can paint the ducts in a color matching the wall.

Is there anything I absolutely need to consider? Through the drill holes, 3 duplex cables (so 6 cables) each will pass from the basement into the living room on both sides, which means quite large holes through the reinforced concrete ceiling. The holes will be drilled by a professional. Is there anything to consider when choosing the cable ducts? A maximum of 4 duplex + 3 single cables, so 7 cables in total, will run through one duct. What surprises me: there seem to be only 2-meter-long ducts. Longer ones would be nicer in the stairwell to avoid a joint in the middle...

Does anything else come to your mind that I might stumble over and that I should consider in the planning?

Best regards,
Orandus
 

K1300S

2021-09-01 18:05:31
  • #2
Would it possibly be an option to lay the cables under plaster? If you are going to install a new floor anyway, the walls might also be re-taped or something afterwards?
 

Orandus

2021-09-01 19:17:03
  • #3
Hi,

we have just wallpapered the walls before the idea of the floor came up.

But if possible, I will cut a slot in the screed and at least lay one cable bundle there in an empty conduit and let the cables come up at the right spot on the wall. The floor installer has to remove or level the floor in the living room anyway... I will talk to him again. The other socket in the living room and the bundle to the upper floor are behind the curtain or the sofa, so it is not noticeable.

It actually only hurts in the stairwell because we definitely can't redo that at the moment.

Best regards,
Orandus
 

Schimi1791

2021-09-02 16:06:35
  • #4
Fortunately, we "slit open" our facade for this only last weekend and, among other things, laid CAT 7. Do you perhaps also plan to renew the facade?
 

kurzy

2021-10-27 22:27:39
  • #5


For this relatively "small" network, a 24-port PoE switch is not necessary. These need a lot of power, are expensive, have fans and (especially with Ubiquiti!) get quite warm. What kinds of PoE devices are there? A few ACs, maybe a camera or a phone. An 8-port PoE switch should be sufficient, I think. I have one from Aruba with 3 Long Range Wifi6 ACs connected, it doesn't have a fan, for example.

Additionally, add a switch without PoE if needed (the Dream also has 8 ports). The switches are connected to each other via fiber optics, the cables and the GBICs were really affordable.

I also only know cable ducts with a max length of 2m.
 

kurzy

2021-11-04 17:55:51
  • #6
Addendum: The new DreamMachine Pro SE is about 100 euros more expensive than the regular one and now has 8 PoE ports.
 

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