Wiring apartment - help needed

[Nimblor]

I moved to a new apartment and I want to wire it for networking. There are 4 places I am looking to add drops and all of them have a cable connection so I could put my cable modem and router anywhere. My previous place had much more access and I could just run wires anywhere through the basement. This is going to be a bit more challenging and will probably involve conduit installation because it is a loft style place. Wires will go up wall to conduit then around to wherever and back down.

I don't really know how to build a good wired network. Previously I had a Router ->switches -> stuff setup. Stuff means consoles, media players, voip, etc.

My initial thoughts were to use cat6a for a bit of future proofing and run 3 wires to the living room, 3 to the media area, 2 to the den, and one to a bedroom. I don't know where to have all the wires go to.

Should the network be set up like spokes on a wheel going to drops or branching like a tree with switches?

 

[niven]

My initial thoughts were to use cat6a for a bit of future proofing and run 3 wires to the living room, 3 to the media area, 2 to the den, and one to a bedroom. I don't know where to have all the wires go to.

Unless you want to connect 10 Gigabit network cards together, using cat6a cables seems like a waste of money.
Unless you want to create isolated networks, I don't see the point of having more than one cable running from one room to another.
If you want wires, why not use PLC, you can find some decent 1 Gigabit adapter on the market today with or without built-in switches.

 

[Janus67]

I wouldn't remotely consider running anything as nice as cat6a in an apartment that I didn't own. As niven said, unless you plan to be running 10gig there's no benefit. Cat6 is plenty fine.

With regard to your setup question, the easiest would be to treat it as tree branches. Running one cable to each room and having a small switch there to split connections if needed.

 

[Nimblor]

Unless you want to connect 10 Gigabit network cards together, using cat6a cables seems like a waste of money.
Unless you want to create isolated networks, I don't see the point of having more than one cable running from one room to another.
If you want wires, why not use PLC, you can find some decent 1 Gigabit adapter on the market today with or without built-in switches.

What is PLC?

I own the apartment so I am not worried about leaving anything behind. Based on these thoughts and my reviews of 10gb routers ($$$$) It looks like I might pitch the 10gb idea in favor of a solid 1gb network.

So there are no problems with having a router in one room and only one line going to each of the others with a switch there if needed?
My router has 4 ports so one port ->swtich->PC, xbox, voip, etc. One port to living room TV with switch if needed and the same with the other ports.

I Have a utility room, should I try to run all the wires back there kind of following the coax? How are these things usually set up?

Should I have an installer do this?

 

[Janus67]

It depends on how you want to do it. In my house I do the other method so far (but it isn't fully wired) where my main computer room is my office with the router and modem, from there I run cables to the basement with a switch, family room with a switch and I have a separate switch in my office for easy connection. Works just fine.

With regard to an installer or not that all depends on how good you are at phishing wire and doing good work if you planned to use wall plates, etc.

Some people run a 24-48 port switch in their basement and run cable from there to everywhere else in their home and have wall plates etc installed with however many ports they may need. It all depends on how professional/office-y you want it to look or if you are okay with seeing a cable and switch splitting the connections.

 

[niven]

What is PLC?

Power-line communication

 

[Nimblor]

It depends on how you want to do it. In my house I do the other method so far (but it isn't fully wired) where my main computer room is my office with the router and modem, from there I run cables to the basement with a switch, family room with a switch and I have a separate switch in my office for easy connection. Works just fine.

With regard to an installer or not that all depends on how good you are at phishing wire and doing good work if you planned to use wall plates, etc.

Some people run a 24-48 port switch in their basement and run cable from there to everywhere else in their home and have wall plates etc installed with however many ports they may need. It all depends on how professional/office-y you want it to look or if you are okay with seeing a cable and switch splitting the connections.

That seems a lot like what I did in my old place. I already have 2 8 port switches so I should be in good shape. Also I can do some of the wiring and putting connectors on, but I have never worked with metal conduit before.

Any recommendations for cable? Some of the wires will be parallel to power that is in metal conduit but the will be in separate conduit.