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    Wiring ethernet in new office

    I have a customer who's moving into a new office being built from scratch. I know about keystone jacks and punching wires down and patch panels and all that shit. But what about wiring through the wood? Just drill? Use a pvc pipe? Wait for all the rest of the electrical/phone to be to be done? Prefer to run just over the tiles and and drop into walls?
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    #2
    Re: Wiring ethernet in new office

    Just drill. Easy Peasy. I'd wait until the electricians are through, you won't want the cat6 running right next to it and if crossing paths, space them a little. Electricians don't care about the network cable, so let them do their work first.
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      #3
      Re: Wiring ethernet in new office

      I'm honestly not sure how it will end up. If the ceiling has removable tiles or not. Do I just run it above the tiles and down each wall?

      Should I have used STP? I actually got 5e utp, but it's not a big office space
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        #4
        Re: Wiring ethernet in new office

        Oh great he just said it's not going to be tiled. I'll have to get to him to find out what it will e
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          #5
          Re: Wiring ethernet in new office

          Solid sheet rock ceiling
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            #6
            Re: Wiring ethernet in new office

            Originally posted by Uranium-235 View Post
            Solid sheet rock ceiling
            Attic above it?
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              #7
              Re: Wiring ethernet in new office

              you can get plastic trunking that looks like skirting board for running low voltage around rooms

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                #8
                Re: Wiring ethernet in new office

                Originally posted by Uranium-235 View Post
                I'm honestly not sure how it will end up. If the ceiling has removable tiles or not. Do I just run it above the tiles and down each wall? Should I have used STP? I actually got 5e utp, but it's not a big office space
                STP is a little overkill. I would go with FTP. But Cat5e today is the bare minimum. Perhaps there would be a file server of some kind. Local network traffic requires bandwidth. I currently operate a number of networking devices. Mikrotik 3011 is a good and capable router for it's price. 1Gbps ports. You will also need 1Gbps switch. 1Gbps today is the bare minimum for adequate network. You don't need pipes for the FTP cables.
                Avoid DLink and these kinds of brands. For networking, you go either Mikrotik, partially UBNT or something like Zyxel. The quality of the DLink equipment is not great. Linksys is somewhat questionable today. Cisco is not bad, but expensive. Forget about cheepy solutions like WR740G for main router and 100mbps switch. Mikrotik has the best price-performance ratio. Also, I know thing or two and could provide some assistance. For file server, go for Windows Server Essentials. Most computers will be running Windows. Having computers in active directory, centrally managed and restricting the users, combined with accessing network resources via credentials adds very good level of security. There are also Linux solutions, but are somewhat basic. Using NAS for something that requires serious storage is not a good idea.
                You can also use FTP cables for the telephone lines. They work just fine. Avoid putting low voltage cables next to power lines. Actually, there is a requirement that forbids this, but people usually do it anyway. Also, you don't really need to drill walls. There is a plastic floor skirting with cavity designed specifically so you can run cables inside it. Usually you can run at least 2-3 FTP cables inside.
                When you must go thru walls, you can just remove the decorative side plates of the door and run the cables behind it between the wall and the door frame. It's tricky, but you can make the cabling almost invisible. And almost no drilling thru walls will be required.
                As for the server, you can buy something like HP ProLiant DL360p Gen8, if you plan to have a rack. Or Proliant tower. Better to have some sort of rack and not just putting routers, switches and servers onto the ground.
                Also, using CCA is bad. If you want reliable network go for copper cables.
                When you are using drywall and wood it's easy to drill. I share my experience from a country, where reinforced concrete and bricks are used.
                Not so easy to drill. And not a fun at all.
                But, you haven't said what "small office" means, what is the purpose of this office, what will be done there and the budget.
                Cable going from the ceiling straight down is not only unaesthetic, but is usually much more troublesome.
                Last edited by televizora; 12-22-2020, 01:47 PM.
                Useful conversions. I don't "speak" imperial. Please use metric, if you want to address me.
                1km=1000m=100000cm, 1inch=2.54cm, 1mile=1609.344meters, 1ft=30.48cm 1gal(US)=3.785liters, 1lb=453grams, 1oz=28.34grams

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                  #9
                  Re: Wiring ethernet in new office

                  CAT5E. CAT6 isn't worth the extra cost or hassle. Gigabit is plenty for most office applications I find... even for large file transfers the connection isn't the bottleneck.

                  Harbor Fright makes a long semi-flexible drill bit for drilling sill plates from a low mounted receptacle hole. Has a hole in it to tie the wire to on the end so you can use the bit to pull the wire through when you're done. I used low voltage drywall rings and 6 hole keystone plates when I CAT5'd my house a few years ago... keystone fillers are cheap, and it allows me to easily add additional jacks in the future.

                  Don't buy jacks from china. A lot of them are cheap knockoffs/fakes and don't work at all. Generic ones on ebay from US sellers (no-name) seem to be OK though. I bought some supposedly TE connectivity ones direct from china and they were bad fakes and I ended up redoing every single wall jack in the house. Not fun!

                  Use the "B" wiring layout when crimping or punching down. I used "A", only to find the standard is "B". "A" works, but makes things a PITA for the next guy (as I found out when I was helping the fiber guy install my internet connection).

                  Cable: Make sure you get solid copper wire. None of that cheapass copper clad junk. It can't be used for POE, and even if you're not using it now, somebody might in the future and once again, it's a future headache. I bought some Hosiwell cable for cheap... it's a major brand in Taiwan apparently (or thialand, can't remember which)... good cable indeed. I do run POE on some of it (security cameras) and it hasn't had any issues.

                  Patch panels: I used keystone panels... not as space efficient as dedicated CAT5/CAT6 punch panels, but I wanted the flexibility of choosing whatever jack I want per location. I had a full height rack to play with (which I'm using less than a 3rd of), so space wasn't a concern for me. In addition to ethernet connections, I also have a phone line (connection to my Magic Jack and Ring booster shelf, main phone line for house) and a couple of server USB connections running through my keystone panels.
                  Last edited by ratdude747; 12-22-2020, 03:16 PM.
                  sigpic

                  (Insert witty quote here)

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                    #10
                    Re: Wiring ethernet in new office

                    It's a smaaal office. Like four computers. No multiple users. For the most part just the boss and maybe one employee use the front computer for incoming orders and quickbooks processing

                    Boss has two back ones. One for quickbooks employee checks and one to work on the catalog

                    We don't need a server. Maybe a nas but that's stretching it

                    Of course gigabit lan. It's a tp-link 16 port. We don't need anything super expensive

                    It will be a very small office inside a warehouse environment. Metalworking shop.

                    It's not ftp but base copper. He will have 12 poe cameras inside and out. We already got 2000 ft of it. The warehouse is ~250 ft long. I think the contractor will run the camera wires and drop them in the back supply office. But I run them in the office while it's still being built
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                      #11
                      Re: Wiring ethernet in new office

                      Then only replace tplink routers and switches with gigabit zyxel switch and replace the router with mikrotik 3011. Cameras require bandwidth. And TPLink switch is not adequate.
                      Last edited by televizora; 12-23-2020, 04:58 AM.
                      Useful conversions. I don't "speak" imperial. Please use metric, if you want to address me.
                      1km=1000m=100000cm, 1inch=2.54cm, 1mile=1609.344meters, 1ft=30.48cm 1gal(US)=3.785liters, 1lb=453grams, 1oz=28.34grams

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                        #12
                        Re: Wiring ethernet in new office

                        Cameras have their own POE dvr

                        We don't need that big of a router. Again, very small computing space.

                        Before, they used the old dlink switch built into this small shitty router, which I'll be replacing. I've found for this business, they have very small needs
                        Cap Datasheet Depot: http://www.paullinebarger.net/DS/
                        ^If you have datasheets not listed PM me

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                          #13
                          Re: Wiring ethernet in new office

                          Originally posted by Uranium-235 View Post
                          Before, they used the old dlink switch built into this small shitty router, which I'll be replacing. I've found for this business, they have very small needs
                          Just think about the Mikrotik. 10 x 1Gbps ports, 1SFP port for directly connecting optical network connection from your ISP.
                          If you say that the number of devices is small, then you may not even need separate switch, because the router will have all the ports you need. Also, think in perspective. They have small needs now, but needs grow, as well as requirements. This Mikrotik 3011 is in fact so cheap for a router with this kind of extras, that it is a bargain. The people that install electrical and phone wiring most likely will take 10x the price of the router, so in this renovation the price of the device that will provide you all the ports you need and allow for further expansion and control of the network is insignificant compared to the whole amount.
                          I do not sell Mikrotiks. I am just their fan. Because alternatives are either expensive or extremely dumb devices.
                          For example, VPNs, decent network firewall, the possibility of creating separate networks and managing flow of data between them is something that is used every day. Especially VPN-s. For example the boss says "I need to be able to work from home", which means accessing local network resources. If you go for dumb network device, this device has no such capabilities or options. There is hardly any workaround other than replacing it.
                          Mikrotiks provide flexibility. They seem complex, but not so hard to understand. Flexibility and number of ports means that you can easily manage any new challenge provided. Especially for routers, the maxima "Go big or go home" is true. And custom firmware on cheepy router is usually unstable, it's for enthusiasts, not if you require something solid. It's your decision what you will do, but good router is fundamental for any business today. And you can also throw out the old switch and have gigabit network. This router even provides POE on some of it's ports.(disabled by default, must be specifically enabled for POE ports to provide any power)
                          If you design the network properly, you can easily modify things according your needs. Even gigabit TPLink routers and with only 4 ports come about 1/3 and 1/2 of the price of this one. And then you will need switch, because 4 ports are hardly adequate today.
                          From here, you know me well enough already. I have tendency to go big, and up to this moment I was never wrong doing so in my line of work. I have also done is the past something like you want to do now. Almost always this backfired after some time. I prefer to do it one time and then not to need to waste time fixing problems. I have learned the hard way that trying to go cheap almost always leads to wasting more money.
                          Last edited by televizora; 12-23-2020, 03:01 PM.
                          Useful conversions. I don't "speak" imperial. Please use metric, if you want to address me.
                          1km=1000m=100000cm, 1inch=2.54cm, 1mile=1609.344meters, 1ft=30.48cm 1gal(US)=3.785liters, 1lb=453grams, 1oz=28.34grams

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                            #14
                            Re: Wiring ethernet in new office

                            They're not growing. It's a metalworking shop that sells custom made curtain rods to interior designers. Like, five workers, and the boss. They are moving out of their old place to one that is actually smaller (shop and office) . They're actually shrinking (well, physically). They have no use for expanding.

                            Their internet is 75/10. It's really all they need. Their old router is dumber and more outdated, and less secure than this one. It is an enthusiast router, their old one was truly bare minimum home $29 router I didn't install.

                            The only working from home he might need is the catalog, and it's using an OLD version of corel x4. He'll just put on a flash drive. Vpn would be a waste of money. He 99% of the time never works from home. He SPECIFICALLY keeps those two apart.

                            This is actually overkill for them. They were fine on their old stuff, but it was already all poorly wired through the walls (physical holes from one room to another). Cameras use poe and nothing else does. Except for the lathem clock-in and that dosen't really even use poe. I'm going to get an injector, and on the other side a poe -> 12v combo adapter that is 12v 3A. Much more supply than needed.

                            I guess I'll get you a picture of the frame when it's built, but here is the tiny floor plan for the office (rest of it is the shop)

                            (internet drop is in supply room, which will likely have tiny rack, rack ups, dvr patch panel and switch). Oh also isp voip
                            Attached Files
                            Last edited by Uranium-235; 12-23-2020, 04:00 PM.
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                            ^If you have datasheets not listed PM me

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                              #15
                              Re: Wiring ethernet in new office

                              Ubiquiti seems to be the latest brand of choice for small offices. I haven't worked with their equipment myself, but there's pretty glowing reviews of them from the community. They seem to be pro grade or close, but aren't priced like cisco gear.

                              Sounds like you have it mostly nailed down, since it's a metalworking shop, you may want to consider making the network somewhat hardened against rats. That could just mean attaching the network components to a piece of plywood up on a wall, rats won't come out to chew on things in the open unless they have a truly large colony. A long time ago, I did some troubleshooting in a mechanics shop, that place was crawling with them...

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                                #16
                                Re: Wiring ethernet in new office

                                Yeah Ubiquity is def what I use for access points. In fact I installed one in our house cause Uverses latest version of their gateway has an inherit flaw that causes the 5ghz to start eventually dropping out. First gateway took hours to randomly start cutting 5ghz off. Second one did it after a few days. I just got a unifi AP and disabled the onboard radios on the gateway

                                well this office is going to be built from scratch. I'm sure they will figure out if there is a rodent issue right off the bat
                                Cap Datasheet Depot: http://www.paullinebarger.net/DS/
                                ^If you have datasheets not listed PM me

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                                  #17
                                  Re: Wiring ethernet in new office

                                  Originally posted by Uranium-235 View Post
                                  well this office is going to be built from scratch. I'm sure they will figure out if there is a rodent issue right off the bat
                                  What router and switch you are planning to install? Seems like I was unable to convince you for Mikrotik, so I wonder what it would be
                                  Also, the cheapest Mikrotik with Gigabit networking is RB960PGS, which is about 80$ or just about the price of decent TPLink.
                                  It's cheap, but still flexible, while only 5 port, one of which is usually WAN, so you are left with 4 ports.
                                  One thing that you can do with Mikrotik, but not others is web filtering. No more facebook, for example. Or youtube.
                                  Originally posted by clearchris View Post
                                  Ubiquiti seems to be the latest brand of choice for small offices.
                                  UBNT is one of the best brands, if you decide to go for Wireless networks.
                                  The products are reliable and easy to configure. Also, they have Unify controller software, which you can install on your server or use as a paid service in their cloud. With it you can manage multiple access points. Something like Active Directory, but for UBNT AP-s. Before this, your option was to use UBNT AP-s and Mikrotik for hotpot and accounting. But unless you require such funtionality, Mikrotik with UBNT AP connected to it will get the job done.
                                  Nobody around here likes Cisco. Mostly because it's expensive and you can get the job done with Mikrotiks, which are much cheaper, while reliable.
                                  Last edited by televizora; 12-24-2020, 08:37 AM.
                                  Useful conversions. I don't "speak" imperial. Please use metric, if you want to address me.
                                  1km=1000m=100000cm, 1inch=2.54cm, 1mile=1609.344meters, 1ft=30.48cm 1gal(US)=3.785liters, 1lb=453grams, 1oz=28.34grams

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                                    #18
                                    Re: Wiring ethernet in new office

                                    Well it's an AIO. If I got that, I would need to get a separate AP, which would drive the cost up

                                    https://www.amazon.com/D-Link-Dual-B.../dp/B071P3VB1L

                                    the cheapest is actually this

                                    https://www.amazon.com/Mikrotik-RB75.../dp/B01MSUMVUB

                                    odd how amazon lists it as wireless but it's not
                                    Last edited by Uranium-235; 12-24-2020, 11:54 AM.
                                    Cap Datasheet Depot: http://www.paullinebarger.net/DS/
                                    ^If you have datasheets not listed PM me

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                                      #19
                                      Re: Wiring ethernet in new office

                                      I don't want to offend you, but if you choose DLink, I guarantee you that there will be much pain and suffering after this. DLinks are notorious for buggy firmwares, Wi-Fi drops, software hangs and etc. For me, DLink is no-no brand.
                                      Also, having separate router and AP means that you can choose the place of the AP and put it in a place, where you get maximum signal quality, while not having to move every single cable that comes to it. If you really want to buy SOHO stuff, better buy TPLink. Avoid DLink, Asus and Tenda. But these are home solutions. If you one runs any kind of business, it is better to invest into something more decent.
                                      Last edited by televizora; 12-24-2020, 02:49 PM.
                                      Useful conversions. I don't "speak" imperial. Please use metric, if you want to address me.
                                      1km=1000m=100000cm, 1inch=2.54cm, 1mile=1609.344meters, 1ft=30.48cm 1gal(US)=3.785liters, 1lb=453grams, 1oz=28.34grams

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                                        #20
                                        Re: Wiring ethernet in new office

                                        Their are literally like three devices that connect to wifi. If it starts messing up I'll return it and get an Archer C7
                                        Cap Datasheet Depot: http://www.paullinebarger.net/DS/
                                        ^If you have datasheets not listed PM me

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