Structured Media Center Complete!!!

[Mike44]

Hey everyone!! I've finally finished my structured media centre, SMC, as Leviton calls it!! It involves the distribution of both data (via computer ethernet) and telephone over cat5e wires throughout the house. I did it from an existing installation, so I didn't pull any new wires, but I added network capabilities to it!

I actually wrote all about it and put in pictures in the Show Off forum at this thread here: http://www.construction-resource.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6636. I'm really excited to see what you guys think about it, so I thought I'd let you know here (since it sort of belongs in both forums, I guess, lol).

Well, anyways, take a look at it if you want! There's a ton of (large) graphics, so you may need a quick Internet connection to see them. And there's a lot of detailed text too about what I did. You don't need to read it all, but there's probably something in there that you might learn!! I certainly learned a lot!

Okay, well, enjoy!

Mike

[Mattie03]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing! :)

[RonaldKlondike]

Well done. Were you running a server off of this as well? I just bought an HP MediaSmart Server and have been pretty happy with it. Although, my set up is much more rudimentary than what you have. Nice work.

[Mike44]

No, I don't have a server in my setup, but that'll be my next step :). It wouldn't be too difficult to integrate it though using a spare Ethernet port in one of the rooms. That HP server is a pretty good one from what I've heard about - glad to hear it's working out great for you!

Mike

[John_S]

Cool, I've been wanting to do something similar. I need to stop being lazy and just do it!

[Stony]

Mike - did you use a punch-down tool for your terminations? - or the right insert (with the sharp edge on the far side)?

One of these: h ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Punch-down-tool-Krone-and-110-0a.jpg

Usually when you punch them down it seats the wire further down into the termination block and cuts the far end of the wire off so that it is flush with the block in the process. If they're not punched down, it's not really terminated and will eventually pop out.

Great wire management though - very clean looking. That's the cleanest looking residential junction box I've ever seen. :) (I'm using that same router btw)

[Mike44]

No, I actually don't have one of the proper punchdown tools (like spring loaded and auto-cut and stuff). So instead, I had to use the little punchdown tool that Leviton supplied in the box for their data boards. You can see it in this picture here (it's the gray tool at the bottom). It's just a little plastic thing that pretty much pushes the wire into the slot and leaves it. Then I clipped off all the excess with diagonals (or flush-cutters, or side-cutters, whatever you want to call them :)).

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/7259/01ethernetjackdisplay01du1.jpg

It worked well enough for the relatively few punch-downs I had to do. Didn't have any problems with it either; the wires were always fully seated in their slots when I checked after punching them down and the connections were always made.

D-link makes awesome routers :)! Just under 8 years of use with it and not a single problem!!

Mike

[peterselby7]

I've always wanted to do this too.

[peterselby7]

What would your server setup look like? What equipment and how implemented...

[Laserlad]

Nice! Looks so clean, and cute puppy by the way :D

[spearbuilders]

Very nice, great job.

[Mike44]

@ peterselby7, I actually never installed a server, but rather just a simple home network with both wired and wireless capabilities. I was contemplating to install one, but I figured that I don't do that much file sharing that I need to have a central 'data dump.' Just the computers on the network will store files locally. I've got my desktop PC (wired) and laptop (wireless), my sisters' laptop (I set it up for wired, but can also be unplugged if need be), and my parents' laptop (same thing, wired or wireless).

As for the equipment, I'm using a D-Link DI-524 as the router and a TelCo supplied DSL modem (the black box). I've got the range extender antenna hooked up to the router as well for a signal boost out the detached garage (for Internet radio out there :)

And as for the implementation, well, it's pretty much just a standard setup. Phone line into DSL modem, signal out to router, router splits into 4 lines, and they each go to one of the patch blocks to be hooked into the rooms.

Haha, yes, the 'puppy' is actually about 2 years old now in that picture :) Teacup Yorkie. He's actually my sister's dog, but he finds the warmest spot and claims it as his, wherever it may be lol!

Mike

[giddonah]

Instead of a range booster, it would be much more stable and efficient to put in another wired wireless access point. In large homes we'll put in separate devices for each purpose, no integrated devices. The modem is just a modem, the router is just a router and the wap is just a wap. Having different devices makes troubleshooting easier and you can get better devices for each job. Most integrated devices are pretty cheap.

So... if it's possible to get a wire out to your garage, you might consider doing that and then putting in a second wap. You then give both waps the same ssid and password and a laptop roaming around the property will just automatically jump from one ap to the other depending on which one had a better connection.

[Mike44]

Hmm, yeah I actually never even considered a range booster when I did this. I guess I just used what I had from my previous setup (which was a few years old at the time, making it even older now), but the access point probably would have been better. I think I've seen a few of them in my school hallways (along the ceilings). How does it get get setup though? Off a router? Or can you daisy chain them off a modem?

I have do have a spare 2" conduit running out to the garage. I ran 2 conduits during the construction - one was for power, and the second for situations like this where I would need to bring something out after the fact :) I'll think about this for sure! Thanks!

Michael

[giddonah]

While it's technically possible to have a network without a router, I won't get into how that works. For the most part, every network will have ONE router. ONE!*** The best way to have this set up is to have a modem (NOT a modem/router/switch/access point/toaster/microwave). Devices should do ONE job, and one only. The modem then feeds the WAN port of a router. Now, the router is probably the only device that can do more than one thing, because it's impossible to find a router that doesn't have a switch built in. So you have this router that controls the network. If you only have 4 hard wired devices, then that's probably all you'll need.

A hard wired device is anything that connects to the LAN ports of the router, i.e. a computer, a network printer, a wireless access point, a tv, a bluray player...

If you have more than 4 of these (and chances are you will), then you need a network switch. Think of a switch as a splitter, but it does it smartly.

The actual setup gets a little involved. You have to decide how you want your network set up, which requires an understanding of what IP addresses are and what they do. It's not hard, just wiki it.

It ends up looking something like this:

http://www.tamos.com/htmlhelp/monitoring/wireless0.png

***it is possible to set up a wireless router to be just a wireless access point. In the setup, you turn off the DHCP server. The problem with this method is the probability that someone will plug something into the WAN port of the "access point" instead of the LAN ports. Also, if the thing ever gets reset to factory defaults, either by a power outage or by someone holding down the reset button, the thing turns back into a router. You now have two routers on the network and nothing will work. You might get away with this, but I'd only do this in my own home where I was there to troubleshoot it and fix it myself, because you're pretty much guaranteeing yourself a service call.

[Mike44]

Cool, thanks for info! Yeah, I'm not too familiar with stand alone switches as I've never really used one (although, like you said, I think my router has it built in). I couldn't agree with you more on the point that one device should do one thing!! All these new modems that the Internet providers give you nowadays are like 4 in 1's, or 5 in 1's with a billion settings that you have to go through before you find the option to disable the wireless router capabilities and just leave it as a separate modem!

Btw, what's the story behind the quote in your signature? I keep on reading it thinking up some kind of situation that went bad when you drilled into a wall or something right through a pipe or wire!! Or is it something funny? :)

Mike

[giddonah]

It's not a great story or anything. I was working on my mom's house one night and thought it might be a little late for drilling considering her neighbors were kind of irritable. She didn't seem to care :)

I kind of like that attitude, and sometimes you have to apply that to life.

[Don_P]

:) I like it

[Mike44]

Haha, yeah I guess you're right! Kinda reminds me of one time when I was making some steps off the back door for my grandmother, and one of the neighbors came over yelling at me I was making too much noise. The thing was that she was right - it was 11 pm and I was still using the skill saw!!!! oops!!

Mike

[perezjohnson]

Very nice work! Those Leviton telco and data modules work great. I have use them in the past. I also used their cable TV modules. Everything is labeled and looks very clean! Nice work!

[patriklevis]

When commencing with operations to install data network cabling, there are a number of do's and don'ts. First, it is important to note that if you are installing the data network cabling in an unfinished home, or office, regardless of the size of the job, it will be an easier task than in an already completed building. Regardless of how large or small your data cable network is going to be, it is vital to have a home-run location. This is the location where all of your cables will terminate. This unit could be a structured media center that can be flush mounted prior to the completion of the building and should be large enough to accommodate both your present and any future expansion plans for your data network.

[Eric G]

fantastic work....

I have a DI-524 router too. Been running it for a long time now - great little router!

[John.Beckert]

Now this is the kind of hobbying I need to get into... Applying my trade with my passion.

Great work, though, you did a great job (and your post documenting the process was awesome too)!

[utah]

Cool. How long did it take you to do that from start to finish?

[Mike44]

Hey thanks guys! Yes the DI-524 is an awesome router for a small home network. I've never had any problems with it!

As for how long it took, initial planning was done over a couple days - worked on a plan for a bit after school each night, but the actual wiring and installation took about a day and half (half of that time was probably troubleshooting haha!). Once you've got it figured out and PLANNED WELL...it actually goes pretty quick.

Just wait till I show you guys what I did in our new house! When I head back during Christmas I'll probably finish it up and take some pictures to post up. It puts this setup to shame...