Upgrade your home to 10Gb Ethernet. What switch, cabling and tools you need.
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- Опубликовано: 1 июл 2024
- About 2 weeks ago I made the decision to add wired, 10GB, Ethernet into my home. I'm thrilled it's done because I hated doing it and I made loads of mistakes. The good news is I learnt lots along the way, and I'm here to save you from making any of those mistakes too!
If this was useful, please consider buying me a coffee. It really helps out with getting these videos made: ko-fi.com/benfrain
Update 12.4.21: I’ve since gone back to the wall points and put new face plates on. I got a different brand and they went though the cat 6 and cat 6a cable without needing to strip the wires. In retrospect, I don’t recommend you strip the wires - just get better face plates!
Original description continues below:
Here are the sections:
0:00 Beginning
1:30 Why not Powerline?
2:00 Why 10GBe?
3:24 10GB switches
5:05 Cat 5e, 6 or 6a cable?
12:15 568A or 568B?
13:18 Cabling summary
13:50 Plugs and connectors
15:08 Tools for the job
15:52 Using a cable tester
18:03 Victory and annoyances
19:00 Summary/TL;DW
Kit I used (affiliate links so I might make 30p!):
Netgear Nighthawk 10GB switch: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...
Cat6 cabling: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...
RJ45 connectors:
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...
Network kit with tester and crimping tool etc:
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...
Fibre glass fishing rods:
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...
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Yes I also ran 1800ft of Cat6a throughout our house. It was a mayor pain to install. Next time I would only run Cat6A if it had to go parallel other power lines or sources of RF noice. Perhaps to feed a 2nd switch elsewhere in the house and then use Cat6 to do the final jump. But yes a good quality Ca6 ethernet with good connectors is ample.
Thanks for sharing. I recently pulled Cat 6a throughout my three story house for network connections in each room, access points and security cameras. I did 20 runs to the basement ripping up floors, making holes in walls and pulling with fishing rods - before decorating and new flooring went in. You're right, it's a massive project and I saw more innards of my 1905 house than I wanted to see - but so worth it when it's done. Yes I could use mesh WiFi but with 80+ devices on WiFi and 40+ ethernet capable I really needed to make sure the critical stuff like desktops/office, video streaming and NAS were on Ethernet. Plus having POE to run acess points, cameras, IP phones and flex switches is great for reducing all those AC adaptors and needing extra power sockets in odd places. All Ubiquiti Unifi gear.
Blimey! Good job. That’s sounds like an intense few days there. Seems like you can never have enough - already wish I’d done another run to my ‘office’ room as I have a work and home computer and now NAS I’d like on there. Not sure I can face adding another one yet though! 🤣
Hardwired ethernet is always my go-to. Wifi has gotten a lot better, but I will always opt for hardwired if I can.
I bought couple of Cisco, HP and Brocade switches with 48x 10G SFP+ and 4x 40G QSFP... Cheapest one was about $140. Also I get HP DL360 G8 and DL380 G9, both of them with dual port 40G NIC to use them as routers... I have 2x 10Gbit + 1x 1Gbit from 3 seperate ISP... I use fiber at my home because it is cheaper than copper cables. I bought some Broadcom dual port 10G LAN cards for $30 each and put them in all PC at home... NAS server has 2 of these cards and each port are in different VLAN. Also i managet to buy some 3 meter 10G DAC cables for $5-6 each so no problem with interconnects :) 40G DAC cables 3 meter are also not expensive :)
TYVM For the video we really appreciate it.
If you want basically the same feature set in a switch, but with a better processor/switch fabric and it's a bit cheaper at the outset, all without trying to look like a weird art piece/stealth bomber... then the MikroTik CSS610-8G-2S+IN may serve you well. The 10Gb ports are SFP so you will have the expense of the SFP modules to go with either copper or fibre... but it's more flexible to reuse if you change your network around later. Even with SFP module costs, that makes it basically price parity with the nighthawk and your still getting better internal specs.
Thank you. I had never heard of MikroTik before....looking now as I need PoE.
Very insightful, thank you
Great video mate!
Because of the cable run lengths I went to SM fiber and relatively quickly went from 1G to mixed 10G/40G set. The 40G portion is overkill, but capability is there and why not use it. All that gear is totally out of couple hundred budget one may like to spend on LAN.
Yeah, plan for the future. I was going to redo all of my cabling mess because I bought cheap chinese cat5e (which some turned out to be cat5, "Them Fuckers"). But, I had to go back and replace some of it when it was only doing Megabit speed. But, I learned not to go cheap, but this was 7 or 8 years ago when it really cost to run cable. And, now, I know more what to look for and cat 6a cable or others are much cheaper now.
**Surreptitiously looks at his CAT 8 cabling** 👀
Good video! Thank you sir!
Need to check out the newest offerings from TP Link - the TL SX105 (5 port) and TL SX108 (8 port) 10Gbe switches. Also the Huawei AX3 Pro - changing my cables to all CAT7 also helped improve my network transfer speeds and reliability especially when it comes to streaming....
Which runs cooler? A switch with built-in 10GBASE-T RJ-45 jacks or one with SFP+ ports with 10GBASE-T adapters? I found that the adapters run unacceptably hot. Most of the low-cost switches have SFP+ ports, but there is the QNAP QSW-2104-2T-A, which has JJ-45s.
The difference in your cables may be riser vs plenum cable. I bought 6a riser cable that is thick but inside is like your "cat 6" cable.
hi mate for your cat 6 have you had run it near electric cables and what type of shielding did you go for.. UTP , FTP, or SFTP. I might have to run a cable under the floorboards where it would be close to electric wiring, will utp be enough, or do I need shielded cable
Informative video
I ran cat 7 in my house a year or so ago, but that was just for a bit of future proofing so I don’t have to do it again anytime soon.
I live in Florida and there's not snowball's chance that I'm crawling up my attic space when it's 130° up there. However, it's important that you're knowledgeable if hiring somebody or as a DiYer.
Regarding cabling, you need to be observant at least a few things: Distance, Environment e.g. CMR (exterior, water, plenum, etc rated) and e.g. shielding proximity to electronic interference. Make certain only to use solid copper and never strands.
Regarding switches and routers, If you're concerned about latency, then there's a difference between a cheap unmanaged switch and a more high quality managed switch. I'm a gamer so I'm all about QoS. My prosumer hardware choice is Ubiquiti and on the cheaper more budget restricted TP-Link.
Regarding the RJ45 pass through connectors, in a word oxidation corrosion and I understand DiY'ers preference to them. However, one place to never use them is if you have exterior cameras. I've heard all sorts of different ways to seal it .. don't. Eventually you'll risk not only a degraded signal and reduced speed, but lost and corrupted connections. You have to match your connector to the type of wire, so if you're running CAT-6A or better (or ideally CAT-6) then shielded connectors.
Regarding Tools, I think it's more important that you have a quality check line testing device e.g. Klein Tools VDV501-851. In addition to the fishing fiberglass rods I'd probably look at a longer retractable fish tape as well. I'd say the biggest trick in a home if you're in an attic space especially, is to find a small but sturdy straight wire e.g. metal marking flag poles that you can push through the corner of the ceiling and wall; it's an interesting trick that I've seen used.
In wall connectors, I personally don't recommend the "fixed" punch down as shown. Instead the Keystone Couplers / Jacks.
While my current house is primarily CAT-6A data / CAT-6 PoE cameras, if I were to move and build, everything would be fiber.
Hey Ben, thanks for the video. I like your videos, and general vibe/mindset/interests, the resonate with what I am doing (software dev + tinkering with hardware + keyboards + ... ). Tell you ride a motorcycle and like photography, and we instantly become besties :D
Sorry to disappoint - too much of a chicken for motorbikes and don’t have the aesthetic sensibilities for photography 🤣 appreciate the kind words though 🙏
@@benfrainuk that is fine. The hairstyle choice won me over :)
@@ApplicableProgramming LMAO 🤣 👍
I hope you have some inkling of a clue as to how goddamn helpful this video has been. Thank you thank you thank you thank you!
Hi! That’s great to know and I appreciate the comment. 👍
Its now cheaper to go with LC to LC premade Fibre cables than it is for CAT Cables, plus going with Fibre runs will last you longer than using CAT Cables.
what are some of the yt channels you watch for your network knowledge?
Ben perfect video, very helpful and informative for me, before I attempt wiring in my home, but I am still not able to work out the cable run. do you have video that shows your cable run. thank you
I don’t have a video. Let me see if I can explain simply. I have a switch in my loft. All the cables run into that from whichever the sockets in each room. There is also a cable from my internet router into that switch, so all those cables are effectiveness connected to the internet.
It’s just a case of how many cables you want to run from that switch to each wall point. I went for two cables in each wall socket but you could do one. But my feeling is if you have one, you’ll want two! I already have another smaller switch attached to one of the sockets in my office room to allow more Ethernet connections (albeit only 1GB)
Does that clarify?
good video. just an FYI, the numbers on the cable tester refers to the pairs, the one that does not lit up, is the one at fault. another thing to remember, when doing 10gb, you need to activate jumbo frame at the switch that will be used to connect the network. also, refer to the manufacturer specifications for the 10gb nic. very important to verify the specfs, and configure them on your computer. otherwise, you will not get the real 10gb speed you set up for, but an improved regular 1gb network. keep in mind that, although you upgraded to 10gb you computer and home, when connecting to the outside world, your bottleneck speed is the highest your router is capable and the highest your ISP offers to you.
I am still looking for the house with double floor and patch panels.
One more thing. Cat7 is as cheap as cat 6A and has more shielding and a higher megahertz throughput... 700 megahertz
Do fiberglass rods bend at all? I recently replace a coax cable with ethernet , and the only tool that could travel the necessary path was a borescope ( snake with camera and led light at the end ). What I ended up doing was taping a small magnet to the end of the ethernet cable and feeding up through a hole drilled in the floor for the coax, then attach a piece of metal to the borescope and snake it down through a whole in the wall box, make the connection, and pull the cable up.
I tried a lot of different things before that, but that is what finally worked. I was going from my basement “server room” to a wall box in my living room.
That sounds like a great solution. The fibre glass rods bend a little bit the problem they have that you solved it knowing where on Earth the rod is pointing and what is in the way!
Would definitely try the borescope and Camera next time if not too expensive to hire/buy
It worked for the short pull that was about 12 inches from the wall box to the hole in the basement ceiling.
My next pull is from the 2nd floor to the basement. I’m making my shopping list of push rods and such that I’ll probably need to compete it.
There is patch cable, and there is interconnect cable. They aren't the same. You need to make sure what you're buying and terminate the cable with the proper end. Call or look up the manufacturer's specification for the cable you are buying. Can you make it work? Sort of. Without expensive testing equipment you won't know that you've made poor connections that will affect your network's capabilities. In the end, ALWAYS verify what cable you're buying and how you're going to use it. Don't try to make patch cables with interconnect cable that's not meant to have an RJ45 crimped to it, if you do you will have problems. If your wire wouldn't punch down on your wall plates you have the wrong cable or the wrong wall plate for the cable. Having installed thousands of ethernet connectors I will tell you, just having a mechanical/electrical connection between the 2 ends does not mean you've made a quality interface that will work properly. Use the specified cable ends, use the specified punch down connections for your cable.
Awesome video. Really did a great job. Also, I had to listen to entire video, because I just love your accent, Mate. I'm across the pond and appreciate you taking time to help us Yankees.
Ha. Funny thing is, for me, when I speak to people from over the pond it sounds like they are talking like people ‘from the movies’ - as we grow up hearing the American accents so much, but rarely in the flesh 👍
i'm embarking on this kind of project soon. I'll be using cat 6a. I have to run a cable 50 metres or so outside the house into a garden office. I'm trying to do this on the cheap; ideally I'll purchase external 6a cable for a song but it is expensive (and i'll need 100 metres to run 2 cables). If I can't get external cable, I may do something creative and run it in buried hosepipe. I think it will last a while and if it does fail I will simply (?!) replace it.
All I would advice is don’t skimp on the cable. Although it can seem expensive, you’ll wish you spent a little more of the cheap stuff fails in a few years and you find your self replacing it in the middle of winter (because let’s face it, it will never fail on a nice summers day!) 👍
Cat6 Direct Burial cable is all you need. You can burry is directly in the ground or put it in a conduit. No 6A rating needed for RF interference when its hurried in the ground ;-)
@@macexpert7247 cheers Mac. I’ve sourced approx 100 metres which is perfect for my requirement and was relatively cheap too. I’ve got all the bits and pieces just need time and an empty house to begin.
Hi Ben, where did you get the keyboard with the orange deco style? Mac-compatible?
Hi Jackilyn, that is a Preonic from Drop. Actually got rid of that one a while back as I just never used it! Nothing wrong with it though, great it if you need something small for travel 👍
Throwing calipers on the outside jacket of the cable is pointless. The jacket diameter and thickness varies by manufacturer. It's also often not exactly a uniform round section and is somewhat compressible. It's the wires inside that actually matter. They change gauge between different categories.
I wonder if a baby can get a cat6a cable through a cavity in the wall, without getting its arm stuck?
It looks like you have shielded Cat6a, that needs to be grounded. Typical this is used in healthcare or critical settings to avoid EMI etc. unshielded is perfect for a typical house.
Sorry bit late to the party, if I run 2 cat66 cables down a wall, can you run together or do they need to be 100mm apart, what about ELECTRO MAGNETIC INTERFERENCE???, GREAT VIDEO BY THE WAY
Fine side by side. If it was power running alongside that might be an issue but two cat cables will be fine 👍
@@benfrainuk hi Ben, so you didn't have an issue with Electro magnetic interference?
Thanks
@@benfrainuk also, yeah I'm aware shouldn't run high voltage cables with low voltages ones 👍
Cat 7 it is..
Do you have a 10Gb service from your ISP?? SO why upgrade your internal system if you cant use it??
It was so I could use a NAS in the house that has 10Gb networking (the max studio has 10Gb Ethernet too)
You gave great advice here. I've been learning about all the same details you touched on, especially recommending just Cat6 rather than 6a. I actually heard the same advice from a manufacturer of all places, called True Cable. They sell it all, but he even said on one of the videos the same things you touched on. I can highly recommend them too BTW. My biggest issue right now is trying to find the best PoE Switch that isn't too much money, but not too cheap either. I'd prefer Cisco, but they have so many models and price points that it seems to be either too advanced for my needs or not enough ports or power for the cameras, I also don't want some chinese garbage either, so this is a tough one.
Yea. I’d really just like a no frills 10x10GBE switch that doesn’t cost a fortune but that just isn’t a thing yet!
Any tips on network cards for a 10 Gbit network?
Hi Jan, I don’t I’m afraid. Sorry!
I use power plugs and was desperate to find out whcih way to go and why it dropped
Yes. I made exactly the same mistake. Only when I noticed an odd correlation between no internet and washing machine being on I started to wonder!
Cat6
Quick question here. So the switch is mainly used for wired connections?
Yes. All wired.
@@benfrainuk thanks for the answer. How does that work with a house with multiple rooms? Would I need to string wires to all the rooms?
or get Cat7 and have FAR fewer issues with interference, run higher data rates, and future proof yourself a bit. I can run 40Gb around my house with CAT7.
Why settle for CAT7? Why not CAT8? 😃
@@benfrainuk signal integrity for 7 is good enough, 8 isn't as widely available and it is more expensive without the corresponding current returns. MSEE here.
That’s what I ran a year or so again. Trying to future proof a little so don’t have to do that again anytime soon 😂
😁 I appreciate your humor. I came to the same conclusion with the CAT-6 vs CAT-6A wiring in my home. I've had 1 GbE for years but now I'm looking at a 10GbE NAS with 5 PCs and converting my 3 non-mesh APs into a mesh system (e.g. UniFi) and 10GbE with everything else with 2.5GbE that will be running everywhere from 100 Mbps (e.g. TVs) to 1 Gbps. Then selling my kidney to pay the bill. YEAH .. I hired a kid to run all the CAT-6 in the attic, it would have killed me.
I'm goin to check out some of your other videos. Take care from Florida, USA.
You made the smart decision there. In retrospect, getting someone else to do the cable runs would have been far more economical and less soul destroying than doing it (badly) myself!
Thanks for the kind words 👍
Best from the U.K.
@@benfrainuk .. I still terminated all of the cables and obviously did all the networking. There was just no way I was going up in that attic. Good luck to you and hope everything is running well. 👍😎
@@DJaquithFLso far, so good! 👍
By the way you should correct the GB (Giga Bytes) in the title to Gb (Giga Bits). 1 Byte = 8 Bits :)
Good catch, thanks! Changed in the title. Will update the poster image as soon as I get chance!
I thought this was Johnny Ive
The a and b difference is that b. Is meant for networking in a is meant for computer to computer networking, avoiding any switches or hubs or bridges or routers or modems... So again be standard is for networking devices and to computers. But standard a is meant for computer to computer directly connected so they can talk to each other and see each other very old before they cared about routers I guess... And the copper dipped wiring? And yes it sounds superior but I think it's only because information and electricity travels on the surface of the wire. And so you don't need to have a copper wire all the way through because it just it's not used. It's doesn't do anything
@J Hemphill it's cuz I talk to text with Google and this is what I get
@J Hemphill your explanation was exceptional. Well put
@@steven5865 review and edit before you press “submit”. it has saved me every time I have remembered to do it.
just an update here - new 10gb 5 port switch TL-SX105 and 8 port TL-SX108 - 10gbe on all ports eliminates the need for slower speed switches...
As soon as I can justify the extra for a 10x 10GBe switch I’m going to be all over that!
@@benfrainuk in the mean time you are doing yourself a dis-service by not upgrading your cabling to the newest CAT7 or CAT8 cables. Those powerline adapters are a waste of money. Look at the Huaweii AXPro router has tons of options -
@@vinylmonster4907 I’m not using powerline adapters. What benefit is cat 7/8 going to give me over the cat6/6a I have in my home? Pretty short runs so my understanding is that cat6/6a will be fine. Only weak point I seem to have is the switch as I can only do 10GBe between two devices currently
@@benfrainuk WELL I WILL JUST SAY I ONCE BELIEVED AS YOU DO WITH THE OLD CAT6 - But my network transfer speeds from my computer or laptop to my NAS tripled when i upgraded my cables to CAT7, i went from 100+mbps to 300-400mbps and because i transfer a lot of 4K content that matters, it matters when it comes to streaming, it matters when it comes, to editing or re-encoding or uploading....
@@vinylmonster4907 fair enough - can’t argue with results!! I’ll have to find the time to benchmark mine and see what I’m getting 😮
I recently starting setting up my home computer lab, using recycled networking equipment (which I got for free) that my employer had taken out of service after upgrading. I have a desktop server rack with a 24 port patch panel, switch and PDU, Before I got started on it, I spent 3 months watching RUclips videos for networking and wiring tips, which saved me a lot of time, headaches and mistakes. The biggest hurdle was choosing the right cable. I only have 1GB Ethernet speed at home, so I went with CAT6 UTP. (non CCA) Rather than use the punch-down keystone jacks, I went with RJ45 female connectors instead, and it worked perfectly. I opted for the wall-mounted jacks, so I had to use deeper boxes, to accommodate the RJ45 connector. So far, so good. The next step is to get into the attic, and drop wiring into the cavity wall of a 1960's U.S. town house and run cables down to the ground floor and the basement.
That attic bit is the worst. Good luck there - you’ll be glad when it’s done 👍🏻
Does that mean you have 10GB Ethernet speed now? I'm trying to get 10Gb ethernet speed but I'm sort of confused. Does it transfer to 10GB speed or do you have to buy a plan that's able to run that speed
Computer with 10gb Ethernet?
Have you thought about updating this video with WiFi 6/6e?
While I’m sure that would be better I just don’t think you can beat the dependency of cables so not sure I’ll bother any time soon.
@@benfrainuk Makes sense. My company is moving to all Wifi 6e for our office other than servers etc so we'll see how that goes
@@catlmarc9618 that’s interesting. Do update on how it goes there. Sounds like an ideal ‘real world’ test 👍
@@benfrainuk Definitely. Will do
Wired. All the time where possible.
In Australia! ROFL
Cat 6a? RJ48, not RJ45.
Let us see the upgrade . Less talk, more visuals
If you’re building a new house, it would make sense to run 6a to start with, wouldn’t it?
Sure, or Cat8 if really want to future proof!
I actually thought the differences between the cables was the most interesting part. And lol a baby's arm
Buy coffee link does not work?
Really? Thought everyone was just being cheap 🤣 thanks I’ll take a look
Fixed! Thanks
@@benfrainuk Ok, now I get it. Right now I can't drink coffee due to toothache 😞
Your wifi should only affect your ping by a few milliseconds. Not 50 milliseconds.
I don’t disagree in principle but that’s what I get. Wonder if the mesh WiFi is making things worse 🤔
You made another mistake. Nah was kidding.
Hey Ben! Are you a Stokie?
Alfred, born in Burslem, raised in Biddulph! You?
Nice! From out past the other side of castle. But live overseas for a long time now. Good luck with your channel!
I have buddies in Biddulph!
@@alfredjealouse7040 ha! Excellent - small world 👍 all the best
I'm upgrading everything to wireless. Fsck cables.
That is definitely a downgrade. You must love latency and jitter.
your ping on wifi suck ,there is something really wrong there I get like 1 ms more than on lan on mine