Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

What's my best option?

Jul 23, 2015 1:14AM PDT

Hi there

I'm currently planning a home network. A few basic details on my proposed setup:

- Fibre broadband router (located in lounge central to house)
- Linksys 16 port gigabit unmanaged network switch (in garage) along with NAS drive etc.
- Using CAT6 cabling
- Feeding several rooms in the house (office, TV, games room etc)
- Also to run POE CCTV storing to the cloud

Anyway, here's my two main dilemmas:

1) I will connect from my router in the lounge (where the internet wiring comes into the house) to the network switch etc in the garage which adjoins the lounge. I will use this to wire to the devices around the house in various rooms. But do I?...

a) Wire in a separate CAT6 ethernet cable to each device from the switch - meaning some rooms have 2 or 3 separate wires (I have room to do this)
b) Wire in a single cable to each room and put a box on the wall which I plug a few devices into
c) Wire in a single cable to each room but then put a smaller (4 port) network switch in those rooms

Which would work the best do you think please?


My second question...

I want to get a UPS in the garage to protect the kit in there but my home PC which would connect to the network is not in that room. How do I protect that or other devices? Is it just a case of buying several UPSs?

I really appreciate any help or guidance people can give.

Thank you.

Discussion is locked