Tour of my Completed Home Network and AV Installation

[@kevinbrown6261]

Thanks Cameron. Excellent practical advice from both your videos - I have been fortunate to be given 1st fix access by the private developer to our new build 2.5 storey 3 bed cottage, so went belt and braces with 20 cat6a and 10 HDMI runs throughout the house terminating in a 16u 19inch 320mm deep cabinet under the GF stairs. (I intend to run sonos 5.1 sound over Wi-fi and around the house with HDMI switch/splitters via a 65inch 4K LG OLED lounge TV to up to three Samsung HD smart TVs with Samsung sound bars so no need to run audio wires) ... I found your tips on RF aerial / HDMI interference and link aggregation very useful - even though my TV and HDMI cables are close but in separate metal back boxes and I only intend to use one 24 port switch initially ;0) I also found your video and narrative explained everything very clearly as I’m not overly technical and learning on the job and via KZbin ! All the best and thanks again :0) Kevin

[@NorthernScrub]

I might suggest moving that fire extinguisher to a more accessible location. If your rack is on fire, you'll likely have hot dripping plastic/rubber blocking access to the extinguisher.

[@camerongray1515]

Yeah, think I'll move it to a neighbouring cupboard that doesn't have any sort of electrical hardware in it. To be honest I just mounted it there because it was a bit of "dead space" and was relatively accessible. Didn't really think about the electrical hardware!

[@londontrada]

Also, wouldn't a C02 extinguisher be best? I know its a mist one that can be use on electrical equipment but if you have a small fire you will ruin the equipment.

[@camerongray1515]

It's a powder one and it's just there for general purpose use, not specifically for electrical hardware.

[@NorthernScrub]

Additionally, even if there was just a small fire, smoke damage can be a serious issue. I would aim to replace any equipment after smoke damage, so the choice of a powder extinguisher is probably more appropriate anyway.

[@londontrada]

UnpopularPolitics really? Will it damage the contacts in the sockets?

[@rgknowlton1]

This video was absolutely fine. Nice to see ideas from across the pond.

[@greenmanreddog]

Nice set up. A top-tip for super bright LEDs on devices... stick a small piece of Blu-Tak on them. You can leave a small gap/hole so you can still see the LED without being blinded by it.

[@pumpkin6429]

I wanna do something like this when I get my own house. Stuff like this increases the value of the home if you decide to leave it in there, especially with how snug and organized everything is. Good work all around, dude. You're alright. 👍

[@Gren4te]

Well it depends where you live I guess. Having wires suspended on the dropped ceiling might actually be a fire code violation.

[@camerongray1515]

Obviously regulations vary between locations however I can't see any issue with it based on UK regulations. In the UK we have regulations against "premature collapse" in the event of a fire although this is in relation to cabling that could easily collapse in the early stages of a fire impeding escape or entangling firefighters. This means that you couldn't install cables on the surface or a wall or ceiling with purely plastic clips or trunking which could easily melt in a fire resulting in loose hanging cables. In ny case this is a suspended plasterboard ceiling, not some sort of drop ceiling system using ceiling tiles which are liable to be moved around and may collapse in a fire. The only difference between my "drop ceiling" and a regular ceiling is that my joists are held off of the concrete with metal ties rather than being fixed to the concrete directly. If we look at it from the perspective of impeding escape or entangling firefighters, if the fire is developed to a point in which the plasterboard has collapsed I can't see anyone trying to get through that area irrespective of what cables are in place. Additionally, based on the contruction of this building where the walls are fixed into the suspended ceiling studwork, we could also assume that if the ceiling has collapsed then chances are that the internal walls would also be collapsing and at that point, the risk from some network cabling is going to be the least of someone's worry.

[@Noams_chess_school]

Cameron Gray I really like it but Fibre ninja will say lots of stuff about this but it great 👍👍👍👍😎😎😎😎

[@garywoo3]

Thanks for the detail you put into this. I’m planning to do a similar job on my new house so this was very useful. Thanks for the tip on the DSL extension via the master socket faceplate. I’ve currently only got the one old phone socket acting as a master socket, which could do with an upgrade.

[@liamcinq]

Nice to hear a Scottish accent on KZbin! That living room rack is a beast! Good work, like the videos.

[@stephenreaves3205]

+1 for installing those two things to the blank plate. Looks really clean

[@axtonprice]

Another video that I didn't click away and watched the whole thing! Your channel is the best!

[@camerongray1515]

Thanks! Hopefully many more videos to come! 😀

[@crazedtaco5082]

Yea I got the same cab on eBay but the 800mm deep version and it took 2 of us carry it in but it's a great piece of equipment for the price, now use it for my cisco labs and network around the house. Also added a touch of led strips to the inside and it looks great if you want to show it off. I got the black version and going to change the wood on the top to a more natural wood which will match the house. You can put fans on bottom to for more air movement and back can come off

[@DoogieLabs]

Very well thought out, and thorough. I'm jelly of the UK Outlets because you have a switch at every socket. I love the A/V interfaces and angled network jacks. Good stuff. I don't know if you know this, but they make a DSL PCI-E Card, so if you don't want to deal with a modem / router from the Telco that might be a viable option. Though, having the physical modem certainly came in handy for your kitchen scenario.

[@camerongray1515]

Thanks! Yeah, in the UK we are oddly patriotic about our plugs and sockets, Tom Scott made an excellent video about them: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i3bJgWSFgLCtlbM. Those cards look cool although unfortunately Openreach (who manage most of the UK's physical telephone network infrastructure) have a list of certified modems that can be used on their network and none of those are PCI-E. Thankfully the selection is still reasonable and ranges from basic consumer routers up to dedicated modems and enterprise hardware such as Cisco ISRs. I could probably still use a non-certified modem although they are bad enough when you try to get support and explain you aren't using their hopeless "Sagemcom" router, would be even worse trying to explain about a PCI-E card :P

[@moggy120]

The power socket behind the TV in bedroom, take the face-plate off and turn it upside down. You should be able to fit power brick for the mini pc without the extra plug adapter you made up. Keep up the good work wee man.

[@Phrozen2]

That wall where the TV is, it's begging for a projector ;)

[@LordXelous]

7:47 just put a dab of tippex over the LED, you'll still be able to see it's lit, but you'll dim it down nicely... Plus it doesn't burn and dries to a hard crust, so can come off with a wipe of a finger later... Same trick for overly bright LED's on smoke alarms, you can still see 'em, but they're not flood-lighting the area at night.

[@holnrew]

This is a nice tip

[@lazar2175]

I replaced green led in my smoke detector in bathroom with an 3w ultra warm one so i don't get blinded with regular bulb when peeing at night.

[@logikgr]

@@holnrew That's what she said.

[@jorper98]

Thank you ! Both videos on your setup were very good and informative. Thanks for taking the time and effort to share with us.

[@pjshots]

Wicked update! Can't wait till I own my own host to do stuff like this. My racks in the garage and so far I've taken over a cupboard in the hallway with server equipment. Wife isn't that impressed sometimes when she sees another box.

[@olipitt12]

7:30 tip for bright lights like that, colour over with sharpie or put blutac on them, though its not the smartest looking thing you could also use a piece of insulation tape, depending on colour and brightness it should make a difference

[@geeeeeeo]

Very clean setup. And I love that wooden top for the server rack.

[@ltdees2362]

This is a wonderful potential business model for you to start up. You are very good at what you do. Here in the U.S. you would have an endless supply of customers 😎

[@Makror]

+Cameron Gray those angled network wall jacks can also be mounted "upside down" leading the cables up instead of down, I find it better like this when the equipment is above it, like on a desk. Which in my case it means most of the equipment.

[@matt9852]

A UPS or some surge protection would be good.

[@stevem3163]

Matt W my thoughts exactly

[@camerongray1515]

The PDU in the hall cupboard is technically surge protected, not sure about the main APC, would need to look in more detail - can always get a plug in surge protector if it would actually provide any benefit. Power cuts here are very rare. I used to run a UPS (IBM 750t) however this introduced additional power consumption and I had an incident where the batteries failed, got extremely hot, started bulging and releasing a sulphurous smell. After this I got rid of the UPS as I wasn't happy having the risk of something happening like that again (or worse, it all catching fire) for the minimal benefit that it gave me.

[@matt9852]

I hope you didn't think I was criticising, I was referring to the other device plugged into the additional triple socket that you had fitted. The UPS is useful for both surge and battery backup, I also find the email alerts useful as I am able to prove to our electricity supplier that there are power cuts and surges regularly. With regards to the battery failure, you need to ensure you do not run them for longer than their lifetime. On the APC devices the batteries are user replaceable. You can then set their replacement date from within the management interface.

[@MegaAndroyd]

The green UPS' are pretty good. Mine is only for my wireless and dsl. It blew up too, but the batteries are cheap on amazon. You could also go Halon in the cupboard if you are worried :)

[@kazzoie123]

Brilliant video Cameron, wish my walls were hollow like yours!

[@camerongray1515]

+Matthew Paul Thanks! There are definitely some advantages to modern buildings with thin plasterboard walls!

Home network is usually used uniFi

[@commandpost1]

the living room rack looks really nice, not what you would expect, its part of the decor.

[@dariusEMPEROR]

22:08 get rid of that timer on the lamp. install a SONOFF on the power cord and that is it, you have full control from your phone, you can set up timers and also scenes for example when you walk in, the light will turn on.

[@block_wiz]

You did a way better job than TechFlow lol

[@williamg209two]

its more marzbars setup then techflows setup

[@levimavis7551]

Why did your blur out your Master socket ?

[@alexedwards5900]

@@levimavis7551 probably has his IP on it

[@camerongray1515]

Pretty much, it has a label with the line's phone number on it

[@levimavis7551]

Cameron Gray Oooooooo 😂

[@1800dontcare]

I recently moved everything from my bedroom (where the main plug is :/ ) out into the lounge room into a nice little 10" Rack its a 9RU rack and tiny little thing however it houses 2 Patch Panels one being Cat5e the other Cat6 and also houses the two Switches, Gateway and the Security NVR.. My gear everything consists of Ubiquiti so the Networking gear is all Ubiquiti also the NVR and Cameras.. You gave me a great idea on moving the actual NBN Hardware (Australias version of "Faster Internet" :facepalm: ) so everything is then out of the room. Great setup very clean and very tidy which is awesome good job.

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

Maybe an internet washing machine might be an option or for that matter a fridge with internet functionality might be a thing worth looking at as it can order the food stuff that you have used and makesure that stuff doesn't go off.

[@xinam]

This video was... absolutely fine! Seriously, nice video, enjoyed it.

[@DanielJohnHowTo]

I have one of those Openreach VDSL modems connected to a box running pfSense, works well. Now you have all that setup, you just want some smart home bits e.g. echo/lights etc.

[@tsdarc]

liked for unifi gear. it's expensive, but I haven't been angry at my network since I switched to it.

[@VAX1970]

Ubiquiti is the bomb

[@colinstu]

Expensive? It's way cheaper compared to Cisco/other enterprise gear.

[@EmilKristensenDK]

Ubiquiti is very fairly priced. You get a lot for your money with almost all of their products.

[@tsdarc]

true, but it's rather expensive for home use. the APs are fine, but especially the switches add up quickly. but it's absolutely worth it. would never go back.

[@everitt11]

I find Eurodk is a great retailer for most networking suppliers and their prices are the cheapest I found anywhere! Slight delay on import but if time is not a problem and can wait a couple of days, always happy to do business with them!

[@Phil-Sands]

Nice job, that spare outlet on the aerial amp should have a 75ohm terminator on it.

[@Tenmilmedia]

I've waited so long for this! congrats!

[@CJT80]

Excellent update video Cameron, was really hoping this would be uploaded soon, and here it is! :-) Loving the use of a VDSL Faceplate on your OR Master Socket, makes it so much neater... as suggested elsewhere in the comments, maybe replace the RJ45/RJ11 cable with a shorter shielded one! Looking forward to more videos like this :-)

[@camerongray1515]

+CJT80 Thanks! Yeah, I'll probably swap that cable out, it was just a basic RJ11 to RJ11 that I cut in half and crimped an RJ45 on. It works okay but isn't great as the wire is too thin to be properly gripped by the RJ45 connector. Now that I know it works I'll probably order a decent premade cable.

[@Pfahli94]

I have exactly the same rack but with 700mm depth. You can easily put rolls under it which makes it great for accessing the back of it. Also, I didn‘t buy the distance parts for the top since they would have added 20€ to the price, so I just bought some distancers and longer screws for 3€. It greatly helps to but some fans on top and bottom, there are fans from arctic that have a temperature sensor integrated which makes it easier to just wire it to a 12v power adapter.

[@flarestorm99]

Been waiting for this video forever!!! :p I love seeing people's setups.

[@aspected]

Went to subscribe and realised I already was. This video makes me want a real home network even more. At the moment I'm in the early days of bridging my ISP router and using an ASUS router with a VPN and other fun features!

[@moritzk3004]

Could you make an video were you explain what you need and what needs to be connected to what and so on?

[@camerongray1515]

I did that more in the part 1 of this series which you can find on my channel. I showed all the hardware and parts of the installation. This sort of install is very much specific to your requirements though so you can't just do exactly what someone else did.

[@Aaronage1]

Ryzen 3/5 APUs are coming in February, would make a great upgrade for your HTPC. Ryzen 3 2200G at $99 looks like a steal - 4C/4T Zen at 3.6GHz and 8CU Vega is a decently powerful package. Should sip power too at 45w to 65w TDP (configurable in the fireware)..

[@camerongray1515]

+Aaronage The issue is that it needs to support the appropriate encryption stuff for playback of certain 4k content such as Intel SGX, would need to see what these new chips support.

[@Aaronage1]

Oh geez, I wasn't aware of Intel SGX. Sounds like a nightmare. Has it seen much adoption? You'd think a feature limited to Skylake and its warmovers wouldn't have been widely adopted yet. Regardless, I hope the industry rejects that in the long run.

[@linuxbot3000]

Main thing you currently need SGX for is UHD Blu-Ray (unless you want to use one of the discs which have had keys leaked for) and Netflix at above 1080p, which also requires Kaby Lake or newer integrated graphics or GTX 1060 or above.

[@joedoe3688]

omfg, it is so nice and orderly organized! Congratulation! I would not be able to install equipment that orderly ;-)

[@brianr987]

Nice job! Damn, those UK receptacles. I remember them in my younger years living in England. Safe but a pain in the ass.

[@cidadaoPPT]

Love your videos. Going over most of them right now. Keep up the great work!

[@Slot1Gamer]

Great vid :) Might want to move that fire extinguisher

[@camerongray1515]

Thanks! Yeah, I just mounted it there without really thinking just to get it put up somewhere rather than having it in its box. I'll probably move it to a neighbouring cupboard that doesn't contain any electrical hardware.

[@markphillips8019]

Why not install the router in the main network cabinet by the DSL router? I'm a little confused by that. Trunking the network from the closet to the living room and then back again doesn't seem to be the best use of your network? Otherwise, great job and congrats on the new flat. It's a bit scary when you buy your own place and I'm sure your wallet is pretty empty now?

[@benmur9hy]

He covers why in the video.

[@Lachlant1984]

He said there was not enough space in the wall mounted network cabinet for the router and he was worried about the weight of the router I think.

[@hycron1234]

Seems fine to me. _More than one way to skin a cat_

[@eastwardExpansion]

Lachlant1984 those things way nothing. If he mounted it properly there would be no issue

[@jbdragon3295]

I would assume he wanted his WiFi router more centered in the house then hidden in the closet with the rest of his gear. Myself, I thing I would have installed a Mesh system and had the main unit with the rest of the hardware, and the other 1 or 2 units in the other rooms, with them also plugged in if they had that capability.

[@JamieKnight23]

If you're looking for cheapish chassis that fit in short-depth racks, keep an eye out for Supermicro CSE-512 chassis on ebay. When they do pop up they typically go for £100 or so, but are only 35cm deep, using a micro-ATX motherboard. (Although some supermicro-special form factors fit too.) The downside being that there isn't much room for drives... you'll only get a couple of SSDs in!

[@camerongray1515]

+Jamie Knight I used to have one of those, the issue is that I'd want to be able to fit a decent number of drives, ideally hotswap which is where the depth gets tricky. I have my eye on a 2u hotswap one I found on aliexpress which takes an itx board and is therefore short enough depth.

[@JamieKnight23]

Future video maybe? ;)

[@camerongray1515]

+Jamie Knight Definitely would be!

[@coachparker2283]

Awesome set up 👍🏾. Can you or do you have a video of how you all have it connected and the remote you use. For example how you programmed it on your computer to work it all

[@DaddyBear3000]

The sparky didn’t need to fit a new mcb for the triple socket. He could have put it on a 13amp fused spur. I personally wouldn’t have installed it so close to the consumer unit either. Makes it awkward to get some plugs in. Even an inch higher would have been a lot better. Really like your rack system. The Unifi PoE switch is twice the price as well, but I’m going to get it for the setup in my next house. Only because I’m going to have PoE security system. Really nice idea to include a switched spur for the TV’s, I think I might recommend that to clients in future, and you have no idea how many issues I’ve had installing TV’s because of the power adapter. Would be better if they had an in-line transformer.

[@camerongray1515]

The socket could technically be spurred straight off of the ring as it has a built in 13a fuse although having a dedicated circuit proved to be a nice addition (admittedly would have been nicer to have had a matching brand of MCB... hence why I tend to do stuff myself now so I can take time to get the correct parts...). I've since expanded this circuit to feed a second socket in the cupboard as well as an FCU feeding my alarm panel - much happier having all this on a dedicated circuit than I would have been feeding it all from an FCU off the ring.

[@DaddyBear3000]

Cameron Gray good point. If it’s for a security system and sensitive equipment I might have put it on an RCBO. Then it’s not susceptible to any faults effecting the other circuits on the RCD. They aren’t very expensive now and a quick job for any electrician, so maybe something to think about if you haven’t already. I still wouldn’t have put that socket so close to the consumer unit though 😜

[@camerongray1515]

@Karl Harris Ideally I would have put it on an RCBO however my consumer unit doesn't have a third neutral bar which this would require. The panel has a battery backup so it's not a huge deal.

[@AttilaSVK]

If you're getting HDMI interference on the satellite/terrestrial coax cables, then either the HDMI cable, or the coax is rubbish. I don't have a classic terrestrial antenna on my roof, but I have an MMDS antenna (receiving in the 2.2-2.3 GHz range, which is then converted down to the cable TV hyperband, from 370 to 426 MHz in my case) and a satellite dish. Since my cables aren't hidden (yet), I twisted the coax cable from the dish, the other coax from the MMDS antenna and my HDMI cable on a 1.2m run and I had absolutely no problems at all. The signal to noise ratio meter on my Dreambox DM8000HD (which is receiving both the satellite and the MMDS signals, the latter being DVB-C over the air basically) was reading about 1dB lower SNR than with the cables running separated. I used Triset-113 coax from the roof all the way to the STB.

[@camerongray1515]

+AttilaSVK It was only on very specific frequencies so not sure if your satellite setup would necessarily be using them. The cable in the wall is a basic 5m one I bought from Amazon years ago but thankfully it seems to be fine. I'll probably end up replacing the hdmi and coax patch leads that go between the TV and wall as there are relatively cheap ones and seem to be where the interference is coming from.

[@AttilaSVK]

Well, if you can give me the frequencies, I can check. However on the terrestrial side of things I'm limited to 370 to 426 MHz. On satellite the only limitation would be if the particular station would be on the UK spot beam from Astra 2, as I do live in Slovakia, but I have a motorized dish. (however I could try the same transponder frequency from a different satellite).

[@seandean8293]

Hi Cameron - could you do a video on VyOS and how you've set it up?

[@norm4242]

The act of getting the wires to the rooms would have been interesting. If it's done retrospectively it can be quite a challenge lifting floors/fishing cables through walls.

[@camerongray1515]

It definitely was a fair bit of work, everything had to be fished through the ceiling and down into walls. I made a video about the process here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3i1ipmMmaadl5Y

[@codealphablue]

Great video, I come from the UK and my meter is outside but obviously the fuse box is in side, my meter is a different style though

[@jeremysmythe]

What is the brand of the white cabinet? Looks great.

[@camerongray1515]

It's a ZPAS SJB I bought way back in 2013, unfortunately they don't seem to be as easily available nowadays, back when I bought mine, ZPAS were selling them directly through eBay

[@TekJones83AJ]

Sweeeeet setup man keep up the awesome vids! I really like the network cabinet and network sockets on the walls.

[@AlbaTech]

Really enjoying your home network videos. Where did you get the additional shelves for your ZPAS rack? I found the company really helpful when I purchased the cabinet but they are useless when it comes to getting spares.

[@camerongray1515]

I got the shelf from zpas when I ordered it but any standard rack shelf would also works, doesn't have to be from zpas

[@AlbaTech]

I was hoping you knew of a UK reseller - I need more mounting angle which appears to be unique to ZPAS, rather than standard rack accessories.

[@codllc]

I love my Gallant desk; I got the corner model.

[@ElliotGraham]

Great video, could you explain what you’ve done with your 4 cable LAG? Won’t each interface on your router be on a different subnet? Or have you configured it in such a way for the 4 interfaces to split data transfer between them?

[@camerongray1515]

All of the interfaces are grouped together into the LAGG so they appear as a single interface. The LACP algorithm then roughly load balances across them by picking a link to use based on the packet's source/destination MAC address, VLAN and a few other things.

[@nayemreza08]

Why would it connect to a different subnet on a flat network

[@keratishvili]

hey nice set up, I would love to see your router set up and how you build it.

[@trainzandtrombones]

I was wondering how easily and clean it looked where you installed all the data points aroud the house, and it clicked whe you mentioned the plasterboard walls. Doh! Unfortunately no good for me as my have brick/breeze block walls :( Very frustrating, without chasing each run and having to redecorate!

[@Lachlant1984]

Quite an impressive setup Cameron, I was hoping you'd do a follow up video of the setup. All very well laid out. Should you for some reason want to add a PoE switch to your network or upgrade the wireless access point, would it be easy to do those things? I think you've already said the access point would be easy to replace.

[@camerongray1515]

Thanks! I don't have plans to replace the switches any time soon but I will be upgrading to an AC access point at some point. They should be dead easy to replace, should just need to replace the hardware, connect the new hardware to the UniFi controller then make a few configuration tweaks.

[@Lachlant1984]

Sure, in theory that wouldn't take long to do. Have you thought about getting some home automation and IoT devices? Are you interested in that kind of thing? It's something I'm very interested in.

[@ICOFRITE]

Very well put together, but I must admit I don't get having 2 cabinets in a house. The wee cupboard would have been where I put everything.

[@camerongray1515]

I did consider that although the living room one also contains the AV kit which needs to be in the same room as the TV and speakers. For most normal people, puting it in the cupboard would make more sense!

[@ICOFRITE]

Cameron Gray naaah, the AV equipment could go away too. Cable Distance is an old fashioned lie for AV stuff....plus, look at the size of it! There are a bagillion better ways to do AV. Sorry neebs.

[@camerongray1515]

I could have done that although for me it just adds extra complexity trying to get 4k HDR over a long cable without expensive equipment. I'd then have to deal with the control side of things where I'd need to be able to use a wireless keyboard/mouse on the HTPC and deal with the fact that my receiver's HDMI control doesn't work that well with my TV so I often have to use its remote. I also like having the rack as I'm interested in this sort of stuff. I built this setup to suit what I wanted, not as a recommendation for others who want a sensible A/V setup.

[@HeinrichHartmann]

I did not get the Brand and the Model of the Monitors at 15:00 . Could s/o fill me in? PS: Great video, thanks for making this!

[@camerongray1515]

They're Hazro HZ27WB - they were great when they were new and are still good but I wouldn't buy them nowadays unless they were really cheap - the only input they support is *Dual Link* DVI so in order to connect them to my DisplayPort only ThunderBolt 3 docking station I need to use a pair of expensive (£60+ each) active adapters.

[@LAHegarty]

3:13 Wait, how many living rooms do you have?

[@camerongray1515]

Haha, only one, there's just 8 ports in it - 4 in the corner behind the rack, 2 behind the TV on the wall and 2 in another corner for future use.

[@SproutyPottedPlant]

Nice flat, nice networking equipment, all really neat! The TV setup looks awesome, 49 inches looks perfect. Are those MK sockets? Very nice.

[@camerongray1515]

Thanks! The one in the call cupboard is MK, the existing ones are all Legrand and the new flat plate ones I'm putting in are all Schneider Electric. I'd have loved to have gone MK throughout but while the logic plus range is reasonably priced, the flat plate ones (MK Edge) are ridiculously expensive (was looking like it would be around £30 per double socket) so I settled on Schneider Electric Ultimate Flat Plate.

[@MarkBurfeind]

What type of wall plate are you using for your network jacks? I like the design better than the standard ones we use in the US.

[@camerongray1515]

They're standard UK faceplates (Schneider Electric Ultimate Flat Plate) which use the EuroModule form factor for the modules (which are made by Excel). Unfortunately they almost certainly won't be available in the US as you use differently sized mounting boxes from the UK and there's probably very different regulations/certifications over there.

[@MarkBurfeind]

I should be able to get a UK remodeling box though... (I would think) We do not have any regulations on low voltage boxes in my state. (Luckily) Thank you for the fast reply and detailed information!

[@JarrodCoombes]

Looks great, though I think you need a bigger TV in your living room. That one looks a bit like a postage stamp on that wall, but very nice and clean. On that A/V rack, if you took out that 120mm fan and replaced it with a nice big 240mm or 300mm fan you'd get just as much air movement, but at a drastically decreased sound output.

[@camerongray1515]

Thanks! The TV looks small in the video due to where the camera is located and the fact it has a pretty wide angle lens. It's not a particularly huge room and the couch isn't that far from the TV so when actually sitting down, 49" is around ideal, could possibly go a bit bigger but not too much more. Might look into the fan if I'm ever emptying the rack - The rack came with mounting holes and a grille for a 120mm fan but would need to drill more to fit a larger one.

[@intrimscuba]

Excellent job mate, looks the part, quite inspirational the hassle you've sent to wraggle all those cables to sockets, if your passing denny pop in and advise on mine 👌

[@thomasphillips8803]

at least your phone line came in at a convenient location and was predictable. over the years in the house, I'm in now that location has moved. the old owner had bt originally that came in in the hall. then we got virgin media that had 3 wall ports one in the living room, 1 in the master bedroom, directly above the last one and I can't remember the 3rd. then we went to sky who put it in the back extension where it is now.

[@alitechno]

Where did you get the bigger server rack? Its sweet.

[@camerongray1515]

It's called a "Zpas SJB" - ordered it directly from the manufacturer through eBay. It's pretty good if you can cope with the relatively short depth (you'd struggle to fit any machines over 500mm deep in into it) although I'm not sure how widely it's sold worldwide.

[@alitechno]

I'm in London so should be OK I guess. Thanks I will look it up on ebay 🤗

[@SolomonKane71]

No firewall? The attention to detail and arrangement is great but I am not sure why you have everything direct to internet?

[@camerongray1515]

I do have a firewall, it runs as part of the VyOS router in the living room rack (the black "HCiPC" box, the green cable is the WAN connection) (which I later swapped out for a USG-Pro in the hallway rack). If you're referring to the modem going directly into the hall cupboard switch, that's because the router I had at the time was too large for the wall rack so I instead had it in the living room with a dedicated VLAN used to carry the WAN connection from the modem through to the router across the common trunk link between the two switches. My connection simply wouldn't work without a NAT firewall in place, it needs to be connected to over PPPoE and only has a single public IP address so without a firewall in place I'd need to run a PPPoE client on any device I wanted to connect and could only connect one at a time.

[@SolomonKane71]

@@camerongray1515 My bad. Thank you for the video (and the one before showing the fishing/wiring) as it helped me a lot with planning my upcoming wiring.

[@faistime]

Amazing work. Where did you get the labels from? Make all the difference

[@camerongray1515]

Which labels? The ones in the network jacks and patch panel? Those are just bits of regular paper printed on my normal printer - the patch panel and jacks have plastic covers that open up and let you insert a piece of paper. I used the label tool in Microsoft Word to make a grid with the exact dimensions of the label area.

[@faistime]

@@camerongray1515 amazing work my friend

[@nickthorley1]

I realise the 4 aggregate connections will give more bandwidth and redundancy between cabs but why 4 - is the bandwidth requirement that high - I would have thought two is enough or maybe even have a fibre between the two?

[@camerongray1515]

Two would have been fine but it wasn't too much more effort or cost to run 4 cables to the network point behind the rack and means that in the future I could remove connections from the LAGG and repurpose them for other purposes such as running HDMI over them. Fibre itself isn't really much faster than copper unless I were to go 10gbit fibre which would require significantly more expensive switches, it also doesn't lend itself to structured cabling particularly well as it's pretty fragile and likely wouldn't have held up to me pulling it through the ceiling space so would have had to cut way more holes to feed it safely.

[@Tyg0re]

I have no idea what any of this is, but I enjoyed the video. Thanks.

[@The_Stoozo]

Great video man! Dying to do the same when I get a place of my own. All done for pretty cheap too which is awesome! 1 question, for future reference - How much did the electrician charge you to come in and install the additional power points?

[@香港紅磡東涌探險隊南]

What is the brand of your wall socket, the brushed switch, ethernet wall plate and Ethernet cable? They looks nice

[@camerongray1515]

Sockets, switches and wall plates are made by Schneider Electric (from their "Ultimate Flat Plate" series). The network modules fitted into the wall plates are made by Excel (with some of the AV ones made by EuroNetwork) and the cables were all just Comms Express's own brand.

[@香港紅磡東涌探險隊南]

Cameron Gray thank you very much :)

[@SStanton803]

What sort of ventilation setup are you running in your primary (white) cabinet? I'm looking at building a similar setup, but am gettin hung up on the cooling. Thanks for the overview!

[@camerongray1515]

The living room one has a 120mm fan in the top extracting air, there isn't anything in the rack that produces too much heat. The hall cupboard rack doesn't have any fancy cooling since the kit doesn't produce much heat at all.

[@Christosseventy7]

Great informative video - I am about to start my home network so this video really helped. I was really interested in how you connect the Openreach socket to the patch panel. Do you have or could you make a short video on exactly how to do this as I was going to extend the socket up to the new comms room upstairs.

[@camerongray1515]

Unfortunately I don't currently have a video and it would probably take a while to get around to making one. However, if you have a VDSL filter faceplate on the master socket as I do, you should find a couple of terminals for the VDSL extension (on my openreach one they are labelled A and B but you'd need to look up your specific filter faceplate if it's an aftermarket one). You would then connect one pair from a piece of CAT6/CAT5 cable to these terminals, any colour works although based on the T568B standard I've wired everything to, the blue pair indicates "Line 1" if it was being used for a telephone line so I use that. Then on the patch panel I punched this one pair down to terminals 4 and 5 (the blue pair which is the centermost pins in the RJ45 jack which again based on the T568B standard indicates Line 1 where before the days of ethernet an RJ45 jack was traditionally designed to carry 4 phone lines). I then simply made up an RJ45 to RJ11 cable again connecting the middle two pins on the RJ45 end to the middle two pins on the RJ11 end (or you could get an off the shelf cable)

[@Christosseventy7]

@@camerongray1515 thanks for the reply, makes perfect sense. So if I didn't want to move the NTE which is currently under the stairs I could make up a long lead (cat5 or 6) with RJ11 on one end and the bare blue wires at the other end and punch them down in the faceplate?

[@camerongray1515]

@@Christosseventy7 Pretty much yeah. You'd need a filter faceplate on your NTE5 as I do (if you already have an RJ11 on the NTE5 in addition to the phone socket then you'll already have a filter faceplate, if you only have a phone socket you'd need to add on a filter faceplate. You can either get the official "Openreach" faceplates like I have or you can get aftermarket ones. As for the other end, you definitely could just crimp an RJ11 jack on although personally I'd terminate it into a small RJ11 socket mounted on the wall (either surface or flush mounted) then run a patch lead from that to the modem/router - I feel it's a bit neater than having random terminated cables hanging around, especially if you were to move the modem/router later.

[@Christosseventy7]

@@camerongray1515 thanks again for taking time to reply. I can start the laborious task now of running cables. I have noticed that the RJ11 port on my NTE5 (same faceplate as yours) actually is a RJ45 socket. Would you think there is any benefit using this port with a RJ45 cable run to the little RJ11 socket you described instead of terminating on the VDSL terminals?

[@camerongray1515]

@@Christosseventy7 I'd still terminate on the terminals inside it, can't think of any reason to use a cable plugged into the front, you'll get a neater finish having the cable neatly terminated inside rather than snaking out the front.

[@holnrew]

Nice to see it finished. I don't understand what the router and switches do but flashing lights look pretty. Does the HDMI go over ethernet or is it just HDMI cabling? Do you use the satellite?

[@camerongray1515]

The HDMI is just a regular 5m HDMI cable inside the wall - The faceplates I bought are these www.euronetwork.co.uk/clip-in-euro-modules/hdmi-euro-modules/hdmi-euro-module-white-4k2k so the HDMI cable that runs inside the wall just plugs into one of those on either end to give a nice wall port. You can technically run HDMI over the CAT6 cabling using special adaptors (I reviewed a set previously on my channel) although ones that support 4k are expensive and they can be a bit fiddly so it's best to use a regular cable wherever possible.

[@Idogamingonps]

Looking for videos with different setups to kind of coerce me into choosing a particular setup. Loved yours, gonna steak some stuff you did. Also as for not going with unifi edge, I probably won’t either. They make great APs but eh routers.

[@camerongray1515]

Thanks! Now about me not going for a UniFi router, I may be working on moving over to one as we speak... twitter.com/camerongray1515/status/1084245236740734977 (Videos coming soon!) - Back when I initially built this I had only used UniFi for APs and was previously using a VyOS router with HP switching. Since moving to UniFi for the AP and switching I loved how well it all worked together so decided to go "full UniFi" so that everything works together and should be so much quicker to manage. As for my concerns about flexibility, I'm no longer worried, the UniFi security gateway runs EdgeOS underneath which is the same OS as they run on their EdgeRouters (and is based off of the same ancestry as VyOS). Nowadays worst case if a function isn't available in the UniFi controller WebUI you can pretty easily add it into a config file on the controller and access practically all features of EdgeOS.

[@BH-JN]

I like the Table where did you get it?

[@camerongray1515]

The desk? It's an IKEA Galant, the additional piece on top is literally an IKEA shelf (in the same wood style as the desk) with IKEA kitchen cupboard legs attached to it.

[@grahamhealy5171]

How much did you pay for the rack cabinet if you mind me asking? I'm looking at moving to a rack solution and I'm trying to find a a decent rack! Awesome setup!

[@jayzo]

So I'm definitely hard wiring my own home network now.

[@highlander200268]

cool setup but for your control of your htpc i would use vnc, you can login to it anywhere on the network

[@camerongray1515]

I could do although I can't think of any time I'd need to use it when I'm not sitting in front of the TV. In that case I'd much rather just use the keyboard/touchpad instead of having to use a laptop or phone to control it with VNC.

[@colydeane]

Nice video. Great setup!

[@mario0846]

Very nice job!

[@TheFrantic5]

Something I've always noticed with our neighbors across the pond is that their extension strips always have a lot fewer outlets. I know that's related to having double the voltage, but does it get annoying to have a lot fewer sockets? Or are we Americans just spoiled for outlets?

[@camerongray1515]

It's not really down to the voltage, it's likely just due to physical size, our outlets are much larger so extension leads are also larger. We can still get extension leads with large numbers of outlets (I have an 8 way one under my desk for example) but due to their size, 4 way ones are more common for basic/portable use. Personally I'd much rather have our larger outlets given the additional safety they include. Every plug contains a fuse to prevent overloading (daisy chaining a bunch of extension leads and plugging in a bunch of heaters will blow the fuse rather than cause a fire), our outlets also feature automatically opening shutters to prevent foreign objects being inserted into outlets and plugs have sheathed pins to make it impossible to touch live pins on a plug that's hanging part way out of the outlet.

[@davidsmith-ih2kk]

Hi As a matter of interest I knew UK meters were installed inside the home. In a coucil unit we had 50 years ago in England the meter could be read by peering into a slot on the outside of the house but in your case how the heck do they read your meter if your not at home sorry about the side track

[@davidsmith-ih2kk]

Good installation by the way and great video

[@camerongray1515]

Traditionally the meter reader would visit when you were in however they haven't done that in years. Nowadays I just supply the readings to my energy supplier through their website which is what pretty much everyone does nowadays.

[@FastRedPonyCar]

Random question: if you did all the networking in your home and felt the need to utililze something like LACP, why not just run a multi-mode fiber cable between the two switches? Fiber is cheap and those SFP ports are easy to setup to trunk two switches together.

[@camerongray1515]

The switches have SFP but not SFP+ so even with fibre between them it would still only be a 1 gigabit link (I think technically it is a tiny bit faster than copper but barely). Decent switches with 10gbit SFP+ would have been significantly more expensive. Fibre is also a pain to run in an environment like his due to its fragility, wouldn't fancy having to pull it through the ceiling space and bend it down into walls. I'd also have to feed it with a connector already in place as I don't have any of the splicing equipment to terminate fibre myself. The LACP is nice to have but I don't really need it, I only really set it up because I had enough spare cables and switch ports.

[@toddt6730]

I wonder if a plenum cable would eliminate the interference

[@Lockon_8171]

Are the Ubiquiti switched web or CLI managed? Also are you just using VLAN's to take the pppoe of your Plusnet modem over to the router in your other rack? Nice job on the cabling :)

[@camerongray1515]

+Liam Drew Thanks! The UniFi switches are managed through a central controller which is configured through a web interface or API. They also sell the "EdgeSwitch" line where each switch can be configured through a CLI or web interface. I'm using vlans for the PPPoE for the modem but also for other stuff such as having separate networks for servers, regular PCs, IoT devices and guest devices.

[@nekolivegaming]

Gray: 80 dw 20 up, totaly fine. me sitting here with 300 dw 60 up and wants 500 dw 150 up XD and well the HDMI thingy. i really dont watch tv in the first place cuz well, my computer is all my entertainment XD, and well, here in norway now we use all Ethernet tv instead of Coax/Airal so yee

[@mjpint]

Great video. Thanks for sharing! Well done!

[@EastAngliaUK]

I need to tidy my wires like you did but its hard because most are to short I need longer cables and then to hide them some how.

[@harcial94]

very clean installation

[@mbe102]

Does your PC's PSU intake from the bottom? If so, you might want to consider propping the case up in the front and the back, just to give it some breathing room. Otherwise, thats my only niggle. Great setup and an extremely thorough tour!

[@camerongray1515]

+Stadium ARTs Thanks! The PSU does face down although the fan barely runs. Usefully the case already has a good amount of clearance underneath due to the "feet" at the front and rear so there's plenty space underneath for airflow.

[@jessica45qt1]

Throw in there Ubiquiti Unifi Security Gateway Pro (USG-PRO-4) and turn off the firewall and any security settings within the router/modem combo that they give you and let Ubiquiti take over.Also how many access points do you have? I'd say you need two to 3 of them for no dead zones or speed drops. Have the roaming setting turned on so as you move around the house on youtube or what ever your connection doesn't drop

[@camerongray1515]

The USG is something I have been considering but need to investigate more before I consider moving over to it as I don't want to end up lacking features that I may require in the future. I don't use a modem/router combo at the moment, I use a basic VDSL modem which just speaks PPPoE. My router is a 1U x86 box running VyOS which can be seen towards the end of this video. This already provides me with an incredibly powerful and flexible router so moving to a USG wouldn't give me any better performance (if anything, it may be worse in some tasks) so all I'd really be gaining would be a the UniFi management instead of the VyOS CLI. As far as access points go, I only have one which is more than sufficient, I'm in a 2 bedroom flat which is only around 70sqm in size, all walls are modern plasterboard construction which don't significantly reduce the signal. There is no hard and fast rule about how many APs are required, it entirely comes down to the size, layout and construction of the building.

[@vxs6052]

Just come across your channel and got to watch both video's without having to wait between the two. Firstly love the setup and your great guide through the process! would have liked a little bit more detail on the network side from a learning point of view but overall was a great insight in to this setup. What would be great to know is HOW MUCH did you spend on all the equipment to get this setup sorted? excluding AV system and computer etc how much did the switches, racks, power supplies, cabling, face plates, connectors all come to? any links to suggested products? I am currently looking at doing something similar but not so much on a grand scale with the TV/AV side. Great video none the less :)

[@camerongray1515]

There's links to all the cabling.etc in the description of the video where I installed it all. The switches were around £175 each from NetXL, machine I'm using as a router would have been about £200 from Aliexpress. The Fujitsu server was around £350 (£500 with £150 cashback) although it's since gone up a bit. Not sure how much the living room rack was since I bought it so long ago but I'd guess around £200. There was then additional costs for things like tools and fixings which I picked up in physical stores on an as-needed basis. Overall it probably worked out at just under £1000 for this project (excluding stuff I had from my previous flat such as the router, server and living room rack)

[@natanfourie]

Looks nice :) I just don't get understand why you are using 4 cables to connect your two switchs together. Can you explain me a little bit more about it? :)

[@camerongray1515]

The 4 cables are configured as an LACP Link Aggregation which splits the load across all 4 links, theoretically allowing more capacity between the two switches. It's pretty overkill for what I'm doing but I had enough cables so may as well have set it up.

[@BlackSmokeDMax]

On your aerial amp... Is there no VHF in the UK, or just none in your area?

[@camerongray1515]

Nowadays all UK TV is digital UHF. The VHF input would be used for FM/DAB radio reception - you'd connect a separate antenna to the VHF port and the amplifier would combine them onto the one coax. You would then use an appropriate faceplate on the other end to split them out again into separate TV and Radio ports.

[@BlackSmokeDMax]

@@camerongray1515 Thanks! Don't know why but I am always interested in small details like that. I think most of the US has moved or is moving to UHF only as well for OTA television. Even though most still use their old station identifiers like CBS 6, or ABC 12, they are mostly broadcasting in the mid UHF range it seems for the actual number. Brand marketing only I suppose.

[@und4287]

All UK television signals have been UHF-only since January 4, 1985, when the last remaining VHF 405 line services were terminated. UHF, 625 line TV was introduced in 1964, with the launch of BBC2. In 1967 colo(u)r was introduced on BBC2, using the same UHF band. In 1969 BBC1 and ITV began producing and broadcasting programming in colo(u)r. BBC1 and ITV continued to be simulcasted on the 405 line VHF band until 1985 for compatibility with old TVs. In 2012 (2010 in Wales), analog(ue) service was switched off. Digital has been used in various forms since 1998 on the UHF frequencies. What is now known as Freeview started in 2002, when ITV Digital went bust. They decided to provide free-to-air services for people who had ITV Digital service, so their boxes would not become paperweights.

[@BlackSmokeDMax]

@@und4287 interesting, thank you!

[@khalidwahab1982]

Hi. Great video. I really like your setup. Tell me,where can i get the PDU in your AV rack from?

[@camerongray1515]

Thanks! The PDU is an APC AP7921. You can get them (or at least similar models) from most enterprise network equipment suppliers but they are really expensive (over £500), can find them dead cheap used on places like eBay though

[@smitsduncan100]

Why don't you use the wall radio output for your stereo? Just out of curiosity.

[@camerongray1515]

Ideally I would although I don't have a cable to fit the connector on the back of the receiver, will probably find one then hook it up.