[Blackpool] Fwd: Networking for the Makerspace Area

[Olly Clark]

Sorry to put this out on the mailing list but it seems the easiest way to get it to Mike Hull.

Mike it might be worth reading this before Saturday if you get chance.

Regards

Olly

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Olly Clark <olly at ollyclark.org>
Date: 2 Aug 2015 4:56 pm
Subject: Networking for the Makerspace Area
To: Mike Hull <mikehull2008 at hotmail.co.uk>
Cc: 

> Afternoon Mike,
>
> First off apologies this has taken so long to produce, has been another hectic month again.  I hope this advice doesn't come to late to be of use, I notice from the Blog that you are progressing very rapidly with the build so I hope this isn't delaying things any.
>
> So I've given this abit of thought, the cable I would recommend installing behind the wall would be Cat6 shielded, this stuff: http://goo.gl/hyUn99 now the next bit is a bit sketchy (as I'm sorry I can't quite remember what we discussed on the day as to how you we're going to connect to the internet).  I'm assuming the your internet connection is going to remain in the front room of the hotel, at the back of the room if memory serves, so I would recommend running two lines of CAT6 from this point to your service point in the basement, which I think you said was going to be near the front  of the basement room.  The cable I've link to earlier is shielded but you can still get interference from electrical cabling which can corrupt the signal due to the magnetic field created, so it's recommended to keep the data and power cables about 120mm apart when running the cables under floors and down the dry lining.
>
> Once you've got the two connections down to the basement, bring them out of the wall using a twin socket Ethernet wall panel, bit like this one: http://www.futureshop.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=2116#.Vb4tGHUVhBc you'll also need one for upstairs aswell in the front room.  The Cisco switch which LivLUG donated can then be installed somewhere near the wall socket.  I would recommend also installing a patch point like this one: http://cpc.farnell.com/unbranded/sg374/patch-panel-cat6-snap-in-16-port/dp/CS22750 near the switch, this will serve all of the network points in the Makerspace area, the cables will come of the wall some were near the patch panel, they look abit like this: http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s---6my8rg9--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/18lqeukvt2p5epng.png  The cables will go to each of the networking points on the benches/desks, plus one to the ceiling for the wireless access point (this is probably the best place for it, out of the way and providing best coverage)  The switch Les brought is a 24 port, so less 2 for the internet connection and 1 for the wireless access point gives you 21 to play with, not sure how many you were planning an get seated at tables/bench, remember you don't need to cram loads in (increasing costs) because you always have WiFi as a backup.  For the cabling use the same CAT6 F/UTP cable mentioned earlier to cable between the switch and the network points, you'll need one of these: http://goo.gl/qXxPPE and https://goo.gl/aJBIrc for every network point.  Remember to label your cables and network points so you know which cable goes where when you've finished and your plugging them into your switch.  For a wireless access point something like this would be ideal: http://goo.gl/jTwUSt The reason I suggested using 2 cables to link to the internet connection is to provide a bit of redundancy, you can link the 2 cables together using a technology called EtherChannel which the Switch supports, what this does is to spread the traffic through either cable reducing the load on each cable overall.
>
> Hopefully this is fairly helpful to you, if you'd like me to go into abit more detail about any of this or you'd like me to sketch a layout up, please get in touch, I'll promise to get back to you quicker than I have done, also if you would like me to give you a hand fitting and or cabling any of this stuff just let me know.  I was hoping to have heard back from my Cousin-in-law by now, he is a sparkie by trade and is able to get hold of the wall points and cabling through wholesalers fairly cheap, I will continue to pester him for us on this.  My mobile number is 07958061140 if you'd prefer to have an old fashioned conversation BTW. 
>
> Regards
>
> Olly Clark
>
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