[Epic] Networking

[nelsonic]

Context

At present we are using the default Wifi Access Point / Router provided by the ISP #107.
This is fine while the house is still "in development", but undesirable for a number of reasons the first being a lack Wifi coverage and the last a lack of security (threat monitoring/detection). Also, the ISP (and every person in tech support who works for them) has full access to our internal network including all our devices and traffic. 🙄
We need to put a decent firewall between the ISP Router and our internal network and then disable the Wifi on the ISP Router.

We have already purchased a Ubiquti Networks Unifi 16-port POE Gigabit Switch https://www.ui.com/unifi-switching/unifi-switch-16-150w and a Pack of 5 Unifi Long Range Access Points https://www.ui.com/unifi/unifi-ap-ac-lr
So we have the Wifi covered (in terms of equipment) for both indoor and exterior internet access.
There are 28 RJ45 cables connecting the basement to the rest of the house. One RJ45 Port in each room and several in corridors. The ceilings of the Garage, Leisure Room and Co-working/Classroom all have ports on the Ceiling in order to connect projectors or other equipment.

If we chose to use all the RJ45 Ports, which I suspect we will, we will need to purchase another 16/24 Port Switch. (TBD)
The reason I have not purchased the rest of the equipment yet, is because we need to do a full assessment of our needs. e.g: do we need all the RJ45 Ports to be POE or will a regular (much cheaper) switch suffice?
I have a strong preference for using Ubiquti hardware https://www.ui.com because they have superb UX and security. It's always more expensive than the cheapest (TPLink or Huawei), but this is an area I don't think we want to skimp on.

Todo

• Build/Buy Networking Switch Cabinet/Rack to store/protect all our networking equipment.
  Needs to fit the equipment we end up buying (see below).
• Research and buy remaining network equipment

Research

• UniFi Dream Machine Pro: https://store.ui.com/collections/unifi-network-routing-switching/products/udm-pro
• Unifi Security Gateway https://www.ui.com/unifi-routing/usg Firewall UniFi Secure Gateway Setup learn-computer-networking#6
• External Security Cameras External Video Monitoring (Security System) #130.

I have been putting off setting up the network because I expect it to take several days and is only relevant when we need advanced networking features such as the POE for the Security System / Door Entry. Help very much appreciated.

[iteles]

We've been speaking a bit more about this with the first step being going through all the cables, identifying which one goes to each room and adding the 'plug ends' to them so that they're usable within the switch.

I spoke to our electricians about this to see if it was part of their original remit, which it wasn't, but they have provided the following quote:

Materials

This is the brand of cabinet and equipment they are proposing, Barpa:
https://barpa.eu/products/network-cabinet-norma-2/

You can see the measurements of the proposed cabinet in the quote: 600 x 600 x 1670

Labour

This would be for going through all the cables, identifying each one, adding the plastic 'plugs' on the end, installing the cabinet/rack on the wall and adding all the cables to it.

Estimate: 2 days x 2 men, totalling €384 + IVA.

Note: This is an estimate, if more time is required, they will charge us for more time, but they're usually pretty spot on with their labour estimates.

Timelines

They will have to order the equipment but predict they would be able to get this done next week if we were to go with this cabinet/rack. If we can get our own cabinet/rack by next week then they can also keep to that schedule.

The advantage here also being that when they're here, we can hopefully get them to stay and finish the snag list #108 as well.

[nelsonic]

There are ISPs with smaller racks than that! Are they having a laugh? 🤷🏼‍♂️

[iteles]

No, I think they have no idea what we're after 🤷‍♀️ They think we're 'very techy' 😆
Do they think we need to fit the whole mass of cables in it?

This is the smallest size of these cabinets they do:

But if you just send me a link to something akin to what we're actually after, that will make it a lot faster to explain.

[nelsonic]

The smallest size this particular site sells is actually this MiniLan box:
https://barpa.eu/products/wall-cabinet-minilan-crux-3

Sadly, it's too narrow for the UniFi 16-port POE Switch (that we already own).
https://store.ui.com/collections/unifi-network-routing-switching/products/usw-16-poe

This one is bigger: https://barpa.eu/products/wall-cabinet-crux-1/

@iteles I was thinking of getting a 4U Cabinet e.g:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4U-Server-Rack-Network-Cabinet-19-inch-600-x-450mm-Black/274364712671

We really don't need more than that. We aren't going to run any actual servers (beyond a couple of Raspberry Pis),
so the most we are going to store in the rack is two of the POE Switches mentioned above.
Which means we probably only need a 2U rack, but those tend to be more expensive and difficult to find. 🙄

This is the most reasonably priced 4U rack I found in PT:
https://cablematic.com/pt/produtos/armario-de-rack-19-4u-mural-600x450x286mm-gama-sohorack-asw-diy-WY001/

[nelsonic]

@iteles can you please explain to the electricians that we have "modest" networking needs.

Even with 5 POE Security Cameras, 5 POE Access Points and the electronic doors using Tom's setup,
we only need two 16-port POE Switches and a 4U Rack/Cabinet is ample for our needs.

Please ask them if they have a supplier for a similar rack to the one I shared above, or if we should order it ourselves?

I'm happy to mount the rack where I want it ahead of their arrival or to advise them where I think it should go.
Also happy for them to help us with the installation, but I honestly don't understand why it will take two people two days. 🤷‍♂️
But given that it would probably take me/us more than 2 days (like a whole weekend) to do it, I'm happy to pay them.
Basically we will ask them to wire up all the cables in the house and then we can "hack" the ones we decide to use for the electronic doors later.

Thanks. ❤️

[iteles]

Thanks for the research and for clarifying this! It did seem a bit large but I didn't know if you had discussed requirements with them yet.

I've emailed them and hope they come back with something soon!

[nelsonic]

Finished setting up the Unifi Security Gateway: dwyl/learn-computer-networking#6 ✅