Home Network Patch Panel : How can they be mounted?

[Monkeh]

"Page 1" of what?

This thread, where you'll find I already linked to that.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Oh - gotcha.

Sorry.

 

[electronicsuk]

I used this for my home network, its fairly neat and doesn't take up much room

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• redpis
• 10 Feb 2011
• 1

That's the 10" SOHO stuff I was talking about. The downside is that it's not as widely an adopted standard as 19", and as a result it seems to be more expensive with less parts available. Ideal if you haven't got much space, though.

 

[Monkeh]

I used this for my home network, its fairly neat and doesn't take up much room

Untitled

• redpis
• 10 Feb 2011
• 1

That's the 10" SOHO stuff I was talking about. The downside is that it's not as widely an adopted standard as 19", and as a result it seems to be more expensive with less parts available. Ideal if you haven't got much space, though.

Sorely lacking in quality hardware. Like gigabit switches.

 

[electronicsuk]

Sorely lacking in quality hardware. Like gigabit switches.

Not really, at least if you don't mind your gigabit switch sitting on a shelf. And let's be honest, anyone with a small enough home network to be able to use one of these cabinets probably isn't the type who's likely to be fussy about everything being racked.

Personally, I can't stand non-rackmount kit in rack cabinets, but sometimes it's unavoidable. Just like wall wart transformers that you can't direct plug into an IEC320 PDU

 

[Monkeh]

Personally, I can't stand non-rackmount kit in rack cabinets, but sometimes it's unavoidable. Just like wall wart transformers that you can't direct plug into an IEC320 PDU

I have a dirty hack for that. Take an AT PSU, cut the switch cable back inside the enclosure, fit a toggle switch. Butcher external wiring as needed. One well regulated, efficient, central power supply for +5V and +12V. Could very easily modify a smaller form factor PSU to fit into a rack mount equipment case.

Mine is sorely in need of cleaning up and rewiring, but it works a treat.

 

[electronicsuk]

Personally, I can't stand non-rackmount kit in rack cabinets, but sometimes it's unavoidable. Just like wall wart transformers that you can't direct plug into an IEC320 PDU

I have a dirty hack for that. Take an AT PSU, cut the switch cable back inside the enclosure, fit a toggle switch. Butcher external wiring as needed. One well regulated, efficient, central power supply for +5V and +12V. Could very easily modify a smaller form factor PSU to fit into a rack mount equipment case.

Mine is sorely in need of cleaning up and rewiring, but it works a treat.

I chucked out my last remaining AT PSU nearly a year ago now

My past solution has been to replace wall warts with inline PSUs with an IEC inlet, but when you've got lots of kit running on different voltages, it becomes more unwieldy than having a load of wall warts plugged into an extension strip.

 

[Monkeh]

Personally, I can't stand non-rackmount kit in rack cabinets, but sometimes it's unavoidable. Just like wall wart transformers that you can't direct plug into an IEC320 PDU

I have a dirty hack for that. Take an AT PSU, cut the switch cable back inside the enclosure, fit a toggle switch. Butcher external wiring as needed. One well regulated, efficient, central power supply for +5V and +12V. Could very easily modify a smaller form factor PSU to fit into a rack mount equipment case.

Mine is sorely in need of cleaning up and rewiring, but it works a treat.

I chucked out my last remaining AT PSU nearly a year ago now

My past solution has been to replace wall warts with inline PSUs with an IEC inlet, but when you've got lots of kit running on different voltages, it becomes more unwieldy than having a load of wall warts plugged into an extension strip.

Well you can use an ATX PSU, but there's more work involved. The switch is easier (no need for a 240VAC rated switch), but you often need to provide some fixed load or you'll get crap voltage regulation.

Combine with a panel of (marked and keyed, obviously) 5V and 12V outputs (3.3V too if you're using an ATX supply), and you've got a neat and effective solution, cheaply too (even a good quality ATX PSU, new, would only set you back 30 or 40 quid for this use). You can even individually switch the outputs quite easily.

 

[electronicsuk]

Well you can use an ATX PSU, but there's more work involved. The switch is easier (no need for a 240VAC rated switch), but you often need to provide some fixed load or you'll get crap voltage regulation.

Combine with a panel of (marked and keyed, obviously) 5V and 12V outputs (3.3V too if you're using an ATX supply), and you've got a neat and effective solution, cheaply too (even a good quality ATX PSU, new, would only set you back 30 or 40 quid for this use). You can even individually switch the outputs quite easily.

I like the idea, although I'm hoping that I will be able to ditch a lot of PSUs when I convert the CCTV to PoE IP cameras, and replace the router with one that supports 802.3af PoE rather than the nasty proprietary 12v that my current router supports. Mind you, it would be a shame, as it's a very good router otherwise, and even has gig WAN ports.

I think we're digressing now...

 

[Monkeh]

You'd be surprised, that router might well take 48V. Open it up and see.

Blah, domestic routers. Terrible, cripped, subpar crap, and the business stuff just has a different case! Mine has an ATX PSU and lots of RAM.

Yep, definitely digressing.

 

[electronicsuk]

Blah, domestic routers. Terrible, cripped, subpar crap, and the business stuff just has a different case! Mine has an ATX PSU and lots of RAM.

Yep, definitely digressing.

I wouldn't call it domestic - it's a MikroTik routerboard. They aren't a particularly well known brand, but they produce ridiculously reliable and powerful hardware for pittance, and their RouterOS firmware doesn't disappoint either. We have a couple of their larger rackable brothers with two 42U 19" racks sitting behind them full of servers, and they've been bulletproof thus far at 1/10th the price of a Cisco equivalent product.

You'd be surprised, that router might well take 48V. Open it up and see.

The instructions explicitly state that 48v PoE is unsupported, so I'm inclined not to try it

 

[Monkeh]

Ahh, one of those. Still far too slow for my tastes.

E: Damn, those are cheap!

 

[Stoday]

I kept it simple by screwing a patchboard to a panel in a utility room cupboard. The panel is hinged at the bottom.

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• Stoday
• 9 Feb 2011
• 1

Looks interesting. Any chance of a photo with the panel open? Thanks.

No problem:

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• Stoday
• 11 Feb 2011
• 1

 

[SidDIYer]

Well you can use an ATX PSU, but there's more work involved. The switch is easier (no need for a 240VAC rated switch), but you often need to provide some fixed load or you'll get crap voltage regulation.

Combine with a panel of (marked and keyed, obviously) 5V and 12V outputs (3.3V too if you're using an ATX supply), and you've got a neat and effective solution, cheaply too (even a good quality ATX PSU, new, would only set you back 30 or 40 quid for this use). You can even individually switch the outputs quite easily.

I like the idea, although I'm hoping that I will be able to ditch a lot of PSUs when I convert the CCTV to PoE IP cameras, and replace the router with one that supports 802.3af PoE rather than the nasty proprietary 12v that my current router supports. Mind you, it would be a shame, as it's a very good router otherwise, and even has gig WAN ports.

I think we're digressing now...

PoE sounds like a good idea. I was planning on installing CCTV eventually anyway.

Is there anything in particular I need to know to run a PoE switch/router? I am planning on installing a Cat6 network. Do regular devices (PCs/consoles etc) need to have a filter between them and the powered switch or can you select exactly which ports will be powered?

Thanks again.

 

[aptsys]

PoE should be automatically negotiated between the switch and device.