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I would recommend running fiber for the main "data plane", with cheap Cat 5 alongside it for a separate, low-bandwidth network if it ever becomes needed (home a
by Nextgrid 4y ago
I would recommend running fiber for the main "data plane", with cheap Cat 5 alongside it for a separate, low-bandwidth network if it ever becomes needed (home automation, surveillance cameras, etc) where using media converters would be otherwise impractical.
You can then use any switch with SFP+ ports and upgrade down the line without having to ever replace the fiber itself.
- jhoelzel 4y agoSo basically all a line of fiber switches in the middle of the house and then cat cable to the end consumer wall box? hmm I did play with the thought of a PCIE fiber cards for the tower, they are expensive but it seems like its the only thing that will for sure work with the least power consumption. Thanks!
- Nextgrid 4y agoNope, fibre all the way to the wall boxes, with cheap Cat 5 alongside it. Places with high-bandwidth stuff or multiple devices have a switch with an SFP+ port to have the fibre come in and then whatever flavor of Ethernet as outputs (whether 10Gbit over copper, more SFP+ for fibre, or 1Gbit ports if individual devices don't need more than 1Gbit). FYI you can get cheap server-grade 10Gbit cards on eBay, they work fine and have an SFP+ port. 10Gbit SFPs are ~20 bucks on Amazon. Places with low-bandwidth needs can just use the "backup" Cat 5 directly or with cheap Gigabit Ethernet switches, to reduce costs where 1Gbit+ speeds aren't needed (plus you can also reuse the cable for non-Ethernet applications, think alarm sensors, home automation, etc).