orville@weyrich.UUCP (Dr. Orville R. Weyrich) (04/29/91)
I am soon to build a house, and want a house which will have all the important amenities for the years ahead, like for example a LAN. [my wife might disagree as to what the important amenities might be :-)] I currently have a home office, but no LAN. Given the cost of buying a house, it is not likely that I will be able to afford a LAN for a while, but I want to anticipate wiring etc. What advice does the net have? It is easy to string a bunch of extra twisted- pair phone lines, but I sort of had ethernet in mind. If I string a bunch of cable-tv cables (an extra bunch -- I'm the only one in the house that doesn't watch TV), can they be pressed into service as ethernet cables? Are there any parameters or gotcha's I need to watch out for? Thanks -------------------------------------- ****************************** Orville R. Weyrich, Jr. Certified Systems Professional Internet: orville%weyrich@uunet.uu.net Weyrich Computer Consulting Voice: (602) 391-0821 POB 5782, Scottsdale, AZ 85261 Fax: (602) 391-0023 (Yes! I'm available) -------------------------------------- ******************************
kdenning@pcserver2.naitc.com (Karl Denninger) (04/29/91)
In article <1991Apr29.070815.161@weyrich.UUCP> orville@weyrich.UUCP (Dr. Orville R. Weyrich) writes: >I am soon to build a house, and want a house which will have all the >important amenities for the years ahead, like for example a LAN. > >[my wife might disagree as to what the important amenities might be :-)] > >I currently have a home office, but no LAN. Given the cost of buying a house, >it is not likely that I will be able to afford a LAN for a while, but I want to >anticipate wiring etc. > >What advice does the net have? It is easy to string a bunch of extra twisted- >pair phone lines, but I sort of had ethernet in mind. If I string a bunch of >cable-tv cables (an extra bunch -- I'm the only one in the house that doesn't >watch TV), can they be pressed into service as ethernet cables? Are there >any parameters or gotcha's I need to watch out for? > >Thanks I'd use home-runs (to a wiring closet or central location) of high-quality twisted pair cable, at least 4 pair. This gives you the ability to run 2 10BaseT links into a room. If you want pull four pair of high-quality shielded twisted-pair cable as well; this will give you FDDI on copper if they ever get it FCC certified :-) All the advantages of Ethernet, and reliability too! -- Karl Denninger - AC Nielsen, Bannockburn IL (708) 317-3285 kdenning@nis.naitc.com "The most dangerous command on any computer is the carriage return." Disclaimer: The opinions here are solely mine and may or may not reflect those of the company.
rwa@cs.athabascau.ca (Ross Alexander) (04/30/91)
>In article <1991Apr29.070815.161@weyrich.UUCP> orville@weyrich.UUCP (Dr. Orville R. Weyrich) writes: >I am soon to build a house, and want a house which will have all the >important amenities for the years ahead, like for example a LAN. [...] >pair phone lines, but I sort of had ethernet in mind. If I string a bunch of >cable-tv cables (an extra bunch -- I'm the only one in the house that doesn't >watch TV), can they be pressed into service as ethernet cables? Are there >any parameters or gotcha's I need to watch out for? Don't use cable-tv cable. It is rather lossy, and the characteristic impedance is wrong (75 ohms rather than 802.3 spec 50 ohms). Get some RG-58/U coaxial cable instead; it's cheap like borscht and works fine (I use it in my office and at home). Or, as another person suggested, consider going with 10baseT - you will need to buy a hub, though, and the topology is star rather than buss. Remember if you plan to string cable through plenum space that it must be teflon covered (or equivalent). -- Ross Alexander rwa@cs.athabascau.ca (403) 675 6311 ve6pdq `You were s'posed to laugh!' -- Zippy
kirkd@ism.isc.com (kirk davis) (04/30/91)
In article <1991Apr29.070815.161@weyrich.UUCP> orville@weyrich.UUCP (Dr. Orville R. Weyrich) writes: >I am soon to build a house, and want a house which will have all the >important amenities for the years ahead, like for example a LAN. > >[my wife might disagree as to what the important amenities might be :-)] Doctor, Twisted pair is just ticket. You will of course need a hub, but you can pick one of these babies up for about $900 (don't tell your wife). Kirk Davis (kirkd@ism.isc.com)
jsr@ais.org (Jay Rouman) (04/30/91)
>In article <1991Apr29.070815.161@weyrich.UUCP> orville@weyrich.UUCP (Dr. Orville R. Weyrich) writes: >>I am soon to build a house, and want a house which will have all the >>important amenities for the years ahead, like for example a LAN. >> >>[my wife might disagree as to what the important amenities might be :-)] Why don't you look into installing 2 inch PVC pipe from likely locations to some central area (basement perhaps). It's pretty cheap and should be easy to install in a new house. Then you can install whatever cable you need at a later date and aren't tied to a specific medium. The house is probably going to last a lot longer than any current lan technology. -- Jay S. Rouman Audio: 517/773-7887 | Distrust education. Two of Email: jsr@ais.org or jsr@dexter.mi.org | the three R's are misspelled.
schultz@halley.est.3m.com (John C. Schultz) (05/01/91)
>In article <1991Apr29.070815.161@weyrich.UUCP> orville@weyrich.UUCP (Dr. Orville R. Weyrich) writes: >>I am soon to build a house, and want a house which will have all the >>important amenities for the years ahead, like for example a LAN. >> >>[my wife might disagree as to what the important amenities might be :-)] I recently built a house and installed shielded twisted pair cable with 4 pairs in the cable. I just dropped these from two of the three bedrooms upstairs to the basement and left them there. I figured that my daughters could use the twisted pair for RS232 or even Ethernet at some point in the indefinite future as opposed to dropping 50 ohm coax which would support thinwire Ethernet only. I used a multiple twisted pair cable because separate RS232 lines might be needed and to hedge my bets. I bought the cable at a local surplus house, but even then it was about $60 - much more than the video or phone cabling. -- John C. Schultz EMAIL: schultz@halley.serc.3m.com 3M Company, Building 518-01-1 WRK: +1 (612) 733-4047 1865 Woodlane Drive, Dock 4, Woodbury, MN 55125 How to include the taste of Glendronach in a multi-media system?
dlugose@uncecs.edu (Dan Dlugose) (05/01/91)
kirkd@ism.isc.com (kirk davis) writes: >In article <1991Apr29.070815.161@weyrich.UUCP> orville@weyrich.UUCP (Dr. Orville R. Weyrich) writes: >>I am soon to build a house, and want a house which will have all the >>important amenities for the years ahead, like for example a LAN. >> >>[my wife might disagree as to what the important amenities might be :-)] >Doctor, > Twisted pair is just ticket. You will of course need a hub, but you can >pick one of these babies up for about $900 (don't tell your wife). >Kirk Davis (kirkd@ism.isc.com) For about $1400 you can get 2 Macintoshes (Classics, floppy) from a NYC dealer. Add about $60 for 2 network interfaces to twisted pair (PhoneNet). For hard disk Macs, used Mac Pluses with a hard disk should be at least $750 each. Of course, if you mean a network of DOS machines, you'll have to spend a few hundred to run Soft PC on both Macs. If you also spend a couple hundred for extra RAM, later this month with System 7.0 system software, BOTH of the Macs would be file servers. -- Dan Dlugose Mac support specialist Internet: dlugose@uncecs.edu UNC Educational Computing Service, until July 1991 (then freelance?)
FelineGrace@cup.portal.com (Dana B Bourgeois) (05/02/91)
Re: twisted pair LAN hub price quoted at $900... Recently I saw an internal hub product mentioned in LAN Times. Handles four cables and takes a slot in your server. About $500. That's not a bad price. And your wife need never know!! Dana Bourgeois @ cup.portal.com