My Home Network Breakdown - OLD HOUSE

I first set this page up to showcase my modest home theater. I decided to change this to indicate how my media will be networked across multiple rooms in my house. I just started this so it will be a work in progress. Basically I can break down the networks in my house as the following: AC Power, Telephone, Satellite, Audio, LAN. I won't be discussing so much the AC Power or phone networks too much, as they were put in during the house build, which I was not part of (bought the house 10 years later).

AC Power

I have wired back to the main panel a couple of AC receptacles in order to have power in the office for the Video Editing computer, my antique workhorse computer, and the music-server (and accompanying equipment). I also wired in an extra receptacle in my celler off an existing junction box that supplied a homebrew alarm system only, so the breaker has lots of overhead.

Telephone

I had to add a jack in my office and now more recently the cellar (wired back to the hub) in order to get DSL capabilites, and now I'm adding a new line that will run from the cellar to the junction block that will be used to distribute a VOIP ATA signal throughout the house. All the phone/network equipment now reside in the cellar. The phone system is distributed to all the rooms in the house, save the bathrooms, have a phone outlet. VOIP is distributed to three outlets currently. We used a Panasonic cordless system, where the base is connected to the main floor VOIP line and is answering service capable. It has three handsets included (one for upstairs, downstairs and mainfloor). The system also allows for two cellphones to be connected via Bluetooth, as well as a Bluetooth headset. This allows for incoming cell phones to be accepted by the main phone system.

Another nice feature about the VOIP is that we can take the service anywhere there is an internet connection. Better yet, we can use apps on our cell phones, and they can act as the VOIP ATA and can send/receive local calls.

For more details on the cabling, see the LAN overview below.

As of May 13th, 2011, the house has gone to a "Dry-Loop" connection and are now fully using a VOIP service. This is a bundle with our ISP DSL provider, and because of this, are saving between $10 to $15 monthly ($120 to $180/year).

Video Distribution - OTA TV/Internet Services

All I can say is when we moved into the house, there was already a dish mounted and pointed at Beverly Nimiq1. The cabling was in such a tangled mess, and after cutting a source cable (feed from one of the LNB's), I had no choice but to figure it out and fix it up. We were using the dish setup for a while and still have a multi-switch connected to it to allow for multiple receivers, but since discovering OTA, we dropped the Bell subscription entirely. Since dropping overpriced cable/sat subscriptions, we have signed up to Netflix, and recently signed up to UnBlock-Us. Adding UnBlock-Us has now allowed for access to the American Netflix, Hulu, and other internet services that until now, we were locked out due to geo-blocking. The Netflix account is $8, and UnBlock-Us is $5 per month.

So with OTA for local programming, Netflix, Hulu and other internet services, we basically have a better line-up than we would have if confined to a cable/sat service, for a fraction of the price. Can't go wrong with that.

Now we have a four antenna setup (antenna farm) in my attic. Two SBGH for UHF, and two Loop antenna for VHF. Each SBGH is paired with a VHF-Loop. Each pair is connected to a Channel Master 7777 preamp (using both VHF and UHF inputs). The outputs of each preamp flows down ~60' of coax to their respective power-inserters. The output of the inserters are combined through a Holland's splitter/combiner and directly coupled to the input of a Channel Master 3414 distribution amp. Two of the distro-amps outputs go direct to a bedroom TV (longest run at around 80'+) and my HTPC (only run using RG-59 - buried in walls, was already there when house was purchased...not by choice). The other two outputs are each split with Holland's splitters to another 3 TV's and my MediaPVR.

The whole system is shown in the diagram below.

Video Distribution Network:

Audio/Music Distribution

Since I have dedicated its own page, I won't repeat myself here. The main overview can be viewed here though:

LAN

My LAN is currently mainly 10/100 base. I now have a Buffalo WHR-HP-G300N 4-port router/switch/wireless "N". This router came pre-installed with dd-wrt firmware (now upgraded to the ver. r17201). One port ties to the 24-port D-link switch. Another port connects directly to the Sipura SPA2100 VOIP ATA. The third port is now connected to an Asus GigLAN switch. The other port is open still. The bulk of the network is connected to a DLink DES-1024R+ 24 port industrial switch hub. It is a 24-port 10/100 Fast Ethernet switch. I also have a DSS-8+, which up until picking up the 1024, was the main switch. This D-Link is now being used on the second floor of my house to tie all the bedroom connections to the feed from the basement. Each room has two LAN connections available.

I recently got an Asus GX-1051 5-port GigLAN switch. Port 1 (called the VIP port) is bandwidth dedicated, it is connect to port 3 of the router. Three computers connected to the GigLAN switch are the UnRAID server, HTPC, and the MediaPVR. The problem is right now the HTPC and MediaPVR aren't connecting at GigLAN speeds. The MediaPVR network drivers aren't showing Gig speeds...which equates to a driver issue. Problems is when I try and update the drivers, it is Blue Screening the system. The HTPC indicates that it can achieve Gig speeds, but it isn't...which may be a cable issue. The Asus switch is reporting a Gig connection speed for the UnRAID box.

I also picked up a TP-Link TL-WR720N 150Mbps N Router. This router will be used as the guest router, so when people come over, they have access to the internet, but not to my network.

The house is now VOIP capable. For this I picked up a Sipura (now Linksys) SPA2100 ATA/router box. I don't use the router portion, but I've wired up 3 wall jacks in the house to accommodate for VOIP. As mentioned above, it is connected directly off one port of the WHR-HP-G300N router (the DES-1024R+ to a second port).

The current LAN setup is shown below:

Additional Network connections which aren't shown in the diagram above:

1x Asus GR-1051 GigLAN switch (wired off of port 3 of router)

1x TP-Link TL-WR720N router (guest internet access)

2x Western Digital WD-TV Live Steaming boxes with fixed IP address (wired)

2x LG P500h cell phones running Android 2.3.3 OS with dynamic IP address (wireless)

1x ViewSonic Viewpad 7 running Android 2.3 OS with dynamic IP address (wireless)

2x iPod Touch running OS1 and OS4, each with dynamic IP addresses (wireless)

In additional all other wireless devices are all setup with dynamic IP address, and BES has been defined (wired)

ROOM SHAKEDOWN

Office

In addition to the distribution centers listed above, the office holds the following systems:

I picked up a Core2 Duo that was auctioned at work. Very nice machine for the price. It came pre-installed with Vista Professional, but I've since updated it to Win7 Ultimate, 4G RAM, 160G HDD, DVD burner, and wireless adapter...which I'm not using. It had a Radeon 3650 with DVI and 2x DisplayPorts. I recently added an EAH4350 Radeon (with DVI/HDMI/VGA outputs) and using the two video cards to display across 3 17" HP monitors. The monitors are mounted horizontally using a DIY Monitor Mount setup.

Printer: HP Photosmart 2610, network attached, 4 in 1 system. Nice printer, and with it being connected to the network, required no extra equipment to allow everyone access to it. The one problem with it is that the ink cartridges are almost the price of a new printer.

Music Server - can view the system at that link

Home Theater (Family Room)

Currently my home theater consists of the following:

Panasonic PT-47X54 47" Widescreen RPTV

HTPC - home theater PC

NAD 304 Integrated Amp (30W/ch)

Yamaha DSP-492 Surround Sound Processor/3 ch amp

Nintendo Wii game console - great fun

- Wii Sports (4/5 rating)

- Mario Kart (4/5 rating)

- High School Musical: Sing It! (3/5 rating)

- Rockband (4/5 rating)

- 2K Sports Hockey 2K9 (1/5 rating) - Game froze 2/3 into season...lost the remaining season...found out that is common with 2K sports games.

- Rockband2 (5/5 rating)

- Beach Games(4/5 rating)

- Movies (party games) (3/5 rating)

- Dora the Exploroer: Winter Adventure (3.5/5 rating)

- Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympics (5/5 rating)

- Mario and Sonic at the Beijing Olympics (4/5 rating)

- Wii Resort (5/5)

- Party Sports Games (4/5 rating)

- Wii Fit (5/5) - using the balance board

Speakers:

Main: Signet SL-260

Not mine, but the same

Center: Signet VLC-266

Surround: Paradigm Titan's

Subwoofer: JBL (can't remember the model number right now, but is 200Wrms)

The HTPC has replaced virtually all components in the home theater. I can now enjoy DVD's upscaled, DVB-S receiver (when working again), OTA tuner, music player, classic gaming console/arcade emulator, weather reporter, picture viewer, HD movies and eventually a HD disc player via Blu-ray. Gone are the following standalone players: DVD player: Pioneer DV-C302C (moved to bedroom), tapedeck: Hitachi...thrown out, satellite receiver: BEV 3200...just completely removed. The AM/FM Tuner: Yamaha TX-480, and the CD player: JVC XL-M403 have been moved to the multizoning setup. The tuner and CD player act as additional sources to the music server on top of my music library and shoutcast music.

Family room HTPC system overview

Below are some screen caps of running a DVD, comparing normal viewing to upscaled on the HTPC:

Standard Widescreen Image:

Upscaled via ffdshow/zoom player:

I just recently started to upgrade the network connection in this room. I originally installed a wall plate with two RJ45 connectors. One was for the LAN, the other for the MayBALD line. I have now replaced it with a triple wall plate for LAN, the MayBALD still, and a third connector for GigLAN to the HTPC. Each one is now appropriately labeled so there won't be any confusion.

Living Room

The livingroom is the general viewing area, but is receiving a huge facelift. Primarily the old 32" Panny is slowly being de-serviced as I'm installing a new Samsung 46" flatscreen on the wall. The one request by the wife was to hide all components and wiring. The interesting thing here is that all the components that are currently in use with the TV will be moved into the basement, and controlled via an IR system. All connections for components to the TV will be done through baluns (both DIY types and store bought). All wiring will be hidden behind the walls, so the only thing the viewer will see is the TV, so she got her wish. The one nice thing is that I can finally loose the POS DVD player, and strictly use the MediaPVR for all media playback. Also gone is the satellite receiver as we only use OTA for TV watching now.

Samsung LN46C550 46" LCD Display

MediaPVR Gen2

Below is the general overview of the system:

Polk Audio R-10 Bookshelf speakers connected to music-server amp for a music zone

Backyard

The backyard has a set of HT5 outdoor speakers that are connected to one of the music-server amplifier outputs for a music zone. There is also a coax connection which is not wired but runs back into the office area. It could be wired to the existing OTA system if required.

Kitchen

The kitchen has a basic Toshiba laptop that I acquired through a work auction. It now replaces the PPC to control the music-server, and I am eventually going to look at a USB tuner for it.

Masterbedroom/Bathroom

43" Samsung Plasma TV (PN43D440)

BES (Bedroom Entertainment System)

Dayton in-ceiling speaker pair in Master Bedroom connected to a music server amp output for a music zone

Dayton in-ceiling stereo speaker in bathroom shares same zone as masterbedroom

The masterbedroom is the hub upstairs for the network. The DLink 8-port switch resides here. One line from the basement comes into the switch. 2 Outputs go to each child bedroom, and the master bedroom will have the remaining outputs.

Kid's Room 1

Dayton in-ceiling speaker pair connected to music-server amp output for music zone.

She also has a Samsung 32" LCD.

32" Samsung LCD TV (LN32C350)

Pioneer DV-C302C DVD Player

Western Digital WD-LiveTV Streaming box

This room was the first to use a Western Digital WD-LiveTV streaming box. This box is actually very well done. It has the abilities to playback almost all of my media files stored on the UnRAID server, except for DVD Video.ifo files (it will playback individual .VOB files though). It has a bunch of internet streaming built into the firmware as well, including Netflix. Via wireless it can playback 720p HD content pretty decently, with only some occasional hiccups in the stream, but since wiring the room for LAN, it plays back 1080p material flawlessly. It is connected to the Samsung LCD via HDMI, and audio too is passing via that connection. The room is outfitted with 2 LAN jacks.

Also in addition to the above, there is a COAX cable to the room, in which, connected to the TV is capable of receiving OTA transmissions from my main antenna array.

My eldest also keeps the old family Acer Aspire laptop. It is an AMD single-core processor, with 2G or RAM. It has a 160Gig hard drive, DVD Dual layer burner, wireless-n, and GigLAN. It came with an ATI HD3200 graphics accelerator, which is capable of playing back HD content on a 15.6" 16:9 screen. It also came with Win7 Home Premium (which includes WMC).

Kid's Room 2

Dayton in-ceiling speaker pair connected to music-server amp output for music zone.

This room also has:

24" Toshiba TV/DVD Combo (24SLV411U)

My youngest would watch a little portable DVD player when going to bed, and since her room is small, my wife and I figured a combo unit of this nature would suit her room well.

The room also has a WD-LiveTV steaming box connected to this TV via HDMI, and is hard-wired to the rest of the LAN network. This room is outfitted with 2 LAN jacks like my other kids room.

This room is also outfitted with COAX and receives OTA transmission from the antenna array like all the other TVs.

Garage

The garage finally got some basic Hitachi getto-blaster speakers installed. I ran some speaker cable, and that zone is running perfect now. I still have to run some CAT5 line so I can run a basic LAN connection to an eventual computer.

Cellar

This is the location of the UnRAID server. I've also moved all the network equipment into this area. I mainly moved everything in there for the following reasons: 1) the 24-port switch has a noisy fan, and it is sure nice to get that out of the office. 2) With a computer driving 3 monitors, printer, the mediaPVR, 2x OTA pre-amps, and 1x OTA distributoin amp all on the same AC circuit as the network equipment, I figured this was quite a load on the line. So I decided I'd break up this overall load. 3) I can use the extra 2 ports on the "BATTERY" side of the UPS for the 24-port switch. Along with the UnRAID server on battery, and in the event of a power outage, will allow me to communicate to the server to properly and in a controlled manner, shut it down. The router, modem, ATA VOIP router are plugged into the non-battery side but still enjoy some surge protection. The cellar is also a dry cellar, but remains relatively cool in the summer, and nice and cold in the winter. This should aid in keeping the UnRAID box, 24-port switch and all the other network equipment a little cooler, especially the server's drives. All the LAN drops are either CAT5e or CAT6 cabling.

I also ran a telephone line into the cellar for the DSL modem to connect to, and ran a jack for the VOIP adapter to run into.

Attic

Yes, I've even utilized the attic space in this house. I have actually set up a small antenna farm in the attic. This consists of two Single Bay Gray-Hoverman UHF antennas, a FM dipole antenna, and two VHF-Hi Loop antenna. Wiring consist of 4x COAX RG6 drops, a CAT5e LAN drop and 16AWG speaker wiring drops that go down along the vent pipe to the basement.