Keystone

Occasionally I just have to face facts. There are some things that I don’t do well. That I will likely never do well. Terminating Ethernet cables is one of these things. It’s just not a skill that I’ve been able to develop. I suck at it. I find it frustrating. I try to avoid it. But it’s occasionally unavoidable. So, it’s nice to find something that reduces the frustration of my reality as a terrible Terminator.

We recently did some minor renovation in the central hallway in our home. It got a new attic access ladder in the ceiling and a fresh coat of paint, in a bright new color. Some nice new lights. It’s looking much improved.

The hall is where I have the household portion of my little network installation. Up against one wall there’s a small Ethernet patch panel and 24-port Ubiquiti POE+ switch, and a couple of small IoT hubs. Also, a 1RU UPS for safety.

I’d include a picture, but it’s not a pretty scene. Everything mounted to some prefinished white shelving, screwed flat to the wall, so it take up as little space as possible. It was only meant to be temporary.

I believe that anything that can connected via Ethernet should be connected via Ethernet. Wi-Fi is only for those things that don’t support Ethernet. Ethernet home runs from the various rooms & security cameras end up at the patch field in the hall. A couple of strands of Ethernet run underground in conduit to the garage apartment where they meet the main network core.