Period Electrickery

[Owain]

You can get a remote test-and-hush switch

Do those only work on smoke alarms, or can they be fitted to people?

Those models are only for smoke alarms.

However the Government are working on combining an anti-barking electric dog-collar and a taser into a new offender tagging system.

 

[wobs]

As I mentioned, we need to get KC in to fit a new master socket, as there is still the old junction box for the telephone line. This is downstairs in the front room.

We learned from our last house, that it is best to have the router plugged into the master socket. With this in mind, and the PC upstairs, would it be better to have a wired connection from the PC to the router? If so what would be the best cable to use? Seems like a good time to consider this.

I'm thinking it might free up some bandwidth in the future, as little ones will probably want wireless devices.

 

[Owain]

As I mentioned, we need to get KC in to fit a new master socket,

You can buy them. They just don't have markings on - although BT Openreach ones are widely available on Ebay ;-)

We learned from our last house, that it is best to have the router plugged into the master socket. With this in mind, and the PC upstairs, would it be better to have a wired connection from the PC to the router? If so what would be the best cable to use?

Cat 5e Ethernet cable. Best to put in some Ethernet cabling as well - it's becoming more common for smart TVs and the like to want it, and wireless isn't great for streaming video.

 

[Flyfisher]

I agree with Owain (although the PC to router cabling is ethernet). I much prefer wired network connections whenever possible and would definitely install fixed cabling if and when it's easy to do so - in fact I have, quite a lot of it. That's not to say you won't also use wifi (I use both) but a wired connection is generally faster and more reliable.

Cat5e cable is fine. It's not the latest and greatest but it's fine for domestic applications where the cable lengths are (usually) nowhere near the 90m limit in the formal specifications.

Don't forget that you can also run telephones over Cat5e cabling by using a simple adapter, as well as other things, so it's pretty much a universal data/low voltage cable for domestic installations.

If you're feeling particularly adventurous, install the cables in a 'star' configuration such that the wiring from all outlets converged into a single point or 'hub'. This sounds grand but is nothing more than a group of corresponding outlets very close together. This allows any of the outlets around the house to be 'patched' using short cables meaning that any outlet can be used as a network or telephone connection.

It doesn't have to be done all at once, of course, but if you're likely to ever install additional cables then it might be useful to bear in mind how they might be used in the future.

Finally, if separate data cables are not practical, don't discount the use of "powerline" networking (google for loads of info). It uses existing mains wiring so is very non-invasive and the technology has greatly improved over the years. I use a combination of Cat5e cabling, wifi and powerline - with my preference in that order.

 

[Penners]

don't discount the use of "powerline" networking

I use this in preference to Wi-Fi (although I do have the Wi-Fi option if I want to wander around the house with my laptop) and I find it very satisfactory.