this post was submitted on 08 Apr 2024
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Currently remodeling a domicile, with the sweet and expensive ability to add anything I want within reason. I plan on modernizing the place to bring it into the 21st century because this house deserves it (just a great structure with lots of history and nearing it's centennial birthday).

Luckily, everything is built perfectly for access so nothing is off the table. I came onto this property with my own server "rack" and a mini diy setup for network debauchery, but plan on expanding that and installing a mini-server "room" (a fancy closet I might install in a "dead space" that I can pipe duct work in and out of).

I will be running all new electrical, A/C, Telecom lines, the whole works. I'm currently in the process of ripping out all the old coaxial, phone, piping, anything not ran properly or of a modern importance (probably reinstall phone and doorbell circuits but they're currently strewn everywhere from previous installers). I'm also creating up to date blueprints for the structure and including mechanical systems/engineering schematics for anything I'm doing or plan to do. All of this will be saved to a USB for the next owner and printed out for a laminated notebook to stay with the house (maybe a copy for myself for the nostalgia one day).

The only 2 things I KNOW I want to do is installing

  • a monitor with a pi that will run a weather and local data program that I've been working on into the kitchen area

  • a multi-camera cctv system (local and offsite backup) with a monitor in a neutral-shared living area.

I will probably leave those parts of the system installed here unless it's requested to be removed. I actually would love to leave everything here as a full system package for someone to "inherit" with the house but I'm not sure if that's a benefit or a hindrance someone wants to receive.

There's 3 different plans in the works (3/5/10 year plans, we are here for family but that will eventually not be required and we desperately want out of this area), depending on the time frame I might need to put in

  • monitoring stations for renewable energy systems (solar/wind),

  • a personalized-home weather monitoring system (barometric,temp,humidity) with a display and functionality to control the mechanical systems (A/C adjustment, daylight sensors for shades/lighting, etc),

and a bunch of other off the wall ideas I've been wanting to tinker with. Unfortunately most videos out there of "home setups" include someone with 10x my price bracket and their system is designed for themselves and their specific equipment in mind. I'm wanting to install something more generic that anyone would have use for (like weather and security). There are really only 2 "office areas" that I think would require a hardline besides any monitors I have to install for systems (I don't mind running wiring, but I don't think every room needs an ethernet port to be functional, or am I wrong thinking this way?). I will probably need to install repeaters in two locations though to cover the entire property in wifi because old houses gobble signals up but inside everything "just" reaches.

Everything I've done with my network so far I've gotten around needing a switch (it would've saved me a lot of hassle in the past but I usually find a way to get everything connected or just disconnect unused equipment that's ran it's course), but at this point I can't expand any further without a headache. So now I'm looking at new tech and equipment I don't have hands-on experience with and don't know it's proper use/limitations which I don't like when making action plans. I figured just trying to get a general sense of what people want or see would be a better angle to come at since I don't do this professionally and don't have the insider knowledge of the taboos of home networking infrastructure.

TLDR: What kind of wiring, connection setups are important to you and won't be obsolete after a few years? What do you consider a "modern" house to have or are decent "quality of life" improvements like lighting control, sensors, etc? What's your best case scenario of equipment when walking into a house and seeing a pre-installed setup?

edit: I'm not sure why but for some reason I'm not seeing everyone's comments (assuming de-federated instances from .ml but seeing it since I posted on .world), if I don't respond I apologize and will probably look for a new instance if this is the case.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

For your CCTV lookup Frigate NVR, and grab a ~30$ Coral TPU for it. Run your cameras with a PoE switch.

Home Assistant is THE gold standard for smart homes. ZigBee is nice too, since they mesh and aren't the same wave length as WiFi.

Edit: oops I meant ZWave, not ZigBee.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

For my money, KNX>Zwave>Zigbee. Zigbee's standard are not certified so you get non compliant devices that don't work well, and 2.4 is a very crowded frequency with lots of interference not only from other wireless devices but also microwaves, etc. Zwave solves both of these issues and generally has a higher level of quality, but for me a wired standard will always beat a wireless one if I'm starting from scratch.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Unfortunately Zigbee is precisely 2.4GHz, which isn't used much for phones and laptops, but still widely used in TVs, vacuum robots and other smart devices that don't need much bandwidth.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

2.4Ghz is the right frequency to use - it has pretty good internal wall penetration and you want that. You don't need much bandwidth to turn alight on, so there's nothing wrong with a bit of competition on the channel.

Your TV/etc shouldn't be on a wireless connection.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

2.4GHz ia good in theory, in practice tho, every technology especially the open protocols use it so there is a lot of interference. I know that because I had to lower the 2.4GHz wifi power by a lot so it doesn't cause issues with the zigbee mesh.

As for tv I would agree if TVs came with gigabit NIC, but the majority comes with 100mbps card, so if you want to stream some high quality 100+mbps content you have no other option but to use the wifi or give up the usb port for a usb ethernet nic or use a usb hub. Not pretty solitions for sure.

And then you have the robot vacuum which can only use 2.4GHz wifi for obvious reasons. And people might have IPcams which are also on wifi.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

Wait, shit. I meant the OTHER z named one. Zwave.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Zwave is nice, but a lot more expensive due to hardware certification costs