I live in India. Homes are just getting smart, but only in the super premium housing sector. I haven't arrived as yet (and possibly won't in atleast the near future) and therefore i am stuck with an apartment where I have to be the DIY guy again ;-)). And I before i go ahead and buy gear, I need to decide what's best to buy.
The first part is that today all devices and appliances one keeps at home are getting WiFi (or in some cases Ethernet) enabled. The application is usually to exchange some information with other devices/appliances or services in the Home LAN (for eg, smartphone beaming to the HDTV, IP Camera streaming to a PC or file server, etc) or the Internet (Refrigerators ordering groceries in future, water purifier placing a service request for filer change once it detects its life is over, Pc browsing or downloading, set-top ox streaming videos from internet or downloading titles etc). And do that we need a very decent, high performing network to start out with.
So how do we do this ? We have gigabit Ethernet today as well as 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac and which of these we use ? Ethernet is faster, more stable, but requires a lot of cabling at fixed points making it inflexible. WiFi is also fast these with MIMO technology but still throughput is expected to be less, is prone to interference and signal attenuation by walls and household objects. so how do we call the dice ?
I establish two principles for my case:
(1) We use Gigabit Ethernet for devices and appliances that are fixed in location within the house (TV, PC, File Server, Consumer appliances, IP cameras, etc)
(2) We use WiFi for devices that need mobility within the house (like smartphones, tablets, Laptops, etc). And this would also cover appliances that may not support Gigabit Ethernet but only WiFi (A very likely scenario for consumer appliances of the future)
Clean. Since I have the flexibility of deciding my LAN ports, I can go for this type of setup. People who do not have this option may have to install WiFi Routers and repeaters (maybe more than one)
And to achieve some flexibility I decide that every room (living, dining, Bedrooms, Kitchen, utility, toilets and servant quarters will have atleast one LAN port, sometimes more based on what appliances I want to place. This also ensure that the highly bandwidth intensive streaming inside house i.e. file server to TV, and IP camera to file server PC stays on the Wired network and doesn't load the wifi. I hope this will make these applications jitter free. So for me Ethernet is not dead. Infact it is the preferred network and I stay fixed AFAP.
Equipment wise, I will go for
The first part is that today all devices and appliances one keeps at home are getting WiFi (or in some cases Ethernet) enabled. The application is usually to exchange some information with other devices/appliances or services in the Home LAN (for eg, smartphone beaming to the HDTV, IP Camera streaming to a PC or file server, etc) or the Internet (Refrigerators ordering groceries in future, water purifier placing a service request for filer change once it detects its life is over, Pc browsing or downloading, set-top ox streaming videos from internet or downloading titles etc). And do that we need a very decent, high performing network to start out with.
So how do we do this ? We have gigabit Ethernet today as well as 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac and which of these we use ? Ethernet is faster, more stable, but requires a lot of cabling at fixed points making it inflexible. WiFi is also fast these with MIMO technology but still throughput is expected to be less, is prone to interference and signal attenuation by walls and household objects. so how do we call the dice ?
I establish two principles for my case:
(1) We use Gigabit Ethernet for devices and appliances that are fixed in location within the house (TV, PC, File Server, Consumer appliances, IP cameras, etc)
(2) We use WiFi for devices that need mobility within the house (like smartphones, tablets, Laptops, etc). And this would also cover appliances that may not support Gigabit Ethernet but only WiFi (A very likely scenario for consumer appliances of the future)
Clean. Since I have the flexibility of deciding my LAN ports, I can go for this type of setup. People who do not have this option may have to install WiFi Routers and repeaters (maybe more than one)
And to achieve some flexibility I decide that every room (living, dining, Bedrooms, Kitchen, utility, toilets and servant quarters will have atleast one LAN port, sometimes more based on what appliances I want to place. This also ensure that the highly bandwidth intensive streaming inside house i.e. file server to TV, and IP camera to file server PC stays on the Wired network and doesn't load the wifi. I hope this will make these applications jitter free. So for me Ethernet is not dead. Infact it is the preferred network and I stay fixed AFAP.
Equipment wise, I will go for
- An 802.11 n MIMO router (Asus RT-N66U) or even an ac router (RT-AC66U). Basically whatever is the fastest on the market and one that matches my wifi Client. Additionally some range extenders if required (unlikely for my case)
- Possibly a 16/32 port LAN switch or router. Required to support so vast number of Ethernet ports. I suspect their is none available for consumer market and this has to be a SOHO or Enterprise gear. Maybe this would be multiple 4/8 port ones (consumer oriented) based on what type of networks I want to isolate.
More on this later.
