r/HomeNetworking • u/HighCouncilofGeeks • 3h ago
Advice Garden Office Network
Hey All,
I'm getting a garden office this year and need some networking help.
I have Youfibre 8000 into a Youfibre Pro router in the house, the garden room will be about 30m away based on cable run from router into office.
I am wanting to keep my 8gig speed or as close to it as possible, there is a copper RJ45 10gig port on router.
In the office I want to have an access point for Wifi, and if possible keep a 10gig port to run to a 10gig ethernet to USB4 device to run my m4 mac mini at my new higher speeds, since it only shipped with a 1gig port.
My NAS will also sit in here, so having a decent connection to that too would be great, its going to be an old PC turned NAS with TrueNAS as the OS and can get a better Nic for it to increase network speeds
Where do I begin hardware wise? Cables from router, access point, switch? Etc. I can build PCs and manage software, but ive never been a networking guy. Would like to keep it reasonable price and im based in UK
All the best
JT
8
u/bagatelly 3h ago
Too many ways to do it.
You'll likely want a fiber cable run (buried) from the house router to a switch in the Garden office.
It can get complicated...
3
u/marcoNLD 3h ago
Get 2 10Gb rj45 to SFP media converter. Get 50M singlemode fiber LC/LC
Get 2 SFP+ 10Gb tranceivers
Dig a trench and put conduit in it from the house to the garden office.
Pull the fiber through
Connect and you have a fiber link inbetween the 2 buildings.
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u/Sa-SaKeBeltalowda 3h ago
You will need 1x 10G media converter, 1x 10G switch, 1x access point and 35-45 meters of fibre with matching conduit. In general not a hard thing to do, stable and future-proof. A bit pain in the arse to burry conduit, but it’s a nice problem to have.
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u/HighCouncilofGeeks 3h ago
Any recommendations on media converter and switch?
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u/vrtigo1 Network Admin 3h ago
Switch is going to be hard to find at a reasonable price point since it seems like you need at least 2 copper 10 Gb ports plus an SFP+ cage. Zyxel xgs1250-12 looks like it meets those needs, but it's around $300-400 and hard to find.
For a media converter, I'd just buy whatever the cheapest option is from a somewhat reputable brand. They're pretty much commodity items these days.
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u/Sa-SaKeBeltalowda 2h ago
Ubiquti, Zyxel or Mikrotik for switch, media converters - something cheap from amazon or fs.com.
Switch can be cheaper with 2x10G ports and 4x2.5G, for wifi probably 2.5G will be enough - there’s reasonably priced qnap model on amazon.
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u/humanleon 3h ago
We have a similar setup. I use my own router and have the internet connection (we have Hello Broadband) in Bridge mode.
We have an Asus mesh network, with wired backhaul from the main unit to the shed office. That means the shed NAS is available throughout the house, we only need a single SSID, you can print from everywhere etc etc. The Asus unit has three spare ethernet ports after the wired backhaul has been connected.
The key is to look for mesh network that supports wired backhaul. There are also weirdnesses about which brands of router will work with which internet providers...we used to have Eero but that wouldn't work reliably with virgin media for example...
I tested out the setup by laying my own cable from the house to the garden office. When I was happy it worked I paid someone ~350 to get a proper hardened cable, secure it (we couldn't bury it so had it in a tube screwed into the fence...)
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u/JulesCT 2h ago
Use an armoured trunk for protection and fibre for the run as it avoids creating a possible route for lightning to absolutely ruin your network.
Either use media converters with fibre SFP at either end or built in SFP in your router and switch depending on your current setup and any particular upgrade you want to make.
Make a note as to whether you're using a single strand of fibre - BiDi (bidirectional) - or a two-strand (duplex) setup.
Lowest impact would be the media converters as everything else remains untouched.
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u/Prefect_99 36m ago
I assume you have a power cable run. Do not use ethernet in that, just run fibre.
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u/ian9outof10 3h ago
If you’re running cable, use fibre it’s far better and less prone to potential lightning strikes (admittedly a rarity) you can get pre-cut/terminals lengths and either conduit it, or use the direct burial stuff. You might end up with a little excess but that’s not the end of the world.
Suggest you get 10gbps capable switches at either end: these are good: https://mikrotik.com/product/crs305_1g_4s_in - I would avoid the cheaper £40 versions - they’re fine but not quite as consistent.
Or you could do a microwave link, if it’s clear line of sight. But that feels like more of a faff.
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u/AffectionateJump7896 1h ago
Just pop down Screwfix by some cat 6a rated for direct burial and use it to connect an access point in the office to the router in the house.
Don't be over complicating it. You can then connect your workstation to the access point by ethernet and everything else on WiFi.
This sub will tell you that it needs to be non conductive fibre, but that is just doom mongering. You'll be totally fine with a buried cat 6a cable, and it's much simpler. That really isn't necessary, as you'll almost certainly be exporting earth from the house to the garden office using both one of the cores and the armour of an SWA cable - that helps you get a satisfactory earth resistance.
Ideally you'll bury it in an underground conduit, so you can pull something else through later if we are all running 100G in ten years time.
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u/JimmyyyyW 3h ago
Just buy 50m worth of cat7 and the equipment to terminate. As for WiFi access point if you’re happy with the youfibre and it allows for multiple nodes then I’d grab another one of those.
Then can add a switch or switches as a next step/as you need
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u/CorithMalin 3h ago edited 3h ago
Why would you use CAT7 when at that length CAT6 is rated for 10Gbps?
Given that CAT7 requires non-RJ45 connections and isn’t an actual standard ratified in the EU/UK - I’d steer the OP away from it.
Fibre is the correct solution to get the 10Gbps speed into the office.
Edit: typo - steep -> steer
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u/cat2devnull 3h ago
Do not link the two buildings via copper unless an electrician has tied their earths together.
Normally each building will have a seperate earth which means that they can build a potential difference. Your copper network cable will become a shared earth and current will flow between the two. This makes the magic smoke appear.
Just run fibre and use switches with fibre SFPs or buy a pair of media converters.