Network Setup

My personal opinion is keep as many harddrives away as possible because spinning disks are noisy. However with an ADSL router you are usually kind of stuck as to where the master phone socket is.

So if the router has to stay in the sitting room then the time capsule could reasonably be moved elsewhere. The upside is you can use the ethernet sockets on the dryatek as well as the ethernet sockets on the time capsule so it might be a benefit having them spread out.

Sorry, not Simon and i'm in Surrey not Suffolk but...

Just to add to Garys comments, as well as acoustic noise from hard drives, mechanical noise will couple through racks and supports. I'm not sure how you have your rack setup, but keep these (and the Sky box with its internal fan and drives) off the same rack your Hi-Fi sits on. I've always kept wi-fi devices away from any audio boxes (or disabled wireless cards and used wired connections).

Ok chiming in from Suffolk... I have some hours off today to do some boring DIY.. got bored with that so here I am 

Agree with Gary and James, best keep mechanical disk drives away because of the intrusive ticking and whirring...

I personally like your number 2 option, but you would keep your NAS upstairs next to your Time Capsule. Alternatively you could have your Time Capsule downstairs... near your audio stuff. It's disk and fan are almost silent.. Apart from some ticking when it wakes up. You could then run an Ethernet lead (you have upto 100 metres) to the Vigor modem From the TimeCapsule. Ok the TimeCapsule has a wifi transmitter, but unless right very close by your audio equipment, I'd be be surprised if you heard anything negative.

Good luck

Simon

Thanks guys.

Everything is pretty silent already and I don't actually hear anything negative. I was just concerned about any interference being generated because of the wifi emitted from the Time Capsule, but that was probably unfounded 

I guess opt 3 isn't possible to use two modems on the same phone/broadband line - one upstairs (Apple TC/Vigor with wifi) plugged in the BT socket in the study and one close to the audio equipment (e.g. Netgear) with its wifi turned off and using Ethernet for the audio equipment. Perhaps I forgot to mention that this would be plugged in the BT socket in the lounge which is next to the hifi rack - hence the original reason for having everything close together

I'd go with choice 2.  I have a similar setup, with all of my network hardware on a rack on the top floor of my home.  My main system is 2 floors lower, with just a long run of ethernet cable from the top floor to the main system room.  I don't need a switch there because the only networked device in that room is my NDS.   I have purposely kept it simple that way. 

You'd be surprised how much even a little noise from something like the Time Capsule can be noticed once it's no longer there.  Keep the nas and Time Capsule away from the main listening space.

Additionally, I did not like the look of all of that hardware in my living room.  Flashing lights, etc., are not elegant. 

+1 Bart. I'll need some more connectivity in my lounge soon so i'll just run another network cable back to where my network hardware at the other side of the house and keep the dedicated connection for the Hi-Fi. 

If I go for option 2, I'll need to run the Ethernet through the wall in the study, down the outside wall and feed it into the lounge.

Presumably Cat 5e cable will be fine and I thought about using Ethernet wall sockets to make a neat job in the study and lounge - then plug the shorter network cables into the Ethernet wall sockets.

Although this sounds fine in principal, I wondered whether having a number of joins in the cable would cause issues (i.e. Two wall sockets) and whether the Ethernet outside (approx 15m) could attract radio interference or the like.

Any advice would be much appreciated 

It's fine running it outside. My 30m outside run of CAT5e run has survived the elements for 5 years now - the insulation goes a bit brittle after a while due to UV exposure but otherwise it's fine. When i add an additional run, i'll redo this one and put them both in conduit for better protection. I don't terminate to sockets i just left adequate lengths either end and went straight to RJ45 connectors. If going external make sure you add a drip loop on the cable before it enters the brickwork and seal around the cable entry with a dab of silicon sealant.  

PS - if you are terminating the cable yourself a LAN cable tester is a useful (and cheap) tool. 

My long run terminates with wall sockets.  It provides flexibility if I want to move stuff around, and allows me to use an expensive Audioquest patch cord from the wall socket to the NDS

James / Bart

Could you post a photo or diagram of your set-up at the point where your internet line comes into the house?  I'd like to see how these are set up.  Does it go into your router/modem and then out again?  Into what?

Thanks

Gavin, a photo would be useless, so let me describe in words.  

My broadband comes into my home and directly to the cable modem / router supplied by the isp (Verizon FiOS here).  Because of the way the broadband works, I can put the modem/router anywhere in the home that it can connect to the home coax wiring.  So I locate it on my 'server rack' up in my loft area, where the rest of my hardware is and where it's out of sight.  The cable comes into my home down in the basement, but that's of no consequence as I can plug my tv cable boxes, and the modem / router, into ANY of the home coax outlets and it works just fine.

I have wifi turned OFF on the cable modem / router, as it performs poorly.  The cable modem / router provides the DHCP services, and everything gets a 192.168.1.x address. I have one connection from the modem / router -- to a 16-port switch.

For wifi, I have an Apple Time Capsule connected to the switch.  It provides my home wifi, along with an Airport Extreme elsewhere in my home which is set up to 'extend the wifi network.'  I am very happy with my wifi performance.  Neither the Time Capsule nor Airport Extreme do DHCP; this way I avoid the double-NAT problems.

Everything that is not on wifi is wired into my 16-port switch, including my NDS which is located two floors down and connected by a long run of ethernet cable in the walls.  There is an ethernet wall outlet both in the room with my NDS and in the room with all of my hardware, so that simple patch cords connect that long run to the NDS downstairs and to the switch upstairs.

Also wired to that switch is my nas, my uServe, my Qute, my Apple TV . . . maybe I'm forgetting some stuff!

The switch is a TP-Link L-SG1016D.  Maybe there are better ones out there but it seems to perform well.  It does not have an external SMPS box; the ac (mains) cord plugs directly into it.  The power supply obviously is built in; whether it's "quieter" that way, or not, I am not sure.

Hi Gavin -

Virgin cable > Virgin Superhub (modem mode) > Apple Airport Extreme Router.

One wired Ethernet port on the Airport Extreme is connected to a Netgear 8 port switch.

My Mac Mini (iTunes server), NAS and Devialet amplifier (via a 30m cable run to the lounge) connect to this switch. 

James