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I was at a model home the other day and checked out its structured media enclosure. Inside, it had a "Standard 4 x 10 Voice Distribution Module" and what appeared to be a "1 x 6 3GHz Video Splitter Module" - both made by Suttle.

I was a bit surprised to find it did not have a "Cat5e or Cat6 8-port Voice/Data Patch Module".

Might the notion be that, once cable is activated, I would just plug my cable modem into any coaxial port in the house? I ask since most rooms in the house do have ethernet ports in the wall - perhaps the model just isn't finished yet?

P.S. - Here's a picture. Perhaps the white and blue wires going to the voice distribution module have different purposes?

enter image description here

Craig
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    "most rooms in the house have ethernet ports in the wall" -- where are the other ends all those ethernet cables? Is there yet another pretentious medicine cabinet somewhere else in the house? – A. I. Breveleri Feb 21 '16 at 20:00
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    Surprised they're putting ethernet ports in every room on model homes. Lots of money for something few people actually end up using. – DA01 Feb 21 '16 at 21:39
  • @A.I.Breveleri - I don't know; I swore the sockets said Cat5e on them, which makes me think data (as opposed to phone) – Craig Feb 21 '16 at 21:47
  • @DA01 - It's all bedrooms, the family room, and the den. – Craig Feb 21 '16 at 21:47
  • Sure. Just saying that it seems the vast majority of people are just fine with WiFi these days. – DA01 Feb 21 '16 at 21:54
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    @DA01 I personally plan to make at least 3 Ethernet Cat5e or better home runs to every room in the next place I build. Or just run conduit. Wireless can't touch a physical cable for simple performance or protection from interference within a thousand dollars of the same price point, and the cable can be used for more than just Ethernet. – Craig Tullis Feb 22 '16 at 03:37
  • @Craig Right. I'm not arguing with you. Just saying it's not something you see much in spec or model homes. – DA01 Feb 22 '16 at 03:44

2 Answers2

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All this "glorified medicine cabinet" talk is a little bit uncalled for. These are actually called "Structured Media Enclosures" by the manufacturers, and for many (most or virtually all) home networking and video distribution installations they're adequate. They do come in different sizes, too.

And, you get your own Ethernet punchdown blocks and install them in the cabinet.

If your cable modem and your ethernet switch are wall-mountable, then you can mount them directly to the back of the cabinet. That's one of the purposes of all those handy little holes in the walls of the cabinet.

Here's a picture from Leviton of one of these things populated with more gear. The item labeled #9 in the photo is an Arris (Motorola) cable modem.

enter image description here http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/SectionDisplay.jsp?section=37730 http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/SectionDisplay.jsp?section=55914&minisite=10251

Now, having said all that, the picture of the panel I included here is about as crowded as I'd want one to be, and I would worry a little bit about heat buildup. Although none of the devices pictured use enough power to require active cooling.

Also, there's no way I'd put my WiFi access point in a metal box, unless I was mounting it in a sensitive location or exposed to the elements and I had it connected to an external antenna outside the metal box. In the house, I'd run Ethernet cable to one or two appropriate spots on the ceiling and mount the right kind of PoE access point there. Perhaps two of them in different parts of the house.

The housing of a 16-port switch won't fit in this box, and the heat buildup from many 16-port switches would be too much for such a small enclosure, although a couple of low power 8-port switches clearly will work.

Personally, if I were building a new house, I'd install the biggest enclosure I could get my hands on, or more likely, I'd just build an actual closet with a 19" rack and an exhaust vent I could attach a thermostat-controlled fan to, and pull all the cables to that point.

Craig Tullis
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  • In your answer, you mention "The little punchdown block I see in your cabinet looks like a typical 4-pair Ethernet punchdown block.". Where do you see that punchdown block? – Craig Feb 21 '16 at 21:49
  • On the left side, about 1/3 of the way down from the top, with a black base and eleven white 110 punchdown blocks on it. It's good for multiple purposes. But why not just put one of these in the cabinet: http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-001-47603-0C5-Category-Voice-Expansion/dp/B00022742I – Craig Tullis Feb 21 '16 at 21:53
  • I didn't realize that could be used for voice and data. If used for data, how does the cable modem plug into it? The socket in the lower right? – Craig Feb 21 '16 at 22:24
  • As to your question, I don't know why as I didn't design it. :) – Craig Feb 21 '16 at 22:25
  • Exactly. If you're going to install a wiring closet, you go ahead and install an actual grown-up wiring closet. You don't mess around trying to find a box that's *just big enough* to hold your current equipment. That Leviton RF transparent box looks nice, but what if e.g. I needed to replace the Wireless Gigabit Router with one 3/4" wider than the old one? What if I got new kit from Leviton and the power requirement didn't match any of the existing ports on my Integrated Power Supply? – A. I. Breveleri Feb 21 '16 at 22:46
  • What if I run out of Ultra High-Flex Patch Cords? I don't care what you *call* it. I'm not putting my kit in a medicine cabinet. – A. I. Breveleri Feb 21 '16 at 22:47
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    @A.I.Breveleri That is certainly your prerogative. I happen to be a technologist, software designer, programmer... I'd be putting my hypervisor hardware in that same closet, and some other stuff that you may or may not find in the typical home, or which in many cases could just sit on a counter somewhere. But saying a builder who would install a "structured media cabinet" can't be trusted is a little unfair since that's what they actually *are*. The media is the cables and the interconnects for said cables. The cabinet lets you organize (structure) it. – Craig Tullis Feb 22 '16 at 03:32
  • @Craig I actually can't see that punchdown block very well in the picture. It may just be a simple telco patch-thru panel. But you can head to any "big box" store and pick up your own little 8 to 16 port Ethernet 110 punchdown block for $15 to $30 and just screw it into the panel. Easy. ;-) – Craig Tullis Feb 22 '16 at 03:34
  • Just to clarify--the closet I'd be putting my hypervisor and assorted other equipment in would be the actual closet with a door, a vent and a 19" equipment rack. We're entering an era of quite powerful ["stick PC"](http://www.frys.com/product/8593949) machines and chances are that eventually, the equivalent of a current rackmount server will exist in that tiny form factor and change everything, but we're not there just yet. – Craig Tullis Feb 22 '16 at 04:05
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I don't know where in the house your cable modem would go, but it would not go into this "structured media enclosure". Neither would your ATA, your router, and your 16-port gigabit switch.

If you stuffed all that kit, together with its power adapters, into this repurposed medicine cabinet with no vent slots in the door, the heat buildup would be vented through the mounting holes at the back directly into the interior wall space. You would be trying to burn your house down. IMO it is begging for trouble to even have that 15A outlet in the bottom of the cabinet.

If you looked around I'm sure you'd find that the ethernet cables come together someplace else in the house -- someplace with adequate power and adequate venting for the usual home internet equipment stack. So my question has to be: Why not put the Video Splitter Module, Voice Distribution Module, wireless phone base, and all such equipments there as well?

The "enclosure" in that model home can hold only a part of the information infrastructure for the house, which means that if the occupant chooses to use it, any service or troubleshooting is likely to require a lot of running from place to place.

Now, I agree it's a good thing to use a nice cabinet where some of your wires come together. But calling it a "structured media enclosure" is mere pretentious hype and a very strong indication that you should not trust this builder to design or install a wired doorbell much less a Cat-5 LAN.

A. I. Breveleri
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    There's essentially a non-existent chance that the equipment would vent enough heat into the wall to burn the house down. The heat build-up inside the enclosure, however, *could* destroy your equipment if venting is inadequate. – Craig Tullis Feb 21 '16 at 21:04