House modding

[Drum Thumper]

The wife and I are in the finishing stages of buying a house. 3 bed, 2 bath, sitting on a 1/2 acre (~2420 square yards), 12 miles out of town. As an added bonus, we will have bison in our backyard.

My ultimate goal is to have the following become reality (in no particular order):


Cat-6 double pulled to every room, including bathrooms
Myth
Cat-6 double pulled to yet to be built garage/shop/mancave
wifi (N/G/B) for when friends come over
automation (lights, water, etc)
webcam surveillance (high priority of the Mrs)


Now, you may be asking, why pull to the bathrooms? Simple: Internet radio. I'm planning on building a couple of SFF machines that'll do nothing more than play music/news/sports. Maybe even wire in a 7" LCD screen and have it show temps or something along those lines. Plus, this will also allow for streaming MP3/FLAC so I can dazzle the shower tiles with my singing inabilities.

Every room, if I have my way, will have a computer. HTPC in the living room (with a Myth backend machine in a yet to be determined space), touchscreen in the kitchen (I've been scheming for years now to wiki-fy my cookbooks), several computers in the office/guest bedroom (one of which will be a SQUID proxy machine), and another HTPC in the master suite. And, of course, once the baby gets a bit older, he'll have an old beater to destroy (and don't tell me he wont!).

Money permitting, I'd love to build or relocate an absolutely huge shop/garage/mancave (100 ft by 80 ft would be about two inches short of heaven). I have looked into quonset huts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quonset_hut), and very well may go this route due to the fact that I have a connection within the 'hut field. It is very much 'yet to be seen' if this part does become reality. I may end up settling for a run of the mill two car garage (which I think I could deal with as well).

Thoughts? Anything I may be missing?

[blueonblack]

Wow, no I'd say you've about got it covered.

Are there laws out there about automated perimeter defenses?

[SinCrisis]

HOLY CRAP this is WIN. However, if you set up a strong wireless signal, why not just install wireless cards on all the computers and hook it up to a massive wireless network? I understand that cat6 is way faster than wireless but if your listening to internet radio or streaming basic internet tv, a wireless card and powerful routers should do the trick.

[x88x]

Sounds pretty sweet. Good luck on the hut...I would kill for a workshop that big...


HOLY CRAP this is WIN. However, if you set up a strong wireless signal, why not just install wireless cards on all the computers and hook it up to a massive wireless network? I understand that cat6 is way faster than wireless but if your listening to internet radio or streaming basic internet tv, a wireless card and powerful routers should do the trick.

Speed, reliability, security, convenience (once it's wired), and if he's already running Cat6, why not?

[Luke122]

For the bathrooms, dont bother with putting dedicated machines in there.

It's a cool idea, but consider your electricity usage.

I would say go with a central audio distribution hub instead for rooms like bathrooms/hallways/dining room, etc. Have a wall mounted volume control, and ceiling or wall mounted speakers in those spaces, and control the audio source from a web interface, like XBMC.

Or do what I'm doing, and get a small (100ft) FM transmitter. Just hook that into your audio source, and then you can tune any FM radio into the feed. Shower radio = win.

[Liquid_Scope_99]

All i can say is i like how you think man .

[madd0ct0r]

photovoltics, passive solar water heater, thermal mass storage, LED lighting
and maybe a solar chimney.

should help cut the electrictiy usage back to the important things.

[haha49]

Want help if you live near me Ill come help you do it did it in my home and yes its nice.. raido in the bathrooms why not wireless its easyer then pulling cables to some areas depends on your house though.. polk audio makes a sound bar that you can use in the bathroom and just hook up to a small stero or speakers that way its a small lcd screen bar and speakers..


its a ruko sound bar is what I have for audio from computer to speakers..

make 1 media sever which is all movies and music 1 computer you will start to need around 4 tbs easy.. setup remote conection into it to change settings and update it and just run vista preumion on it to use media center which you can use the network to brodcast all media files..

[haha49]

For the bathrooms, dont bother with putting dedicated machines in there.

It's a cool idea, but consider your electricity usage.

I would say go with a central audio distribution hub instead for rooms like bathrooms/hallways/dining room, etc. Have a wall mounted volume control, and ceiling or wall mounted speakers in those spaces, and control the audio source from a web interface, like XBMC.

Or do what I'm doing, and get a small (100ft) FM transmitter. Just hook that into your audio source, and then you can tune any FM radio into the feed. Shower radio = win.

lac of the ablity to change song can be anoying..

[Drum Thumper]

Thanks for all the replies and further ideas. Haha49--I'm hardcore opensource, so if anything I'll be running samba shares to accommodate for the few windows boxes that I do have.

I'm going to have to do some research on the Polk Audio gear--didn't even think about it.

maddocter--I like the way you think. I'm going to add one more to your list: since I'm living out of town (12 miles to be exact) and live on the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountain Front, I'd love to put a windmill up as well. Added bonus--built in trellis for if and when I decide to plant some hops!

As for the CAT6--I'm going to be streaming more than basic internet video. Ideally I'll be streaming 720 or 1080 (37" HDTV), but I am concerned in regards to throughput limits of CAT6. In theory, I could have the media centers and the Myth backend on a separate switch within the network (thus cutting down on bandwidth getting eaten up by other apps), but theory only goes so far.

[x88x]

I promise you, you're throughput is gonna be limited by your networking gear (NICs, routers, etc) long before it is limited by the physical Cat6 cabling. I assume you'll be running Gigabit; Cat6 is used for 10GigE, and I'm pretty sure that's not getting anywhere near the limit of the media. (Remember, Cat5 took us all the way from 10T to Gigabit)

Concerning small spots where you might not want a full PC, but want more than just speakers, I discovered the beagleboard (http://beagleboard.org/) project while I was trying to convince myself to put in a pre-order for a TouchBook (http://www.alwaysinnovating.com/home/index.htm) (still haven't decided yet). Anyways, I thought that might be an interesting route to go with that.

Short synopsis on the BeagleBoard, tiny OMAP3530-based SoC's, that provide pretty impressive performance (they can drive 720p video), low power (~2W at full load) and pretty cheap ($150). One down side is that the only integrated interfaces are audio, DB9 serial, DVI-D, S-Video, SD/MMC, and USB (note, no network interface; you'd have to use USB or SDIO).

EDIT: Checked wiki, and it looks like you should be fine with Cat6 up to 40GigE, at which point you need to go to Cat7...also Cat7 supports 100GigE...over 15 meters... O.O

[SgtM]

Congrats Joe! You sound like me 2 years ago. Bison in the back yard is gonna be cool. When's the BBQ with bison, erm, hamburgers? I'll have to second Luke on the central music hub and remote speakers. Sound like a better plan than a huge network of PC's. How soon are we hooking up the LED mood lighting?

[Drum Thumper]

How soon are we hooking up the LED mood lighting?

Good call. I need to do some research into the best approach to take for running LEDs off of AC. It very may well be much much easier (not to mention safer) to wire it up to a wall wart.

[SgtM]

Check around Christmas time. LED string lights all over the place now.

[Trace]

Congratz. And, also, do you really need THAT big of a shop?
We built a 36'X48' shop/garage last summer with 14' walls and it is HUGE. REally, quite sufficient.

[Liquid_Scope_99]

Yeah that is a big shop but you never can have too much space

[msmrx57]

Good call. I need to do some research into the best approach to take for running LEDs off of AC. It very may well be much much easier (not to mention safer) to wire it up to a wall wart.

I've seen led lights made to replace cfl's and regular lights. Not cheap up front but last so much longer and waaay cheaper to run.

[Drum Thumper]

Yes indeed, that is a big shop. I've got some pretty big plans (plus I need the storage for some vehicles).

[Crazy Buddhist]

Great project ... along the lines of where I am heading too, only installing everything in an existing cabled property I don't own is a pain .... Instead I'm using ethernet over power - the COMCAST product which gives 200MB/s connection speeds and is working flawlessly to date. Might be an option for your workshop - although if you are running new power lines you may as well run new ethernet alongside. Ping times are a few milliseconds greater than a direct ethernet connection but nothing to worry about if you're not a hard core gamer.

Not sure the Bison would enjoy my 7th floor flat so I'm glad you have him/her :)

Best wishes with the build,

CB

[haha49]

I currently stream 1080p bluray movies through the pc gigabite works fine with cat 5 but I installed that when cat6 costed alot more.. defently go cat6 its cheap enough now.. gigabyte router and a raid in a computer would make it smokeing fast even though 1 hardrive should be fast enough for it right out of the box..

I looked at the box for the music its a ruko sound bar (made by polkaudio) It plugs into a stero is just a little bar with an led telling you what its playing and then just plays the music mac makes one as well that works with windows you just have to use itunes to get it to work though.. and whats playing on the computer plays on the stero.. but... the sound bar works better because it has a playlist you create and you just select the music and it plays it..


For music stuff you can go wireless no problems.. for steaming 1080p just pull a cord... if its wireless that 1 less cord to have to hide or keep untangled..


Put sound bar in the bathroom and then in wall speakers would be very nice that way takes little space and looks and sounds good..

[Drum Thumper]

For music stuff you can go wireless no problems.. for steaming 1080p just pull a cord... if its wireless that 1 less cord to have to hide or keep untangled..



I'm not worried about tangled cords. I'm going to be putting the pro in properly. What I'm going to be doing isn't truly a drop (in other words, I'm going underneath the house, not through the ceiling) but the end result will be the same--professional quality work.

CB, very good points with both the ethernet over power lines and running CAT6. I've used similar products in the past (details of which I won't go into), but since I'll be running power already, it will be quite easy to run a bit more conduit and some CAT6. Still debating on whether to plumb the mancave or not. Right now, I'm leaning towards yes, but it gets damn cold here in Montana and I'm seriously asking myself "when is enough enough?"

[msmrx57]

I'm seriously asking myself "when is enough enough?"

Don't remember where I heard it first but enough is never enough. It does sound like overkill, but if your doing it yoyurself and like you said you'll already be doing the power conduit why not.:up:

[billygoat333]

one thing to think about is running hdmi as well, in case you want to wall mount a tv. :)

gonna be sweet man. looking forward to pictures! :)

[Crazy Buddhist]

CB, very good points with both the ethernet over power lines and running CAT6. I've used similar products in the past (details of which I won't go into), but since I'll be running power already, it will be quite easy to run a bit more conduit and some CAT6. Still debating on whether to plumb the mancave or not. Right now, I'm leaning towards yes, but it gets damn cold here in Montana and I'm seriously asking myself "when is enough enough?"

yw my friend. "When is enough enough?" .. I think the answer is simple.

When the mancave has heating, light and enough bandwidth to stream anything. That's enough. :)

I lived in a garden shed for a year. Without the electricity and internet it would not have been nice. As it was it was one of the most pleasant times thus far in my time on this little ball of rock. Mancaves FTW!

CB

[si-skyline]

You should go with a small control panel on the wall of each room whats connected to a dumb terminal to control things like lights, blinds, heating and music for that room :)

while you are at it make the control panel wireless so you can sit in bed or at the desk with it and it can also be the controller for the tv and media servings :)

I dont know the actucal solution to this. but I know it can be done..

if you want to help your eco-ness you seen the grey water solutions as well.. they hugely cut costs on water bills

Sounds great anyway, good luck. what to see some pics :)