Valueman, you've received plenty of good advice, both here and over in the Last Mile. But your homework is not cut out for you entirely, not just yet.
I'm a bit surprised by the fact that no one has suggested any wireless alternatives, not even for ancillary purposes, since wireless is now at the center of focus in so some ways.
Do you envisage not having any mobility issues in the future? Will you have a laptop, or one of an ever growing number of appliance devices, perhaps, that you'd like to carry with you (or even wear.. don't laugh), from room to room or out onto the patio, in a tetherless way?
Will your voice requirements in the near term future be solely for traditional voice services, or will they include some involvement, or some interaction with, IP-related services, as well?
Will straight wire to the box in every room handle these requirements? How about a server location? Have you contemplated the need for a server, an harmonica hub or brouter, and some LAN extensions to back up devices and shared printers, as well?
Just a few more things to consider, beyond the wire cage suggestions you've received. Which, incidentally, as a base system design approach, I'd put in, anyway.
I'm also surprised that fiber has been downplayed entirely. I'm not saying it should be included at this time, just surprised no one has mentioned it. Which begs the question, then.. and I put this to the board: What possible reasons are there for or against putting in fiber in the home at this time?
Earlier, upstream, I dropped a hint about BlueTooth as something for you to explore. Maybe it's not time for you (or for BlueTooth, for that matter) yet to be going with such a young set of protocols, but you might want to give it, and other residential wireless approaches, a look just the same.
The home page for BlueTooth is at bluetooth.com
And then you have 3G wireless technologies which will begin to proliferate over the next couple of years. Can anyone suggest other wireless approaches for Valueman? I wouldn't want to see him get entangled in too much wire, if it weren't absolutely necessary, like I was, very recently:
Message 11445174
Yes, I've begun looking very closely at re-doing the whole setup, this time to include some wireless technologies, as well as some intelligent server, routing and proxying capabilities. Hey, I'm allowed to use some intelligence. Ask David Isenberg, at isen.com if you don't believe me.
For, I am, if nowhere else, on the edge. -g-
Regards, Frank Coluccio |
