Planning Your Home Network

Costing Out Your Network

Overview

Collection and Use of Information

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Broadband Internet Access

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Table 3.4 Calculating Broadband Internet Costs

Table 3.5 Sample Calculation of Broadband Internet Costs

Table 3.6 Calculating Pre-assembled Cable Requirements

Table 3.7 Sample Calculation of Pre-assembled Cable Requirements

Table 3.8 Determining Unit Cost of Bulk Patch and Wall-Mount Cable Components

Table 3.9 Calculating Custom-Assembled Cable Requirements

Table 3.10 Sample Calculation of Bulk Cable Unit Cost

Table 3.11 Sample Calculation of Custom-Assembled Cable Requirements

Table 3.12 Calculating Cable-Hiding/Management Costs

Table 3.13 Sample Calculation of Cable-Hiding/Management Costs

Table 3.14 Planning Network Adapter Purchases

Table 3.15 Sample Network Adapter Purchase Planner Worksheet

Table 3.16 Planning Router, Bridge, or Switch Purchases

Table 3.17 Sample Router, Bridge, or Switch Purchase Worksheet

Table 3.18 Planning Specialized Network Adapter Purchases

Table 3.19 Sample Specialized Network Adapter Purchase Worksheet

Home > Articles > Home & Office Computing > Home Networking

Oct 15, 2004

📄 Contents

␡

Goals for Your Home Network
Finding the Best Home Network for You
Evaluating Your Current Hardware for Network Capabilities
Costing Out Your Network
The Absolute Minimum

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Now that you've compared the home network candidates and made your selections, it's time to figure up how much your home network is likely to cost. I know you're itching to get started, but here's why you should take time to add up the cost first:

You probably have a budget, and calculating the cost of the network you want helps you see whether your budget will handle all the network features you want.
By calculating the cost of the network in specific detail, you can determine what types of networks to use in different parts of your home and where to use them.

Because of the wide variety of home network and broadband Internet access options available, the following sections include budget worksheet templates you can use to calculate how much your network will cost, regardless of which network hardware you choose or how many PCs and other devices you add to your home network.

You can use them with a trusty calculator, or use them as a model to build a worksheet in Microsoft Excel, Quattro Pro, Lotus 1-2-3, or other spreadsheet programs. By using a spreadsheet, you can provide instant "what-if" analysis by changing options.

To help you use these templates, I've provided simple examples of each one with sample data. The prices in each section are typical of what you might pay, but you can probably find even better prices if you do some shopping around.

If you don't have broadband Internet access already, use Table 3.4 to calculate how much your preferred solution will cost. Table 3.5 shows you a sample calculation.

Item	Includes	One-Time Charge (A)	Monthly Charge (B)	Carryover from Cols A & B
Equipment purchase			—
Installation			—
Monthly service		—
Up-front Total (Col A + Col B)
Monthly Charge (Col B)

Item	Includes	One-Time Charge (A)	Monthly Charge (B)	Carryover from Cols A & B
Equipment purchase	Cable modem	$90	—	$90
Installation	Split existing cable TV service	$10	—	$10
Monthly service	Cable Internet service	—	$40	$40
Up-front Total (Col A + Col B) $140
Monthly Charge (Col B) $40

As you can see from the example in Table 3.5, you can use the template in Table 3.4 to calculate both the up-front cost and continuing monthly expense of any broadband Internet service you choose.

Network wiring is a factor in your installation only if you decide to install an ethernet network. The template in Table 3.6 can be used to calculate the lengths and prices for pre-assembled patch cables; see Table 3.7 for a sample calculation.

Patch Cables Between Device and Router	Device to Connect	Cable distance¹	Assembled Cable Length²	Assembled Cable Cost
Device #1
Device #2
Device #3
Device #4
Total
¹Not straight-line distance; distance required to run cables behind furniture, along baseboards, and around doorframes. ²Based on commonly available lengths of CAT5/5e/6 network cable.

Patch Cables Between Device and Router	Device to Connect	Cable distance	Assembled Cable Length	Assembled Cable Cost
Device #1	Desktop PC in living room	5 feet	7 feet	$8
Device #2	Media adapter on home theater system in living room	10 feet	14 feet	$15
Device #3	Desktop PC in home office	20 feet	25 feet	$25
Device #4	Laptop PC in bedroom	40 feet	50 feet	$30
Total $78

You might prefer to build your own cable as described in Chapter 5. Use Table 3.8 to calculate the cost of supplies (bulk cable, connectors) and Table 3.9 to calculate the cost of each cable as built. Tables 3.10 and 3.11 show sample calculations.

Item	Package Price (P)	Quantity (Q)	Unit Cost = P/Q	Notes
Bulk CAT5/5e/6 cable
RJ-45 connectors				Two connectors needed for each patch cable
RJf-45 wall plate kit^*				Two kits needed for cable installed in wall^*
^*Some wall plate kits include a keystone jack for direct wiring; some include a coupler for connecting two standard RJ-45 cables.

Cable Location	Cable Type	Bulk Cable Length¹	Extended Cable Cost (E)	Unit Cost of Connector or Jack/Wall Plate²	Extended Parts Cost (Ux2=P)	Total Cable Cost (E+P)






Total
¹For wall cable, this distance is often significantly shorter than for patch cable. ²Use RJ-45 connector cost for patch cable or for wall cable that uses a coupler-type wall plate; use keystone jack and wall plate unit cost for wall cable that does not use a coupler.

Item	Package Price (P)	Quantity (Q)	Unit Cost = P/Q	Notes
Bulk CAT5/5e/6 cable	$100	1000 feet	$.10/foot
RJ-45 connectors	$7	20	$.35	Two needed (one each end) for patch cable
RJ-45 and wall plate kit	$5	1	$5	Two needed (one each end) for wall cable; use patch cable between wall jack and device^*
^*Some wall plate kits include a keystone jack for direct wiring; some include a coupler for connecting two RJ-45 cables. Adjust your cost calculations according to the wall plate kit type you purchase.

Cable Location	Cable Type	Bulk Cable Length¹	Extended Cable Cost (E)	Unit Cost of Connector or Jack/Wall Plate²	Extended Parts Cost (Ux2=P)	Total Cable Cost (E+P)
Living room PC to router in living room	Patch cable	5 feet	$.50	$.35	$.70	$1.20
Living room home media adapter to router	Patch cable	10 feet	$1.00	$.35	$.70	$1.70
Living room to bedroom	Wall cable	30 feet	$2.40	$5	$10	$12.40
PC in bedroom to bedroom wall jack	Patch cable	3 feet	$.30	$.35	$.70	$1.00
Total $15.30

Ethernet cable runs can be unsightly. If you want to use the methods discussed in the section "Hiding Your Cables," in Chapter 5, p. 122, to hide cables in walls or inside cable-management systems, use Table 3.12 to calculate these costs. See Table 3.13 for a sample calculation.

Item	Unit Cost (U)	Quantity (Q)	Extended Cost (UxQ)	Notes



Total

Item	Unit Cost (U)	Extended Quantity (Q)	Cost (UxQ)	Notes
Series 375 1-piece raceway 5ft	$6	3	$18	http://cableorganizer.com
Series 375 inside corner	$2	2	$4
End caps for Series 375 raceway	$2	2	$4
Total $26

No matter what network you choose to install, in most situations you will need to install network adapters in at least some of your PCs. Use Table 3.14 to help plan these purchases.

Table 3.15 provides a sample used to plan a mix-and-match network.

System Type	System Location	Network Type	Network Adapter Type	Brand/Model	Price	Where Purchased
Desktop	Living room near router	ethernet	Built in to PC	—	—	—
Laptop	Moves between office/home office	802.11g/a	CardBus	Brand A, Dual-Mode AG	$90	Mail order PC stuff
Desktop	Den	802.11g	PCI	Brand B, PCI-G	$50	Big-box Store
Laptop	Moves between kids' bedroom/school	802.11g	Built in to PC	—	—	—
Desktop	Spare bedroom	HomePlug^*	USB	Brand C, HomePlug NIC	$60	Bigger-box store
^*Must be bridged to ethernet network (see Tables 3.16 and 3.17).

Although a few DSL modems have built-in routers, most of the time you will need to connect a router to your broadband Internet access device in order to share the Internet with your home network. If you don't have enough ethernet ports in your router, you might need to add a separate switch to your router to handle additional stations (such as for a LAN party). If you use HomePNA or HomePlug network adapters for some computers, you will need to use a bridge to connect them to your ethernet or Wi-Fi network. Use Table 3.16 to cost out these items.

Table 3.17 provides a completed sample.

Device Type	Device Location	How Used	Network Type(s) Supported	Brand/Model	Price	Where Purchased
Router	Living room near cable modem	Shares Internet with home network	802.11g, 10/100 Ethernet	Brand B, 54GB Router	$80	Big-box store
Bridge	Living room near router	Connects HomePlug to ethernet	HomePlug, 10/100 Ethernet	Brand C, HomePlug bridge	$70	Bigger-box store

Use Table 3.18 to plan your purchases of specialized network adapters such as print servers, network adapters for games, media adapters, and so forth.

Table 3.19 provides a completed sample.

Device Type	Device Location	How Used	Network Type(s) Supported	Brand/Model	Price	Where Purchased
Video game adapter	Den	Connects Xbox to Wi-Fi network	802.11g	Microsoft Xbox wireless adapter	$70	GameWorld
Print server	Home office	Connects laser and inkjet printers to Wi-Fi network	802.11g	Brand B Wi-Fi Print Server	$90	Big-box store
Media adapter	Living room home theater network	Connects home theater to ethernet	10/100 Ethernet, 802.11g	Brand B Home Media Adapter 888	$170	Electronics cosmos

As you plan your home network, keep in mind that you don't need to network everything at once. Look carefully at your goals and budget your time and money appropriately. For example, you should probably build a home network to provide broadband Internet access for your PCs first. Later, you can add console games, home media, or other specialized features to your home network.

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