2x 24-port patch panels or 1x 48 port?

edge929

edge929

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Preparing to network a 3000 sq ft house with cat6 and was wondering the difference between using two 24-port patch panels or one 48-port panel. Router will have 4 gigabit ports. Is it easier to punch down on a 24-port due to it being a single row?

The same question applies to switches. I know it's better to have one 48-port switch than two 24-port switches but the 48-port switches are much more expensive. What's the best cost-effective way to setup more than 24 ports?

Appreciate any responses.
 
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edge929 said:
Preparing to network a 3000 sq ft house with cat6 and was wondering the difference between using two 24-port patch panels or one 48-port panel. Router will have 4 gigabit ports. Is it easier to punch down on a 24-port due to it being a single row?

The same question applies to switches. I know it's better to have one 48-port switch than two 24-port switches but the 48-port switches are much more expensive. What's the best cost-effective way to setup more than 24 ports?

Appreciate any responses.
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Eh, kinda negligible in my experience. Never had more trouble with one then the other. May be more of a personal preference. I like 1x 48 for consolidation purposes.
 
edge929 said:
Preparing to network a 3000 sq ft house with cat6 and was wondering the difference between using two 24-port patch panels or one 48-port panel. Router will have 4 gigabit ports. Is it easier to punch down on a 24-port due to it being a single row?
Click to expand...

If you have huge hands it may help having two 24-port panels. However I have big hands and didn't have any problems with my 48-port panel. I left extra cable length so I could comfortably do the punches while sitting in a folding chair with the ability to move the wires out of the way.


edge929 said:
The same question applies to switches. I know it's better to have one 48-port switch than two 24-port switches but the 48-port switches are much more expensive. What's the best cost-effective way to setup more than 24 ports?

Appreciate any responses.
Click to expand...

48-port switches are not usually that much more expensive. You just need to be on the lookout for good deals.
 
I've never run into this problem, but if you have two 24 port patch panels you could put one above and one below the switch to clean up the cables some.
 
I would say two switches personally... what's the chance of BOTH going south at the same time? :)
 
Thanks for the responses. Is there any performance loss from using two separate 24-port switches over one 48-port switch or does that only happen when daisy-chaining switches? If I run two 24-port switches from the router and feed these into two 24-port patch panels, is there any peformance issues I need to be aware of?
 
What is your budget? And what are you planning on doing with your setup?

Here at work I have a bunch of GBe switches and don't notice ANY difference when transferring files from machine to machine even on separate switches, HOWEVER, the rest of the people are only doing internet stuff most of the time.
 
Don't forget, you'll "lose" a port connecting a pair of 24 port switches together.
 
My budget is fairly open ended but if a 24-port switch is ~$100, I don't plan on spending $300+ for a 48-port. Yeah, I'm aware of losing a port for the uplink on each switch but it will be coming from the router. Right now I still have plenty of time to plan as we've yet to break ground (another month). I'm trying to plan as much as possible for ethernet locations. I'm at ~20 runs right now for the main and 2nd floor. Basement is unfinished for now but it will eventually get a movie/multimedia room. That will add at least 6 more connections for a total of 26 runs. I'm sure I'll think of more so I want head-room.

My list so far:
8 (2) runs per bedroom (4 bedrooms = 8 runs)
4 runs to living room
4 runs to office
2 runs to kitchen
1 run to security box
1 run to 2nd floor hallway, PoE Acess Point (TEW-735AP)
6+ runs for future basement media room
--------------
26 runs (not including losing 1-2 ports for uplink)

I'm just doing a simple 7U wall-mount rack with the option of adding another above/below it in the future should I need more space. CenturyLink will be supplying DSL so it will be VDSL2 modem -> Gigabit router -> 1 or 2 switches.
 
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No benefit to using one or the other as far as patch panel and it's mostly driven by capacity needs and capex. In your case I'd go with 48-port panel since you need more than 24 ports and are limited by 7U rack space. Try to get a patch panel with integrated cable management:

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If you don't have high availability requirements I'd go with one larger capacity switch for simplicity, lower power and noise, avoiding bottlenecks with uplinks vs switch fabric, avoiding potential STP issues, etc. If the switch goes out just swap it out with a cold standby or run down to the store.

If you decide to go with multiple switches put your high utilization devices such as server, HTPC, backed up devices, etc. on the same switch to avoid uplink bottleneck.
 
We're still debating on the phone runs. I don't think we'll ever use a land-line again but my wife thinks we need it. I'm fairly certain the electrician will run Cat5e for these. I'll be running my own Cat6 (solid/UTP/riser) from monoprice unless I can get him to just run it with the phone lines for free or minimal cost. I've heard many charge $100 per run, yeah right. If we do end up with a land-line then they will be kept separate from the cat6 equipment/setup.
 
48 port switch is in theory faster, not a huge difference.
In networks where internet access is the biggest load there is no difference.
cad stations with a vault the difference can be noticeable.
I like 2 24s over a 48 it is easier to keep everything neat and easier to punch down.
 
You don't need separate RJ11 jacks/cabling for analog devices. Just use your CAT6 jacks/cabling. That's how faxes are connected throughout the floors to Avaya GW in MDF. Only thing is perhaps use a different color (orange or red) patch cable to denote analog devices so they're not plugged into digital ports.
 
If you're planning on using Monoprice patch panels know that their 48 port version has pretty terrible reviews compared to their 24 port version. Why I got two 24 port panel.
 
Good to know. I was planning on doing two 24s anyway. I figured they would be easier to work with.
 
You can also do 1x 24 port gigabit and 1x 24 port 10/100. Lot of things don't really need Gigabit, and you could save quite a lot of money that way.
 
If it was me I would just run two cat6 connections to each of the bedrooms and anywhere else you think might want a phone run a second cat6. Then youcan use it for phone or a second network connection and if you go VOIP to can use it for VOIP and keep the VOIP traffic off of the rest of the network completely.
 
That's a good point. If we do run specific land lines I will go that route.
 
if your goingto have that many device i would do 2 x 1G LACP links between the switches so you get 2Gig total connection between the switches.
 
MrGuvernment said:
if your goingto have that many device i would do 2 x 1G LACP links between the switches so you get 2Gig total connection between the switches.
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Does this require a specific feature on the switch or is it as easy as adding a second cat6 cable between them (assuming auto MDI/MDIX)?
 
One patch panel, unless it's a really big house, in which case you might go for one per floor. With switches, you should think about your likely bandwidth and security requirements. If you've got a group of computers that use a lot of bandwidth talking to each other then you should put them on a separate switch. Or a dedicated switch for VOIP as mentioned above. Similarly, for security you might want a separate switch and router to hive off your children's computers.
 
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