In Tech Install Phase 1, this mess of wires and disorganized hardware was the result of quickly adapting what we could to the service we're subscribed to. What follows are the steps I took to remedy that.

Why is this relevant to a kitchen and living room remodel? The remodel is the tipping point to setting up a proper nerve center for smart home applications and automations. The mess above was serviceable for the interim state between switching ISPs and adding significantly more smart devices. It was not conducive to fully voice-activated smart everything via Homekit/Siri. I have further upgrades planned to address that soon.

Our ISP

What service is that, you ask? Our ISP is I3 Broadband. We're signed up for their 2GB Fiber Service and Smart Wi-Fi. The download and upload speeds are consistently right above 2GB. The service is no doubt fast. The DZS 5222XG ONT brings fast fiber speeds to the home network. The Smart Wi-Fi means we're paying an extra $12/mo to rent two wireless access points. That's where I have a bit of an issue, but I didn't realize it until the kitchen/living room remodel resurfaced my interest in building a proper network rack.

Digital Plus LLC Runs CAT6, I Find an Issue

You may recall that Mike Haas and Digital Plus ran CAT6 from our basement to the living room. The furnace room - seen in the photo above - is where the Fiber Internet enters our house and runs to the ONT. What I didn't realize until the CAT6 were all connected to the ONT is that because we're subscribed to Smart Wi-Fi services, the ONT must connect directly to the primary Access Point. You can then connect the Access Point to a switch, and then to anything else you want to hard wire. You can of course connect that switch to another Access Point to ensure it has the strongest signal possible.

The fact that you have to use I3's access point as a gateway that is my issue and why I'll soon be cancelling Smart Wi-Fi services. What am I replacing it with? Well, well, that process is well underway. Let me bore you with my home network rack build process.

Step One - Ordering the Equipment

I did my usual research and had a pretty good idea what I wanted to do. After finding out how limited my options were when having to reconfigure the Ethernet cable we had ran by Digital Plus LLC, I pushed up my timetable ordering equipment.

The Brains

Ubiquiti's Unifi offerings were undeniably the most interesting. The Unifi community is huge and the majority of the feedback on the hardware and the OS and interface is overwhelmingly positive. I decided to do our first home network build with the Dream Machine Pro as the brains.

Switching

I added a Standard Switch 16 POE for some expand-ability beyond our current ecosystem. I already have some dumb Netgear and TP-Link switches I can use around the house, but I will likely end up purchase a few Flex Mini or Flex Mini 2.5G when I get around to running CAT6 to my office and to the kids' play/study room. For now, we're in a pretty good spot with the Switch 16 POE.

I also added a 24-port patch panel and a Neat-Patch (as recommended by TCI Productions) to clean up the install and make cable management less of a headache.

Wi-Fi

What you'll see in this initial build is that I'm still running the DZS Access Points provided by I3. What I'm currently debating but haven't ordered yet is a continuation of our Unify buildout. I'll most likely go with two U6 Pro access points to start with. One will go in the basement and the other in the Living Room upstairs. I may eventually add a third if we find we need it, but those two should give us plenty of coverage and even more control via the Unify interface. I wish there was a U6 Pro Wall, like the U7 Pro Wall, so I could order one of the paintable covers. Since there's not, the U6 Pro will have to do.

Power

I needed a rack-mounted power supply. Make it Work's video "My new SMART HOME Network Rack!" recommended this TecMojo power supply. It looked to be the perfect solution for variety of smart home hub plugs and adapters, so that's what I ordered (but did so a little late - more on that later).

I also wanted to make sure we had a UPS, or uninterrupted power supply, so our network equipment could be powered if the rest of the home lost power, saving us battery on our wirelessly connected devices in the midst of an outage. It's also better on the hardware if you can power off yourself. Let's be honest, I mainly want to make sure Wi-Fi is up as long as possible. While I really wanted a rack-mounted solution, the majority of those were significantly more expensive than the GOLDENMATE UPS Make it Work recommended. After sifting through reviews, I ordered one of those for our first UPS solution.

Rack Storage

My research provided lots of different options. Many video reviews touted the network rack they chose. I had it down to a few different options, but it was Reed Smart Home's video "My Network Server Rack Made Simple" and Reed's recommendation of the Echogear 20U Open Frame Rack that looked most appealing. It can be pretty easily wall mounted, but because I hope this build is somewhat temporary, I chose it for its ability to be floor mounted on legs or casters. I added a Pyle 1U Shelf to the two that came with the Echogear. That should hold me for a little while.

Step Two - Building the Rack

I found this planning tool thanks to TCI Productions and mocked up my build:

I started off building the Echogear 20U Open Frame Rack and was all ready to deep dive into the full build out when I realized I neglected to order the TecMojo power supply. The build out stalled out on the first night because I planned to put the power supply on the bottom.

Step Three - Adding Components

I added the legs to the Echogear 20U Open Frame Rack then moved it to where I planned to place it so I could get it level. Then I would add the components.

I started by putting the shelves in so the rack would be sturdy enough to remove the front brackets. Then I added the TecMojo power supply.

I would actually move the shelves around a little more to give some breathing room between the bottom shelf and the power supply. That may change again later when I added a Network Attached Storage (NAS) solution. For now, this would work pretty well.

The next part of the install was the Unifi Dream Machine Pro, Standard Switch 16 POE, and the 24-port patch panel and a Neat-Patch.

I spent a few minutes in-between build steps to diagram what devices would go to what ports on the switch and what ports on the switch would map to what ports on the patch panel. After that, I installed the Ethernet cables to the switch and patch panel.

Powering Everything Up

The next step was placing the GOLDENMATE UPS. Then I plugged all the power supplies from the network devices into the GOLDENMATE UPS. I plugged all the remaining power supplies into the main TecMojo power supply.

After that, it was time to run all of the rest of the Ethernet runs from the devices to the back of the 24-port patch panel. Then I powered everything up and started the Unify install. Getting everything up and running was mostly a breeze. Unify's setup (and packaging, and advertising for that matter) reminds me of Apple. It's so well thought out.

One Small Speed Bump

The one speed bump was when I again realized what subscribing to I3's Smart Wi-Fi means. It means the ONT gets connected to the primary access point before being connected to a switch. That's how I set things up, for now. The ONT is connected to the Access Point, the Access Point is connected to the Unifi Dream Machine Pro. The Unifi Dream Machine Pro is connected to the Standard Switch 16 POE, and the Standard Switch 16 POE is connected to the 24-port patch panel.

Tech Install Part 3 will cover more detail on our smart home backbone. There's more goodies to showcase that I haven't yet installed. I'll go into more detail on everything else that's on the rack, including the new additions not yet pictured. For now, the transition is pretty significant, even before spending extra time on cable management: