PC Pro - UK 2021-12)

Whenitcomes

tonetworking,

JonHoneyballlikes

tokeepitphysical

Onelastthing...

T

hereismuchtalkthesedays

aboutmanagingourhomes

better,aboutmakingthem

moreenvironmentally

friendly.Doubleglazing,upgrading

loftinsulationandfillingupcavity

wallsareallgoodthingsthatcanand

shouldbedonewhereverpossible.I

haverecentlybeenlookingatsolar

panelsforourhome,andataTesla

PowerwalltoactasagiantUPSforthe

house,inmuchthesamewayasPaul

Ockenden(seep 113 ).Itwouldallow

ustorunthehouseelectricityfroma

batteryduringperiodsofhigh

demand,whichwillsoonturninto

highcost,andtorechargeatlow

demand/lowcosttimes.

Solarpanels,though,areold

technology.Farmoreexciting,surely,

isthearrivalofevermoreIoTdevices

togiveusawholeslewofnewwaysof

controllingourhomes–fromsmart

lightbulbstoheatingsystems,and

evenvalvesfortheradiators.Allof

thesefacilitiesallowusfinercontrol

overourenergyconsumption.

However,Iamincreasingly

concernedbytherelianceonWi-Fi

forthesethingstowork.Whileit

makesreasonablesensethatportable

andmobiledevicesshouldconnect

viaradio,itwouldbefarbetterfor

infrastructureitemstobehard-wired

toEthernet.Awiredconnectionhas

excellentrange,whichdoesn’t

(withinreason)degradewith

distance.Itgeneratesnoco-channel

interference,andhasahighlevelof

security.Iambemusedbythedesire

torunhomesecuritycamerasover

Wi-Fi:tocutdownonthetraffic

levels,theseusuallycomewithhigh

levelsofvideocompressionanda

pushtowardsevent-basedrecording/

transmission.Surelyagoodsecurity

systemneedslowcompressionandto

bealwayson?

Obviously,it’sdifficulttogeta

controlsignaltoabulbmountedin

yourkitchenceiling,andZigbee,

Wi-FiorBluetoothmightwellbethe

mostpragmaticsolution.OnethingI

cansayisthatrunningIPoverthe

mainsisn’ttheanswer.Thesolutions

Ihavelookedatpushlargequantities

ofRFnoise,oftenupto100MHzorso,

ontothemainscabling,causing

problemsforallsortsoflegitimate

usersoftheairwaves.Worsestill,it

canbehardtopredicthowwellsuch

solutionswillactuallyworkinthe

wiringframeofaparticularhouse.

Theanswer,andonethat’sso

anti-trendImaywellgetcancelled,is

thatweneedapushtowardsEthernet

infrastructure.Thereshouldbe

GigabitEthernetportsin

everyroomattheveryleast.

Allinfrastructuredevices

suchassmartTVs,heating

controlsandsecurity

camerasshouldbehard-

wired,forreliability,speed,

scalabilityandsecurity.

Thenweneedtohavea

discussionaboutthecost/benefitof

weaningIoTdevicesofftheirreliance

onWi-Fiontoamorerobustplatform.

Evennewlybuilthousesaren’t

wiredupforEthernet.Iremembera

discussionwithafriendinthepub

somemonthsago;hewashavinga

newhousebuilt,andIimploredhim

togetitproperlywiredintoeach

room.Acostofafewthousand

poundswouldresultinavaluation

increaseofpossiblytentimesthatin

thefuture.I,forone,wouldn’twant

apropertythatwasn’tfullywired–

andwhileIacceptthatI’mprobably

notthemainstream,Isuspectthat

thisviewwillbecomemoreprevalent

overtime.

Atourhometoday,thehouseis

floodwiredwithGigabitEthernet.

ThereisGigabitfibreconnectingthe

outbuildings.Everythingiskeptoff

Wi-Fiwhereverpossible.Iamnota

tin-foil-hat-wearingidiotclaiming

tobe“electro-sensitive”:wired

Ethernetisjustmuchmorereliable

andscalablethananysolutionthat

usesWi-Fi.Afteralongdayinthelab

tryingtogetthingsworking,Idon’t

wanttocomehometodiscoverthe

securitycamerashavegoneoffline

again,orthatthelightsinthekitchen

refusetoswitchon.

Bearinmindthatthingsareworse,

whenitcomestocongestion,forcity

dwellers.Weliveinalittlevillageon

theedgeofthefens.WhenIvisit

friendsinLondon,Iamutterly

appalledattheamountofWi-Fi

congestionthatcanbeseen:the

2.4GHznetworkisalmostunusable

inmanyplaces.Even5GHzisfilling

upfast,nothelpedbybargain

basementWi-Firoutersthatonly

supportafew5GHzchannels.

Thisproblemwillonlygetworsein

thefuture.Andbecauseitisn’tahere-

and-nowproblemformanypeople,it

doesn’tgettheattentionitdeserves.

Planningpermissionfornewbuilds

should,attheveryleast,mandatea

minimumofonephysicalEthernet

socketperroom,comingbacktoa

centralisedplace,whichcouldsimply

bethecupboardunderthestairs.If

wecan’tgetthisright,wehaveno

hopeatallofcontrollingthewaveof

IoTdevicesthataretakingoverour

homes.Inthemeantime,ifadevice

hasanEthernetport,pleaseuseit.

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO

Theansweristhatweneedapush

towardsEthernetinfrastructure.

ThereshouldbeGigabitEthernetports

ineveryroomattheveryleast

JonHoneyballisacontributingeditorto

PCPro.Ifitdoesn’thaveanSFPoran

Ethernetplug,heinsists,itdoesn’tcount.

[email protected]