Resources · Networking

Networking basics.

Just enough vocabulary to make confident decisions or ask better questions.

Cabling

Cat6 vs Cat6A vs fiber

  • Cat6 — fine for most homes up to ~55m at 10G
  • Cat6A — full 10G to 100m, slightly thicker, better shielding
  • Fiber — long runs, future bandwidth, electrically isolated
  • Run cost vs replace cost — pulling cable later is the expensive part
Power over Ethernet

PoE basics

  • 802.3af / at / bt power classes
  • Budget per switch
  • PoE for cameras, APs, phones, and small devices
  • Where PoE isn't worth it
Segmentation

VLANs in plain English

  • Why you'd want IoT on its own VLAN
  • Guest networks done right
  • When VLANs are overkill