User:Elf
Jan 26 2009 Investigated the CAT6 thing. I have never installed wire through wall, floors, etc., so I am reading up on it. Looks like I'll be able to do it, but there are few parts of the house that will be challenging. I will setup the router in the basement and run cables from the basement into the walls of the floor above. To reach a family room on the other side I will have to route cable up to the attic first, then down to the room. It's too cold to be doing that so for now I will continue with a basic installation in the basement. So I decided to buy parts to create a core, but I eventually can split into core and media director. I looked at HTPC cases and ITX cases and did not find any that I really liked at a good price, though I did like the looks of that Dell hybrid thing. For now I bought a regular case and PSU. I will try to revive some old hardware I have not used in a couple of year where I ran red hat before. But I already have a wish list ready, with basic parts to finish the build. Nothing fancy: case/psu for $126, and mobo/cpu/mem/dvd/hd/nic for $360. After I setup this hybrid system, I should get an idea for linuxMCE and how it works. I have some basics components already that I will leverage: linkstation nas, linksys wireless router, and brother printer. My plan is to build in stages, but if does not work, perhaps I will just try to setup mythtv. I have been reading stuff and I have to admit that I am almost compelled to do some coding, which has not happened seriously in 5 years.
Jan 17 2009 I am interested in learning more about LinuxMCE and create a setup at home. The thought of home automation is extremely interesting to me and I would like to manage media as well. Currently I am navigating the site and attempting to understand my choices in terms of required infrastructure.
Due to budget concerns I can estimate it will take me several months to get setup. My first step will be to improve my house with a CAT6 based network. It seems like a good idea for me to use a gigabit network for my internal network connected to the core. Now I am looking to see what materials I need what will it take to elegantly present drops in different parts of the house.
