I have chosen Ubiquiti Networks hardware for our Data Network, Access Points and IP Cameras. We have the whole house wired with cat6 cable to around 30 points all leading back to the upper linen cupboard. In the linen cupboard I will install a small network cabinet to house the Equipment. I have chosen Ubiquiti products because I feel they offer a great product with flexible configuration and a reasonable price before getting into enterprise equipment. They also work very well together and setup is centralised. The products I have choosen are listed below.
US‑24‑250W POE Switch
https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-switching/unifi-switch-poe/
With 24 ports this will do the main data network and distribute data and internet around the house. It is a POE switch so will also provide power to the wireless access points around the house and other POE devices I might add like video doorbells.
https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap-ac-lite/
I bought a 5 pack of Unifi AC Lite access points and have 4 internal and 1 external data point for the installation of these onto the ceiling. I'm not sure how many I will actually install until I do a couple of these once we have moved in.
https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-switching/unifi-switch-8-150w/
This is an 8 port poe switch that will be used to power and separate the IP cameras for the main network. We can have up to 7 cameras and an NVR on this switch that will be linked to the main switch for a connection to the internet. I haven't yet decided how this will be configured.
UVC‑NVR
https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-video/unifi-nvr/
This is our Network Video Recorder for recording and control of the IP cameras. I may choose to use their PC software and install that on a small PC for the cameras instead.
https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-video/unifi-video-camera-g3/
https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-video/unifi-video-camera-g3-dome/
I will use a combination of Bullet and Dome cameras for video security. I have prewired for 2 out the front, 1 at the entry door, 1 each side, 2 out the back and 1 in the alfresco area. I know it is a bit of overkill but if it helps my wife feel secure at home the times I'm out then it is worth it.
That pretty much covers my selection of Ubiquity products. I'm sure there is something I've missed but these are the main products. I may add their USG or Edge Router later down the track.
Did all this equipment come via Porter Davis? What ballpark price did it come do if you dont mind me asking.
ReplyDeleteHi Blake, No none of this equipment came from Porter Davis or their tech supplier Argus Technologies. I wasn't happy with the 'options' I could select from and NBN in my area was unknown at that stage. I organised Porter Davis to run the data cables so I could arrange equipment installation after handover. Some cables will have wall plates and some not but All of the cables are run to the upper linen cupboard location I selected and will remain as loose cables after handover. I will arrange a tech to terminate them into a patch panel for distribution via the equipment listed here after handover. As a guide to pricing (at the time), Porter Davis is about $2800 (Per point - RG6 Quad Shield TV $80, Blue Cat6 Data $120, Green Cat6 Phone $90) Some are terminated some are in the ceiling/wall space. Network and Wifi about $1100, 7 Cameras NVR & switch about $2500. This should provide a very solid network throughout our home for many years to come. The only thing that was missed doing it this way was a NBN prewire conduit. I'm not really sure what Porter Davis allow for telecommunications entering the house but we didn't have anything on our specs. It was quickly resolved with the Site Supervisor with a NBN conduit (can use it for regular telecommunications too) run from an external location into our upper linen cupboard.
DeleteI have found Porter Davis very good to deal with for non-standard selections. If you are thinking of doing the same just ask and explain what you want. They can sometime supply items even if not part of the 'selections'.
Good luck. Are you building? Do you have a blog?
Thanks Dale, your blog and info is unbelievably helpful. I thought about doing a blog, but dont think i would have the time to make it as good as yours is. It is really helpful for our build. The electrical part seems so complicated. We are building the Astor Grange and have tender meeting in June. So trying to get as much decided as possible, but didnt think about a lot of things like electricals for lighting outdoors, that was such a helpful idea. I am going through many of your posts, a lot to think about. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteI glad my blog has been helpful for you. I got lots of things from other blogs too. I did this blog for 2 reasons. 1) to share with others and 2) to keep a record of what occurred when, for us or our kids to look back on. I tend to overthink things a bit much but it does help when it comes to planning a house build. Our tender presenter was very helpful and took us through lots of seemingly little things that help a lot later on like planning for outdoor lighting, kitchens or future pools. I believe the tender process has recently changed where World of style selections are done after tender now? Just think about how you intend to live in your new house and what might be required to allow you to do that. Plan and think about as grand a living as you might want. You just never know, you might be able to keep a bunch of the nice things you dreamed up or at least you'll have choices to make to fit in your budget. I update this blog as I can but it's not always done in order. Sometimes I'll post about something but backdate the post to fit in chronological order, There shouldn't be too much more of that from now on though. Be sure to check back through the posts for new content that's been backdated from time to time. I'm happy to provide any info you'd like but I won't necessarily share everything publicly. I'm happy to go into much more specific detail via direct contact on homeone forum or email if you like. Dale
ReplyDeleteHi Dale
ReplyDeleteAwesome blog! We've just gone through tender with PD and have WOS in a couple of weeks. Been hard to get much info from Argus guys at WOS regarding the security/alarm side of things. Saw you are getting the Honeywell Tuxedo system. We were wanting something that would do alarm/cameras/intercom/remote access to check cameras etc via one system and interface. Is that what you're doing with the Tuxedo? Would love some more info with the technical side of things!
Cheers
Hi Xavier,
DeleteExciting time ahead for you. :-)
We chose the Tuxedo Touch for the same reason as you and wanted an all in one system. I’m not sure as yet if it will work out that way because I think the cameras section is a bit limited by specification level, model compatibility and recording ability. An intercom wasn’t something I was after and I’m fairly sure the Tuxedo touch does not have an intercom feature (possibly does but I haven’t looked into it). The main idea with the Tuxedo was easy remote access to our alarm and being able to add automation bit by bit as I decide. If I can get camera feeds working from our Ubiquiti system into the Tuxedo that will be a bit of a bonus. If not, I may buy 1 single camera that is definitely compatible with the Tuxedo and use it to view the front door when the doorbell rings. I like the idea or Ring Doorbell, Skybell or Doorbird so might just use that instead. With the home automation part I like the Tuxedo because I can add to it bit by bit. I have already bought a few different z-wave switches and a garage door controller to install after handover. This will allow me to control the garage door and schedule garden and external lighting soon after handover with minimal installation required. After that I will likely just add a switch or device here or there as I see fit. EG: scene control lighting in the theatre and garden irrigation. Another consideration is setup. I am comfortable with configuring and setting up things like the Tuxedo so I can save myself money there when tinkering about. If you weren’t comfortable in that then you would need to take that into account for pricing including install and setup. Home automation can get pricey when configuration and setup is charged by the hour and you like to tinker about with settings and setup. I guess that, for us, the Tuxedo seemed to offer the best possibility to achieve an all in one system without the huge price tag of c-bus and others.
Porter Davis is nowhere near the best pricing on the Tuxedo. Our alarm including upgraded Vista 48 panel, 1x Tuxedo, 1x Keypad, 3x additional PIR sensors, 2x Keyfobs with Garage Control is over $3000 (plus another $500ish for second Tuxedo later on). Some Melbourne installers I called will install the same for around $2000. The only catch is that they use wireless sensors that require battery replacement every year or few years. Porter Davis use wired sensors with wiring run during the frame stage and will tell you that they don’t allow other suppliers onsite to install wiring during construction. We decided to get Porter Davis to do it because I didn’t want the hassle of batteries and weren’t sure if we would be allowed to get wiring done during construction. Turns out we probably could have because our site supervisor is great.
If there is anything particular you would like to know about just ask and I’ll answer as best I can. Good luck with your build.
P.S. The manager of Argus/L&O at WOS was amazing to deal with. We were put onto her when pricing and info we had requested never arrived and it was holding up progress. She made so much happen for us and got things fixed and changed very efficiently. Much more so than the estimators/reps could. So far, we have met several standout employees/contractors that went above and beyond the standard to ensure the customer is happy with the house they are building.
Quick one on another topic. Notice the PD put only sisalation in external walls, did you updgrade or make any changes to this? Did you insulate the space between the floors? we are looking at updgrading to 4.1 from the 2.5 and getting sounscreen to the theatre room, but as we are doing hebel thinking dont need extra insulation on external walls. Cheers. BH
ReplyDeletePorter Davis provide external wall batts and sisalation in prestige builds. I'm not sure how that works when Hebel is the external cladding. I was very happy to see the insulation being installed into all of the external walls because I didn't realise we were getting wall batts. http://hydeparkwaldorf48.blogspot.com.au/2017/04/insulation-sound-proofing.html We paid extra to install soundscreen insulation to several areas (theatre, bedrooms and around pipes) mainly for the acoustic insulation properties not thermal. We didn't bother upgrading to a higher rating or adding insulation in between the lower and upper levels. Our build has been without the brick veneer for some time and each time we visit it feels quite 'warm'. I am very confident that the insulation will work very well when we are living there. It probably helps that there are no drafts because all of our external doors and windows are fully sealed to meet the bushfire attack level of our area.
DeleteGreat tips. Hey, can i ask if you were able to negotiate at any level at contract? I am hearing that you can haggle to some extent, or do they provide the contract and that's it?
ReplyDeleteWe didn't specifically negotiate or haggle. The process is different now because we did WOS then Tender so we were well advanced with the pricing side of things. Our Tender presenter was very good helping us towards our budget because site cost had blown the budget by a bit. She managed to negotiate with the other design departments to a better priced outcome. She saved us enough that we were then in a position to add a bunch of extras we had previously removed and then some. The result was that we are well and truly above the specs, finish and options we were before she negotiated a better site 'design' and back on budget.
DeleteThe other thing to be mindful of is when changes are made sometimes the estimators don't do it in the most cost effective way or in lieu of something else. EG: We moved a promo entertainer sliding door to a different location then added an extra sliding door in lieu of windows. Initially it cost nearly $2000 to do that but the pricing didn’t look right to us so the estimator re applied the changes resulting in a saving of a couple of hundred dollars for exactly the same thing instead. Don’t always believe what you see just because they say so. There systems allow for mistakes to occur with pricing and people are only human too. BTW: Pricing mistakes can happen in favour of the customer too. Just make sure you go over everything with a fine tooth comb and know exactly what you wanted to ensure the contract and resulting home meets or exceeds your expectations.
Good luck.
Thanks a lot for sharing this amazing knowledge with us. This site is fantastic. I always find great knowledge from it. Ubiquiti Melbourne
ReplyDelete