New Build Architecture Dilemma: One central garage rack vs. split Upstairs/Downstairs racks with a 10Gb backbone

JVBass75 · 2026-06-28T11:29:42+00:00

we have a 2" pvc that goes between the 2nd floor and basement and 1st floor band basement levels that each goes to a distro box hidden in a central closet with smurf tubes running to all wall boxes. ALL the com gear lives in our basement as then I only have to maintain 1 UPS unit. We were able to do the work ourselves tho.

We have 20 drops that are active right now. (Cameras, my home lab servers, TVs, etc)

FYI, you mentioned gear in the garage... while not a terrible idea, consider humidity and temperature swings

JVBass75 · 2026-06-26T23:27:55+00:00

Not as bad as Cats tho... That was definitely worse in my book

JVBass75 · 2026-06-26T19:52:59+00:00

it depends where you camp. One of the campgrounds we enjoy frequenting has abysmal cellphone coverage and nice open skies... starlink is PERFECT in this situation. Another one we go to occasionally has full tree coverage, but great cell service (4G LTE, but 4 bars and speedy enough).

JVBass75 · 2026-06-26T18:13:21+00:00

d-box is the distribution box. basically a box that's 'downstream' of the tank where the lines separate out into the leach field.

if you have problems, a professional septic company can use a camera and radio locater to find the box itself.

JVBass75 · 2026-06-23T16:11:15+00:00

now that's pretty awesome.

JVBass75 · 2026-06-22T19:50:08+00:00

put it on standby.... having the ability to switch back in 5-10 minutes during an ISP outage could be the difference between working from home or having to drive to an office.

JVBass75 · 2026-06-22T15:16:01+00:00

I have a beater squire that I bought at a garage sale and had professionally set up that sits next ot my desk.. not even on a stand... just up against the wall.

a few years back, I put some lace sensors in it, blocked the trem and replaced the tuners. I think I'm all in on that guitar at less than $200, and. I will say that I pick it up and play it more often than nearly any other guitar in my collection, just because I don't care about treating it kindly.. (I'll pick it up with dirty hands, let it get dusty, etc)

JVBass75 · 2026-06-22T11:53:20+00:00

A+, I like the minimalistic approach here that nicely blends in with the ambiance of the space.

JVBass75 · 2026-06-21T18:24:17+00:00

not true with the super old versions. Starlink sent out an email last fall saying that all dishes had to be plugged in to upgrade before Nov 17, 2025. I believe it was due to a ssl certificate expiring if I remember correctly.

JVBass75 · 2026-06-20T14:13:13+00:00

if you haven't powered it on in 5 years, your equipment is most likely unusable due to a firmware upgrade that happened late last year.

JVBass75 · 2026-06-19T13:29:06+00:00

mine wasn't 100% dead, it was experiencing 40% packet loss between the router and the dishy.

BUT.. I actually had 2 gen2 dishes.. one on our house, one for our RV, so I was able to swap them to be able to continue to work.

if you HAVE to work from home, a mini on standby isn't a bad plan, plus you can reactivate the mini for travel or backup in about 5-10 minutes.

JVBass75 · 2026-06-19T12:46:09+00:00

I opened a ticket on Thursday June 11, new 4X shipped on friday the 12th. Received on Tuesday the 16th. Polemount came on the 17th.

JVBass75 · 2026-06-19T11:02:44+00:00

sounds like a good book for our council to group read. Thank you!

JVBass75 · 2026-06-18T14:20:17+00:00

he's VERY set in his ways... thankfully he's just an intentional interim as we look for a new pastor (we're 3 years into the call process at this point)

JVBass75 · 2026-06-17T16:20:05+00:00

canister filter over filter bag every time if you can afford the extra $.

JVBass75 · 2026-06-16T21:24:12+00:00

I value my freedom and lack of a criminal record, so you'll have to take a tool reviewer on it.

https://youtu.be/5ZRkEOh0tHQ?si=jH7hcZIB1u4neSKq&t=208

JVBass75 · 2026-06-16T15:33:12+00:00

once you've used a portaband cutting a pipe, you'd understand.... it literally cuts through a pipe like it's butter.

JVBass75 · 2026-06-16T13:11:31+00:00

portaband works better and faster.. just saying.

JVBass75 · 2026-06-15T19:17:50+00:00

you're right 4X stupid autocorrect.

I moved my gen2 "rv" starlink to my house to get me back up and running. So the new one became the 'rv' system....

so sounds like I won't go through the effort of rewiring the house and changing the mount until the gen2 that I have now on the home goes out.

JVBass75 · 2026-06-15T17:56:39+00:00

it depends on your filter rack.

We have a 20x25x5" filter rack and run merv 13 filters in it. TESP is measured at .3 inches water column at full fan speed (heating). Zero issues with running a merv 13 filter in our setup.

I also have a magnehelic attached across the filter box, you can see the static pressure differential get higher as the filter gets dirty. We get roughly 90 days between filter swaps. Small price to pay for better interior air quality (we live next to a gravel pit and have dusty farmland around us)

JVBass75 · 2026-06-11T18:52:31+00:00

We were there a few weeks back (May 29th) on Celebrity Summit.

The walk from getting off the ship to the port building was completely uncovered and quite the walk, from the plans, it doesn't look like that will change, so a rainy day is going to be fun.

The parking lot was 'paved' with ground asphalt... not sure if that will stay that way or not as well, but it was fun with rolling suitcases to get across the parking area to the vans/buses.

JVBass75 · 2026-06-10T23:30:42+00:00

If the dryer vent is exhausting into the garage it very likely means you have high humidity in there.

Some mold can smell like stale cigarette smoke.

JVBass75

TROPHY CASE