Mar 21, 2023 - Building a Network Cabinet and Printer Stand

My home network was a mess, cobbled together over the years, with routers and switches all over the house. I don't enjoy crawling under the house anymore, or trying to work upside down under my desk. So I thought I would build a new cabinet where I could relocate all of my various network devices. They would be easier to access or make changes when needed, and I could connect everything to my battery backup so the network doesn't go down during power outages. I also needed a stand for one of my printers after reorganizing my office, so the cabinet could serve both functions. That's one of the advantages of building things yourself, you can design quirky furniture you would never find in a store.

I installed a new wall plate in my office and ran new cables from each room to the new wall plate. Then I designed the cabinet to match my existing desk and fit around the new network wall plate. I was trying to make use of scrap plywood I had in the shop, and only had crude plans drawn up, so I made a few mistakes along the way. I used the same stain I used on my original desk, but the new cabinet turned out a lighter color. Maybe the stain formula changed after 15+ years, or using water based polyurethane changed the overall look compared to the old oil based poly.

I attached six inch wide bands of velcro on the inside of the cabinet, then attached the mating velcro to the back of each device. This allowed me to place the devices wherever I wanted, and will be easy to make changes as needed in the future. I had to buy another network switch and an assortment of shorter cables, but I am really happy with the way it all turned out.

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