Does their proposed patch panel costing about 4x what I was expecting actually seem likely to give any value? Is there are explanation for that cost?
I don’t know if there are “high tech” patch panels. They are mostly very simple, especially for use cases like yours. Maybe ask your builder how they justify the price?
For reference: Here in europe I could buy a panel with 24 CAT.6a ports for about 55€ on ebay. A panel for keystone modules would cost me 15€ plus 45€ for 24 CAT.6a modules. I would recommend to use keystone modules, because they are more flexible. The module is attached to the cable and then just clicked into the panel. This way you can easily detach or reorder the cables if needed.
Secondary question: is having a wall-mounted cabinet worthwhile?
Yes.
How will it work in terms of installing a switch and connecting from the patch panel to the switch?
You would mount both components in the cabinet and connect them with short patch cables like this:
Ok thanks a heap for that picture, because that’s an aspect I was actually confused about. So the patch panel will end up connected through at the front instead of being flush with the wall? And the wires would just be run out of the wall through to the front of the panel?
Here in europe I could buy a panel with 24 CAT.6a ports for about 55€ on ebay
Yeah without looking very hard I can find multiple options around $50 in Australia, and even lower. The $150 figure is pretty much the most expensive option I found in my quick search, and was really meant to contrast with the seemingly-excessive $567 the builder is quoting. (Basically, my goal is to “steel man” them, and point out that even if I take the prices in the most extreme way at every option, it still ends up way cheaper than they’re quoting.)
I would recommend to use keystone modules, because they are more flexible
Out of interest, what’s the alternative? Is it that the cables would be hard wired directly into a particular port of the patch panel and not be movable?
So the patch panel will end up connected through at the front instead of being flush with the wall? And the wires would just be run out of the wall through to the front of the panel?
The cables would come out of your wall, go into the back of the network cabinet and would then be clicked into the patchpanel from behind. From the front of the cabinet you will just see RJ45 ports that you then can connect to your switch. The back of the patchpanel will look something like this.
Out of interest, what’s the alternative? Is it that the cables would be hard wired directly into a particular port of the patch panel and not be movable?
Exactly. The patchpanel would provide a board where you could patch your cables into (like this).
Another thing I would recommend is having a “service loop”. That means leaving a bit of extra cable when exiting the wall in case you need it. Otherwise you might need to pull a whole new cable if something unforseen happens and that sucks.