Wiring a new home with Cat5/6 opinions?

[pylon]

My folks are building a new home, and they have an appointment with some technology company that goes over options with you. They have asked me to attend, and consult so they don't get talked into something they do not need. I pretty much think that Optik is a no brainier, but what about Cat5/6 wiring into all rooms? Who has done this? I see it as a more secure solution over wireless, and i think it makes a home server much easier to integrate. Plus I see it as a good solution for home security cameras.

Has anyone done this? And what other tricks should I look at. Money isn't an object, they want it done right. My opinion is just have the bare wiring put in all the rooms, and build off of it with my own hardware/peripherals. I am sure they are gonna try and upsell a bunch of modems/routers, etc. I am also kicking around the idea of having the main entertainment rooms wired for in wall speakers, but supplying and putting the speakers in myself.

Anyone who has been through this, your opinions would be greatly appreciated.

[Red Ice Player]

Originally Posted by pylon

My folks are building a new home, and they have an appointment with some technology company that goes over options with you. They have asked me to attend, and consult so they don't get talked into something they do not need. I pretty much think that Optik is a no brainier, but what about Cat5/6 wiring into all rooms? Who has done this? I see it as a more secure solution over wireless, and i think it makes a home server much easier to integrate. Plus I see it as a good solution for home security cameras.

Has anyone done this? And what other tricks should I look at. Money isn't an object, they want it done right. My opinion is just have the bare wiring put in all the rooms, and build off of it with my own hardware/peripherals. I am sure they are gonna try and upsell a bunch of modems/routers, etc. I am also kicking around the idea of having the main entertainment rooms wired for in wall speakers, but supplying and putting the speakers in myself.

Anyone who has been through this, your opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Its definitely worth doing. Don't use cat 5. Use cat 5e or cat 6. More bandwidth.

[zarrell]

When I built my own house I did all the network wiring myself. The cost of the wire is not very expensive, so I put 2 cat6 and 2 coax into each room. Then you're set for network, telephone, and HD. I ran everything into the mechanical room and that way you can put all your various devices down there. I also bought a 4 zone Nuvo system for sound in a few rooms and ran all the wires into the same area. If you don't mind running cables yourself, see if the builder will let you. I know when my sister and her husband built a few years ago they let them run a few extra networking or speaker wires themselves. It's unlikely they will, but given what Symphonic and the like charge for that stuff it's worth looking into.

[psicodude]

Yeah, complete no brainer. Cat 5e/6 just offers so many options now; audio, video, data, and automation systems all run off of it. It's been a few years since we built, but they had a solution that was basically 2 - cat 5e's and 2 - coax cables bundled together inside an orange sheath and terminated with a nice face plate that we put in every room pretty much. while coax is slowly becoming obsolete, it is still nice to have the flexibility.

You are dead-on with the idea of having them do the cabling and you handle everything else yourself. The audio and home automation controllers they try to sell are insanely expensive. I also agree with your statement about a hard-wired solution over wireless as it is so susceptible to interference still. Nothing beats a 1gb wired network.

My only suggestion would be to have them terminate the cables in the basement inside a patch panel, as opposed to terminating them with RJ-45 ends. It will be more expensive to use patch cables to go from the panel to your router/switches, but it is way cleaner and much more organized. Something to consider anyway.

[ken0042]

The other thing to consider is to run conduit from the basement to the attic; or to a few places in the house. From the attic it's easy to run down to any 2nd floor interior wall.

That way if we are talking about fibre or something else 10-15 years from now, there will be a place to run them.

I would also look at running speaker wire if you think they might be looking at some sort of whole home speaker system. Cat 5e/6 is great for data, but not thick enough for speaker signals. Speakers get their power from the amp.

[Rathji]

Wire at least 2 cables to each location if there is a reasonable chance you will have a PC, media center, etc located there , one location on each side of a major room, like two at the front and two at the back of your living room or rec room. Don't forget a pull off a bunch of cables 4-6 maybe, if there is a Chace of a media room where a projector might be involved

Remember that cat 5 can be used for almost every major media or communication cable out there.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by ken0042

The other thing to consider is to run conduit from the basement to the attic; or to a few places in the house. From the attic it's easy to run down to any 2nd floor interior wall.

That way if we are talking about fibre or something else 10-15 years from now, there will be a place to run them.

I would also look at running speaker wire if you think they might be looking at some sort of whole home speaker system. Cat 5e/6 is great for data, but not thick enough for speaker signals. Speakers get their power from the amp.

That is frikkin brilliant.

[pylon]

Awesome suggestions guys. I am sure i am gonna get sink eye from the sales guy at the company for getting "Info off the internet." But as long as the core wiring is in place, I can figure out the hardware side myself.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by psicodude

My only suggestion would be to have them terminate the cables in the basement inside a patch panel, as opposed to terminating them with RJ-45 ends. It will be more expensive to use patch cables to go from the panel to your router/switches, but it is way cleaner and much more organized. Something to consider anyway.

So basically you mean a box that almost looks like a big fuse-box, but instead of switches in it, it has female receptacles for the Cat6 cables?

[Rathji]

From the front it looks almost exactly like a switch. Cables are essentially wired into the back of the keystone jack and attached to a panel.

edit:

Like this is 2 patch panels and 3 switches together (the patch panels are 2nd and 4th in the rack.)



This gives you flexibility and keeps extra cables from just sitting there making a mess.

[Kjesse]

Its all fine and great to have wire run throughout your house.

Consider my situation though, and remember full documentation (or installing plates where the termination points are, as opposed to drywalling over them):

I recently bought a home. It was built in 1994, and was heavily upgraded in 2002 and 2008. Some time in there, and I think when it was being built, they had speaker cable run through the walls, extensively.

I know this because in the family room, inside one of the built ins, there are a series of sets of speaker wire, all marked as to where they terminate (kitchen, master bedroom, dining room, outside, bedroom 2, etc etc.). That being said, except for where they actually installed speakers, the termination points aren't marked, they are still within the walls wherever that may be, so I really have no chance of finding where they are. I've thought about using a metal detector, but there is so much other wiring, and I'm not about to put a few dozen holes in the walls of each room.

When I bought the home, I received documents about almost everything, they were meticulous about documenting their initial build and their renovations. But for the audio cable, I have useless wires in the walls.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by Delgar

Its all fine and great to have wire run throughout your house.

Consider my situation though, and remember full documentation (or installing plates where the termination points are, as opposed to drywalling over them):

I recently bought a home. It was built in 1994, and was heavily upgraded in 2002 and 2008. Some time in there, and I think when it was being built, they had speaker cable run through the walls, extensively.

I know this because in the family room, inside one of the built ins, there are a series of sets of speaker wire, all marked as to where they terminate (kitchen, master bedroom, dining room, outside, bedroom 2, etc etc.). That being said, except for where they actually installed speakers, the termination points aren't marked, they are still within the walls wherever that may be, so I really have no chance of finding where they are. I've thought about using a metal detector, but there is so much other wiring, and I'm not about to put a few dozen holes in the walls of each room.

When I bought the home, I received documents about almost everything, they were meticulous about documenting their initial build and their renovations. But for the audio cable, I have useless wires in the walls.

My plan would have them put a blank plate over the speaker termination points, and then when they move in, buy in wall speakers myself, and mount them. I helped a friend do in wall speakers he picked up of monoprice, and they were surprisingly good. It is not like they need ultra-bose googolphonic, they don't listen to their stuff that loud.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Rathji

From the front it looks almost exactly like a switch. Cables are essentially wired into the back of the keystone jack and attached to a panel.

edit:

Like this is 2 patch panels and 3 switches together (the patch panels are 2nd and 4th in the rack.)



This gives you flexibility and keeps extra cables from just sitting there making a mess.

Just to compare, this is what they will do if you don't get a patch panel. If you need some more length to connect to your switch, you are screwed if you want to do it nicely. With a panel you just go buy slightly longer cables.

[spetch]

Originally Posted by pylon

My plan would have them put a blank plate over the speaker termination points, and then when they move in, buy in wall speakers myself, and mount them. I helped a friend do in wall speakers he picked up of monoprice, and they were surprisingly good. It is not like they need ultra-bose googolphonic, they don't listen to their stuff that loud.

Dont even bother with the plates. The company that did all my electronics/home automation ran wire to certain romms that I want to eventually put the speakers in (I don't use the spare rooms yet, soon to be kids rooms so why spend the money). All they note is the distance from each wall so when you go to cut a hole for your speakers, viola its there. Saves having a plate that might look outta place.

[psicodude]

Originally Posted by pylon

So basically you mean a box that almost looks like a big fuse-box, but instead of switches in it, it has female receptacles for the Cat6 cables?

What Rathji said.

And just to really help you piss off the sales guy, here is a comparable patch panel from monoprice: http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by pylon

but what about Cat5/6 wiring into all rooms?

If/when I build again, I'm doing three cat5e/6 in each room. One for ethernet, and 2 for HDMI.

[Rathji]

Something you should also know, when dealing with getting someone else to do this is a pull is pretty much the same difficulty if you have 1 or 4 cables in that pull, so only having a single cable to a room should save you very little compared to having 2 or more.

[Top Shelf]

Agreed with everything here. Cat 6, coax, speaker wire and maybe even HDMI runs. Cable is dirt cheap from monoprice and having the flexibility to put stuff wherever you want is awesome

[Flaming Choy]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

If/when I build again, I'm doing three cat5e/6 in each room. One for ethernet, and 2 for HDMI.

Agree. I have HDMI over ethernet to my bedroom and it's awesome.

[GP_Matt]

Originally Posted by Delgar

Its all fine and great to have wire run throughout your house.

Consider my situation though, and remember full documentation (or installing plates where the termination points are, as opposed to drywalling over them):

I recently bought a home. It was built in 1994, and was heavily upgraded in 2002 and 2008. Some time in there, and I think when it was being built, they had speaker cable run through the walls, extensively.

I know this because in the family room, inside one of the built ins, there are a series of sets of speaker wire, all marked as to where they terminate (kitchen, master bedroom, dining room, outside, bedroom 2, etc etc.). That being said, except for where they actually installed speakers, the termination points aren't marked, they are still within the walls wherever that may be, so I really have no chance of finding where they are. I've thought about using a metal detector, but there is so much other wiring, and I'm not about to put a few dozen holes in the walls of each room.

When I bought the home, I received documents about almost everything, they were meticulous about documenting their initial build and their renovations. But for the audio cable, I have useless wires in the walls.

There are tools that you can clamp on to one end of the wire and follow it through the walls. I have a bigger one that we use to find the tracer wire on buried pipes but they make something smaller. Maybe you can rent one at Home Depot.