Getting ready to do a structured type wiring system on the house we have been remodeling. I plan on putting 2 Cat 5 and up to 4 rg6 runs in each room.

I have been looking at plates connectors at the local hardware stores but I am sure there are better products out there, but I don't know where to look. Too many options for me to sift through, looking to tap some fellow AVS'ers experience.

Thanks guys.

Getting ready to do a structured type wiring system on the house we have been remodeling. I plan on putting 2 Cat 5 and up to 4 rg6 runs in each room.

I have been looking at plates connectors at the local hardware stores but I am sure there are better products out there, but I don't know where to look. Too many options for me to sift through, looking to tap some fellow AVS'ers experience.

Thanks guys.
I've used Leviton Quickport with great success. The quickport system has wallplates (frames) with holes for 2,4,or 6 inserts. They have a wide variety of inserts which snap into the frames.

The leviton stuff is available at many places including home depot, lowes, and online. Online sources include hometech.com and partsexpress.com.

A second for Leviton parts. Easy to find and easy to install.

while not usually available in your local hardware store, I would recomend using a dual gang plate since you plan to use 4 rg6 at each location. 4 rg6 and 2 cat 5e in a single gang box may prove to be a bit crowded. If just using rings it's not as big of a deal. Just a suggestion. Leviton does make dual 6 port faceplate's only their dual gang plates don't have as many options as far as colors go.

What are "rings" cable guy?? FWIW I had already thought of using a double box at each loacation as was looking for some dual gang plates.

rings as in mud rings. sometimes referred to as box eliminator's also. For example look at this (http://www.twacomm.com/catalog/model_364524-01.htm?sid=9DF9A2B34DE2330A3E8054006D32BCAB) . I typically use those instead of these (http://www.doityourself.com/invt/1640259) .

I just installed some Siemon MAX jacks/wallplates... they have loads of inserts for fiber/f-conn etc as well as various the normal RJ11 / RJ45 connectors.

A couple of things I liked about them:
- they have decora MAX inserts so it matches sockets and switches
- they have angled connectors available for network connections and F-connectors which means the wires don't stick out perpendicular to the wall

I've used Leviton Quickport with great success. The quickport system has wallplates (frames) with holes for 2,4,or 6 inserts. They have a wide variety of inserts which snap into the frames.

The leviton stuff is available at many places including home depot, lowes, and online. Online sources include hometech.com and partsexpress.com.

I second the Leviton - awesome solution for customizing your wall plates with the snap-ons! :D

I've been using the Leviton plates from Home Depot as well for a while, they're pretty good and they're reasonably priced.

And you can get some of the more unusual jacks from folks on ebay-did you know they make keystone inserts with F connectors on the inside and RCAs on the outside? Great for running component video over in-wall RG6 cables without having to spring for expensive connectors or tools.

Steve

I am also at this point in my wiring project. I really like what Leviton has to offer and am probably going to go with their Decora screwless design.

What I am still trying to figure out is if Levitons "QuickPort" is synonomous with "Keystone" from other manufacturers.

I am also at this point in my wiring project. I really like what Leviton has to offer and am probably going to go with their Decora screwless design.

What I am still trying to figure out is if Levitons "QuickPort" is synonomous with "Keystone" from other manufacturers.

Leviton QuickPort jacks are keystone, so yes, they are basically the same style. Therefore, you should be able to use another manufacturers keystone jacks in a Leviton faceplate. You should try it out with a sample though if possible before buying everything based on this assumption.

Matt

Anyone know offhand if Pass&Seymour / Legrand inserts are also compatible with Leviton wallplates? Leviton doesn't have the inserts I want for running component video (i.e. Red/Green/Blue RCAs).

-Edit- Checked out both at the store this weekend, and it looks like the P&S inserts aren't keystone-style like the Leviton Quickports, so I would say they are NOT compatible. I went with P&S, since their light almond color is nearly a perfect match for the Leviton light almond (and Leviton Quickport plates were only stocked in white and almond, no light almond available).

Leviton QuickPort jacks are keystone, so yes, they are basically the same style. Therefore, you should be able to use another manufacturers keystone jacks in a Leviton faceplate. You should try it out with a sample though if possible before buying everything based on this assumption.


Matt,
Thanks for that insight. I am going to add a sample connector to my order from Monoprice as their CAT6 Keystone connectors seem to be well priced.

I am also looking at Leviton vs Pass & Seymour. I just found out that Pass & Seymour is discontinuing the Legrand snap in series and are now using the On-Q Quick Connect and I was told they are not compatible with each other. Maybe the ON-Q will be compatible with Leviton? I looked at the ON-Q at Pass & Seymours website and they do have RG6 to RCA in Red/White/Yellow/Green/Black, I did not see blue listed which is kind of odd.

This place has good prices: CyberGiftCenter (http://www.cybergiftcenter.com/applications/category/scategory.asp?catID=112300000)

Leviton does have the RCA connectors you seek:
Green
http://www.smarthome.com/8556c4.html
Blue
http://www.smarthome.com/8556c6.html
Red
http://www.smarthome.com/8556c2.html
Yellow
http://www.smarthome.com/8556c3.html

Guys,

We buy this stuff in volume, if you need material for a DIY project, send me a quick email and I can sell you some of our overstock and keep you from paying retail for it. HD and Lowes are expensive when it comes to this stuff.

let me know what you need we can box it up and ship it to you. mlconti@imagestics.com

We use paypal, and other payment forms so we can get it to you fast. We also have custom cables and other specialty products.

Since I already have athread here, a quick question..............

I am going with Leviton. Going to use a media enclosure that I can get an Ethernet switch for. Right now I am using a Belkin wireless router for a wired/wireless network. Before I decided on the Leviton media enclosure, I was going to stick with the Belkin, but since I can add a switch inside the enclosure I am leaning that way.

What will I gain and/or lose by using the internal switch. Would I then just run from the internal switch to the Belkin for wireless??

Well, at the minimum you will gain extra ports. I would make sure that this switch that you are looking at can do at least 100mbps/Full Duplex speeds.

Plugging directly into your Belkin router is also a fine solution.

One thing you may want to do, is perhaps if your wireless signal is not ideal in that media enclosure, you could centralize it in your house, run a single wire to your media enclosure into your switch and then plug all of your computers into that.

styxx_78

dirk1843,
What you would potentially gain is a much faster network.
I am putting together a hybrid network with wired and wireless routers. BTW -The latest wireless routers ("N") are still about 10 times slower than the latest wired routers (1000Mbs).
I currently have Verizon FIOS with comes with a ActionTec wired/wireless router. My service is 15Mbs down and 2Mbs upload speed. The specs on the router are 100Mbs and 802.11g, (54Mbps). This would be okay if I didn't want to transfer large files between PC's. This outer is relegated to being the outer router.
My inner router is (which connects all the PC's and the soon-to-be media server) is much faster, namely a Netgear 10/100/1000 8-port router. It mounts neatly in the Leviton SMC, using the Levition bracket (Data Bracket White Plastic Item# 8651758 at smarthome.com)

My plan is incorporate a 802.11N router (108Mbs), connect it to the Netgear router, and mount it somewhere else other than the basement for optimum connectivity for my wireless devices.

If I understand you trek, if I no longer use the wireless router (which also is a 4 port wired router) as a router, but a WAP, my wired network would be faster??

If I understand you trek, if I no longer use the wireless router (which also is a 4 port wired router) as a router, but a WAP, my wired network would be faster??
I'm not trek, but here's what (I think) you want to do...

DSL/Cable Modem --> router --> switch <-- all wired computers into the switch (not the router)

This lets you use your router to manage your DSL/Cable connection (I run DD-WRT on mine) but lets your wired PCs connect at 1000 (assuming the PCs have gigabit NICs) instead of 100.

Beyond the (potential) increase in speed, wired networks are just more solid...

In my case, I use transcode 360 (often) to watch xvid on my TVs, and it's so nice to not see "network congestion" when someone goes to make some popcorn... :p

Cheers.

My inner router is (which connects all the PC's and the soon-to-be media server) is much faster, namely a Netgear 10/100/1000 8-port router.

Just to clarify, I believe what Trek is referring to is a SWITCH not a ROUTER.

Just to clarify, I believe what Trek is referring to is a SWITCH not a ROUTER.
Yep. Same assumption I was working under...

My error.... I have a habit of not proof reading. Thanks for the correction

Thanks for the replies, but I am confused a little.

I think (bear with me hear, I did some reading on switches and routers, but no expert) that I am being told that using a switch for my wired network will result in better performance that using my current router for the same wired network.

I do know wired is better than wireless, and am not trying to argue that.......my question is HOW will a SWITCH be better than a ROUTER on purely the wired side of things.

Dirk -

It won't make a difference, unless you have a gigabit switch, all of your wired devices are connected to that switch, they all have gigabit network cards in them, and you are transferring files between those devices. Otherwise, a 100 Meg port is a 100 Meg port, no matter if its on a switch or a router.

Matt

Thanks................

Another vote for the Leviton, but with some points of interest/reservations:

I like the leviton products, since most commonly used ones are available at most home improvement stores. BUT...

1) Since I bought the RCA connectors locally, I wanted to stay with uniformity of the design of the connectors, but the locally availabe ones to me only came with only 2 color ring options: Red and Black! While the link above does show different colors for the RCA connectors, the style doesn't match with the ones available locally.

My solution was to purchase some colored heatshrink, and bougt the locally available RCA connectors, and slice little "o" rings off the heat shrink with a razor blade, and replaceing the factory "red" or "black" rings as needed. This way you can make any colored rings you want. Here is an example of what it ended up like:

http://warez.msmcs.net/MyHost/DSC00581.JPG

2) I didn't have very good luck with the locally available "S-video" connector by Leviton. The ones available locally to me are the type that allows 2 pair of a CAT 5 cable to be utilized for the run. While I didn't have any picture quality issues, I *did* have interferance issues. Quick "interferance bars" could be seen on the TV when I turned on/off my ceiling fan.

I ditched the Leviton S-video quickport for another brand that I had to get on the net that allowed a true S-video cable pass-through. That allowed me to use a real S-video cable made of twin mini-coax, and my interferance issues dissapeared completely.

3) Price-at almost $5 a crack for a pair of inserts, it gets expensive quick. Cheaper prices can be had on the net, but I couldn't help ignore the convenience of the local stores.

-Alan

FirebirdTN, nice solution. This is exactly what I am looking for. I have already committed to using Leviton's Quickport with many audio wallplates in my house using this system. I am now wiring up a wallplate with component video and my in-wall cables are already RCA terminated. So I was stumped as I really wanted RCA-RCA Quickport modules that were correctly colour coded. I love your idea and will do the same. Couple of practical questions:
1. Did you cut out the existing Leviton black/red coloured band before applying your coloured heatshrink?
2. What diameter heatshrink did you use?

Thanks

Couple of practical questions:
1. Did you cut out the existing Leviton black/red coloured band before applying your coloured heatshrink?
2. What diameter heatshrink did you use?

Thanks

Yes, I did remove the origional bands first.

I can't remember the exact diameter, but I chose heatshrink that was just a *tad* smaller than the origional diameter of the stock rings -EDIT- Now that I think about it, I think I chose the same diameter as the origional. That way a liitle heat snug them up pretty good. -End Edit-. However, you will have to stretch them just a little bit to put them on the RCAs, but even a small amount of heat will make them snug right up.

-Alan