New home build...coax wire question

I would run min. one coax, one cat-6 to those locations such as bedrooms, office, kitchen. For every point that telephone is going to connect, at least two cat-6. For where the main components are going in the living room, no less than six cat-6, and no less than two coax.

Pull everything, I mean all coax, ethernet to a central point, where you can place stuff like a patch panel for both ethernet & coax, rack mounted switches, telephone & ISP equipment, and also if going to be running a server, a shelf for that, or use a rack with a shelf, and also make plans to have a monitor & keyboard and mouse for that point, so if you are in there making changes to the network, you can do it there vs. through a app such as Teamviewer.

As long as you have a copy of the Blue Prints, it makes things easy, because you can lay tracing sheets over to make changes for the low voltage systems, and use colored pencils or markers, along with a key, so that it makes it easier for you to know what is what, when you look at your notes & the schematic.

As for marking what is what at the patch panels, or keystones, just mark with the number on the keystones where they land on the patch panel, and then use a spreadsheet if you wish, to know what equipment connects from the patch panel to the switch, or patch panel to the a/v equipment, if you plan on doing HDMI over ethernet. Now of course, there is HDMI over IP networking, but you can only use one transmitter per switch. An example of that equipment can be found at http://www.markertek.com/Home-Theate...I-108POE.xhtml

Also plan on adding in a mix of WiFi for devices on the go, and if you plan on doing Sonos, which means adding in cat-6 for those points. It can add up to quite a few cables once you figure everything out, but keep in mind when doing this, what you may be looking at for future needs. Some will say use conduit or smurf tube, which is a good idea if you plan on hanging a flat panel on a wall, and will be placing equipment nearby, or you plan on hanging a projector, and pulling cables from a cabinet also nearby.

2 RG6 to each room is a good practice, just in case you want more than one service (such as an OTA antenna plus CATV, or some future combination). This was becoming common pre-wire when the sat services required 2 cables for DVRs (dual tuner).


New DirecTV setups will only need one coax. I would run two to each room anyway. To each TV location, I'd also run at least 2 Cat5e as well. Yes it's a lot of cable, but it will never be this cheap again. Very unlikely you'd hear anyone here say they ran "too much"...

And +1 to everything Greg said. (although you can just use Cat5e for Sonos/Ethernet, but cat6 is certainly fine, too - just make sure you have the right jacks and tools)

Jeff

Just figure best guess on what you may be adding later. Also, it is easier to pull Octopus cabling, than a bunch of seperate runs of cables.

Well, you're limited to the number of places you run conduit.


You run the conduit to an attic/basement/crawlspace - wherever you'll be able to access it later (and they're installed empty - don't put cables in it now). But yes, you make reasonable guesses as to which walls/rooms may need more stuff in the future. Most important are places that will be difficult to reach as a retrofit. If you can reach the wall from an unfinished basement or an attic, having conduit isn't critical. Trying to get a wire to the first floor from a 2nd floor attic is a different story.

For my house, I ran lots of cables everywhere (and still not enough!), and ran conduits to: (1) The service entrance outside - where the phone/cable comes in, (2) to the home office built-ins, (3) to the family room A/V cabinetry, and (4) From the attic to the back yard (for outdoor speakers or other services)...

Don't be afraid to run cat5e cables to lots of locations. That's the Swiss army knife of home A/V/Networking/Automation. It doesn't all have to be exposed and terminated - if documented properly with pictures and notes, you can leave the cables buried in the walls to be retrieved as needed in the future...

Hope that helps,

Jeff

In addition to what Greg and Jeff wrote, I'd also run an additional CAT5e (3 total) to each location for HD distribution from your closet to each outlet.

Flex conduit, low-volt grade... Carlon Resigard is the "brand name" stuff, there's generic stuff, too. You can use the blue "smurf tube" that's stocked at Lowe's/HD, but that's intended for line voltage, and so may cause confusion/concerns with inspectors, et. al.

Do at least 1", 1.5" would be better, but frankly - getting anything is way better than nothing.

My runs to the back yard come down the exterior walls and terminate at junction boxes on the house. If I want to take it further, it'll be a surface mount box over the top, and appropriate conduit to take wires underground.

And yes, line voltage (AC power) must be in a separate conduit from low volt. Be careful about running Ethernet outside - if for nothing else that it could provide someone an unsecured access to your network behind your firewall (that's high on the paranoia scale... ). Just use wireless.

But yes, run cat5e out there, just may not be for Ethernet...

Jeff

I suggest conduit from TV locations to the wiring closet. Install it empty, it's for futureproofing.

Don't forget wiring for the LAN, to include wireless access point locations.

And consider a hardwired security system. And distributed audio, with in-ceiling and in-wall speakers. And consider cables for security keypads, audio keypads, touchscreen docks, motion sensors, and cameras. Overwire the front door.

Do you need household electricity in the back yard for lights?

For Ethernet devices, you may be able to get away with POE, (Power-Over-Ethernet) delivering low-voltage over a wire-pair on the ethernet cable.

Yep, that's the right area for the gear - at least "nearby". I'd suggest keeping at least a foot or two of distance from the panel, and be sure to ask the electrician about any code issues (what's the required distance of anything from the panel). You may think about planning for a wall-mounted rack (shallow telco for patch panels, or a full-depth one for "gear"). Make sure you get the electrician to drop you an outlet at that location - you'll certainly need that!

Jeff

I'd use 2 separate pieces of plywood. The electrician may run the line voltage wires behind the plywood (but he may not). The 2nd piece would force him to use his piece, and help to avoid multiple lines of Romex behind your LV panels.

Communicate your needs to the builder and the electrician. Multiple times. Mark it visibly, if possible. Gentle reminders will help to avoid trouble down the road.

If you get the chance, talk to the electrician about whole-house surge protection from Leviton, Eaton/Cutler-Hammer, or SquareD - or one of many others.