In an equipment room where all the cables come in and go out, what is a best practice for using or not using wall plates? I have, at last count, 38 cables that will go into or out of my rack going to various places around the room, or, coming in from the outside.
I've always used wall plates in houses before, but, never had a theater room. Wall plates would allow me to label each connector. However, it also adds another connection point to each cable. Sure would look good though. I know I can get custom plates from Redco to make it very organized. They also have the advantage of not having to make custom connectors and for future use, esp. with cat6 wiring for unknown purposes. Without a wall plate, I would need to know in advance what the end needs to be, say serial vs network and have the correct cable purchased. With a wall plate, I could simply have a CAT6 8 wire jack, and, fashion an adapter to make any connector I wish from that, such as a RS232 connector from the RJ45 jack. Same applies to other connectors this is just an example. Without a wall plate, I suppose I could end the cable in a RJ45 connector, and, attach an adapter to it when needed, but now the room will be filled with adapters on top of the cables, seems more of a mess.
But maybe not. What is a best practice, if there is such a thing? Obviously, many connectors have specific purposes, like speaker wire, etc. But I have around 5-10 that will be of unknown future use, the only thing relevant is I know what cable wire would be needed.
Just curious as to what people do with 38 cables coming into the equipment area?
I've seen wall "plates" where all they are is essentially a trimmed hole and you feed whole cables through them. I don't like them for the reason of not knowing what end is needed, having to precisely know how long I will need each cable in advance, and, having to adapt the ends in a number of cases. Also, don't like the hole into the wall for bugs. Seems like you'd need way more loose cable lying around as well.
But, maybe that's the best way?
I've always used wall plates in houses before, but, never had a theater room. Wall plates would allow me to label each connector. However, it also adds another connection point to each cable. Sure would look good though. I know I can get custom plates from Redco to make it very organized. They also have the advantage of not having to make custom connectors and for future use, esp. with cat6 wiring for unknown purposes. Without a wall plate, I would need to know in advance what the end needs to be, say serial vs network and have the correct cable purchased. With a wall plate, I could simply have a CAT6 8 wire jack, and, fashion an adapter to make any connector I wish from that, such as a RS232 connector from the RJ45 jack. Same applies to other connectors this is just an example. Without a wall plate, I suppose I could end the cable in a RJ45 connector, and, attach an adapter to it when needed, but now the room will be filled with adapters on top of the cables, seems more of a mess.
But maybe not. What is a best practice, if there is such a thing? Obviously, many connectors have specific purposes, like speaker wire, etc. But I have around 5-10 that will be of unknown future use, the only thing relevant is I know what cable wire would be needed.
Just curious as to what people do with 38 cables coming into the equipment area?
I've seen wall "plates" where all they are is essentially a trimmed hole and you feed whole cables through them. I don't like them for the reason of not knowing what end is needed, having to precisely know how long I will need each cable in advance, and, having to adapt the ends in a number of cases. Also, don't like the hole into the wall for bugs. Seems like you'd need way more loose cable lying around as well.
But, maybe that's the best way?
