Thought I would share my experience installing structure wiring....
Decided on Belden Home Automation Cable.... the green stuff,
and some blue dual cat5e. Wanted Red, White and Blue.... but
belden said no.
The house is about 4000sf (about 60' x 50'), 2 floors and a basement.
Everything is home run to the basement.
7876A - 2 RG6 / 2 Cat5e (bought 1000', only used 500' aprox $1000)
Used this for the main drops in all the bedrooms, great room,
master sitting room, master bath, kitchen. 9 drops in all.
They are placed where I think the tv, or desk will go for
each room.
7877A - 2 RG6/1 Cat5e (bought 500', used maybe 200' aprox $200)
Was going to use this for sat dishes and theater room, but just
ran it 2x to where the theater room is going in the basement.
Belden suggests 1694A BLACK for weather resistant applications.
1702A - 2 Cat5e (bought 1000' aprox $180)
This is for next to all beds... not sure what I'll use it for. I'll use one
of the cat5s for the telephone and the other I don't know yet.
1694A - 1 RG6 (500' aprox $250)
Sat dishes, runs to the attic for any antennas....etc.
Used carlon super blue gang boxes. Dual for the main drops,
and single for the dual cat5e. Looped all cables aprox 2' over
all the boxes. They drop in from the top. The boxes are 4" deep
and have plenty of room inside for all the connections. I'll just
pull what I need out, make the connections, and push the extra
back up.
Some suggestions for anyone who plans on doing this...
Buy your cable in reels....and buy a reel/cable caddy !!!
I can't imagine installing this without a caddy. I could
not find one in home depot or lowes, so I made one.
Even though this sounds trival, its not... trust me,
when your dealing with 75lbs reels, it really helps !
Buy enough cable just incase !!
You don't want to run out of cable. I would suggest buying
(number of drops) x (1.5x(length of house)). The length or
width... which ever is the longest.
Buy a good cordless drill and new/sharp bits !
I have a 12v DeWalt. I have 2" dia holes for main
runs in the basement, and 1" holes for floor to floor
and wall studs. When you get closer to where you home
run to, the holes need to be bigger !
Don't home run near the electrical panel. All the 110 lines
converge in that area.... and you want to cross all the
110 lines at 90 degrees when possible.
You might want to use some string and tacks to figure out
where to cut the holes and run the cable. Run the string
where you will run the cable... see if it works.
Matthew
Decided on Belden Home Automation Cable.... the green stuff,
and some blue dual cat5e. Wanted Red, White and Blue.... but
belden said no.
The house is about 4000sf (about 60' x 50'), 2 floors and a basement.
Everything is home run to the basement.
7876A - 2 RG6 / 2 Cat5e (bought 1000', only used 500' aprox $1000)
Used this for the main drops in all the bedrooms, great room,
master sitting room, master bath, kitchen. 9 drops in all.
They are placed where I think the tv, or desk will go for
each room.
7877A - 2 RG6/1 Cat5e (bought 500', used maybe 200' aprox $200)
Was going to use this for sat dishes and theater room, but just
ran it 2x to where the theater room is going in the basement.
Belden suggests 1694A BLACK for weather resistant applications.
1702A - 2 Cat5e (bought 1000' aprox $180)
This is for next to all beds... not sure what I'll use it for. I'll use one
of the cat5s for the telephone and the other I don't know yet.
1694A - 1 RG6 (500' aprox $250)
Sat dishes, runs to the attic for any antennas....etc.
Used carlon super blue gang boxes. Dual for the main drops,
and single for the dual cat5e. Looped all cables aprox 2' over
all the boxes. They drop in from the top. The boxes are 4" deep
and have plenty of room inside for all the connections. I'll just
pull what I need out, make the connections, and push the extra
back up.
Some suggestions for anyone who plans on doing this...
Buy your cable in reels....and buy a reel/cable caddy !!!
I can't imagine installing this without a caddy. I could
not find one in home depot or lowes, so I made one.
Even though this sounds trival, its not... trust me,
when your dealing with 75lbs reels, it really helps !
Buy enough cable just incase !!
You don't want to run out of cable. I would suggest buying
(number of drops) x (1.5x(length of house)). The length or
width... which ever is the longest.
Buy a good cordless drill and new/sharp bits !
I have a 12v DeWalt. I have 2" dia holes for main
runs in the basement, and 1" holes for floor to floor
and wall studs. When you get closer to where you home
run to, the holes need to be bigger !
Don't home run near the electrical panel. All the 110 lines
converge in that area.... and you want to cross all the
110 lines at 90 degrees when possible.
You might want to use some string and tacks to figure out
where to cut the holes and run the cable. Run the string
where you will run the cable... see if it works.
Matthew
