Wiring a new home for LAN Network

[DigiSLR]

I'm looking into options to wire up the new home for all the resources I have that utilize the internet. I know I could go wireless, but I just think it's so much easier to plug and play. I feel it's more secure and hopefully when FIOS or some super high speed internet option comes to my neighborhood, I don't want wireless to slow it down.

So, here's what I came up with...

3 PCs, 1 XBox, 1 Wii, LapTop, Print Server.

Of course I want the family room, gameroom, and all bedrooms wired for Television.

I'm having a distribution wiring panel placed in the master bedroom closet. Now, how many CAT5 / CAT6 cables do I want to run? RG5 or RG6 for cable / satellite, etc... and where do I want to run them to?

I don't want to do overkill, but should I run a CAT5 and an RG5 to each location I mentioned? Multiple runs to the office? Do I want to run a set of them to the garage? Might be nice to watch a small TV or plug in a laptop on work bench...

Am I just running too many cables and should I just go wireless?

OK, enough babble, thanks to any techies and your thoughts and opinions!

[kenw]

what ever you do, if you DO pull wires, pull a string (or 2) thru each route so you'll have a means to pull a new wire thru 'someday". It isn't a matter of it, but when....

[SevenAndMe]

Before you do all that wiring, do reconsider getting a wireless router, a wireless N router.

IMHO

[Cajungaltx]

Okay - geek alert. Just warning you. You need to run conduit throughout your house.

Some folks are big on wireless - but from a geeky perspective - wireless is convienent, but if I have the option between wireless and a hard wire connected to my computer - I'm going hard wire every time.

It's faster - and it's more reliable.

So buy a wireless router if you want - they are convienent - but if you are wanting to do it right - you need to do this:

Install a wall panel - most houses come with these now - where all the lines come in too - and then all the lines go out to the different rooms.

Think of how an office building is - all of the 'outside' services come in to one large panel - and then are sent to the offices that need them.

Need to move a phone line - switch this cable here, to that cable there, and presto.

Then - you need to install conduit. Conduit acts as a 'tunnel' for you to run future cables through.

Running a cable isn't the hard part - running a cable through.... 2x4's, picture hooks, insulation, electrical wiring - THAT is the the problem. All that crap is in the way.

As far as what to run, one Cat5 and one RG6 to every room.

Each room should be connected to the panel with its own separate cable. Do not loop one cable in between rooms in a series.

I repeat DO NOT LOOP ONE CABLE BETWEEN ROOMS.

One run from the box to the garage.
One run from the box to the living room.
ETC.

Yes it can be a PITA, but it pays off in the long run.

One thing to be aware of - is to keep your conduit at least 4 feet away from electrical stuff. It helps interference from occuring on your lines.


WHY I KNOW SO MUCH: I'm the only girl with 7 older brothers, 2 of which are in electrical fields, and I'm married to a guy who does communications for the US Army, PLUS works for ATT. I've listened to him WAY to often tell me: If I ever build my own house, this is what I'll do for the wiring/communications. *grin*

[Norma_S]

Yup, stay away from the electrical wiring and if you have to cross over, do it at a 90 degree angle.

To be perfectly honest though, wireless should work OK if you get a good signal. Even though you can use CAT6 for either gigabit ethernet (1000Mbps) and fast ethernet (100Mbps), the speed of wireless (varies with the type, clarity, and strength of the signal, most commonly 54Mbp-100Mbps) is still often faster than your connection to the Internet (typically 56Kbps-20Mbps). So your bottleneck when online will be your connection to the Internet for the average home. However, you may have special considerations if you plan to use your home LAN to pump HD movies to your TV from a home media server.

My advice is to definitely run the extra cables if you're already putting in the infrastructure and use wireless when you have to if you can't get a room hardwired. Be sure to use the good encryption if you plan to use any wireless.

Norma

[Concisus Cognatus]

Great advice from the 2 geek-ladies...just for future possibilities I'd do all Cat 6. That way you're ready for what ever speeds become available if you're intent on going hard-wired.

[epoh]

I'd also vote just 1 Cat6 to each room, you can put a small router in any room that will use more than one connection.

[Hogleg 44]

Originally Posted by Cajungaltx

Okay - geek alert. Just warning you. You need to run conduit throughout your house.

So, PVC or galv? I would assume PVC.

[ka5txl]

Originally Posted by Cajungaltx

Okay - geek alert. Just warning you. You need to run conduit throughout your house.

Some folks are big on wireless - but from a geeky perspective - wireless is convienent, but if I have the option between wireless and a hard wire connected to my computer - I'm going hard wire every time.

It's faster - and it's more reliable.

So buy a wireless router if you want - they are convienent - but if you are wanting to do it right - you need to do this:

Install a wall panel - most houses come with these now - where all the lines come in too - and then all the lines go out to the different rooms.

Think of how an office building is - all of the 'outside' services come in to one large panel - and then are sent to the offices that need them.

Need to move a phone line - switch this cable here, to that cable there, and presto.

Then - you need to install conduit. Conduit acts as a 'tunnel' for you to run future cables through.

Running a cable isn't the hard part - running a cable through.... 2x4's, picture hooks, insulation, electrical wiring - THAT is the the problem. All that crap is in the way.

As far as what to run, one Cat5 and one RG6 to every room.

Each room should be connected to the panel with its own separate cable. Do not loop one cable in between rooms in a series.

I repeat DO NOT LOOP ONE CABLE BETWEEN ROOMS.

One run from the box to the garage.
One run from the box to the living room.
ETC.

Yes it can be a PITA, but it pays off in the long run.

One thing to be aware of - is to keep your conduit at least 4 feet away from electrical stuff. It helps interference from occuring on your lines.


WHY I KNOW SO MUCH: I'm the only girl with 7 older brothers, 2 of which are in electrical fields, and I'm married to a guy who does communications for the US Army, PLUS works for ATT. I've listened to him WAY to often tell me: If I ever build my own house, this is what I'll do for the wiring/communications. *grin*

Yeah, what she said. I'm currently building a new house. I'm going wireless for most of the house, but I/m also running cat 5 from the wireless router in the attic to The combo office/ham shack/ photo studio/guest bed room. I'm also installing conduits with boxes and blank cover plate for future expansion/technology changes

ka5txl added 1 Minutes and 42 Seconds later...Double Post Merged Below

Originally Posted by Hogleg 44

So, PVC or galv? I would assume PVC.

definatly pvc

[chihuahuaphil]

In most localities, plenum rated cable will be required by code for any concealed wiring. If its not marked, its not rated.

[AndrewCCM]

I ran cable in my first house when we had it built. I never ended up using it. Wireless N is plenty fast and likely faster than any ISP service you'll see for many many years. I personally, use gigabit switches in my office for all of my servers and then out from there to several Ethernet to Wireless bridges. Any device that does not have a wireless adapter uses the bridges via ethernet. Works very well across all of my house and even outside...both upstairs and down.

HOWEVER...if I had my choice...I would run wire for my various media servers to their endpoints (typically my TV downstairs). Wireless works fine, but I do get a bit of stutter sometimes via wireless. The bridge I have connected to my Playstation 3 and Samsung DNLA LCD is only 802.11G... I will eventually upgrade that bridge to N at some point.

[iCe]

Personally... I would run all CAT 6 (individual runs as noted) back to a Giga-bit Ethernet Switch. Connect that to a Wireless N router. PC to PC transfers will fly if you've got gig cards in them. The "slow hole" will be out to the internet. I said wireless N because invariably someone will come over with a laptop and want to use your schtuff...

[ElanR]

This is the setup we currently use:

Cat-5E for all the phone lines, for quality.
Cat-6 for network locations, for speed and quality.
Dual RG-6 to all television locations, for satellite on-demand.
Dual Cat-5E to phone service location, for redundancy
Dual RG-6 to cable service location, for redundancy
Five RG-6 to attic, for HD satellite.
Every receptacle has to be a home run.
Central panel location with room for equipment and with AC power.
Security, cameras, audio zones, home automation and distributed video according to your budget.

Do as much up front as your budget allows. All this stuff is 4x the price after the fact.

[Dobick]

Originally Posted by chihuahuaphil

In most localities, plenum rated cable will be required by code for any concealed wiring. If its not marked, its not rated.

I may be completely wrong on this one, but my understanding is that the only time plenum is required is for areas that have open "return air" systems, such as can be found in an office complex with dropped ceilings. If the return air utilizes duct work, it is not required.

If it was my new home, prior to the walls going up, I would have a stub-out piece of pvc put in each wall (no less than 1 inch) with a single gang box and blank face plate put on. All that prior to the drywall going in, so that when it came time for the electronics (whether it is a home stereo, or ethernet, etc...) you could easily pull them yourself. If the drywall is already in, then whether the house is new or old, you will face the same challenges, and quite frankly installing conduit in a wall that is already built is a lot less fun than pulling wire. Speaking of wires, you will want to install two to each location that you want a device. Use cable that is rated to cat5e or better, and pull two of them. The reason for this is that you can use cat5e for phones, but you will have a tough time using phone cable for data uses.

another thing, if this was my house, I would have all the cables coming to a single location, and then I would punch them down onto a patch panel. If this is in a closet, I would then build me a shelf very near that, and make certain that power is available in that closet. When doing it your-self, remember that murphy's law is in full effect! You will need atleast one more power outlet than you have available. One other thing to remember on this note, measure twice and cut once, and even then give yourself a bit of slack. If you cut them exact length, then you inevitably will need two more inches when have to terminate a faulty cable a second time. You can always cut a long cable down to size, but I have yet to see a cable stretcher that works very well...

[hbwise]

My $0.02. Run two of each to each location. Use Cat6 if possible. The extra cost of doing it now is orders of magnitude cheaper than running it later. Also, I have had nothing but trouble with my wireless router with one laptop. Everything else is fine except the one laptop. Very intermittent and VERY frustrating. Of course your mileage may vary.