Wired or Wireless for Home Network from Scratch - July 2008?

Many thanks eriew for all your comments -

Running the 2-conductor copper wire (along with other cables), during construction, to support old-style US telephone gives me more options in selecting a phone provider, wouldn't be much of a cost adder, and might give me a future DSL option.

Also, Being "FIOS" ready or just considering this service as an alternative to a cable-modem is another great suggestion.

Thanks again!

- april05

Agreed,

But just run CAT5 everywhere, or CAT6 if you want gigabit (What's used for 10G runs?) but why run Gigabit unless your going to do large file movements, I feel even video can be happy run on Megabit, say from a central PVR server (MythTV or the Windoze variant)

run it all to a patch panel, So when your kids grow up, they can have the patch a phone to their room, or a computer connection to the Internet.

Just 1 thing, don't run your power and data in the same wall cavity, run them down the walls, and if you want them close, then run horizontally to each other at the height you with the outlet to be.

Also make sure you cover every room (almost)

My wife and I had a house built recently and did the same thing. One suggestion for ease of any future expansion. If you have an attic or open basement, run an empty piece of conduit from the junction box to the attic or basement. It will be much easier to just feed a line through that since it is already open. Good luck!

Wires are cheap and reliable

I would stay away from CAT-3. The way technology is going, faster is better, so stick with CAT-5E (6), COAX, or even fiber. Multi-mode fiber is getting quite reasonable in cost and placing it now will be easier than after the walls are up and enclosed.

Many thanks to all for your suggestions.

Met with the builder last night, and he is open to running cable(s), per my requirements, through our newly constructed house.

He offered to allow me to visit the house during construction, and speak with the electrician.

It's now clear how to send IP packets through the house, for Internet and LAN, but I'm still a little foggy on how to best run a digital video signal, captured by a HD VHF/UHF receiving antenna:

Run it on traditional cable TV coax cable, ethernet cable (converted to IP and sent over same cable as used by home PC network), fiber optic, or some other cable?

Thanks again to all.

- april05

I would suggest running the coax throughout for the video, but be sure to include it also to be run to your junction box where you can access it and convert it to your ethernet if you choose. I know it may seem early, but you need to consider resale in your decisions, and most people will have or be use to coax connections for video sources.

Just some other general suggestions since you are so early in the process. I am not sure if you have had any experience with building a home before, or having one built, but we have had a few and have learned a few things. One thing that usually escapes us is location of light switches, especially in relation to doors and door swing directions. Look at the plans and imagine having to access each switch and the accessibility of each switch. We currently have one that was placed inside our master bath beside the door, however, the door hinges are on that side too, so we have to close the door before we can turn on our lights. Also pay attention to the distance away from the doorway. On our first house, again in the master bath, the door was on an angle and the light switch was placed on a parallel wall, so it was not right beside the door as you would expect. It should not be an issue to change the location of a switch, outlet, or something as long as it is within building codes.

I guess the general idea is look at all of the details, especially the small ones, because those are the ones that can get irritating really easily really quickly. Things like door swing direction, switch and outlet placement, and things like that do not effect the structural integrity of the house, so it should not be a big deal to change them around a bit.

You mentioned that your builder would allow you to visit the house during construction. You should really be able to come and go as you please as long as it is a safe environment.

I wish you luck with this adventure because it will be very exciting, but it will be a long and extremely stressful one too, no matter how good the builder is. A lot of people that have done what you are doing swear that they will never do it again, but it is worth it. We have done it three times, and every time during the process we have said we would never do it again, but it worked out great anyway. Just have patience. This time next year, you will be in the house and the extra week or two it took to do something will have been worth it. If you have any other questions or concerns or would like some advice, I really would like to help. Don't be afraid to ask either your builder or somebody else, because if it is a concern now that is not addressed and straightened out, it will likely haunt you well after the house is built. Again, I am available for advice. Good Luck!!

With your house fully networked, check out MythTV (Linux based PVR.. http://www.mythtv.org/ ) they run a Backend and Frontend computers.

You record the TV shows (FTA, Cable and Satillite) to the backend unit, then the front ends connect over the ethernet, suck the data stream from the backends and display HD on your local TV location.

You don't need a tacky tower case, some of the newer flat cases have the Hi-Fi front panel controls and displays that are suitable for installation into Hi-Fi racks, and with the price of BR players, slip one of those into the box, and your set to go ;o)

If your worried about leaving some of the computers on 24/7, the Backend can be programmed to only come online when a TV recording is scheduled, then turn itself off when its finished, set up a web interface, so you can modify your recording schedules while your not at home, say your at work, and someone is talking about a new show that you didn't notice, jump on the Internet, login to your home server, and update ;o)

Wire it up !! You still want to create a data/phone network in your house. Install at least home runs of cat 5 from one central location, near the entry point of your existing data or cable lines.

From there you can send any signal anywhere. I usually take all home runs to every room and punch them down to a central cat 5 block, and then use a 110 block to tie any phone lines (multiple if applicable) together, then patch them over to existing home runs with a cat 5 jumper cable. You now can also have ultra flexibility when it comes to creating a computer network, and separating or distinguishing between phone lines. etc.

At any point you are rebuilding or building from scratch, you MUST take the opportunity to run ALL the cabling necessary, so there is no need for messy retro fitting. No matter what internet service you will ever get, you will use the network to distribute it.

So make sure you have adequate home runs in every room or situation.

Do not overly concern yourself with wireless systems, you will need a hardwired network regardless, and unless you own a macintosh system (wireless 'n' standard), you are going to have a slow wireless g router and/or wireless card.

I agree with most of what has been posted already. A couple additional points to consider:

Use RG6, preferably quad shielded, for all your coax runs. HD and analog both can get pretty lossy in anything smaller, even in runs as short as 40-50 feet.

Bring the home run from your cable provider to your wiring closet/rack. Connect the home run directly to bi-directional RF distribution amplifier (NOT a splitter) designed to handle broadband, and use the 4 or 6 outputs to go to your modem and various video locations.

Use Cat 6 for telephone & data. The wire is cheap compared to the installation labor, so get the fastest transfer rate available for new construction. Otherwise, you'll end up with a bottlenecked system in 5-10 years. I can still remember when 2400 BPS was considered "high speed", but within 5 years, even 100 MBPS will be considered marginally acceptable as demand increases for hi-def video via the internet.

You could go for fiber, but the industry is still shaking out standards for end-user terminations & connectors. Also, for the short runs in your house you'll have to use multi-mode, but what would come in from the outside world will be single-mode. You'll need at least a mid-grade fiber switch to make that conversion, and those haven't come down to "home use" prices yet. You would also need fiber-copper conversion electronics at every terminal, since TV's & computers don't yet come with fiber ports.

Aside from being too slow wireless access has way too many security holes and is subject to reflection , absorption and interference of the signal wheras a wired environment can be at least 100 times faster , more secure and far less likely to suffer from interference. You can always add wireless as an option later If you really need the freedom of portability without cables. Be carefull when it comes to wireless as security is wide open until you implement it otherwise anyone parked outside your house can use your wireless access if within range.

Greetings.

Wiring a home makes good sense.

The wiring is relatively inexpensive and should last for a long long time. Most people can install their own systems. There are a lot of places on the internet that give you the information. To maintain Cat5 function be sure to use Cat5 jacks and wire them to the Cat5 standard.

It would be best if you installed it in a conduit of some kind so that you could pull out a damaged or outdated cable and pull in a new one without drilling holes or tearing up walls etc.

I suggest multiple Cat5e at each location wired back to a hub closet. You have a built in backup. Terminating all the cables and computers in a jack panel and labeling them makes quick and simple changes and testing.

You can use these for:

1. Telephone

2. Computers

3. Controls for electrical or electronic devices.

4. Printers

5. Faxes

6. Only your imagination and use limit you.

You need a problem, a good imagination, and a well planned wired system.

Wired computer systems are much harder to monitor, intercept information or traffic from outside of your home and are more secure. They are not affected by the transmission of frequencies outside or inside the home.

Many thanks to all for your latest comments! I promise to update this forum again and share how things go at the on-site meeting with the electrician, and also promise to share which configuration I went with for cabling (hard-wired looks like the way to go and will be my focus) and Internet/LAN/Digital TV. Gratefully yours, - april05