Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
mbaldwin577

How to wire...

Michael Baldwin
14 years ago

I am remodeling an addition in my new house that was poorly done. I will be taking it down to the studs, and I wanted to add wiring for phone, cable, etc. I was thinking of using a group of wires from smarthome.com that has 2 RG6 and 2 cat-5e cables all bundled together. Is this still a good option, or should I look for something different. I will be using the Dish 622 DVR receiver. I will have the two extra RG6 ran from the dish to the receiver location. One cat-5e would be for phone and DSL, and the other for a wired LAN connection. Although my wife and I both use laptops with wireless cards, sometimes we would rather be connected with wiring. One RG6 would bring the second dish 622 DVR signal to the other TV's in the house, and I am not quite sure what I would use the second RG6 cable for. All connections would be made in one central location.

But any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Michael

Comments (2)

  • kensnh
    14 years ago

    It might be too late, but here I go...

    Don't buy wire, or cable, or fiber, you MAY use.

    Buy the stuff you WILL use.

    Since the walls are, or were open, I would buy the wiring you NEED.

    In the open bays I wouldnstall what I call "pulls" meaning a drop of something, rope,string, whatever. Drill through the top plate,or the bottom, I guess. drop in the pull and close the walls. I take pictures, so I can have "x-ray" vision after the fact.

    But then when the space is finished, and you really know where you want everything, you can then easily go to that bay and pull in what you NEED. Cut in the box and find the pull in the bay, just leave a new pull with your new stuff...

    I have moved wall-mounted TV's so many times in the same rooms, that the place ends up being full of patches or blank plates. And the damage from subsequent hackery, trying to get new, earlier, unheard of special cables to the equipment.

    And not to mention, why fill your walls with expensive cables or bundles, you may never use? Or will be outdated sooner than you can imagine.

    Some people will tell you to always buy the best wire you can while you have the chance, and pull it everywhere. They sell cable. You want it where you NEED it.There are MANY places wired with what was, at the time, the best cable available, CAT5 and RG6 drops all over the freaking place, only to have the end user go wireless. Oh crap, now how do we route the access point because coverage is poor at the pool?Or the bedroom?

    In my own home, I have moved my nice,big,wall-mounted, HD LCD, THREE TIMES....my wife is clearly in charge on this job ;). My Equipment is in an A/V closet near the room, but HDMI, component, IR repeaters, etc are expensive. Why leave that stuff in a wall?

    The cable salespeople used to call it "future-proofing".

    "How could you ever need anything batter than this?"

    Yeah......

    KEN

  • rockblaster
    14 years ago

    Your choice of 2 cat 6 and 2 RG6 quad bundle is not a bad choice. Make chure you use RG6 quad for the extra shielding that works best for DSS and gives a clearer video signal with less distortion and interference. You may also want to consider whether you want distributed audio for future projects or CCTV as well. I am a firm believer in future proofing as cabling is cheap compared to the labor down the road. Most new homes have structured wiring with a panel similar to your electrical system. This allows for "home run" service to each room. The benefit is that if their is a problem with one room it will not affect service to the rest of the home and can be easily diagnosed with simple test equipment from the distribution panel. You may even want to consider a fiber optic run just so its in the wall for future protocols. I suggest you get some advice from a knowledgeable pro depending on what latest gizmos your family is into. Best of luck on your project.
    Mark
    thxdealer.com