Future-proofing new house

986s

Hi folks!

About to meet my electrician soon and was wondering what would people include in their new house to future-proof it as regards multimedia, networking, security and home automation. Its no problem to run any cables at the moment, as its not plastered. Somebody suggested cat5 cabling in each room, forgive my ignorance but what will this do for me? Possibly might go for a music setup based on sonos-www.sonos.com. I am particulary interested in broadband access in the major areas like sitting room, kitchen etc.

Any help as always appreciated!

SouperComputer

well, if you are going for future proofing, go for CAT6 cabling, just in case. This will give you a data connection for each point. It can be used for phones, computer networking even video etc etc. Get two sockets per outlet, all patched back to one area, possibly in the attic.

Have a look at www.slimdevices.com as an alternative to sonos. Personally I think the sonos gear is overpriced and limited.

byte

Apart from Networking, what other services are you considering? Sky/NTL/Chorus/etc? I'd suggest 4 coaxial cables to your main TV room, for future proofing (Sky+/SkyHD, terrestrial aerial, up feed).

Then for other rooms that you may consider a satellite receiver, at least 2 coaxial cables.

Also, make sure the cables he uses is proper copper-on-copper (commonly CT100), as this cable is minimum spec for satellite, and indeed is very good for terrestrial signals also.

Other cabling could be maybe for home cinema. Have wires chased for the rear speakers.

Fallschirmjager

SouperComputer wrote:

well, if you are going for future proofing, go for CAT6 cabling, just in case. This will give you a data connection for each point. It can be used for phones, computer networking even video etc etc. Get two sockets per outlet, all patched back to one area, possibly in the attic.

Have a look at www.slimdevices.com as an alternative to sonos. Personally I think the sonos gear is overpriced and limited.

i took soups advice here months back...and cat6 is the dogs big D....way recommended...

Black Sky

Dual Cat 6 cabling points in each room.
I think the 4 x CT100 is good.
need to think about what corner of each room to put these, and I'll bet that within two years your other half will rearrange the furniture and want to move the TV to the other side of the room.

Need to think about where you can wire them all back to, especially if you are likely to put networking kit, or a HTPC etc at this central location. Attic is way too hot for this kind of stuff. In the past I've done it to the bottom part of the wardrobe in a spare bedroom, (just a networking switch there). Current house,
I'm thinking the undestairs closet, with vent to the downstairs loo, as it is shaded and so relatively cool.

To be a real perfectionist, is you know it is satellite or ntl cable etc you are getting, run the relevant (multiple) cables from your central wiring panel location to the wall points you think these will enter the building, eg, roof, or side of house where dish will be mounted. same applies to your phone, as ericom can be a pain when it comes to this sort of stuff.

Hidden behind walls you can never have too much cable......

986s

Many thanks for your replies folks!

Each room where I would like to have a TV in, has one Cat 5e cable and 3 Ct100 cables going to it. My main living room has double this and I also have various CAt 5e cables dotted around the place. All this cabling will travel back to my study where I presume I can patch panel it at a later date.

A friend has advised putting an earth cable into where my light switches are going to be, an example is that they could be home automated at a later date. Does this make sense to people here? Also all my phone points are CAT 5e as I think I can make them a network point or phone point.

Im probably going to go with a sonos music system-www.sonos.com and I was wondering can I use this to access the internet, as on the back of the controllers there are four ethernet ports- is a matter of just connecting into one of these and away I go surfing the net?

Basically I would like to have satellite tv in all rooms, have a wired internet connection at various locations around the house, have a wireless music system and have limited home automation control- for example if the alarm goes off my lights automatically come on.

So do you think Im sorted for this with the above cabling or do I need to add more?

Many thanks

Red Alert

I'd steer clear of wireless music and go for professional-grade equipment. You can get higher-power and higher-fidelity speakers for the price of wireless kit. Give yourself a nice fridge-size rack, or preferably a floor-to-ceiling job and you can centrally locate all your DVD players and the like.

sarahn11

wwas wondering where can you get someone to wire you home with cat6 cables??? new house will be ready in march, so want to get on top of this before its too late!!

byte

986s wrote:

Each room where I would like to have a TV in, has one Cat 5e cable and 3 Ct100 cables going to it. My main living room has double this and I also have various CAt 5e cables dotted around the place. All this cabling will travel back to my study where I presume I can patch panel it at a later date.

Good work. You're one of few who think of these things BEFORE plastering etc is complete! Many don't think of these detials until later.

bpmurray

Just one point - don't forget the phone cables (I did, and lost a cat5e to each room I needed a phone!). Use a Cat5e for that too, so you have multiple pairs you can use. BTW, don't use your already-planned Cat5e for the phone since you'll need all 4 pairs for Gigabit LAN.