Futureproof AV and comms requirements for new build

Blisterman

Planning a new build, and was wondering what I should be looking at in terms of AV and communications that would be as futureproof as possible

For example

Phone lines: I can't see us ever needing a landline in the future, but we'll presumably need one to connect broadband to. Is this right? Or is there a better dedicated broadband connection that can be installed that different providers can connect to?

TV: This all seems to be migrating to streaming. My current apartment has no TV at all and I haven't missed it. But it's only a small expense to put something in. Which is more likely to stick around, a saorview ariel, or a freesat satellite dish?

Broadband:
Aiming for a single wifi router Located in thr centre of the house. Are there any technologies coming down the track that would require additional points?

Other:
Are there any emerging technologies that would be worth wiring in while it's easy to do so?

Stoner

HI blisterman. There are a number of threads on this here, a recent one deals with Cat6 data cabling.

Cat6 cabing would probably be the most important thing.

Select good locations, don't be talked into have 4 points in one corner in a room. Have at least 1 point in your silver medal TV location spots too.

Have a spot for wifi access points, aim to wire these points rather than rely on wifi mesh.

It can be handy for future proofing to just have it at light switches too along side traditional cabling.

Remember you don't have to terminate all the cables , just leave them as spares in the wall in boxes, save money. Many items wont need an rj45 connection

A central location with power where you can alter cabling and redirect things is key.

Your cameras should come back to here too. Just Cat6 to cameras would do the job in most cases.

After that its speaker cabling. Good speaker cabling to the correct locations saves you money in the long run as you will need less mesh network speakers. So make sure your tv room is cabled for the sound system you want. Think about that

TV, I'd bring 3 coax from the main TV to your joint location, this will allow 2 satellite and one digital aerial to be connected. Some would suggest 5 , but it's up to you, these things can get expensive and add up

If your going to wall mount a tv I advise putting the hdmi cables etc in before its slabbed up/skimmed.
I had to chase in pipes only 3 weeks ago for a wall mount set up.
test fitted the hdmi in the wavin pipes before using them and they were fine but getting them in was a complete bastard after the fact.
HDMI back to an AV amplifier is my setup.



I wouldnt be bothered with cat6 at light switches.They will most likely never be used.
If you are going to do that get your sparks to use a deeper backbox for the switches.
makes life a lot easier if you want to fit dimmers/remote switches as they are physically deeper than a plan white faceplate.

Stoner

BrownFinger wrote:

I wouldnt be bothered with cat6 at light switches.They will most likely never be used.

This is possible, however I wish I had them at mine, had to use RF battery units in their place.

If someone wants control of lights then the data cables could easily be used.

You can wire lightwareef, Fibaro, sonoff switches with Cat6.


But i do take your point, only do it if you want that, the OP did ask for futureproofi ideas afterall.

It would be very cheap to pop a data cable in at the same time

awec

Get multiple coax cables going from the exterior of your house to your living room. You may never install it, but if you do then Sky will require 2 coax cables from their dish to your box, and if you have the cables already wired it means they don't have to drill holes in your walls and run cables internally. Virgin also require coax, but just 1 cable in their case. So if you did decide to have Virgin for internet and Sky for tv you'd need 3 coax cables.

In terms of internet, you'll want cat6 in all rooms. As someone said above, just get the cable behind blank wall plates for now, you can connect them up as you need them.

In our house, our router is in our sitting room, and our switch is in the attic. You'll want the router somewhere it can easily be restarted, while the switch will rarely ever be touched so can be placed out of the way. In our case we have a coax from exterior into the sitting room, which connects to the router, which provides the internet connection, which is wired by cat6 into an RJ45 on the wall, which goes via cat6 to the attic to the switch, where it is then distributed around the house.

You could have the router and the switch as one unit, but that means either storing your router out of the way which is annoying when you need to restart it, or having your switch somewhere like your sitting room or hall and it's pretty unsightly.

Don't forget to tell the electrician to provide sockets wherever you want to put your switch, if you do decide to put it somewhere like the attic.

alan4cult

Also, bring neutrals to the light switch where possible. Nice to have a complete circuit at the switch and not just a live.

alan4cult

alan4cult wrote: »

Also, bring neutrals to the light switch where possible. Nice to have a complete circuit at the switch and not just a live.

Good idea,I always do this in my own place.

One I ran into the other day at home which was a pain.
I was installing varilight IR switches , 2gang, both 2 way circuits.
This setup needs a master and a slave unit.
I didnt know when wiring that the slave unit also needed a permanent live.
The strappers are still used so couldn't use one of them so had to link them out.
Not the end of the world in a bungalow but could of done without an hour in a sweltering attic shouting down the hatch to the missus!

So keep a permanent live at every switch as well as a neutral !

link to the switches for anyone interested (i didnt get them from scewfix)
I use them with my harmony remote via IR.

https://www.ie.screwfix.com/varilight-v-pro-2-gang-1-way-200w-infrared-touch-remote-dimmer-switch-white.html?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=Shopping&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3p7xyKHN4wIViLTtCh3N6QpnEAQYBCABEgKCYfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

whizbang

I would look at a DC Solar power supply wiring system also.

When electricity becomes prohibitively expensive in IRL, you can still have the use of all those toys.
You can send up to 48v over those Cat6 cables also.

Lackadaisical

You should assign a location where you can bring all your communication cabling together and place routers and so on.

We ran flexible ducts to all the CAT6 points and brought them back to a single location in a large cupboard in the utility room.

The logic of running ducts was to make cables early replaceable in case of any deterioration but more so that technology has changed so quickly over the last few decades. Today's CAT6 could end up being replaced by something else like fibre in a couple of decades and I'm not planning to need to pull wires out of walls for a long time.

You absolutely do need to provide for incoming phone line (for VDSL fiber to cabinet services), coax for cable broadband or fibre for FTTH from openEir or Siro.

If you're in a rural area that's using wireless services, you should provide ducts to the soffit near a chimney or suitable location for antenna. That's also important for satellite, if you don't want to have cables trailing around the roof.

Also put plenty of satellite grade coax into the areas where you're planning to have your TVs. Ideally run at least 3 to each main TV.

You might also want to consider speaker wiring for the main TV room and kitchen and so on.

If you're planning TV wall mounts, you'll need flush power and access behind the screen. Some new TVs like the Samsung Frame place the tuners and all the inputs into a separate box that's linked to the TV by a long, thin fibre. So if your planning something like that you need to be aware of what your TV needs to make the connections invisible.