The joys of cabling a house...

BobSutan

BobSutan

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Apr 5, 2000
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Well, now that I've got a house to play with (cue jokes about playing house), I'm preparing to install network/voice/cable into most of the rooms. What I'm looking to do is almost identical to what he's doing in this thread. If anyone has tips for pulling cable through already finished walls/ceilings/basements I'm all for hearing about it. I'm considering just hiring someone, but I'd rather do it myself.

If you guys know of comparable parts (to what the guy in the thread I linked to is using), or have any favorites you'd like to recommend, let me know about them.
 
Here's some tools and items to pick up that will make things easier.

3/4" wide 18" long spade bit, get a 12" extension for it too. Get an exetension that uses two small nuts to tighten down with, not the kind with the tightening collar.

Keyhole saw to cut box openings with

Steel fish tape. You can get one that comes out flat.

The Green cable pulling sticks, they have them at home centers, and they can come in handy.

Get a 10 pack of good electrical tape. It's something like $6 at Home Depot. Use it librally when taping wires to the snake to pull through.

Also, just personally, I'm not crazy about those structured wiring setups, seems kind of over priced to me, but it just personal preference. I like to go with regular patch panels.
 
What was nice in my dads new house is that the studs for the floor actually had punched out holes every couple feet or so. It made it so much easier installing the Cat 5
 
valve1138 said:
Also, just personally, I'm not crazy about those structured wiring setups, seems kind of over priced to me, but it just personal preference. I like to go with regular patch panels.
Click to expand...

If you get the stuff on eBay, the prices are much better. Usually around 30%-50% of the prices you see at Home Depot. I went that route, and it was less than $200 for everything I needed. Still more than just working with regular patch panels, but it's worth it having everything (networking and TV) all in a nice small box.

Bob, I'll try to snag some pictures of my current setup, it's pretty similar to what that guy did. My basement wasn't finished yet, though, so it was much easier to run cables to the entire house. I went with 2 CAT6/2 RG6 to each room, plus some extra CAT6 to the office.

If you can, the best bet is to run some conduit from the basement to the attic, assuming you can figure out how to get it up there. Then you can run the cables up to the attic and drill down into the walls of the rooms below.

Also, if you do go looking on eBay for stuff, I can recommend frwoodworking as a great seller to deal with. They've always got tons of surplus Leviton stuff for really good prices.
 
Please do post some pics. They always help with this sort of stuff. And thanks to everyone for the words of advice. I'm gonna try to get some cables ran this weekend. Hopefully I can get the cables into the walls properly--the idea about going through the attic is much appreciated. I was always thinking of how to do it from the basement :(
 
Basically, we had to run drops to different rooms in my house, but it was a pain in the ass trying to get everything to a central location.

What I ended up having to do was have 2 separate switches, connected by a 100mbit crossover cable. One switch on each side of the house, and now I just run direct lines from each room I need a drop in, and connect it straight into the switch, I didn't do the whole patch panel thing.

This setup runs the average home user perfectly, as half the computers just do basic internet browsing, IM and printing over the network, and the heavy loads come when I transfer ISO's or movie rips. Suits my needs well.

So if you have trouble getting everything to a central location, never rule out mroe than one connected by either a nice fiber link or a 100mbit crossover.
 
New development. I had a chance meeting with the guy moving in next door when I was grilling some steaks out back. Turns out he owns his own company that does this stuff and he quoted me on the spot as $300-400. The hardware itself would run close to that. Quite frankly the extra hundred or so for him to run the cables is worth it IMO.
 
Hi

I have worked for a Cedia Installer (home cinema and various other systems) for the last three years (before moving across the pond) and can tell you that once a company gets above a certain size, one of the very first things they do is farm out the cable pulling to someone else. It is BORING and a pain in the rear and time consuming.... but then you already have someone to do this which is great!

Some of the key issues which can help are having some form of cable conduit (as large as possible) between floors to allow you to easily run cables between different floors. Drainpipe can be good for this, especially in new builds, but for existing houses, finding space to install it into can be problematic.

What can sometimes be useful, certainly if you are just looking at the data network, is to have head-ends in a couple of different locations - so for data wiring this might mean a patch panel in the roof to which you star wire all of you sockets from the rooms on the top floor (am assuming you have a two floor house with basement), one in the basement for the rooms on the first floor, or maybe more depending on the size of your humble abode. Links between the two locations though, are KEY. In my experience the project manage never specifies enough and my colleagues and I were always having to get creative to allow us to connect relay A in the plant room to a controller in attic.... I would say that a dozen cables between the two head ends would be fine for your average two storey house.


Other tips:

  • ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS give yourself more sockets that you will think you need. Look at the way you can now get internet fridges etc and bank on the fact that integration is becoming a bigger and bigger factor in everyday life with every passing day. You probably only want to do this once, so you may want to put a couple of sockets in the lounge where the TV goes, for IP enabled amps, DVD players etc. If you think you want three sockets in your study (one PC, one laptop, one network printer) I would say double it. You can always add a small 4 port switch, but if you are running cable to that one room anyway, so why not do it properly? Obviously, WAF becomes key, too many sockets can cause some spouses to freak out and a flea in the ear is never a pleasant experience

    Everybody seems to love wireless, except those people who have to install it (guess which camp I belong to :p). Wired connections, usually work, continue to work and then carry on working (up until you drill through the wire when installing something else :D). Wireless networking can be a great solution to a particular problem, or useful in less built up areas, but a nightmare in dense urban areas where techno-johnny has set himself+parents+cousins+progeny up on channel 11. Cables also don't require electricity... power over ethernet can be a useful for putting network cameras half way up a wall where you don't have a mains socket.

    Run cables directly up/down the walls from your sockets, that way you know where they are when it comes to drilling holes for hanging pictures etc.
    And finally, pick the brains of your neighbour for all you are worth!!!! :D He may be able to give you ideas you never thought of. If you are cabling for voice and data, why not do audio at the same time? A reel of speaker cable and cheap ceiling speakers plus some soeaker switch boxes could give you audio in the bathroom or kitchen for peanuts.

    Home networking sites such as hiddenwires can be full of info and ideas.

    Make sure you get the correct kind of cable for the place you are installing it. There are certain regulations about "plenum grade" cable which you must use in certain spaces, I won't try and explain something I half understand... google it! A good installer will also know when you may need shielded cable (almost never in my experience... but don't get caught out!)

Disclaimer:
Obviously, my experience so far is based on UK building regs and there may be US regs I am not aware of. Consult with a proper Cedia installer if in doubt... they are certified for a reason!

Okay, well I hope to be able to edit this again later or tomorrow (i makes for slightly rough reading), as I have to rush off now. PM me if you need further info, it may be more practical to chat on MSN etc

Regards

James
 
Wow, I actually remembered to take some pictures...

This is how it looks when it's done


Shot of the whole SMC (yeah, I haven't made any patch cables yet, sue me)


Closeup of the components (3x6 port Cat5e punchdown blocks, 1x8 BiDi CATV amp, SMC Gigabit router)


Backside (wireless router doesn't work too good inside a metal box)


Conduit clamps work great for holding cables


Another shot of cables and clamps (1 of 3 main runs through the house)


Why my wife is about a day away from kicking my ass. :)


A few more things:
- In most places in the US, low voltage cable does not have to be inspected. Even so, it's probably a good idea to use in-wall rated cable for anything you have in wall.
- RG6 QS with a solid copper conductor is ideal, especially for long runs. I know DirectTV makes a point to now recommend solid copper core RG6 for their new HD dish/receivers. It doesn't cost a whole lot more, so might as well play it safe
- Same thing with network cable. Might as well spend a few dollars more for some CAT6 or better. Won't make much of a difference now, but who knows 10 years from now.
 
jw2k_fr said:
Hi

Other tips:

  • ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS give yourself more sockets that you will think you need. Look at the way you can now get internet fridges etc and bank on the fact that integration is becoming a bigger and bigger factor in everyday life with every passing day. You probably only want to do this once, so you may want to put a couple of sockets in the lounge where the TV goes, for IP enabled amps, DVD players etc. If you think you want three sockets in your study (one PC, one laptop, one network printer) I would say double it. You can always add a small 4 port switch, but if you are running cable to that one room anyway, so why not do it properly? Obviously, WAF becomes key, too many sockets can cause some spouses to freak out and a flea in the ear is never a pleasant experience
Regards

James
Click to expand...

i am quoting this because its bloody good advice

also one of my habits is always pull a few extra cables through and an extra draw cable\wire\string to Every point its a lot easier and if the worst comes to happen you run out of points you either have spare cable there or if thats used up the string is there so you can just draw another

also look at doing drops on multiple sides of a room your desk may not always be in the same place
 
BobSutan said:
New development. I had a chance meeting with the guy moving in next door when I was grilling some steaks out back. Turns out he owns his own company that does this stuff and he quoted me on the spot as $300-400. The hardware itself would run close to that. Quite frankly the extra hundred or so for him to run the cables is worth it IMO.
Click to expand...


Oh hell yeah it's worth it.

I'm pretty good with cable pulling as I used to do it professionally. But I still farm stuff out to contractors for bigger jobs even when it's a few hundred more.
 
tacticus said:
also one of my habits is always pull a few extra cables through and a an extra draw cable\wire\string to Every point
Click to expand...

Oh yes... leaving draw wires in..... can be heaven when you realise you've forgotten a cable


tacticus said:
also look at doing drops on multiple sides of a room your desk may not always be in the same place
Click to expand...

Oh yes... this is great advice too.. you don't have to cut holes in the wall and put sockets there at install time. but as long as you know where the cables are... you can add the sockets later if your desk position does change. Drop enough cable to reach the height of your socket plus a metre or two... you never know how many attempts it may take for you to terminate the cable properly, or you may need to tweak the position of the sockets come install time.

Cable (especially CAT5) is dirt cheap if you buy it buy the 305m box.

Obviously, there are sensible limits to be applied here, you don't need six cable drops in every room :) but just think about each room, how you use it, and whether its function is likely to change - could that nursery become a study in a few years? You get the drift I'm sure.

Also, think a little further than just what your current needs are. Being able to sit in the garden with a PC can be a great way to work. Again, it's not something you need to do straight away, but if you are opening ceilings or have access to walls at one point in time, it't better to get everything in at once that repeatedly cutting holes in things (this again leads back to W.A.F.). You might want to have a socket in the garage for some unknown future event, or just run a cable out there. It really is entirely down to the limit of your imagination (and budget ;))

Other snippets of advice:
- Bigger install companies tend to use different colour cables for different functions - red for data, yellow for voice, purple for security or whatever you prefer. It makes identifying a particular cable much easier

- If you can, draw up some plans as you go, because the documentation side is a huge plus if you come to sell the house (as a wired home).

- Keep things neat if you can, this also helps at resale time as it helps build the impression of quality workmanship

- LABEL EVERYTHING! Trying to trace a broken cable can be so much easier if you know you are looking for cable A2. When you terminate your cables in the patch panel, you may have 30 cables which come back to your attic. This would be terminated on strips of sockets and you might align them one below the other down one side of your enclosure. The top row of sockets may be labelled A, the second row B, the third row C etc etc. When looking at the sockets in each row, the left-most socket could be number 1, the second number 2 (think of the game battleships from when you were a kid). Also, this location (patch panel in the roof, is on the third floor, so you could prefix it with a 3). What this all means is that when you look at a socket in the bedroom (which is not live for some unknown reason) and it is labelled 3C3, you immediately know to go to the attic and check the 3rd socket from the left in the third strip down. If you want to be really geeky (or you have NO friends :p) you can keep a record in each patch panel as to where each socket may be found. Unless you but managed data switches (which give you stats as to network utilization) having a flooded data network can be a nightmare. If you can see from the data switch that all the traffic is coming from socket BA4 (Basement A4), you can tromp around the house looking a for a socket with the matching label (to eventually find that your internet fridge is making out with the toaster again), but it is so much easier to be able to consult a chart and walk straight to the cause of the problem.

- Simple tools such as a mod-tap (or continuity) tester, a toner, punchdown tools and the previously mentioned draw wires/cables etc are essential to this kind of work if you don't want to end up half bald!

- You mentioned wanting to try and pull some cable this weekend.... well you may actually be better advised spending this weekend and couple of evenings next week examining your space, possible cable runs, your needs in each room and drawing yourself a plan of action. It will undoubtedly save you time in the long. Pulling two cables half the length of the house for a third time over the exact same route will tee you off to the point where you will wonder why on earth you thought this was a good idea in the first place. Drawing it all out first may help you clarify your needs and work out where your common runs could be (adjoining walls between two rooms?). They can also make the basis of the documentation I mentioned for resale purposes

Choose one wiring standard and stick with it. There are two main CAT5 termination schemes - 568A and 568B. Not all sockets or RJ45 plugs will be clearly labelled as to which scheme they follow. Buy one brand which matches your chosen scheme and try to stick with it. Having 568A at one end of a cable and 568B at the other can take days to troubleshoot :)

Make sure you know your max cable lengths. 400ft of Cat5 in one length to from the basement to the other end of the garden exceeds the 100m max. You need to start using data switches in key locations and daisy chaining your locations. (Make sure you also know the max number of segments in a LAN)

Did I mention tools already? Yes I did, but I didn't stress that you will only have an easy life if you test things thoroughly. When I first started working on data networks, it would probably take me three or four attempts to make a patch cable which tested correctly. Nowadays it is pretty rare for me to need to crimp each end more than once. But now I follow a set formula, I cut the ends to a known length, I arrange the wires in a particular way, I crimp with a tool I know works for me and know what to check in the process to avoid some simple errors. Practice makes perfect, and you will get to be quicker and more accurate with time, but you will only know whether you are doing it correctly either by plugging a computer into a switch thorugh the cable you have just terminated (slow and a pain in the harris), or by using a cable tester.

Good quality tools are worth their weight in gold... not that you have to buy the most expensive ones though. Here is a list of what I would recommend:

1) A Cable stripper. Pay no more than $5. More complicated does not mean more efficient - I can't find the one I have, but this would do just as well

2) Cutters - both straight and side cutters - hardened if possible or they tend to break after a short period of time of snipping fiddly wires

3) A CAT5 cable crimper. I can't find the one I used, but it would be a lot more expensive than this. These are used for crimping RJ45 connectors onto Cat5 cable. In theory you won't be doing so much of this as you will be more likely to be punching down cables into patch panels like this

4) A punch down or termination tool which matches the strips. You can get a cheapo one like this but it WILL drive you nuts after you have found that it doesn't chop off the end of the wire you are terminating.

5) If you plan to run more than half a dozen cables, and you can afford it, this is key for identifying a mystery cable. This particular model is overkill, but you do want a tone generator and probe. Basically, in a situation where you forgot to label some cables, and need to find which one of half a dozen at the head end is the cable which ends in the bedroom, you turn on and apply the tone generator to the bare copper of a couple of strands of the cable in the bedroom, then you take the probe to the head end and and put it up against the bundle of unlabelled cables. One of the cables should have a tone emanating from it, and you can confirm this by pressing the probe to the cut end of each wire. One of them will suddenly emit a very loud tone when tested - this is your cable.

6) CAT5 Cable tester. This is a tricky one. You can go for just a continuity tester, which tends to be cheaper, but sometimes, you need one of these.

I have used a fair number of links from a website called Lanshack.com, only because they have everything in one place. After a little more digging it seems that they aren't the cheapest, so bear this in mind when compiling your shopping list.

Okay, thats, it for the mo, more as I think of it

James

PS Hometheatrespot is not IT related but you may be able to glean more ideas there!

Other links:
http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/cabletester1.html

A very good CAT5 primer. Make sure to read their FAQs too. This is probably too much info to digest in one go, but it is full of nuggets both on the install side and the troubleshooting side

The same people explain how to wire a phone jack.

They also have great advice on how to plan and run conduit here and here
 
I have done a good deal of cabling work, both residential and commercial.
I recommend buying the best product you can. I use Leviton jacks/plates/etc, and CommScope cable usually. One recommendation, because I am not a fan of those all in one enclosures, you might want to pick a storage room to use for your network room, put a piece of plywood on the wall, run all your cables to there and mount patch panels, switch, router, catv stuff to it. Makes it much easier to add/change things when you are not confined to a box. I think in smaller homes where you will probably not expand much, they are probably okay.
other tips, like running conduit in hard to get to areas, and pull strings (for the next time you need a cable), have pretty much been covered.
label EVERYTHING and DOCUMENT IT!

As far as tools go, here is what I use:
harris snips
klein dikes (cutters)
klein needlenose
cat5/coax stripper (I just use it for coax)
harris d914 punchdown tool
various screwdrivers
linesman pliers
klein wire strippers
utility knife
rj45 crimper (ideal crimpmaster)
coax compression crimper
toner/tracer- IF YOU BUY ONLY ONE EXPENSIVE TOOL, MAKE IT THIS!
buttset for phone stuff
paladin cable tester
multimeter once in a while
sharpie markers
tape (lots, and different colors too)
cable ties
mini maglites
plano box of screws, anchors, cable tie mounts, bridge clips, beanies, plugs, bits/blades, misc parts.
*I REALLY LIKE KLEIN TOOLS*
 
I am looking into doing this for my new home aswell. I plan on using the existing drops for phone and coaxial to run about 2-4 ethernet ports per room. Luckily all the rooms (except the kitchen) all are wired for phone and coax.

Now I just have to figure out where to put the stuff.
 
I live in florida, my advice is to do it in the morning before the attic heats up(unles you like to hang out in the sauna) or hire an illegal immigrant(also found at home depot in the parking lot) to do the attic work. Try not to roll around in the fiberglass insulation too much it itches for a loooong time.;)
 
I would recommend a long drill bit. The drill bit / pull rod ones are great.
I used to install security systems for ADT, and we used a 3/8" bit on a 6ft long flexible steel shaft. This is super helpful for pulling a wire from halfway up a wall into the attic or crawlspace. Pop the bit through the wall, angle up till it hits the top plate and drill. Once you break through, release the bit, and there is a hole in the end of the shaft to tie your wire to. Go into the attic, grab the bit and pull. Those eliminate a lot of your fishtape / chain useage.

I think they sell something similar at Home Depot in the electrical section, under the Greenlee brand.
 
I am so happy that I negotiated with the builder of my new house to give me a credit for all of the low voltage and allow my father and I to do it. I'm pretty handy and he has all of the paperwork (contractors license, insurance, etc.). For what he would have charged us just to do telephone and cable we will be able to do:

Cat5e
Two runs to every room for use with voice or data.

RG6 Quad Shield
Two runs to every room for Video (HD feeds from Satellite and antenna)

Cat5e
One run to every room for whole house audio control.

16AWG, 2 Pair Speaker Cable
One run to every room for whole house Audio

Central Vac
7 Hookups, 3 up, 3 down, and one in the garage.

And the biggest thing is that I will be able to put in ENT - Electrical Nonmetallic Tubing throughout the house for future cabling needs. All in all we will be running approximately 5000 feet of low-voltage cable. It should be enough... :)
 
How do you run a cable thru the celing of a room? If I drill a hole in one side of the room, and a hole on the other side can you literally just snake a wire snake all the way across a 30 foot living room without hitting beams and stuff along the way that would prevent you from going any furthur?

I know its different for every house I just want a general consensus so I know if its worth putting the two holes in the celing before i even attempt it...
 
unfortunately there is always 'something' up there that is an obstacle. without being able to see you are just fishing blind. it won't be easy. even when you have attic access it isn't always as easy as you might think. i had to run wire down a wall and it ended up behind a drain pipe. had to get my hand into the hole for the box and managed to get the wire. every job is different unfortunately.
 
Thought I'd update this thread since I finally made some progress with the refurb.

I replaced the old phone wire that was running out to the NID and used CAT-5e. When I got it all hooked back up I saw a 25% speed increase from my DSL, both down and up! That was a sweet surprise. FYI, when rewiring from the old 4-pin cable to CAT-5, here's the proper pinouts (TMK, correct me if I'm wrong):

CAT-5 white blue to Green
CAT-5 Blue to Red
CAT-5 White Orange to Black
CAT-5 Orange to Yellow

I was trying to follow the same color code scheme (partly because I forgot the phone color code and that I just wanted to keep it simple) when I realized my eyes weren't decieving me and that was in fact red pins in the RJ-11 phone jack. I wish I'd taken pictures, but this is pretty close to what I'm talking about (the jack I terminated the line to that came from the NID). The only differerence was where the color pins were located on the back screws (my red and green were the bottom two pins instead of what this picture uses).

rj11.gif


And I'll impart to you this wisdom: never try to strip phone wires with your teeth unless you're absolutely sure you disconnected the line. I got a good zap right on the chin because I didn't. In all seriousness, you should never strip wire with your teeth. Right tool for the right job and all that.

I may be able to wire up the basement after all. I noticed at home depot they have 1/2" PVC piping about 10' long. If I connect 2 of them together I can slide them all the way across the space above the finished ceiling. If I can get a weight and some fine rope I'll be in business and be able to get the wires through the verticle walls. But this still doesn't help me with getting the ground floor and upstairs wired. FYI, I'm still taking recommendations on that one, with the front runner being a conduit of some type running from the attick to the basement with the floors being pulled back to that instead of having them individually ran to the basement.
 
well if you want to go that route you could run cat5e and/or coax feeds to the attic from the basement. place a switch up there and run all your cables to the rooms from there. essentially you would be creating an IDF in the attic. Only concern is ventilation/temperature for active equipment. Phone wiring would be okay, same for TV...splitters and blocks are passive.

Jeff
 
BobSutan said:
I may be able to wire up the basement after all. I noticed at home depot they have 1/2" PVC piping about 10' long. If I connect 2 of them together I can slide them all the way across the space above the finished ceiling. If I can get a weight and some fine rope I'll be in business and be able to get the wires through the verticle walls. But this still doesn't help me with getting the ground floor and upstairs wired. FYI, I'm still taking recommendations on that one, with the front runner being a conduit of some type running from the attick to the basement with the floors being pulled back to that instead of having them individually ran to the basement.
Click to expand...

Put a little air in a sandwich baggie, and tie a string around the baggie. Stuff the baggie in one end of the conduit, and hook up your shop vac to the other end. Flip on the vac, and say hello to the baggie. :)
 
valve1138 said:
Here's some tools and items to pick up that will make things easier.

3/4" wide 18" long spade bit, get a 12" extension for it too. Get an exetension that uses two small nuts to tighten down with, not the kind with the tightening collar.

Keyhole saw to cut box openings with

Steel fish tape. You can get one that comes out flat.

The Green cable pulling sticks, they have them at home centers, and they can come in handy.

Get a 10 pack of good electrical tape. It's something like $6 at Home Depot. Use it librally when taping wires to the snake to pull through.

Also, just personally, I'm not crazy about those structured wiring setups, seems kind of over priced to me, but it just personal preference. I like to go with regular patch panels.
Click to expand...

I would get a wire snake instead so it will be easier for pulling, And i would run to the walls with keystones than to a patch panel than to a router.
 
jw2k_fr said:
Hi

I have worked for a Cedia Installer (home cinema and various other systems) for the last three years (before moving across the pond) and can tell you that once a company gets above a certain size, one of the very first things they do is farm out the cable pulling to someone else. It is BORING and a pain in the rear and time consuming.... but then you already have someone to do this which is great!

Some of the key issues which can help are having some form of cable conduit (as large as possible) between floors to allow you to easily run cables between different floors. Drainpipe can be good for this, especially in new builds, but for existing houses, finding space to install it into can be problematic.

What can sometimes be useful, certainly if you are just looking at the data network, is to have head-ends in a couple of different locations - so for data wiring this might mean a patch panel in the roof to which you star wire all of you sockets from the rooms on the top floor (am assuming you have a two floor house with basement), one in the basement for the rooms on the first floor, or maybe more depending on the size of your humble abode. Links between the two locations though, are KEY. In my experience the project manage never specifies enough and my colleagues and I were always having to get creative to allow us to connect relay A in the plant room to a controller in attic.... I would say that a dozen cables between the two head ends would be fine for your average two storey house.


Other tips:

  • ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS give yourself more sockets that you will think you need. Look at the way you can now get internet fridges etc and bank on the fact that integration is becoming a bigger and bigger factor in everyday life with every passing day. You probably only want to do this once, so you may want to put a couple of sockets in the lounge where the TV goes, for IP enabled amps, DVD players etc. If you think you want three sockets in your study (one PC, one laptop, one network printer) I would say double it. You can always add a small 4 port switch, but if you are running cable to that one room anyway, so why not do it properly? Obviously, WAF becomes key, too many sockets can cause some spouses to freak out and a flea in the ear is never a pleasant experience

    Everybody seems to love wireless, except those people who have to install it (guess which camp I belong to :p). Wired connections, usually work, continue to work and then carry on working (up until you drill through the wire when installing something else :D). Wireless networking can be a great solution to a particular problem, or useful in less built up areas, but a nightmare in dense urban areas where techno-johnny has set himself+parents+cousins+progeny up on channel 11. Cables also don't require electricity... power over ethernet can be a useful for putting network cameras half way up a wall where you don't have a mains socket.

    Run cables directly up/down the walls from your sockets, that way you know where they are when it comes to drilling holes for hanging pictures etc.
    And finally, pick the brains of your neighbour for all you are worth!!!! :D He may be able to give you ideas you never thought of. If you are cabling for voice and data, why not do audio at the same time? A reel of speaker cable and cheap ceiling speakers plus some soeaker switch boxes could give you audio in the bathroom or kitchen for peanuts.

    Home networking sites such as hiddenwires can be full of info and ideas.

    Make sure you get the correct kind of cable for the place you are installing it. There are certain regulations about "plenum grade" cable which you must use in certain spaces, I won't try and explain something I half understand... google it! A good installer will also know when you may need shielded cable (almost never in my experience... but don't get caught out!)

Disclaimer:
Obviously, my experience so far is based on UK building regs and there may be US regs I am not aware of. Consult with a proper Cedia installer if in doubt... they are certified for a reason!

Okay, well I hope to be able to edit this again later or tomorrow (i makes for slightly rough reading), as I have to rush off now. PM me if you need further info, it may be more practical to chat on MSN etc

Regards

James
Click to expand...


Nice Notes, I have done many setups in buildings already standing. Great way to hide cable is using Race Way- http://cableorganizer.com/surface-raceways/
And i agree, Always do more wire drops than you need, example, you know you will have 2 runs in a room, do 3 or 4 to give yourself room for growth.
 
BobSutan said:
Thought I'd update this thread since I finally made some progress with the refurb.

I replaced the old phone wire that was running out to the NID and used CAT-5e. When I got it all hooked back up I saw a 25% speed increase from my DSL, both down and up! That was a sweet surprise. FYI, when rewiring from the old 4-pin cable to CAT-5, here's the proper pinouts (TMK, correct me if I'm wrong):

CAT-5 white blue to Green
CAT-5 Blue to Red
CAT-5 White Orange to Black
CAT-5 Orange to Yellow

I was trying to follow the same color code scheme (partly because I forgot the phone color code and that I just wanted to keep it simple) when I realized my eyes weren't decieving me and that was in fact red pins in the RJ-11 phone jack. I wish I'd taken pictures, but this is pretty close to what I'm talking about (the jack I terminated the line to that came from the NID). The only differerence was where the color pins were located on the back screws (my red and green were the bottom two pins instead of what this picture uses).

rj11.gif


And I'll impart to you this wisdom: never try to strip phone wires with your teeth unless you're absolutely sure you disconnected the line. I got a good zap right on the chin because I didn't. In all seriousness, you should never strip wire with your teeth. Right tool for the right job and all that.

I may be able to wire up the basement after all. I noticed at home depot they have 1/2" PVC piping about 10' long. If I connect 2 of them together I can slide them all the way across the space above the finished ceiling. If I can get a weight and some fine rope I'll be in business and be able to get the wires through the verticle walls. But this still doesn't help me with getting the ground floor and upstairs wired. FYI, I'm still taking recommendations on that one, with the front runner being a conduit of some type running from the attick to the basement with the floors being pulled back to that instead of having them individually ran to the basement.
Click to expand...

Not to knock or anything, but i have done many phone systems with cat5, it is easier just to use keystones and use any 2 pair, just use the middle pairs. Phone is not picky can use any colors, just remember what scheme you use
 
jeffmoss26 said:
well if you want to go that route you could run cat5e and/or coax feeds to the attic from the basement. place a switch up there and run all your cables to the rooms from there. essentially you would be creating an IDF in the attic. Only concern is ventilation/temperature for active equipment. Phone wiring would be okay, same for TV...splitters and blocks are passive.

Jeff
Click to expand...

I almost did this exact thing, but when I went to put the switch in the attic it was already at least 120 Deg F. Luckily I had the cable run through the closets from the basements (They are on top of each other). So I just put the switch right in the closet in the inside of the wall so it is barely noticeable.

If I did not have closets that were on top of each other, I would still probably run the 1 uplink into the closet and then run all of the other lines up into the attic and back down again. The less I am in the attic the better. If the switch croaks (Which there will be less of a chance, because the environmentals are much friendlier in the closet than in the attic) all I have to do is open a closet door and work on it.

The only issue with either of these, is power. I extended mine from the basement all the way up with the Ethernet. This way it plugged into my UPS with all other network equipment.
 
BobSutan said:
And I'll impart to you this wisdom: never try to strip phone wires with your teeth unless you're absolutely sure you disconnected the line. I got a good zap right on the chin because I didn't. In all seriousness, you should never strip wire with your teeth. Right tool for the right job and all that.

I may be able to wire up the basement after all. I noticed at home depot they have 1/2" PVC piping about 10' long. If I connect 2 of them together I can slide them all the way across the space above the finished ceiling. If I can get a weight and some fine rope I'll be in business and be able to get the wires through the verticle walls. But this still doesn't help me with getting the ground floor and upstairs wired. FYI, I'm still taking recommendations on that one, with the front runner being a conduit of some type running from the attick to the basement with the floors being pulled back to that instead of having them individually ran to the basement.
Click to expand...

Try doing that when it's Ringing. Working on 110 live is fun too.

Concerning the upstairs do you have any closets that are on top of each other? (read my post above)

Luckily my basement is not finished and I was able to get the first floor from underneath.
 
-(Xyphox)- said:
Phone is not picky can use any colors, just remember what scheme you use
Click to expand...

I thought the same thing, but just to make sure I hit google. Turns out when converting 2-pair to 4-pair wiring (CAT-5) the red pin in the 2-pair is converted to the blue pin in the 4-pair. Similarly the 2-pair green pin gets converted to the white-blue pin in the 4-pair. 2-pair black converts to 4-pair white-orange and 2-pair yellow gets converted to 4-pair orange. The remaining 2 pairs of the 4-pair cable go unused. Hell, the bumblebee pair in the RJ-11 goes unused anyway, so really you only need is the middle pair.

phonewire-new.png


And someone mentioned using keystone jacks because they were easier. How so?


-(Xyphox)- said:
Great way to hide cable is using Race Way- http://cableorganizer.com/surface-raceways/
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link. I have some stuff I picked up from Home Depot that looks exactly like their 2800 model, but at the store it was $10 per 5' section. I only needed two so I didn't mine. Anyway, my point is that place you linked to kicks ass on price and their stuff is good quality.
 
the keystone jacks all you do is punch the wire down. no stripping wires.
google Leviton Quickport.
-Jeff
 
keystones FTW. I used to run cables for a living.

For the whole pair matching debate about tel lines, its customary when splitting pairs in a cable for phone to start with blue, then orange or green (a or b) and lastly brown.
 
BobSutan said:
I thought the same thing, but just to make sure I hit google. Turns out when converting 2-pair to 4-pair wiring (CAT-5) the red pin in the 2-pair is converted to the blue pin in the 4-pair. Similarly the 2-pair green pin gets converted to the white-blue pin in the 4-pair. 2-pair black converts to 4-pair white-orange and 2-pair yellow gets converted to 4-pair orange. The remaining 2 pairs of the 4-pair cable go unused. Hell, the bumblebee pair in the RJ-11 goes unused anyway, so really you only need is the middle pair.

phonewire-new.png


And someone mentioned using keystone jacks because they were easier. How so?




Thanks for the link. I have some stuff I picked up from Home Depot that looks exactly like their 2800 model, but at the store it was $10 per 5' section. I only needed two so I didn't mine. Anyway, my point is that place you linked to kicks ass on price and their stuff is good quality.
Click to expand...


You are right if you wire into a phone jack box, i have always used key stones for phone and ethernet wire, just using 2 middle pairs, and it always worked. Phone is not picky at all. ;)
The keystones, just simple punch the 2 pairs into them and plug regular phone line into them, so you can have ethernet/phone on one face plate, and just run the wire back to the PPX or whatever you may be hooking up.
 
So I picked up some keystone jacks and WHAT A DIFFERENCE. Can you tell I liked them?

So, now I have the chore of figuring out how to get the alarm hooked up. Apparently you can't just wire blue to blue and white-blue to white-blue like I'd thought. All indications are that I screwed the pooch when I moved the phone line for the alarm and repatched it without some "interrupt". While physically different from the pics I've seen online, I suspect what Brinks had installed was a sort of RJ-31X. Does anyone have any experience with these things? I'll post a picture when I get home of what I had removed.

Perhaps this would explain why Brinks didn't call when my wife set the alarm off the other night?
 
an RJ31x sits ahead of the other phones in the house. Its purpose is if a burglar tries to pick up a phone (thinking it will knock the alarm dialer out), it will still call the police.
They are pretty simple to wire:
Pins 4 and 5 come from the network interface or wherever your phone line comes in
Pins 1 and 8 go out to the rest of the phones.
With that said it could have been wired wrong...once you post pics I will see if I can help you out.
Jeff
 
Current setup:

house-lines.JPG


Line 1 comes from the phone company and is ran to a closet in the basement. The rest of the lines are still in the laundry room where they originally were spliced together. Line 1 connects to my DSL modem which is connected to my Vonage.

Line 2 is the run back to the laundry room from the Vonage VoIP router.

Line 3 is a phone line that goes to the computer room.

Line 4 is for the house alarm.

Line 5 is the uplink to the rest of the phones in the house. Basically it goes up into the kitchen where 2 more phone lines were spliced into it. One go up to the master bedroom above the kitchen and the other goes into the living room behind the TV (so the previous owners could order PPV and such through their Direct TV).

This is the splicer thingy I took out when I spliced the alarm into line number 2 described above:

RJ-31X-1.jpg

RJ-31X-2.jpg


I'm thinking that given how the plugs are that the splicer should be plugged straight into the Vonage box. Then have the fire alarm run down another pair on line 2 and wire it directly to the splicer. Then have the existing line 2 plug into the female jack on the splicer.

Clear as mud? It gets better. I don't know which of the R1, T1, R, & T to use for the alarm pair.
 
How that works is:
Plug goes into the jack on your phone network interface. The existing plug goes into the jack on the splitter. Then a 4 conductor cable is run to the alarm panel or RJ31X and is terminated to the 4 screw terminals.
Color code: (quad wire or cat 3/5)
T-green or white/blue
R-red or blue
T1-yellow or orange
R1-black or white/orange
here is a link to its site:
http://www.lineseizure.com/
Hope this helps.
Jeff
 
jeffmoss26 said:
How that works is:
Plug goes into the jack on your phone network interface. The existing plug goes into the jack on the splitter. Then a 4 conductor cable is run to the alarm panel or RJ31X and is terminated to the 4 screw terminals.
Color code: (quad wire or cat 3/5)
T-green or white/blue
R-red or blue
T1-yellow or orange
R1-black or white/orange
here is a link to its site:
http://www.lineseizure.com/
Hope this helps.
Jeff
Click to expand...

You kick ass. Thanks for the link!

Now for the question. Do you need all four pins to be connected to the line seizure, or just the blue/white-blue pair as most phones use? The reason I ask is because I plan on using a second pair from line 2 (where its spliced to lines 3, 4, & 5) repatch the alarm pair and have than run to the line seizure where it meets the Vonage VoIP router in the closet. Then repatch line 2 into the line seizure, which in turn plugs into the Vonage box.

house-lines2.JPG


Like before, Line 1 comes from the phone company and is ran to a closet in the basement. The rest of the lines are still in the laundry room where they originally were spliced together. However, Line 4, which is for the house alarm, will utilize a second pair of Line 2 (which is simply a CAT-5e run) from my laundry room my the closet in the computer room). That second pair will connect to the R1, T1, R, & T interface on the line siezure and the currently ran pair of line 2 will be patched into the female jack of the line seizure.
 
yes the four wires need to be connected to that adapter because the alarm panel needs to see an incoming pair and an outgoing pair.
the adapter goes in the network interface box outside.
but to clarify..how many actual phone lines do you have?
 
Only one phone line, which is coming from Vonage, therefore only one pair is active throughout the house.

I see what you mean though about the interrupter needing two pairs. In a sense it bridges the existing phone connection, drops any active calls in session, disconects the bridged line, and then activates its own pair to make an outgoing call to the alarm co. Its a rough explaination, but I think that's the jist of it.

house-lines3.JPG
 
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