Future proof my cabling please !

September 19, 2007 10:39 PM

My house is completely wrecked. No cladding on the walls and in fact not too many walls. In four weeks time the builders will have built replacement walls and re-clad them. I need advice about what I should do about audio/video/data cabling for future needs and I need it soon !

We are in the middle of having our house rebuilt. I'm very aware this is a great opportunity to run cable but I need advice about would good things to do now whilst it's easy to run cable etc.

The budget is already groaning so what I'm looking to do is as little as possible now - basically run the cable or whatever and not hook it up to anything just yet.

I should probably also say that no one in the house is a audio/videophile - as long as it doesn't sound like a 78/look like YouTube we're probably going to think it's alright.

Here are some specific questions.

1. Is there a form of conduiting that would allow cables to be pulled through later which is a similar cost to running cables now ?

2. Audio (one-source at a time, on/off in different rooms) - is speaker cable with on/off speakers the best low-tech option ?

3. We're not really big on any form of video but I'm sure part of our future is wishing to view videos stored on the various computers around the house - for non-fanatical use what's a reasonable approach ?

4. We already use wireless for data. Is there anything in the foreseeable future which would make me wish I'd run cable for data ?

5. Phones - all current phones are cordless. Is there any reason to do anything other than get a couple of jacks for cordless base stations ?

posted by southof40 to technology (12 comments total)

Two points to consider would be installing the cable and phone jacks will be much more expensive after the walls are hung, and not having them might affect your resale value. I'd install them, just because I or a future owner might want them at some point.
posted by fandango_matt at 10:50 PM on September 19, 2007

Running CAT5e (or CAT6) cable through the walls into at least the main living areas might be a good idea. From my understanding, it is very versatile and can even be used for sound systems and phones (but somebody feel free to correct me if I'm wrong...). As fandango_matt said, they do come in handy and it is often a pain to run them after the walls are in (as with any other cabling) - my dad and I ran a whole stack of it through our house a few years ago and it took us ages (and a few unnecessary holes in the wall) to get it through. If you don't run the cable, at least rig up a system with conduit and rope or wire through it so that it can easily be pulled through later - but if you're going to go to that trouble, you probably might as well just run the cable through.
posted by cholly at 11:10 PM on September 19, 2007

1: Yes, you're looking for Carlon FlexBlue or similar.

2: Audio distribution is tricky because if you just put speakers in parallel, you quickly exceed the impedance specs of your amplifier. You really want an amplifier per speaker pair, and then switch them on and off. This gives you local volume control, too. Home automation forums and sites may be a good guide here, but for now, I'd say just prewire from each speaker location back to a central closet, and fill the equipment into the closet later.

3: Just use ethernet. Whatever computer is driving the display in question can slurp the video file across the network. Wire all the ethernet back to that same closet, and put whatever switch/router/modem gear in there.

4: If you ever might go HDTV, you'll find that wireless has trouble with big streams. Even draft-N isn't ideal for moving lots of video around. A wired jack per room is a good idea. Oh, and security.

5: A single multihandset cordless phone, with a single base station, is a beautiful thing. Remote chargers don't need their own phone jacks. But you want the main base located somewhere convenient (so you can use the answering-machine buttons on the console) and somewhere that the signal will reach throughout the whole house. So plan to wire from that central location back to the demarc. Perhaps wire from the demarc to the closet, and from the phone location to the closet, because someday your phone and network may merge.
posted by Myself at 11:18 PM on September 19, 2007

For conduit you want something called "smurf tube." It's cheap, flexible plastic conduit for low voltage applications. If you have access to the rooms from above or below this would be a good thing to run to locations where you think you might want something later.

For distributed audio I'd recommend running what I know as "Speakercat" (but that may be a particular brand or a word my boss made up, here's an example); basically one cat5 and 2 speaker wires in a single structured cable. This will give you a wide range of options for future systems, whether you choose to power the speakers from the head end or from a keypad with a built-in amp like Russound's ABus, with which we've had good results (they use a small but adequate built-in amp and feature local volume control and an IR repeater.) Speaker selector switches tend to be a pain, since turning the sound on in one room will decrease the level in the other rooms.

If your budget is really strained, I definitely agree that it's better to go with cable in the walls in more locations instead of choosing fewer locations and trimming them out completely. Going back to finish them up will cost more, but not much more (you could probably do it yourself if you're inclined.) Just make sure you get pictures of all the walls after the cable is run and before the rock goes up so you can easily find your wires later. Actually, it's pretty handy to have pictures of all your framing, so you know where the studs are if at some point in the future you do want to run new wire or mount something heavy. Err on the side of caution and run more wire than you think you'll need, though; it's way, way cheaper to be wrong now than it will be later.

You might want cat6 network drops to your video equipment locations for gigabit video streaming. The twisted pairs could also be used for high-quality analog video distribution with some extra hardware, or for telephone, or any number of things you had no idea you'd want. If I were wiring a place for myself I'd have a network jack in every room. You might only use wireless for your computers, but what if you or someone or someone in your family gets into gaming, where latency counts? What if you decide to install a NAS or some other appliance that requires an internet connection?

You didn't mention alarm. If you want to install a system, or raise the resale house by having it prewired, now's the time.
posted by contraption at 11:21 PM on September 19, 2007

I agree with many of the other posters, that the most versatile solution is to run cat 5e to all the rooms, running back to a patch panel in a closet somewhere.. As said above, this gives you options, because cat 5e can be used for data (obviously) but also telephone and all sorts of other bits and pieces. If you want to connect two rooms together then you can just use a little patch cable to connect bedroom 1 to bedroom 2 via the patch panel in the closet.

I'd personally recommend installing two ethernet jacks in each room, because you'll always wish you had another one, but then it's too late! :)
posted by ranglin at 11:57 PM on September 19, 2007

At least run conduit. You can always decide what cables to run later, or upgrade your current cabling.
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 4:35 AM on September 20, 2007

Yeah, conduit is usually pretty cheap. Run strong pull strings in each one, and remember to pull a new string through with each cable. :)

If you're gonna run the conduits anyway, run two strands of Cat5e or Cat6 cable with it. It won't add much to the overall cost, probably no more than $300 or so, including your wall panels. Route the wiring so that it all goes to one closet somewhere, with a power outlet.

If you can afford it now, put in a patch panel in your wiring closet, and tie everything down to RJ45 (Ethernet) jacks... the patch panel will cost you a good $200, and then at least another $100 for someone to punch everything down for you. But once that's done, you can just use short patch cables to connect any two rooms together. You can also run point-to-point phone wires, as phone jacks are compatible with RJ45. But for phones, you'll probably prefer your regular phone wiring, as it's a long loop that goes through multiple rooms. Running it through your panel means it will end up in just one place.

Later, if/when you build a network, put your hub or switch in your wiring closet and connect everything up that way -- that's why you want the power plug.

You might also want to run a couple of Ethernet cables out to the telco box; haul those to specially-marked ports on the panel. There's eight pairs per cable, so that'll let you do all kinds of complex phone stuff without needing the phone company to do much of anything.

If your budget wasn't limited, I'd suggest a fiber to each room as well, and out to the demarc on the off chance that a fiber service might show up in your area, but that will add a great deal of expense with little immediate gain. The fiber itself is pretty cheap, but polishing it and terminating it is pretty labor-intensive, so you likely don't have the budget for it.
posted by Malor at 6:26 AM on September 20, 2007

Speakercat? Who knew! That looks great.

My only advice regarding conduit is that it's big and may not be able to get through your studs easily. If you have steel framing it would probably work, but that's a mighty big hole to drill through a 2x4. But maybe not - I've never used it.

Per other commenters, I would say run something like "speakercat" to each room, probably a couple places in big rooms, directly back to a patch panel/wiring closet. Do not do daisy-chains like you would with electrical wire. That gives you the most flexibility. Even if you want to put the stero amp in one room and speakers in another, patch the cables in the closet. Later if you move something, it's easy to change the patch. Re-running wire is nigh-on impossible.

Jacks are pretty expensive, but you don't need them just yet. You can just cover the boxes with blanks and go back and put in jacks later.

The only other thing you would want to run is coax to selected rooms for either standard cable TV or a satellite (DBS) feed. Again, run all the wires to the closet.
posted by GuyZero at 7:57 AM on September 20, 2007

But for phones, you'll probably prefer your regular phone wiring, as it's a long loop that goes through multiple rooms. Running it through your panel means it will end up in just one place.

I'm no expert, but we just had a new phone line installed in our house. After install, there was a buzzing on the line, indicating a loose ground somewhere, and the AT&T guy was dismayed to see that the phones were all installed in series (i.e. on a long loop). He told me that current standard practice is to wire everything to one splice point or patch panel, effectively wiring everything in parallel. Makes sense to me for troubleshooting -- if there's a problem with one extension later, it'll be easier to isolate.

Also, if you're planning on distributing digital video around the house, I'd like to add another vote for Cat6 in as many places as you can. I regularly move video (not high-def, just standard resolution) around my network from my ReplayTV, and a wireless connection simply does not cut it. Some video devices cannot handle momentary "burps" in the data stream, so they choke much less often using a wired connection. I just moved to a new house that does not have ethernet, and I'm dreading the weekend I'm going to spend in the attic and crawlspace, drilling holes through floors and walls. Ugh.
posted by harkin banks at 11:18 AM on September 20, 2007

Ethernet cable is indeed great for mid-fi audio (even amplified for driving speakers, though it isn't at all ideal for long runs), security systems, phone lines, and ethernet. Also interesting, 10mbit and 100mbit ethernet only use two of the four pairs in a typical ethernet cable - most gigabit uses all 4 pairs. So, put two ethernet cables into every room. One for gigabit, and the other four pairs for a combination of other signals.

In the past it has also been suggested that you run two coax cables to every room, though ethernet may one day be enough. One cable for a camera/VCR/DVD/satellite tuner signal out to your video network, the other for cable signal coming in. In the US, you should be able to get agile video modulators cheap, which allow you to put your front door camera on one station, your baby monitor on another station, your DVD player on a third, and etc. All while not interfering with your analogue cable (if you still have it).

Conduit is okay, but it can be very hard to pull cable through runs with more than one or two bends.

Guy Zero is definitely right about jacks. If there are locations where wire won't be used, at least install blank plates.

Don't put full electrical boxes behind the plates. You want a special metal plate that fits in an electrical box sized hole, and has two arms that wrap around behind the drywall (can't think of the name at the moment). Two screws are driven from the front of the metal plate, through the drywall, and into each of the arms, locking the plate in place. This gives you much more room for the very crowded wiring you will have behind a 6-way keystone plate. It is also possible to get combination units that have an electrical box with an A/V opening beside it, or a double wide A/V opening, or whatever. Get them at an electrical supply company, if home depot has them, they will be way over priced.
posted by Chuckles at 11:57 AM on September 20, 2007

He told me that current standard practice is to wire everything to one splice point or patch panel, effectively wiring everything in parallel. Makes sense to me for troubleshooting -- if there's a problem with one extension later, it'll be easier to isolate.

Ah, okay, I didn't know that, thanks for the clarification. For some reason, I thought the loop was required for multiple phones on the same circuit, but now that you point it out, that was ignorance on my part.

Sorry!
posted by Malor at 4:32 PM on September 20, 2007

Hey thanks to all of you for all the great responses. Can't do favourites - they're all useful. Thanks again.
posted by southof40 at 3:11 AM on September 21, 2007