Pre-wiring House for DirecTV

[tazman]

Sorry Waterhead that you took my last post in that way.  I sincerely did not mean for you to take offense.  My appoligise. :wave:   It was not my intention to make any personal attacks.  I did read all of your post and that is why I said in closing to each their own. It's Tom's decision as to what route he wants to take.  I'm just putting out the options that I am familiar with.  It all depends on the persons budget and what they want as an end result.  Again I did not mean to ruffle your feathers.  

At the time I installed my own, seperate component mounting brackets were not avialable.  I did not feal like buying another 8 port 10/100 switch just so that I could use their mounting system.  So I used double stick velcro to mount mine to the back of the box.  I noticed a couple a months ago that they now offer mounting brackets seperately that will attach to most routers and switches.  I'll have to order one up and mount my switch to it.

Originaly I wanted to put my box in my upstairs laundry room utillity closet, but that ment either running all new phone lines or splicing, which I didn't want to do.  Hence mine is mounted on the basement wall about 4 feet away from my breaker panel and right below where my phone service comes in.  My house is old enough that they were still using the the old POTs screw terminal blocks.  I took all my phone lines off of that and punched them down into the Leviton IDC strips.  I did rewire my house again with new Cat-5 and I also pulled new RG-6 which replaces some old RG-59 that was run in the attic when the house was built.  My new wiring runs along the basement ceiling and up into the walls.  That was the easiest for me.

[waterhead]

Yea, I was offended at first, but I lightened up by the time I finished writing the post. That's why I added the wink. Sorry, it seems that everybody is complaining and picking fights nowadays (in this forum and in real life). I guess I just got kind of defensive.

Anyhow, I've heard of CAT6 cable. I think that it's for a 1000mb/sec network. If it's the latest and greatest, maybe that's what Tom needs to install. Anybody know more?

Paul

[tazman]

I understand...   It's hard to read peoples inflections when not conversing face to face.  The Cat-5e and the new Cat-6 will do 1 gig for sure.  Have not heard too much about the Cat-6 standard being ratified yet.  It's supposed to handle up to 10 gig.  Leviton is already selling hardware for it.  They call it their eXtreme 10-G.   I am not what so ever a salesman for Leviton, I just like allot of their product.  It's nice to get pretty much every thing you need from one source.  They also have some pretty helpfull PDF's under their learning center tab.   http://www.levitonvoicedata.com/learning/default.asp    .    You might want to check this site out.  http://www.hometech.com/home/index.html   They handle the Leviton line as well as a number of other manufacturers whose product lines go far beyond that of Levitons.

[picopir8]

I agree with the previous poster with regards to running conduit instead of cable.  If you get high end cable and attempt to run enough for every potential scenario then you are going to spend an arm and a leg.   And look at how much has changed over the past 10 years.  It would likely cost less to drop conduit to the basement/attic.  If you want to get extra fancy, run cable tracks from access point to access point.

I put a conduit box on every wall in every room of my old house. I loved it.  If I moved something from one room to another, or move the furniture around, then I could easily rerun the cable w/o worries.  I now have an older home and over the years cables have been run just about everywhere and its a total rats nest.  Still no network, or speeker cable anwhere.  I had to drill into the wall then through the floor w/ a 1/2" bit on a 18" long bit, then fish the wires.  Thats never fun.

On the other side of the coin, in the future  A/V devices will most likely be able to connect wirelessly.  But who knows if a common protocol will ever be developed, or what what range and quality will be.

[waterhead]

When we run conduit at work, we add a poly string with the wires. This way it is easier to pull new wires. Just make sure you tie some new strng to the new wire, for next time.

[tazman]

I agree with the previous poster with regards to running conduit instead of cable. If you get high end cable and attempt to run enough for every potential scenario then you are going to spend an arm and a leg. And look at how much has changed over the past 10 years. It would likely cost less to drop conduit to the basement/attic. If you want to get extra fancy, run cable tracks from access point to access point.

If your refering to gparris's post, then I absolutely agree, especially with new construction and also if that new construction happens to be a 2 story or more home.  I am forturnate enough that I have a single story home with an unfinished basement.

The biggest thing is to follow the standard wirring practices for the different types of cabeling that you are doing and above all observe fire codes, especially when running raceways between floors.

[tazman]

Hi Tom

I came across this the other day.  Might be another option for you.   http://www.hometech.com/techwire/leap.html

[Tom Snyder]

Digital Distribution will defintiely be the way we go in the house AFTER the one we're building now...  

Rough-in electric happens in two weeks, and the moment that's done I get in there with my big box of cables. BTW.. Monoprice is awesome!

I'll be running PVC pipe above the ceiling from the media closet to where the main plasma will be in the great room, and another pipe to another plasma in the sunroom. For starts I'll string a 5 cable component, HDMI, Ethernet and a piece of heavyweight string in each pipe. The one wrinkle I didn't anticipate is that the 50 inch Pioneer that I'm leaning toward has a box that powers it, with a special cable needed between the two.. but because of the distance, that cable is $600! I'll have to give that some thought. If I don't go that route, a Toshiba Plasma looked pretty good... but I',m still up in the air on that.

I'll also run a pvc from the wall behind my PC to the media closet (about a 9 foot run) with component and sound.

I'm also going to do wireless for the SD TV's.

I also have about 350 feet of sound cable to run to power wall and ceiling speakers throughout.

I think this will do it.

[Joseph S]

Monoprice is awesome!

Same with BlueJeans. I got some monoprice HDMI and DVI/HDMI this past weekend as I'm gearing up for a switchover when I move. High quality and no issues with up to 80 feet of HDMI/DVI between computers and projector and 50ft from switch to projector. Received in two days by priority mail.

[tazman]

The link I posted for HomeTech is a complete server, client and network solution.  It is based on the same principal as the D-Link, Roku and Amino set top boxes for audio and video over eithernet that I mentioned before.  But like you sasid maybe in the next house.

[Tom Snyder]

I just finished all my wiring. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that Miracle Homes (via American TV) now prewires the Media Closet to TV run with 5 strand Component Cable, 2 Coax Cables and an ethernet cable...all with no jacks on either end. I undersatnd they'll come back and finish off all the connections when they install the built in speakers at the very end.

[tazman]

I just finished all my wiring. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that Miracle Homes (via American TV) now prewires the Media Closet to TV run with 5 strand Component Cable, 2 Coax Cables and an ethernet cable...all with no jacks on either end. I undersatnd they'll come back and finish off all the connections when they install the built in speakers at the very end.

That sounds pretty nice Tom.  Is Miricale Homes your builder?  They did my brother inlaws home a number of years ago.  He's been happy with it so far.

[Tom Snyder]

Is Miricale Homes your builder? They did my brother inlaws home a number of years ago. He's been happy with it so far.

This is the second time we're building with them. First one they finished three weeks early, this one will be done even sooner..probably 5-6 weeks early.

The stuff they include in their packages always blows me away... no payments till you move in, free finished basement, 50% or 75% off shopping sprees at American... There are none right now, but they'll probably have a big one starting on July 15th. The free finished basement one usally happens in November or December.

Our construction manager is amazing, all the subs are just super, and at the end of construction last time, we got back enough money from unspent allowances to pay for our driveway and our lawn. I think we're $11,000 ahead on this one so far.

What seems odd is that when we've told people we're using Miracle homes, we've heard that someone they knew had a relative whose best friend's brother-in-law had a bad experience with them.

If that's the case, it's hard to believe that we'd beat the odds...twice.

[tazman]

Sounds like a really nice deal.  I'm not sure if you said you built in the town or the village.  My wife and I have lived here in the town for 22 years now and before that we lived in the village behind the park for 6 years.  I think you will like living in Jackson.  

[Tom Snyder]

Town of Jackson... Twin Creeks.   We LOVE Germantown, but decent lots here are now going for $140k-$200k.  Just nuts!

Fortunately, we're far enough South that we can say we're on the border between Jackson and Germantown.

How are you getting your Internet?