Wiring a house.

[Duke{CLR}]

I'm building a house form scratch and I want to have a network in it, I have NO CLUE about this. It will be a month or two before I'm ready to wire things so I was hoping some of you guys could post up some links to information about this stuff. I need something that will be easy to set up and maintain. I also wont have a ton of money left over so I may just need to run the lines at first.

I want:

1. Internet access in various areas, I'm thinking wired would be easier to maintain I will also have wireless for mobile devices etc.

2. I would like to have the ability to have music in different rooms.

3. I would like to have the ability to play video about the home as well.

4. I would like to have some machine that I can use to backup the other computers and to have movies and music stored.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Dead...Again]

It shouldn't be that hard since you will be doing it during the build. You'll want to have one central location, preferably a closet, where your modem, ethernet switch, wireless router, and home server will go, then you run wires out from that location to each room in the house. You can probably run it right along with the electrical wiring and add another box to plug your jacks into the wall. I would wire every room in the house; it will probably be a pain in the ass to go back later and add anything.

You can then add all of your computers to your home network, allowing you to share video, music, etc. among them.

It seems like Maximum PC had an article on this a few years ago.

I'll google it and see if I can come up with anything.

[Dead...Again]

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/is_wiring_your_home_worth_it
I found this from a quick search of Max PC. It references a full article, but I couldn't find it.

[baconoclock]

Buy a spool of ethernet cable and crimp it yourself. That will also assist in saving cost. Might want to think about wiring it up with cat 6 instead of cat5e to account for future proofing.

[Dead...Again]

Here are a couple more things I found that may help
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/dos_and_don%E2%80%99ts_cable_routing_part_1
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/dos_and_donts_cable_routing_part_2

[goldenfooler]

If you are going to do speakers.. have them box out the area for the speakers to hang/sit and run those lines as that will be strange locations to add in later.

If you are going to be doing any solar panels check out Home Power mag or http://homepower.com/home/.
This is a very good guide in that way.

[mapes]

I've done more cat5 wiring and crimping then I care to admit.

Rule #1 Take the amount of lines your going to run and double it. Trust me it doesn't matter if its net or audio just do it. Cable is cheap. Putting another hole in your wall after your done is a PITA.

Rule #2 Do not run Ethernet or even analog audio near electrical conduit. Interference happens

Rule #3 Buy a punch down panel err no just a cat 5 patch panel will do. In your wiring closet mount a sheet of plywood on the wall and mount your patch panel to that. If you don't have a telco rack you can wall mount a fair amount of the smaller stuff on the plywood

Rule #4 buy cable marking tape (its sticky tape with numbers) and a cable tester...they're cheap.

Rule #5 Don't crimp the ends. If you have dry wall already there you can get cut in boxes that work great. Also you can look at places like black box for wall plates. the patch panel and the cat 5 female jacks on the wall panel have a very easy color coded wire attachment system.

Other things that will be handy. a snake, a large 12 to 14mm drill bitthat has a shank at least a foot in length. Petzel type headlamp, dry wall knife and a cordless drill

[mapes]

I would avoid in wall speakers. For music I have three Logitech squeezeboxes that I use. Also there is a java emulator so I can make any laptop or system into another squeezebox

[Duke{CLR}]

Great stuff guys, as time moves along I will have questions. Males you lost me at java emulator.

[Rand{CLR}]

Put splitters and other joins somewhere you can get to them. Those are your most likely points of annoyance and/or failure and you don't want them buried behind the walls. Build an access panel if you need to.

-Rand

[Donziboy2]

How many ports are you going to need? Will decide what routers you can go with.

A NAS for video's and storage will take up 1 port.
Each PC in the house will take up another port.
Plus any other devices you want hardwired.

[mapes]

Put splitters and other joins somewhere you can get to them. Those are your most likely points of annoyance and/or failure and you don't want them buried behind the walls. Build an access panel if you need to.

-Rand


For audio yes for network runs the cable should be a contiguous piece and never hand joined.

More info about squeezebox... they're a network music player

Basically speaking think of them as endpoints for music that is streamed over the network. The smaller units connect to a house stereo and some units have built in speakers. The stream can go over wifi or cat5.

Where does the music stream originate? In the most basic form you run the squeezebox server (win/unix/osx) on a computer. You point it at your music and it will catalog your music either based on tags or directory structure.

Now you can select what music to play(artist, album, genre) and how to play it (playlist, random, shuffle, repeat) and what end point to play it on (in my case wetbar, family room, bedroom or link any combination of the three).

You can select stuff in a couple of ways. The server has a webpage or the wifi remote in the duet package also the Boom model you can use the slector knob and the very small LCD screen but, it difficult. From any of those access points you can control any of the player and they could be playing the same or different stream

Now in the slightly more complex method they have support for every music service out there plus podcasts and internet radio and even more. For basic internet radio it will work with the basic server. For the internet music services that require a userid and login you would need to setup an account on my squeezebox.com and on that website configure the music services. Once configured they show up iin the remote/web server.

for example every two weeks I play DnD with some friends. If I'm hosting that week usually someone in the group will say hey I've got a cool Pandora station. So I'll logon to the mysqueezebox.com site. Create another pandora entry and fill out that persons logon credentials. I then can pick up the wifi remote select pandora at the top level menu, slelect the pandora account I want and then select the pandora station and then pipe it to whatever squeezebox player (or all three) I want. Presto...

[Duke{CLR}]

I like the squeezebox idea, I have some nice Pandora channels and it would be nice to send it to different areas.

I think I'll post up a floor plan with some notes on what I want then and see what you guys think.

[Duke{CLR}]

OK I'm hoping to order the cable tomorrow, there seem to be different specs for this stuff so i have a few questions.

Why is this 1/2 the cost of..'
CAT6, UTP, Bulk Cable, Solid, 500MHz, Blue, 1000 ft (http://www.cablewholesale.com/specs/cat-6-cable/10x8-061th.htm)

...this one.
CAT6, UTP, Bulk Cable, Solid, Plenum, 500MHz, Blue, 1000 ft (http://www.cablewholesale.com/specs/plenum-cat-6-cable/11x8-061th.htm)

What are the benefits to braided over solid?

More to come...

[FrOgM]

CAT6, UTP, Bulk Cable, Solid, 500MHz, Blue, 1000 ft (http://www.cablewholesale.com/specs/cat-6-cable/10x8-061th.htm)
CAT-6 cables are used for networking, data transfer, and phone lines. CAT-6 Cable is used in network applications and have been designed specifically for Gigabit Ethernet applications. They perform at high-data transfer rates, and work with ATM and gigabit speed products. These cables deliver improved performance over standard CAT-5E cables. We offer a wide selection of colors, lengths, and with options like molded boots and shielding.

CAT6, UTP, Bulk Cable, Solid, Plenum, 500MHz, Blue, 1000 ft (http://www.cablewholesale.com/specs/plenum-cat-6-cable/11x8-061th.htm)

Plenum rated coating on wire burns at a much higher temperature and emits fewer fumes, ideal for use in walls and ceilings. CAT-6 cables are primarily used for networking, data transfer, and phone lines. CAT-6 cables can support 10 / 100 / 1000Mbps. We offer a wide selection of colors.

[The_Needle]

If you are going to put a bunch of equipment or even a small amount for that matter in a small space please don't forget that you will need to cool it or at least ventilate it. You'll be amazed at how much heat you can generate in an enclosed closet space with just something like a DVR and a small NAS running. Now's the time to do it while you are still building!

[Duke{CLR}]

OK so the plenum is safer in case of a fire but the house is made of wood so it will burn anyway maybe its not that big of a deal. Now how about the solid vs braided?

Ahh I Googled it myself.

Solid conductor cable is most useful for structured wiring within a building. It is easily punched down onto wall jacks and patch panels since it is a single conductor. The wire seats properly into insulation displacement connector. Solid is less useful when you are terminating with standard RJ45 connectors, as used when making patch cables. Most RJ45 connectors use 2 prongs which penetrate the conductor itself. This is not desirable, since solid cable has the tendency to break when penetrated by the prong. Using a 3 prong style RJ45 connectors creates a much better connection as it doesn't break the conductor - the 3 prongs style connection wraps around the conductor instead of penetrating it. All being said, it is recommended that stranded network cable be used for patch cables - they make better quality RJ45 termination connections than even using 3 prong connectors.

Stranded cable is much less useful for punching down on wall jacks because the strands do not keep their perfect round shape when thrust into a insulation displacement connector. For best results, use solid for wall jacks and stranded for crimp connectors. Stranded cable is typicalled used to create patch cables. The cable itself is more flexible, and rolls up well. The RJ45 terminators have a better, and more flexible and complete connection to stranded wires than solid wire.

[Donziboy2]

From what i understand, braided wire is supposed to cut down on unwanted signal interference.

[Quamin]

When you get to building your server, Try to have two ports available on your switch for your server to plug into, and have a dual-gigabit port/controller with load balancing on there as well because when people start streaming at home, one port gets bogged down.
Take it from me, having dealt with this as I've been building my setup in my apartment with just two rooms streaming.

[Duke{CLR}]

I plan on having face plates on both walls of many of the rooms in case we move our stuff around. I also know that there will be some ports used by things like gaming systems and printers so the total number of RJ 45 plugs will be 42 and that's not including anything in the basement. So would all thees cables go into a patch panel then I would plug in the panel to a router or would I have to get a switch between the patch panel and the router?

[Quamin]

I plan on having face plates on both walls of many of the rooms in case we move our stuff around. I also know that there will be some ports used by things like gaming systems and printers so the total number of RJ 45 plugs will be 42 and that's not including anything in the basement. So would all thees cables go into a patch panel then I would plug in the panel to a router or would I have to get a switch between the patch panel and the router?

To be cleaner for that many plugs, you could get a 48 port switch wire the patch panel to go to it, then plug a router into that to get everyone out to the internet. Or, go for two 24 port switches so if one goes down, at least half the house works! :D

[Duke{CLR}]

So the wire would go into this them my router plugs into this somehow?

Cat6 Patch Panel - 48 Port | ShowMeCables.com
(http://www.showmecables.com/product/Cat6-Patch-Panel-48-Port.aspx)

I'm thinking that I could do the same with the cable/Satellite with one of theses.

Type F 1U and 2U Rack Panel - 16 or 32 Type F Female Feedthrus
(http://www.l-com.com/productfamily.aspx?id=154)


I could pick up one of theses open rack to plug it all into.

WM Series Wall Mount Open Frame Rack - 12 IN Depth - 15 RU | ShowMeCables.com
(http://www.showmecables.com/product/WM-Series-Wall-Mount-Open-Frame-Rack-12-IN-Depth-15-RU.aspx)

[goldenfooler]

noob questions.... but having so many ports cut down on the speed you get? Or is it only if they are active ports?

[Duke{CLR}]

Here is my plan so far, my head hurts a bit so I'm off to bed. Feel free to add any comments about any changes you would make.

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/1/basementsj.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/16/basementsj.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/723/firstfloorv.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/834/firstfloorv.jpg/)

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/1029/secondfloorr.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/8/secondfloorr.jpg/)

[FrOgM]

the 2 24 panles is nice way to go ...always have a back up plan

[mapes]

Basically you terminate all of the wires in an access closet or basement. The cables would all terminate into something like this

http://www.showmecables.com/images/catalog/product/48-port-cat5e-patch-panel.jpg.ashx?width=400&height=266&format=jpg

Usually you'd put you switch there and maybe the rest of your networking gear. However it's a patch panel...meaning you could just put your switch there and then leave your router by your computer and just run another patch to it.

I wouldn't really worry about having a failover switch. I mean your not a bank and if half of your house goes down I'm pretty sure your going to be bummed anyways and immediately fix whatever the problem is.

Keep in mind to that you don't necessarily need to make each port live right now. I would say run more cable than you think you need so you don't have to do it again. It also doesn't take that much longer to run 4 instead of 2 lines. If you need the lines then you can patch them from the panel to your switch. It gives you a bit of flexibility. You could start out with a smaller switch and just making live the ports you need. When you end up needing more port density you can add another switch and daisy chain it into the existing one.

Hope this helps

[mapes]

Also if your running the wires yourself number the ends before you pull them through the wall. You do not want to have to trace each line later thinking where the heck does this one go...

[mapes]

Heres an example of a patch panel in action. This is my rack (pls excuse the mess)

http://gallery.mapes-net.org/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=83168&g2_serialNumber=2

The Ortronics 1U is the patch panel. The thing on the right below the Airespace label is my router. The red cable from my router goes into the patch panel, Which is patched on the other side to my comcast cable modem, which is the brown device just above the honking huge UPS at the bottom. The orange cable goes from my router to my switch...again through the patch panel. A patch panel gives you a lot options on just how and where you want to set up equipment

[Duke{CLR}]

That picture is really helpful, as I look into the different parts I'm concerned that I may be getting in over my head and I have a few more questions. When you connect the cables behind the patch panel are there different ways to connect them. ie Does the place to connect the router need to be wired differently then the cable that go to other rooms. Are there some sort of directions for this? How about a basic book that I could read to get this right? :scratch:

[mapes]

That picture is really helpful, as I look into the different parts I'm concerned that I may be getting in over my head and I have a few more questions.

Man if you can change your car oil or install a three pole light switch it should be no problem.

When you connect the cables behind the patch panel are there different ways to connect them. ie Does the place to connect the router need to be wired differently then the cable that go to other rooms. Are there some sort of directions for this?

You cable every network drop the same. No need to cable in a crossover

It's pretty straight forward really. Have a look at Cables To Go - 110 Punchdown Wiring Guide (http://www.cablestogo.com/help/premwire_faq.asp)

The patch panels I've used are color coded like the one on the left side on that pic.
Like this
http://www.cablestogo.com/images/help/110_vert.gif

FYI The wall plates will also be color coded is a similar fashion. Basically when you take Cat5,5e or 6 cable and strip off the outer jacket you'll find 4 pairs of wires twisted together and a strand of shielding (looks like nylon thread).

Step one cut off the outer jacket. There is a cheap tool for this. Basically it goes around the cable with a blade. You twist it around and pull off the outer jacket. If you buy one of these tools adjust the blade so it only cuts the outer jacket and not the twisted pairs inside.

Step two cut off the extra shielding.

Step three separate the wires so you have four twisted pairs.

Step four The twisted pairs are color coded with a solid color (Orange, Blue, Green, Brown) wire and a white wire that has a matching colored stripe that matches whatever solid color cable it was twisted together with. Like this

http://www.networkcablingworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/cat5_color1.gif

Step five now separate the twisted pairs.

Step six straighten the wires using your fingers to smooth out the twists

Step seven push the wires into the appropriate slots on the back of the patch panel.

Step eight do the same for the wall ports and rinse and repeat till all cables are done at both the wall ports and the patch panel

Step nine Mount the patch panel on the wall

Remember when you ran the cable you labeled each run with a number? Put cable #1 which comes from wall port #1 into patch panel #1

Congratulations you can now earn big money installing network cable!


How about a basic book that I could read to get this right? :scratch:

For crimping and cabling it's pretty straight forward. I'm sure there stuff on it on youtube. Also you can do one cable and then test it with a hub/switch and a laptop to make sure it's all good.

[Duke{CLR}]

Thanks for all this info Mapes. I ordered the cable so I can get in before the drywall goes up, when I get a chance I will look over all that stuff and put up a new list of tools and network parts for comments. So far I'm more worried about the coax then the data because of the quad shield and if I need to match up the crimped ends with it.

Parts ordered so far from this place. https://www.firefold.com

1 CAT6-FTP-SLD-YEL Cat6 Shielded 1000 Foot Bulk 550Mhz. FTP PVC Solid Cable - Yellow
0% $149.99
1 QUAD-1K-BLK 1000 Foot RG6U Single Quad Shield - Black
0% $78.99
1 CAT6-FTP-SLD-BLU Cat6 Shielded 1000 Foot Bulk 550Mhz. FTP PVC Solid Cable - Blue
0% $149.99

[Nauticas]

Duke. I'm an electrical engineer and I design buildings for a living. If you want to setup a time you and I hop on TS to talk over some stuff just message me on the forums. This stuff is easier to discuss verbally.

As others have mentioned before, the router to patch panel to wall station is pretty simple and straight forward. It's easier than connecting up all of your A/V for you TV and stereo.

Some suggestions I have I have for you:

1) Run a 1-1/4" conduit (largest you can fit in a normal stud wall) from your main TV and audio location up to your attic or down to your basement area. Trust me, this will save you major headaches later because I promise your going to want to run some cable after the gypsum is up. Just run everything in that conduit. If you are a big audio person, then maybe have 2 conduits (so run 2-1" conduits instead). Use one for audio and one for everything else.

2) So the same thing where your patch panel is going. If you want to run all that cable in the wall. Good rules of thumb for CAT6 cable. 6 cables can fit in a 1" conduit and 10 cables can fit in a 1 1/4" conduit.

3) PVC conduit is cheap. Put it in any wall that you may feel you might want to run cable in in the future.

4) If you need any advice on panelboards, receptacles, lights, or anything else electrical please message me or lets get together and talk. I can talk your ear off for hours on this stuff.

5) Are you putting a generator on your home or doing a setup to hook-up a portable one? If the answer is yes, then we most definitively need to talk.

6) If you air conditioning return air is ducted to a big grill on your ceiling, wall or floor you never need to buy plenum rated cable. Sometimes they try to suggest this to you because it is more expensive. It does NOT effect data transmission. It's all about how much smoke the insulation generates when it burns...that's it.

[goldenfooler]

I would agree on the tubing.. have seen that highly effective going from the top of the house to the bottom. Easy chase lines.

As many people are finding out in NJ if you have a generator just put it so you can plug it into your electrical panel... no idea what the specific are but people don't do it enough around here.

[Duke{CLR}]

I will be looking into the conduit, so far the only conduit I had planned on was to the TV location above the fireplace to the shelves nearby, Maybe Ill run some big stuff in the 6" wall in the middle of the house, this will get me from the basement to the attic for future projects.

I would love to have a big @$$ generator with a 100o Gal propane tank n the ground to run it but it's just not in the budget, neither is the AC.

[Duke{CLR}]

OK, Phew, phase one complete. I spent many hours over the last three days running about 2800' of cable. I have all the ends hanging over the place for my panel. Now I can focus on what to do with them. Here are a few snapshots. I ended up using some cheapo PVC drainage pipe for conduit because it was way to messy without it and I have the most anal retentive plumber and he would never let me here the end of it if I covered up his pristine work with a bunch of wires.

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/747/imag0390t.th.jpg (http://img17.imageshack.us/i/imag0390t.jpg/)
http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/5913/imag0393r.th.jpg (http://img843.imageshack.us/i/imag0393r.jpg/)
http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/2166/imag0395gn.th.jpg (http://img850.imageshack.us/i/imag0395gn.jpg/)
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/3338/imag0396xu.th.jpg (http://img20.imageshack.us/i/imag0396xu.jpg/)

[Rand{CLR}]

Just make sure any splits or joins are accessible and you know where they are once the drywall goes up. :D

-Rand

[Apache Warrior]

If you lived here you would spring for A/C real quick. :twisted:
Apache

[mapes]

Just make sure any splits or joins are accessible and you know where they are once the drywall goes up. :D

-Rand

No splits or joins ever in network cable period. You'll degrade the performance and cause headaches

[Rand{CLR}]

No splits or joins ever in network cable period. You'll degrade the performance and cause headaches

This is true, yet sometimes they are still unavoidable.

Hopefully not in a still under-construction house though. :twisted:

-Rand

[mapes]

This is true, yet sometimes they are still unavoidable.

Hopefully not in a still under-construction house though. :twisted:

-Rand

No you can not do that for networking.

[Rand{CLR}]

No you can not do that for networking.

Tell that to my existing house, where the only way I can network my upstairs pc for the wife is via splitting. :twisted:

Not like she needs speed for just office work.

Duke, if you have stubby-ish fingers, the wire crimping sucks and you have to be patient to get them all lined up right. Just be fore-warned.

-Rand

[Duke{CLR}]

I shouldn't need any splitters at this point and with everything doubled up even if one were to get damaged I could just use the other one.

As for the crimping goes i think I will be using a punch panel or keystone jack the use a push down tool, it is going to be PITA to get all those things trimmed, stripped and set up. I'm sure when I get to that stage I will be posting a few more questions.

[goldenfooler]

thanks for the questions duke. Those of us who aren't close to what you are doing get an education.

[mapes]

Tell that to my existing house, where the only way I can network my upstairs pc for the wife is via splitting. :twisted:

Not like she needs speed for just office work.

Duke, if you have stubby-ish fingers, the wire crimping sucks and you have to be patient to get them all lined up right. Just be fore-warned.

-Rand


No electrical contractor would run Cat5e/6 with a split. Meaning to snip wires and and hand twist them together. If it's just a matter of crimping the ends at the join and using a female to female adapter that is tolerable...barely

[Rand{CLR}]

No electrical contractor would run Cat5e/6 with a split. Meaning to snip wires and and hand twist them together. If it's just a matter of crimping the ends at the join and using a female to female adapter that is tolerable...barely

Oh, this is where the difference is coming. You're looking too literally at "splitting" the line. I meant using connectors/adapters all along, not splicing the line.

-Rand

[Duke{CLR}]

A few quick quesitons, I ran shielded cable, must I use shielded keystone jacks and patch panels? If I mount a shielded patch panel to a sheet of plywood how would I ground the shield? Is shielding necessary in an average home?

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/489/imag0404b.th.jpg (http://img337.imageshack.us/i/imag0404b.jpg/)

[mapes]

A few quick quesitons, I ran shielded cable, must I use shielded keystone jacks and patch panels? If I mount a shielded patch panel to a sheet of plywood how would I ground the shield? Is shielding necessary in an average home?

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/489/imag0404b.th.jpg (http://img337.imageshack.us/i/imag0404b.jpg/)

I may be wrong but, I don't think you need a specially shielded jacks or patch panel. At least I've never run them. Compare an antenna to a cable. Yep they're basically the same thing. A piece of long metal. so the reason wiring has shielding is to prevent it from picking up erroneous signals nearby. I'm pretty certain thats not an issue with patch panels or jacks because they lack an antenna like property

[Duke{CLR}]

I may be wrong but, I don't think you need a specially shielded jacks or patch panel. At least I've never run them. Compare an antenna to a cable. Yep they're basically the same thing. A piece of long metal. so the reason wiring has shielding is to prevent it from picking up erroneous signals nearby. I'm pretty certain thats not an issue with patch panels or jacks because they lack an antenna like property

I hope so, the shielded patch panels are pricy.

[Nauticas]

A few quick quesitons, I ran shielded cable, must I use shielded keystone jacks and patch panels? If I mount a shielded patch panel to a sheet of plywood how would I ground the shield? Is shielding necessary in an average home?

1) Shielded keystone jacks and patch panels are not required. They do make the grounding process easier, but there are other ways to ground the shields.

2) The best way to ground the shielded patch panel is actually to run a single conductor ground wire from your panelboard to the shielded patch panel. If you don't want to do that, you can grab a ground wire from a junction box in your ceiling that serves the outlets near by and use that. It is not as effective, but should get the job done.

3) The shielding is not necessary in your home. Only place I would recommend it would be the data run next to your audio cables from your TV, but even then you shouldn't need it.

Extra credit) For shield cables to be effective, they should be grounded on 1 side only. If you ground them on both sides you are just shooting yourself in the foot. In your case, you ground at the patch panel and leave the end by the outlet open.