New House Build - Home Network?

[ChrisG]

I’m getting a house built in the near future so I’m looking the options for home network/home entertainment type stuff. I’m currently thinking about installing a network switch and running Cat5/Cat6 cable around the house for Net access, Smart TV’s, etc. The other option is powerline type adaptors but I think they’re a bit more unsightly.

Any opinions on installing a home network?

Within the realms of being sensible, what else should I consider to 'future proof' the house?

Any advice appreciated.

[Jam_s160]

I can't answer, but if you're a member of Seloc then you will find a lot of threads on this topic on there. Plenty of guru IT bods who would be able to help / recommend. Stick a post up on there tooo

[s29ttc]

If it's a new build it would be wise to totally pre wire your home to future proof your home. If I where you I would be looking to house all my equipment in one cupboard in the home in a rack to feed the rest if the property whatever you need. You need to think about what reception platform you want, sky dish, aerial, what you want to send and where, I.e. High definition signal to all rooms, whether you want to wire the home with speakers, maybe in ceiling and wire Sonos system so you can have music throughout the home and so on. I mean possibilities are endless, but I would recommend so highly to get someone involved that knows what they are doing and throw in the wiring at the stage when the house is being electrically wired.

Have a look at my mates website to give you some ideas of the possibilities.

http://www.custom-hti.com

I help him out on the projects and know a decent amount so if you have any questions please give me a shout.

[neil]

I'd do CAT5e as a minimum everywhere all wired back to a patch panel in a central cupboard. Anywhere you think you'll need one put two, and if you think you'll need 2 (eg behind a TV) put 4 as there will always be something new that needs it.
As Scott says there are other things worth considering. If I was doing it I'd have in ceiling speakers everywhere all wired back a the central cupboard - you can worry about whats providing the sound source later, plus it's easy to change for a different source if you change your mind. For HD signals I think you can put HDMI over ethernet so as long as you've put the CAT5e in you're covered.

[Corranga]

I'd do CAT5e as a minimum

CAT6 - CAT5e would be a mistake in this case surely given the semi-permanent nature of the cable run.

[C7Steve]

Cat 6a or Cat 6plus better.

Steve.

[neil]

With a domestic install are you really going to notice the difference? Plus cat 6/6a is more difficult to install as it requires a larger bend radius etc

[robin]

You can run data up to 1Gigabit, or HDBaseT plus a 100MBit ethernet link over a single CAT5e cable. I don't see people needing CAT6 in domestic environment any time soon - it's a telco/data centre technology IMHO.

HDBaseT transceivers are not cheap, though, but if you need them, they are a better way to go than trying to tunnel HDMI or similar cables through your house!

Cheers,
Robin

[s29ttc]

We run cat 6 as standard, infact done a job recently where the client requested cat 7 throughout which is overkill in my opinion. Robins right the transmitter receiver to send HD signal is expensive but it's a solution utilised in many of the installations we do. Rule of thumb is anything over 10m you don't want to go down the HDMI cable route and better to use cat 6. When you take into account cost of a long HDMI cable of decent quality against the cost of the transmitter, receiver kit starts to make sense.

What you want to do at this stage though is put in the foundations to make the home do what you might want it to do in the future to avoid the need of chopping open your home. Cable costs aren't that expensive (in my opinion), you need to get someone who knows a bit about it and get a plan together for a cable runs to suit your potential requirements. Most of costs involved in this style of work are retrofitting, making cable paths and patching and plastering, so if you have the luxury of establishing these cable runs during the build process it's a no brainer. Any hardware can be added step by step in the future within your budget requirements and suit your needs. Furthermore with the foundations in place I believe it will make the property more sellable in the future.

[tonyg]

[quote="robin"]
HDBaseT transceivers are not cheap, though, but if you need them, they are a better way to go than trying to tunnel HDMI or similar cables through your house!
/quote]

HD base T kits are getting cheaper all the time - HD Anywhere RESW50 is about £140 (IIRC,not at work just now) will carry IR also, much cheaper than a long HDMI cable and also far less fragile (can also be USB powered at TV end to save having a power supply stuffed in to the wall cavity).

A better solution for the average house may be may be a 4 x 4 matrix with cat 6 outputs, but these are still relatively expensive (circa £2k complete) , but these are also getting cheaper all the time.

Shielded Cat 6 would be the sensible option, data speed demands are ever increasing and you can only fit cables once in a modern house without major surgery.

Also remember that if you put everything in a cupboard somewhere in the house with little or no ventilation, units can overheat (Sky boxes especially get very hot) leading to reliability problems.
You also need a system to control it.

[Sparky]

Had this request at work a few times – something slightly different from the usual corporate IT infrastructure we look after.

Would run CAT6 as a minimum as this is something you do not want to revisit in the future. Patch panel and wall mounted cabinet should be enough and not take up any floor space.
Run a minimum of two ports to a room and don’t worry about putting in too many ports – especially behind a TV.

Would look at the faceplate options to fit in with the style of the room. No need to get cheap plastic white faceplates that look naff.

[robin]

Shielded Cat 6 would be the sensible option, data speed demands are ever increasing and you can only fit cables once in a modern house without major surgery.

What are you shielding against?

Cheers,
Robin

[graeme]

I love this stuff... home networking, home automation, security etc.

I did a bit of cabling in my house last year. 2 stories and not a newbuild, so I had some challenges with cable routing. I used cat5e unshielded, more than good enough for the foreseeable future. Some runs are next to mains power lines. No issues so far. Honestly, if I was building a house, the extra cost of Cat6 would be negligible. I'd probably just do it without being able to technically justify it, which you'll notice nobody actually can.

Some basic requirements: A patch panel to wire everything back to, and somewhere to put the patch panel and switches/router etc.

I got this stuff, and it's good quality for the money (good supplier too, recommended):

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/ ... index.html
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/CXPPC24.html
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/CXPHU6H.html

Run twin coax for Sky boxes to wherever the dish will be. Nothing worse than Sky engineers running cables down the outside of your walls and then drilling through. Up through the soffits into the attic is the way to go, then down through the walls. Not really networking, but in your telly room, run at least 7.2 speaker cables, bi-wire all the way (i.e. two pairs to each speaker location). Speaker cable under carpet and behind skirtings is just a pain. This means planning your room layouts and furniture before you start the build, but you've done that already for sockets, right?

I'd run cat5 to all doors and windows too for automated locks/blinds/alarm sensors. (This is the thing I want the most, but can't do without redecorating big time, so I'd definitely do it in a new build).

I'd definitely run a stack of cat5 to the boiler controller, hot water tank and other HVAC devices (heat exchanger, solar panels/controller etc). Home temp control is stuck in the dark ages (timer on, timer off) and is now getting much, much smarter (NEST etc), and we're about to see some real progress in this area, so plan ahead. There will probably be wireless devices on the market for retro-fit, but the standards are all over the place, and the boiler controller isn't going anywhere, so wire them up!

I'd run cat5 to the electricity meter and breaker box. There's bound to be some cool smart-meter stuff coming. Gas/water meters too if you have them.

Think about where the BT master socket is going to be (not sure if you can dictate the entry point on a new-build?), and run cat5 from the socket to the patch panel so you can relocate your ADSL/FTTC modem. Don't install telephone extensions (or indeed telephone wire) anywhere in the house. Use your ethernet cabling and/or DECT handsets.

Network point behind the fridge. The next one you buy will probably order your shopping for you.

Ubiquity make excellent wireless access points. http://www.ubnt.com/unifi#appro Depending on the size of the house, you'll need one or two (or one high-powered one). These are PoE powered so just single cat5 cable. Why not just use your ADSL wirless router? Because it'll probably be in a metal comms cabinet in the plant room/garage/attic and your wireless range will plummet. Separate access points are cheap and will make your wireless network awesome.

Consider CCTV camera positions and run cables for those. PoE (power over ethernet) is good for this. A bit "big brother" you might think, but it's so easy to do with cheap hardware these days, it would be silly not to at least put the cables in. I've only got the one camera in the garage at the moment, but the infrastructure is there for an external one front and rear in the future. Good visual deterrent too.

Other things to consider... Cabling to the garage doors for alarms sensors. Network to the garage for TV/cctv/music/PC/console/mancave stuff.
I'd personally run cat5 to every light switch too. The tinkering possibilities are very cool, and wireless switches are both a mess of standards, and stupidly overpriced.

EDIT: I'd put a combined motion/temp/humidity/luminosity sensor in the corner of every main room, wired of course. That covers a lot of security/temp/light control options with one unit and one cable. Or at least put the cable in for later.

[jason]

^

Blimey - it's a whole new world! There's me feeling happily content/satisfied with my own Cat5 and patch panel install just for phones and typical network devices (ie. TV, computers, hard drives)!!

[David]

Having been party to a project about 5 years ago that put every conceivable cable in to every room with built in vacuum cleaning, computer controlled lighting, and blinds etc etc. I would say don't get carried away.

IMHO think carefully about who will use it what their needs are. 80% of the investment we did was never used, 10% was just plain irritating, and 10% seldom worked properly for those without an IT degree. It is a lot of money you'll never see back.