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Thread: New Home Media Network, Full Install in New build home

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    Re: New Home Media Network, Full Install in New build home

    Quote Originally Posted by Preacher View Post
    Sounds a complex build! Can't offer much in terms of advice other than to say that nowadays you can have a lot of equipment in your tv cabinet that would benefit from a wired connection. I use a switch in my cabinet to connect my TiVo, Xbox, media player, AirPlay receiver. They don't need the full gig bandwidth so might help with the wiring.


    Can't wait to see some pics!
    Thanks, ill post pics etc as i go.

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    Re: New Home Media Network, Full Install in New build home

    Quote Originally Posted by shaithis View Post
    Personally, I wouldn't bother with the Sky box in a cupboard.....I'd have it near the tv instead. Seems a lot of hasle and expense.....plus there is the remote issue (which I guess is what the coax may be for)

    As for the patch panel......it allows you to manage your wiring to the switch(es) better. Ideally, you run a cable from a wall box to the patchpanel and label both ends. You can then use a small patch cable to connect that port to the switch. If it isn't needed anymore, you can re-patch it to another extension. I t isn't needed but used correctly can make changing something at a later date substantially easier.
    So i get one high speed internet cable into the switch and it allows me to connect multiple devices.

    tks

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    Re: New Home Media Network, Full Install in New build home

    Quote Originally Posted by Jimbobgod1969 View Post
    You might find this guide useful:

    http://www.cablemonkey.co.uk/acatalo...esignguide.pdf

    Personally I'd go with cat6 UTP cable, as the the price difference with cat5e is relatively small.
    THanks Jimbobgod1969 thats an excellent start! Ill look at price of CAT6, is there anywhere best to buy this gear from?

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    Re: New Home Media Network, Full Install in New build home

    Quote Originally Posted by Biscuit View Post
    I would say yes. One of the restrictions with extending HDMI on CAT5 (especially on HD) is distance, and if you are flood wiring the home then all of the cables will probably terminate at this node 1 area. This means the shortest run will from there to the television set. If you put the Skybox in one of the remote locations you would have to add together the distance from the skybox back to where node 1, then also that patch point to where ever the television is.

    Depends what extender you use. Be careful what you buy, some are very poor and will not work at all, others are excelent and will work flawlessly. You get is what you pay for, we have to do this at work at a lot and the ones we use are upwards of £500 each.



    Coax would be for if you were distributing RF/IF signals around the home aswell. This would enable you to use the televisions built in tuners or have Digital tuner boxes local to a television. The easiest way to do this is to have the Coax from the arial and the Sat LNBs feeding to a single multiswitch then distribute coax throughout the home. The multiswitch will give the tuner the correct type of signal automatically.

    If you are having everything strictly centralized, you wouldn't need this at all, however i would recommend putting some coax to key locations in the house, just not everywhere there is an RJ45.



    This exactly, except when you are using patch panels for ethernet AND extending HDMI signals, it means you can use any RJ45 wall socket for ether ethernet or HDMI just by moving a short patch cable in your centralised cable termination point (which i assume is node 1).

    Actually there are extenders that will also extend the IR signal. They give you a little transmitter you stick onto the IR receiver on the box and give you a little IR receiver to go inline near your TV.

    We are getting into expensive products though!

    Whilst good, its still not as good as a point to point Ethernet connection, and if you have the opportunity to floodwire the home then its worth it every step of the way!

    Best recommendation i can give to help you visualize it is open power point, or openoffice draw, or any other vector based drawing software and plan out a basic schematic which includes all the areas, the equipment inside them and what connectivity they require. This will help you visualize the true requirements .
    Thanks Biscuit thats a comprehensive reply, in short whilst I'm finding my feet and the pressure if the build is upon me is it fair to say i should install ethernet CAT6 cables x 8 (for DVD player, SKY on demand, XBOX, and 2 for HDMI plus spares) say to the main living rooms (2 off), each with a coax and to the bedrooms 4 off CAT6 and coax. Im going to have to install cables soon!

    I used to be a draughtsman so will CAD up a crude wiring diagram and also up load the layout of the property as ill also put together a routing drawing.

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    Re: New Home Media Network, Full Install in New build home

    I should have mentioned we also intend to put intelligent lighting in, I'm not too sure what the benefits are for this, ill do some more searching on tinterweb for this but if anyone could recommend a uk brand that would be helpful.

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    Re: New Home Media Network, Full Install in New build home



    This is the "client" fag packet skectch ill work from, more to follow

    how do i post pics, this drop box link not working?
    Last edited by escapizm; 19-03-2013 at 08:19 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by escapizm View Post


    This is the "client" fag packet skectch ill work from, more to follow

    how do i post pics, this drop box link not working?
    Photobucket is what I use



    There we are.

    I'm guessing E = Ethernet, TV is where you will have a Coax and Sky is where you will Ethernet for the use of a sky extender?

    Bare in mind, you might struggle to split Sky HD down that many paths simultaneously. No problem if you are using SD with composite but HDCP protection in the sky receiver will cut the picture if you try and use an HDMI splitter that isn't compliant, and i dont think they generally are!
    Last edited by Biscuit; 19-03-2013 at 10:26 AM.

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    Re: New Home Media Network, Full Install in New build home

    Thanks again Biscuit!

    Just read this http://www.automatedhome.co.uk/insta...6-cabling.html now i more terrified than i was! Is CAT 6 that sensitive!

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    Re: New Home Media Network, Full Install in New build home

    Quote Originally Posted by escapizm View Post
    Thanks again Biscuit!

    Just read this http://www.automatedhome.co.uk/insta...6-cabling.html now i more terrified than i was! Is CAT 6 that sensitive!
    The information is correct, but i do a lot of installations (for broadcast) where we test each of the thousands of cables we install with a Fluke DTX and i have never experienced anything drastically terrible as a result of some of these "rules" not being followed 100%. Perhaps if you are maxing out the theoretical possible maximum of what the cables are capable of over long distances, you might notice it. For an installation of that size, as long as you get decent quality RJ45 connections and are careful not to kink the cables or put them round too much of a tight bend radius and do a good job of punching the ends in (it takes a fair bit of practice!) you should be ok.

    There are some RJ45 connection systems (such as the 3M one we use at work) which don't require you to actually punch the cables in as the connector punches it by being assembled. Its expensive but almost guarantees good results.

    I would recommend buying premade patch cords for local room and panel to switch connections though.
    Last edited by Biscuit; 19-03-2013 at 12:42 PM.

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    Re: New Home Media Network, Full Install in New build home

    Quote Originally Posted by Biscuit View Post
    The information is correct, but i do a lot of installations (for broadcast) where we test each of the thousands of cables we install with a Fluke DTX and i have never experienced anything drastically terrible as a result of some of these "rules" not being followed 100%. Perhaps if you are maxing out the theoretical possible maximum of what the cables are capable of over long distances, you might notice it. For an installation of that size, as long as you get decent quality RJ45 connections and are careful not to kink the cables or put them round too much of a tight bend radius and do a good job of punching the ends in (it takes a fair bit of practice!) you should be ok.

    There are some RJ45 connection systems (such as the 3M one we use at work) which don't require you to actually punch the cables in as the connector punches it by being assembled. Its expensive but almost guarantees good results.

    I would recommend buying premade patch cords for local room and panel to switch connections though.
    OK will buy roll of cat 6 and 3m connectors (have got a link?) for install and pre-made patch cords at switch cabinet!

    will be working on diagrams over next few days on a lunch time.
    Last edited by escapizm; 19-03-2013 at 01:50 PM.

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    Re: New Home Media Network, Full Install in New build home

    Quote Originally Posted by escapizm View Post
    OK will buy roll of cat 6 and 3m connectors (have got a link?) for install and pre-made patch cords at switch cabinet!

    will be working on diagrams over next few days on a lunch time.
    Its probably a bit overkill for a home system and I wouldn't know where to get them as a home consumer, but my company uses blue helix who actually stock a range of different systems. We buy in quite large numbers and i don't know if they will be able to sell just one or two panels at a price that makes sense. Their site is a worth a look and it might be worth giving them a call and seeing what they recommend though.

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    Re: New Home Media Network, Full Install in New build home

    Quote Originally Posted by Biscuit View Post
    Its probably a bit overkill for a home system and I wouldn't know where to get them as a home consumer, but my company uses blue helix who actually stock a range of different systems. We buy in quite large numbers and i don't know if they will be able to sell just one or two panels at a price that makes sense. Their site is a worth a look and it might be worth giving them a call and seeing what they recommend though.
    THanks but i was meaning for the 3m self terminating connectors, do you have a part number, is there only 3m that make them, guess ill have to get Paul to buy some specialist tools too?

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    Re: New Home Media Network, Full Install in New build home

    Escapizm,

    Just having a read of the thread it is probably useful to split out the objectives for the cabling you are putting in:

    SkyHD (Coax Feeds from Dish)
    Terrestrial TV (Freeview - Coax from aerial to booster, booster to TV)
    High Speed Ethernet - for high speed internet distribution, PC networking and for HD Video/Audio distribution
    Home automation? Ethernet is pretty universal so perhaps separate runs to the requisite places terminated in an independent patch panel so as to distinguish them? - One person ran cat5 to all his light switches in preparation, though that may be overkill.

    Are you going to be running multiroom audio, squeezeboxes, sonos or the like? Worth thinking about, as if you are (albeit not now, but in the future) it is worth putting in the cables now).


    What internet connection is your friend planning? If VDSL (i.e. BT Infinity) you can (currently, though this may be subject to change) split the modem and router (as they are two separate devices connected by ethernet). Modem should go as close to the master phone socket as possible (wherever that is) and for convenience having the router in Node 0 would be the best bet. If this is not possible then there are alternatives (especially if there would be issues with wireless coverage by so doing) but centralising things helps! You may be able to do the same with Virgin (cable), depends on the specific network configuration/modem/router combination provided now)

    So, Node 0 - i.e. the center of the network would contain:

    Router
    Switch (however many ports as required to connect the required devices + headroom)
    Ethernet Patch Panel
    Home Server etc (if required)
    UPS (if you want - plan it in now!)
    Aerial booster (if you want to centralise that to make running the cables easier/expansion at a future date less painful etc)


    Then the runs to the various rooms. Couple of things there - the extra effort required to run 4 cables rather than 2 is minimal, however adding another two after you have run the original ones is a massive pain. Remember if you are going to use baluns then they need dedicated runs (they can't be run off a switch down a single wire). So where you think you are going to use 2 connections, run 4, etc. Also think about how rooms could be reorganised in the future, and run cables there too.

    Few tips:

    Pre-made patch leads are a godsend - no way was I spending hours making 30cm patch leads when you can get them pre-made for pennies.
    Buy two boxes of Ethernet Cable - makes running multiple cable runs a lot easier!
    Good quality tools are helpful -makes things a lot easier! That said, you don't have to go mad - mine were from eBay and they are still going fine.
    Get a set of rods for running cables - electricians use them for a reason!


    Are there any electrical works happening at the same time? I found that I needed to add sockets in different places to power the devices, so worth getting them organised to be done at the same time.

    Perhaps worth drawing up a network plan to help you work out where things are going?

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    Re: New Home Media Network, Full Install in New build home

    You could always just use the hub that is built into the router and attach powerlines to it so much simpler and effective
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    Re: New Home Media Network, Full Install in New build home

    Quote Originally Posted by carvedeye View Post
    You could always just use the hub that is built into the router and attach powerlines to it so much simpler and effective
    Works for a lot of people, but not what he's got planned

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    Re: New Home Media Network, Full Install in New build home

    Could be a cost effective first option though, cost may be a factor. So I could still run all the cables to all rooms but would be limited to say 6 or 8 feeds that the router provides?

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