New Home Media Network, Full Install in New build home

Hi Guys, Im about to start on a wiring a friends home and hopefully future proof to some extent, I'm a complete novice so any help is appreciated, ill document the entire build with pics etc on here. I've asked Paul (the friend) to take the drawing of the planned layout and mark on using a simple key where he wants:-

1) HD Sky TV
2) Ethernet ports (I guess there will be several of these as most things now come with the requirement, DVD and Blu-ray players, Sky Boxes etc)
3) Telephone

Ive got a lot of great info from dave87 media thread but there are still a few grey areas in my mind...

Do I install the master sky unit in the Node 1 area under the stairs, this is a ventilated cupboard that will hold the router and switch gear etc (is that the right term)

I understand I have to use 2x Cat5e cables and Baluns boxes to get the HDMI signal down but...

Here is where i show my ignorance, for the internet i guess we use a standard fast incoming provider but what does the patch panel do for me, is it to permit me to supply ethernet to all the devices?

Why do i need Coax, what will come down this?.

Im re-reading dave87's thread so will be back with more questions shortly.

Thanks

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!

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.

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.

With modern MiMo WiFi access points (the 3 antenna ones) and 500Mbit/sec Homeplug AV adaptors I am surprised people wire up their homes any more.

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Originally Posted by DanceswithUnix

With modern MiMo WiFi access points (the 3 antenna ones) and 500Mbit/sec Homeplug AV adaptors I am surprised people wire up their homes any more.

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Given that it's a new build, it can make a lot of sense, depending on what you want to do. If you're trying to distribute multiple HD video streams, Homeplug 500 isn't going to cut it. You can also use Ethernet to distribute HDMI itself, telephone data, etc etc. It's also a case of future-proofing too; 4K video will take quite a bit of network bandwidth :)

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Originally Posted by escapizm

Do I install the master sky unit in the Node 1 area under the stairs, this is a ventilated cupboard that will hold the router and switch gear etc (is that the right term)

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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.

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Originally Posted by escapizm

I understand I have to use 2x Cat5e cables and Baluns boxes to get the HDMI signal down but...

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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.

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Originally Posted by escapizm

Why do i need Coax, what will come down this?.

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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.

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Originally Posted by escapizm

Here is where i show my ignorance, for the internet i guess we use a standard fast incoming provider but what does the patch panel do for me, is it to permit me to supply ethernet to all the devices?

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Originally Posted by shaithis

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.

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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).

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Originally Posted by shaithis

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)

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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!

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Originally Posted by DanceswithUnix

With modern MiMo WiFi access points (the 3 antenna ones) and 500Mbit/sec Homeplug AV adaptors I am surprised people wire up their homes any more.

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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 .

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Originally Posted by Jimbobgod1969

Given that it's a new build, it can make a lot of sense, depending on what you want to do. If you're trying to distribute multiple HD video streams, Homeplug 500 isn't going to cut it. You can also use Ethernet to distribute HDMI itself, telephone data, etc etc. It's also a case of future-proofing too; 4K video will take quite a bit of network bandwidth :)

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Still not convinced :D

I had some ethernet cable between rooms in my last house. It did me very well, but was 100Mbit Cat 5 (at the time 5e was new and waaay too costly) so my Homeplug is actually slightly faster than the wiring in my old house. For the future, 10Gbit ethernet is in no way compatible with the older standards.

So whilst in the old house I had an ethernet jack in the wall behind the tv that fed into a switch for the tv and consoles, now in the new house I have a homeplug feeding the same switch.

Increasingly content is now consumed by phone or tablet in our house, so no cable involved.

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Originally Posted by DanceswithUnix

Still not convinced :D

I had some ethernet cable between rooms in my last house. It did me very well, but was 100Mbit Cat 5 (at the time 5e was new and waaay too costly) so my Homeplug is actually slightly faster than the wiring in my old house. For the future, 10Gbit ethernet is in no way compatible with the older standards.

So whilst in the old house I had an ethernet jack in the wall behind the tv that fed into a switch for the tv and consoles, now in the new house I have a homeplug feeding the same switch.

Increasingly content is now consumed by phone or tablet in our house, so no cable involved.

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I dont know what the deal is with homeplug, but my problem with wireless is that the bandwidth is shared. So you might have a 300Mb (which it will actually be nowhere near to start off with) wireless switch, but per device if they are all using at the same time its divided up. Transferring files too and from a NAS using wireless is so bloody painful. Even 100Mb ethernet is streets ahead of wireless in this regards. I haven't tried any of the new ac draft routers yet though.

Homeplug AV seems to be better turn around time than WiFi, but otherwise yes it is multi drop. Going via the fuse box in the old house I got 80Mb worst case in real world throughput, talking to a plug on the same mains ring gets me more like 200Mb. Older homeplug standards wouldn't have worked for me I'm sure.

Similarly with WiFi, I have been through useless routers that were b and g standard, and with a pair of wireless-g access points at opposite ends of the house I still had black spots all over the place. A single MiMo n access point now talks to me anywhere in the house and from looking at my phone to about 5 houses down the street.

These technologies are getting better, without having to pull new cables at each generation.

See the thing is, in our flat, surrounded by loads of other flats all with Wireless routers (mostly homehubs), we have tried 4 different routers now of varying costs (up to about £70) and technologies, in all kinds of different positions and on different frequencies and we cant get a single one that covers the entire flat without blackspots. Its not even a big flat, there is just too much interference and the walls are quite thick.

Homeplug seems to be wiring dependant, you get better performance the better the wiring is, for some people it just doesn't work at all.

If you have the opportunity to put in ethernet cable and you do it properly, it will work and give you the best possible performance (within reason obviously) and short of some serious electronic inductance or someone physically cutting it, its extremely stable.

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Originally Posted by DanceswithUnix

For the future, 10Gbit ethernet is in no way compatible with the older standards..

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10Gbit ethernet works over Cat6. Just not for 100 meters. It does however work up to 40 meters. If you need more than 40 meters of 10 Gbit rated transmission in your home, you can afford cat6a ;)

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Originally Posted by badass

10Gbit ethernet works over Cat6. Just not for 100 meters. It does however work up to 40 meters. If you need more than 40 meters of 10 Gbit rated transmission in your home, you can afford cat6a ;)

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Well that's handy, I thought 6a was mandatory.

Yeah 40m should be enough. Otherwise, you probably pulled fibre anyway ;)

I thought you needed 6a/7 aswell actually. Have you actually tested it?
With the rising price of copper and the falling price of fibre I wouldn't be surprised if most places stuck fibre in regardless

Wikipedia backs it up, so it must be true :D

Looks like 6a the approved cable though. I'm sure we've all lobbed gigabit down a short length of old cat 5 to get us through the day. Maybe just me then...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_6_cable

Only come across 10GbE setups at work, people who can afford enough storage to need it can usually afford the right cables ;)

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