Domestic Network Wiring

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paintpotmen

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Hi Im just about to start wiring a new build and Im looking for some advice on cables and boxes

Can anyone please advise which coaxial cable and which cat5e cable is best and where can I buy the materials needed , bilk cabel, boxes etc?

Many thanks in advance
 
How long do you think you will be there? You might want to consider cat6 cable it is unlikely to make a difference now but in the next 5-10 years it will especially as it is not much more expensive.

I have been looking at the same thing myself the sites I have come accross are
 
oops accidental press of return, apologies for half a post earlier.


How long do you think you will be there? You might want to consider cat6 cable it is unlikely to make a difference now but in the next 5-10 years it will, especially as it is not much more expensive and media gets more bandwidth heavy e.g. HDTV. However you should get shielded cat6 FTP and read the guidelines to installing it. Remember replacing the switch and other network cards will be easy compared to replacing cable.

I have been looking at the same thing myself the sites I have found good are

www.cablemonkey.co.uk (really good site, with good explanations but unsure about shipping)
www.elara.ie
www.lindy.ie

I also spotted cat5e related components in BQ the other day, so if they have it chances are other electrical shops have it and cheaper.

I am planning putting in twice the amount of sockets as required in every room, I know it is not overkill but am wondering should I put in more.

I believe the same should apply for co-ax cable, however note there is a HDTV version of co-ax cable I believe. A site you should read now is www.smarthome.com, whilst it is US based it will give you some ideas of the standards and cables around, as well as ideas for other home automation.
 
I personally wouldn't go near Elara, had a nightmare trying to return a faulty product there.

Check out these two previous threads for details on wiring advice.
Leo
 
Some observations from my experience:

In a home network situation, Cat 6 is only needed where single runs in the home need to go over 80meters. The only significant difference is that Cat6 is certified for Gigabit, whereas Cat5e will run Gigabit however it's only certified to 100Mb.
In a critical company network this might be an issue, however realistically in a home network situation, it doesn't matter an iota.

Cat6 network components are more expensive then Cat5e. Every single component on the network must be gigabit rated.

Bear in mind for a DIY install, from my experience Cat6 is significantly harder to work with, (running cable and terminating) and the full benefit of the 1GBs+ cable won't be delivered unless this is done properly.

How many people will be using your home network at one time ? Given that in Ireland most people have probably at most a 3MB internet connection speed. This is as fast as we can get data into our network. Even 5 people working on our home network we still wouldn't notice any difference in access speed, given our router/switch supported it. How long has it taken to get the powers that be to get us this 3MBs broadband and how long more will it be before we see 25/30MBs that will see our networks come a marginal bit closer to reaching capacity.
At home do we really need to move extremely large files around from computer to computer in critical time frames ?

Cat5e handles voip, video streaming, music no problem at all.

For real future proofing why not consider running fibre optic cable alongside your cat5e.
 
Many thanks for the advice, Fiber optics is interesting - are these cables expensive?

I was wondering if I can send Hif Def say 1080i/p over the cat5e or Coaxial - I ask as I would like to be able to stream hi def recordings from my pc to tv or from Blue ray palyer/Sky HD upstairs to rooms downstairs (No run > 20m)
 
[broken link removed]

Have a look at this site.
300m of this cable €850. Capable of 2.5gb.Currently installing in my build.
Not cheap but flexible and future prove to a fair degree.
 
bakerbhoy said:
[broken link removed]

Have a look at this site.
300m of this cable €850. Capable of 2.5gb.Currently installing in my build.
Not cheap but flexible and future prove to a fair degree.
Click to expand...

Thanks Bakerbhoy- That looks like "Cat 8" cable , does the €850 include all the face plates and the routers/switches etc?- this stuff starts getting very expensive Plus its supposed to be a specialist job to terminate?

I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the above?
 
There is no doubt that the Kerpen HomeNet® system is a good product and gives a uniform connection system across the house but at what price!

300M of Cat5 can be got for less than 100 euro. Box of plates, crimping tool and fittings €50 - €70. Then once you've settled in you can purchase items such as these http://www.svideo.com/vi.html around the €30 mark to connect devices for sound/video.

The components are what I would be worried about with the Kerpen system, you've got to get the proprietary component from them to connect your devices.

A double faceplate (silver) CAT5 will cost no more than €15.
 
davidoco

had a look at the link you posted. Am I correct that this is only S-Video or composite video so no HD possible??? If that is the case, I'd rather spend more money to go for high capacity solution like the one bakerbhoy mentioned.

Just had to edit because I had a look at bakerbhoy site. If I see it correct you can use any active or passive equipment with this system. There is no need to use their components as you discripe. All you would use is a cable with their connector on one end and a SCART, RJ45, RCA, F, etc... on the other end.

Do I see that wrong????
 
davidoco said:
There is no doubt that the Kerpen HomeNet® system is a good product and gives a uniform connection system across the house but at what price!

300M of Cat5 can be got for less than 100 euro. Box of plates, crimping tool and fittings €50 - €70. Then once you've settled in you can purchase items such as these http://www.svideo.com/vi.html around the €30 mark to connect devices for sound/video.

The components are what I would be worried about with the Kerpen system, you've got to get the proprietary component from them to connect your devices.

A double faceplate (silver) CAT5 will cost no more than €15.
Click to expand...

I am very familiar with the IrishHomeNet system, I am doing a few installs at the moment, just to lay my cards on the table, before I answer some of the stuff above. The system is completely passive, in that it does not require active components, like cat5 to video convertors etc. What is required are connection cables, which give you the various different connection types and interfaces (i.e coax, rf, scart, ethernet connections etc). The idea of it is that you can run up to 4 services on one cable (or 8 services if you run a double cable to one point), including sattelite cable feed etc, so while the presentation points are more expensive, you are actually provided with more than one service at each point. I.e 1 IrishHomeNet point gives you coax/Sattelite,ethernet and phone presentation for example.

Wexfordman
 
Tom0815 said:
Am I correct that this is only S-Video or composite video so no HD possible??? If that is the case, I'd rather spend more money to go for high capacity solution like the one bakerbhoy mentioned.
Click to expand...

see [broken link removed] for products to send HD over cat5. The problem is that these devices cost up to €500. So in hindsight if you were really looking to future proof, and if HD quaility television at a couple of locations was important, then the Kerpen type products would be the way to go.
 
Tom0815 said:
If I see it correct you can use any active or passive equipment with this system. There is no need to use their components as you discripe. All you would use is a cable with their connector on one end and a SCART, RJ45, RCA, F, etc... on the other end.
Click to expand...

You buy the faceplate from them which has the various connectors. That's interesting what Wexfordman said that you can run one cable and terminate say your phone, sat and ethernet off one cable. Now that's interesting and future proof. As it stands using CAT5 or 6I would run two cat5 cables, at least one sat quality coax, one phone cable to each point.
 
paintpotmen said:
Thanks Bakerbhoy- That looks like "Cat 8" cable , does the €850 include all the face plates and the routers/switches etc?- this stuff starts getting very expensive Plus its supposed to be a specialist job to terminate?

I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the above?
Click to expand...
Cable 300m .... €850
When i first spoke to them it was just a casual conversation.how many beds .living rooms etc.Mine is a five bed , two living room ,kitchen, dining, study,garage. 200sq meter bungalow with detached garage.
Told approx €1400 for cable and components only.
Specialist termination and commissioning , so it's not cheap.
I still have some cable left so i may shove a few more points in,outside point on patio, or run second cables to existing wall plates.Unless you are going for serious automation one run to most points is adequate,recommended two to the location of your sky +/hd box.
 
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