tv/home network installation in new build...

Grimbo82

Hi,

I am moving into a new build 4 bed detached house that is due to be ready next July. Currently, the house is at a very early build stage, basically breeze block footprint. I am keen to ensure i have the best possible facilities for tv and also home networking. I am currently a sky customer although cable is available on the development and am keen to potentially have ethernet ports (thoughts wlecome on this please) in all bedrooms and also tv points. I'm guessing the basic spec from the builder is not great, probably single tv socket points. I want to know what my options are in terms of possible options and also whether the builder will do the things i need in terms of cabling e.g. coax, cat5 or whatever (obviously i will pay builder) or whether it would be better to get a contractor to do it? If so could a contractor do it before the house if mine? to be honest this is a bit of a minefield and any advice would be most welcome as i want to get it right as we will be in this house for many years to come. i hope this is posted in the right place!

MX5huggy

The builder will probably be using a sub contractor for electrical work they should be able to sort it. If you need a specialist then the builder should contract to the specialist not you, it's not your house yet.

I would not cat 5 the whole house, waste of effort, most stuff is wireless now. Cat 5 for the TV and if you have an office if that is not where your router is.

scottishblondie

MX5huggy wrote: »

I would not cat 5 the whole house, waste of effort, most stuff is wireless now. Cat 5 for the TV and if you have an office if that is not where your router is.

I would disagree, its definitely worth it. Wireless is great, but it is not as fast or reliable as wired, especially if you have multiple devices. There are still a lot of devices that don't come with wifi built in, so you have to shell out for other devices such as home plugs to get them running if wi-fi is your only option.

OP I had my new build wired with CAT5 to every room by the builders, it was the easiest to get them to do it as they wouldn't allow outside contractors on site and I obviously wanted it done before the walls went up. The builders had co-ax cabling for satellite TV going from the loft into the living room as standard, which would definitely be useful if you want Sky. I also added TV sockets, additional double power sockets and phone points wherever I thought I'd need them, and had them move some poorly placed radiators.

Ianwzzz

MX5huggy wrote: »

I would not cat 5 the whole house, waste of effort, most stuff is wireless now. Cat 5 for the TV and if you have an office if that is not where your router is.

I agree, neither would I.

When I built my house I ran cat5e cables to every room. I put 2 in every room except the lounge where I ran 4. I also ran extra cat5e cables for my Sonos music system throughout the house.

We now use everything wireless and only use 2 of the sockets which are to the TV and Sky box. Even Sonos told me to use the Sonos wireless and the disconnect the cat5e cables.

I also ran a coax cable to every room for the TV,s. From memory I think I ran 4 to the lounge, 2 of them were from the Sky satellite dish and 1 was a return from the sky box so I could watch Sky in any room. (I think Sky have removed this on the new boxes as they want to sell multi room now).

Another thing to think about is to make sure you have plenty of mains sockets installed near the TV in your lounge, you will be surprised how many you use.

Also if you want an FM aerial you will need a coax for it, and then there's cables for CCTV if you need that.

Best to put enough cables in now at this stage.

Hintza

We built our house a couple of years ago with all you want my only tip would bethink once, think twice and think thrice where you are going to put these points.

It is a real pain when they are not in the places you want them when you move in. Hopefully you will have seen a similar house in the flesh which will make it easier to plan rooms.

It is not as easy off plan.

If in doubt put another point in the room.

In our living room the TV point et al was all set to be in one place within 30 minutes of moving in it was moved not by much but enough to be a total pain.

Ozzuk

there are so many options - I'd recommend taking a look at the more specialist forums out there, I spent a lot researching on the AV forums. You can really keep the costs down if the work is done right at the start and there are some really cool home automation/AV systems.

onomatopoeia99

cat5e / cat6 cable has more uses than just ethernet once installed, e.g. HDMI, telephone, audio, s-video etc with appropriate baluns.

So I'd suggest putting the infrastructure in place when it will cause minimal disruption, not trying to retrofit and getting involved in replastering / redecorating when you realise you've not provisioned enough capacity.

phoenix_w

Another vote for cat6. Don't be tempted to think that "everything's wireless" as cabling will always be more reliable and faster, and if your wireless network starts to stink you can use that lovely cat6 to extend it without reducing the speed of your existing WLAN.

Not to mention you can use cat6 to pipe HDTV around the house (either streamed or HDMI-over-cat5), or repurpose it to other uses using baluns.

If I were to build my own house the living room would have 12 wall ports cat6 and every other room at least 2 all feeding to a switch in the garage.. drool.

DRP

Sorry to piggy-back this thread, but I'm currently redoing the electrics in my c1901 terrace, and this discussion has given me food for thought. Would it be sensible to include some semblance of connectivity whilst all the electrical refit is happening?

i.e.
My broadband router comes into the house via the front room - would it be wise to have wall-mounted ethernet ports in rooms where fast connectivity may be required in the future (the whole house is currently covered by wifi). Therefore, connect:

the front room,
the kitchen-diner
and loft-conversion (office)

using (presumably) cat 6 connections between th0se rooms and the ethernet switch/router in the front room.

I don't want to go mad with expense, but if this is something it would be useful to DIY whilst the house is disrupted anyway...?

Any good DIY guides anywhere?
What is the practical difference between cat5 or cat6?

richy999

Are you sure that you will be able to exploit the extra throughput of the wired network you propose?

If, like most home environments, your bottleneck is your broadband speed and not the internal network, a wireless network will probably be cheaper and more flexible.

DRP

richy999 wrote: »

Are you sure that you will be able to exploit the extra throughput of the wired network you propose?

If, like most home environments, your bottleneck is your broadband speed and not the internal network, a wireless network will probably be cheaper and more flexible.

I am in a fast broadband area, but the limitation is the wifi.

I guess my question comes down to - is my proposed 'DIY' worthwhile (and cost effective) as a method of getting higher speeds/bandwidth to the areas of the house that may need it in the future e.g. for HDTV streaming.