pre wiring of the house

[mitchellcable]

I am trying to pre-wire my house for internet and DirecTV. I have three bedrooms on the second floor. and 2 rooms on the first floor where I need cables. Currently I will have a PC in one of the rooms upstairs and one downstairs where I will have DirecTV with HD DVR.
I was told to run 4 RG6 cables from the roof to the attic (center location) then take 3 RG6 and 1 cat 5 to each wall plate of each room. I would like to have the cbales and internet connection for computer and TV internet in the rooms for the future. My cable internet is verizon DSL.

thanks

mitch

 

[jdspencer]

It can be simplified if you get an SWM install. Depending on how many DirecTV tuners you want will dictate if your get the SWM LNB dish which can support up to 8 tuners or the four output LNB running to the swm16 module for > 8 tuners. DVRs count as two tuners.

Then for DirecTV you only need one coax to each room that will have DirecTV. For cable run a separate coax.

 

[donbrew]

You can never have too many RG6 wires to any given room, to some overkill point. What I mean is, if you have several cables going to the central point, then you can patch for any eventuality.
The reason for 3 RG6 to each room is for example: 1 DVR (needs 2 from the dish) then feed RF from that one out to the central location for distribution to other room(s) then you decide to add an OTA antenna to feed 1 or more rooms.
Keep in mind if you are using the attic for the "central" that you will need power for your internet router and possibly other things. Also consider heat and access issues because most routers and gear are made of plastic, and attics tend to get really HOT/COLD. If it was me, I'd find a convenient closet area adjacent to an exterior wall for a central location, and run 4 RG6 and 1 CAT (whatever is newest/you can afford), and DO NOT staple the wires, leave them loose for future fishing; no matter how much planning you do, you will be changing things! It is possible to build a very nice distribution center that is incredibly flexible in new construction.

 

[jdspencer]

With a SWM install you only need one coax to the DVR. And having an extra RG6 to feed RF from the DVR won't work unless you have a modulator on the DVR. Having an RG6 for OTA is a good idea.

 

[cparker]

I have 2 RG6 and 2 cat5 to each TV location. All my phone jacks are wired cat5 with RJ45 jacks. THe RJ11 phone plugs have no problem going into an RJ45 properly. At my patch panel I can make any RJ45 jack either network or phone. I also have a single floor home with full basement access so I can add to this any time.

If you're doing a pre-wire, do yourself a favor and run smurf tubes in any areas where you won't have access once things are closed up. That way you can run fiber later

 

[SA Holly Springs GA]

Just don't put splitters in where it'll be closed off. I hate breaking out the sawzall. I asked one guy why he did that. He said "why should I run another line when I can just split it." ha how bout I split you.

I'd say 2 RG6 and one C5 per TV. 4 is overkill IMO. However, 4 RG6 in a room is not. 2 in 1 place and 2 in another. Just in case the ole lady decides to remodel

 

[AekaGSR]

Make sure they don't do a crap job. The lines that were installed in my house appeared fine for 6 years until I switched to DTV with the SWM install. Once they put more voltage through the coax it really starts to show if there is an issue with the line. The installer had to run two new lines because the lines that were built in the house had a short in them that only the SWM found and couldn't run on. The installer suspected that the staples cut into the line when they installed them.