New house wiring solutions

[CDH]

Hope to get some input from some experienced installers.

My new house is coming along very nicely, with wiring to go in over the next couple of weeks.

I want to give myself a lot of options for network/TV distribution throughout the home. Ethernet (100bt or gigabit) to several locations - which may become obsolete within the next few years as wireless solutions improve.

For TV I'll send coax around so I can get Dish signal to multiple receivers (if I want them) in the future, but for now my plan is to distribute HDMI signal from Dish box and Blu-Ray using a splitter located in the living room. That will allow me to send HD to TVs in the living room, kitchen, master, and a bonus room in the house. Since I dont' have any wall-fishing to do I should be able to do this with maximum 50 foot cable runs.

I presume the best thing to do is connect Dish DVR and Blu-Ray to the A/V receiver, connect HDMI output from the receiver to the splitter, and then the multiple outputs of the splitter to wall-plates that connect to HDMI cable runs to the various parts of the house? Also presume that all the cabling must be CL-2 certified to be able to run inside walls.

Amplified 1x4 HDMI Splitter: $60-200 depending on the model; 3 x 50 ft HDMI 1.3b CL2 cables - $70 per; 1 x 10 ft HDMI 1.3b CL2 cable $20; wall-plates 8 x $10 = $410

Any downsides here? I realize this set-up limits viewing to a single output at one time, but it seems to do otherwise with HD would require multiple Dish receivers and I can't think of circumstances where I've wanted to have different programming in different rooms.

Is it essential that I use cables that are certified for HDMI v.1.3b? Or will 1.3a suffice? (1.2a or 1.3a cables seem to be more available in long run lengths.)

Thanks for your advice!

CDH.

 

[CDH]

Gah - just found this post!

http://www.satelliteguys.us/home-th...pecification-version-1-4-ces-unveiled-ny.html

(I guess it is impossible to future-proof!)

CDH.

 

[Ilya]

One other option is just to run extra CAT5/CAT6 cables to all the rooms. These cables are cheap and are less likely to become obsolete, and you will have more options in the future. There are HDMI over CAT5 extenders and I am sure there will be various video distribution options over Ethernet.

 

[StevenD]

(I guess it is impossible to future-proof!)

No its not. Just run conduit from every location to a central closet/garage/wherever. Then you can run the cables as you need them and change them out later when they become outdated.

 

[CDH]

Thanks for the input. I'll talk to the wiring guy about Cat 5/6 (my guess is that a lot of TV signal will move to IP in the future anyway) and to the builder about running conduits for future cables.

I will also have to install an OTA antenna, but not sure of where to put that. My previous house had one in the attic which worked *great*, so that is an option for me.

CDH.

 

[harshness]

Conduit is the ONLY way to future proof and sometimes it doesn't always work out. The important thing about conduit is using wide sweep elbows as some fiber and most coax doesn't like tight bends.

CAT5 or better is not a solution for everything as it can't replace coax for broadband RF (like cable and satellite).

If you can't do Conduit, a couple of home runs or RG6 and three CAT5e everywhere (multiples in larger rooms) is probably the next best thing. Avoid splitting the RG6 if at all possible as that may sour it for several uses.

The HDMI to CAT5 wall plate (two cables, ~$70) is looking like the poor man's HD distribution system of the future at this point.

 

[jayn_j]

The most important conduit on a multi-story house is one from the basement to the attic. You can always run down from the attic to the second story and from the first story to the basement, but 1st to second story is almost impossible to retrofit without tearing out large chunks of drywall.

I had a 3" conduit basement to attic installed when i built my last house and it really cam in handy over the years.