wiring for new home

stoneweed1

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Original poster
Jan 11, 2006
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my house is currently under construction - framing complete, bricks going up

the builder wires the house for cable tv, however i would like sat tv . the cable tv lines all endup in the basement on the side of the house opposite where the dish would be.

i wanted recommendations as to which wires to get and how to run them to make a clean install. i think that if i were to get satellite installed post-construction, there may be LNB wires running all along the top of my house to get to the opposite side in the basement where the cables all end up .

my guess is to run 2 RG-6s from the site where the dish will be and carry these two RG-6s up into the attic and across to the opposite side of the house in the basement where all the cable tv lines end up.

from there i would need to connect the two LNBs to a multiplexer and from there connect the room cables to the multiplexer.

am i correct in this?

thanks in advance
 
I won't touch the coax question, I've totally lost track on E* hardware requirements. But I would recommend that you don't forget phone lines and why not also throw in a cat 5/5E/6 cable for a network connection. Better to do it up front then worry about it later.
 
yeah, i've wired the phone lines and network with CAT5e......

does anyone know what type of coax to use for satellite (2 RG6s?)
 
run RG-6 rated at 3 gig., quad shield is a waste of money in residential apps. run 5 lines in minimum, run 2 to each room.

just to be safe. this setup will be ok for dish, directv and ota just in case.

good luck in your new home.
 
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If you want be safe run 4 wires from the dish to a central point. Then 2 wires from there to each drop. This to were you will not have a problem with things like HD and DVR or future upgrades.
 
Thanks for your replies.....

My plan is to run 4 RG6s 3GHZ rated from dish location to central location in basement. Possibly 5 RG6s. and then 2 RG6s to TV location.

Bye the way, what is AT9?
 
stoneweed1 said:
Thanks for your replies.....
My plan is to run 4 RG6s 3GHZ rated from dish location to central location in basement. Possibly 5 RG6s. and then 2 RG6s to TV location.
Bye the way, what is AT9?

The AT9 is the 5 LNB Directv dish for newer HD channels. It will pick up sats at
99, 101, 103, 110 and 119.
 
I would recommend running six RG-6 to the sat location and also don't forget a number 10 gauge wire to the electrical panel for your bond wire. From the outlet boxes in the rooms, run two RG-6's and two Cat 5E minimum to the basement. If you can afford it run CAT-6 instead of CAT-5E, since that is the newest technology out there. If you can also run a spare conduit to the attic from the basement. You will be surprised how many wire that you "forgot" to run. :rolleyes:
 
I would run at least a 2 RG6 + 2 Cat6 bundle to an outlet box in each room. All home runs. Where your computer/TV equipment will go I may even run multiple outlet boxes, again each home run.

Additionally, run your Home theater speaker wiring NOW for a 7.1 channel system. Also... you may want to run a conduit and an outlet to the ceiling to leave the front projector option as well.

If you're real ambitious you can run the outlets where your equipment will plug in to a separate electrical box... so you can protect everything with an isolation transformer.

It'll be some bucks... but you can always get the fancy appliances and put up crown moldings after the sheetrock goes up... fishing wire is not fun...
 
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Run as many as you can

wirenut said:
I would recommend running six RG-6 to the sat location and also don't forget a number 10 gauge wire to the electrical panel for your bond wire. From the outlet boxes in the rooms, run two RG-6's and two Cat 5E minimum to the basement. If you can afford it run CAT-6 instead of CAT-5E, since that is the newest technology out there. If you can also run a spare conduit to the attic from the basement. You will be surprised how many wire that you "forgot" to run. :rolleyes:


Here's what I did in my sister's house when she was remodeling: I bought 1000 RG6 cable spool on eBay, and run one wire to each room for the TV's, the rest of the cable I ran from roof to basement, total of 7 cables from roof to basement, and this way there were no cable left over, and I can install any future DirecTV AND Dish Network dishes without worrying about running out of cables. Also, in addition to RG6 to each room I ran Cat 5e for Internet and Cat3 for phone, and if you want to be really future proof, I suggest running fiber optic cable, it's up to you and your budget.
 
Don't worry about the cable, put in structured raceways. That way, it doesn't matter if you didn't put in enough cables to a location, you can pull another. Smarthome has this stuff, but you might be able to shop around for a better deal.
 
I actually wired my house about a month ago. We ran (4) Rg6 Quad Shield Coax Cables to each wall plate, along with (2) Cat5E for analog telephone and a phone system, and (1) Cat6 for a computer network.

In addition, I also ran flex conduit to all the wall plates so I can easily pull more cables in the future.

As a general rule (2) Rg6 and (2) Cat5/6 cables should be enough in a typical home.

In addition its not a bad idea to run additional runs to main televisions such as in the living room and master bedroom.
 
BTW, I did use the smart home stuff in my house for all the boxes.

First floor feeds got fed to the basement, 2nd floor feeds got fed to a central point in the attic and then I ran (3) 1-1/4 lines from the attic to the basement.

Not to mention seperate feeds for all of my Dishes.

I do not have anything run through the conduit yet. I ran everything outside the conduit and then left the conduit open for future expansion.
 
pv2750 said:
Here's what I did in my sister's house when she was remodeling: I bought 1000 RG6 cable spool on eBay, and run one wire to each room for the TV's, the rest of the cable I ran from roof to basement, total of 7 cables from roof to basement, and this way there were no cable left over, and I can install any future DirecTV AND Dish Network dishes without worrying about running out of cables. Also, in addition to RG6 to each room I ran Cat 5e for Internet and Cat3 for phone, and if you want to be really future proof, I suggest running fiber optic cable, it's up to you and your budget.

Check out the all in one cable bundles...

http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat_id=314&sku=26869

The Cat 5E can serve both phone and ethernet so no need to run separate phone lines. Running fiber is a "futureproof" measure but I've yet to see a practical use for fiber in the home... so you can save some $$$ and go with a 4 cable bundle...

http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat_id=314&sku=43076

Again, every run should be a Home Run. If your builder is willing to let you put in sweat equity, you can easily do this in a couple of weekends with help from some friends.
 
I ran 9 lines of RG6 from my home run closet to my dish locations. I've already used 6.

110/119 - 2
61.5 - 1
Evu- 2
OTA - 1
Sirius - 1

The coduits are also a good idea. On a variation of what Claude did, I ran 6 RG6 lines to my family room and HT room, but in the other rooms, I ran the 2 RG6/2 Cat5e bundle to different locations in the room. That way if you ever redecorate or rearrange furniture in the room, you'll have wiring there as well.

Also, think about running speaker cables for 5.1 or whole house audio. If the contractor will let you run it yourself, then run as much cable and/or conduit as you can afford!!
 
CONDUIT IS IMPORTANT!

As standards change you just pull new cable. Thats WAY easier than snaking wires thru walls. new homes with good insulation making fishing wires hard.

do yourself a favor, conduit everywhere, with blank covers run to a central location
 
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