I'll soon be wiring a new house, and I want to install some
communication cabling at the same time. It's a small two-bedroomed
house, which will be rented out when it's complete, so I'm not looking
to do anything exotic or complex.

I'm thinking about TV, network and telephone. My thoughts are:

1. TV

Standard 75 ohm coax from the loft to a socket in the living room.

I've not used TV for ages, so I assume the new digital TV still uses
the same cable and connectors as the old analog TV from 20+ years ago.
Or have they finally replaced those horrible belling-lee connectors
with something better?

2. Network

CAT 5e from RJ45 sockets bedrooms and living room to a multi-way
socket in one of the bedrooms.

3. Telephone

Might as well use CAT 5e for this as well I guess, to avoid getting a
seperate reel of telephone grade cable.

Can I install a BT master socket and just leave it to BT to connect
the A/B pair, or are only BT allowed to do that?

Is it actually worth installing telephone, or does everyone just use
mobiles or VOIP now?

Any thoughts or pointers to guides Etc. would be welcome.

I'm looking for anything that would be seen as standard or desirable
in a small new build house without adding too much complexity. Bearing
in mind that cabling is dead easy at the moment because the
plasterboard isn't up yet.

"Caecilius" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> I'll soon be wiring a new house, and I want to install some
> communication cabling at the same time. It's a small two-bedroomed
> house, which will be rented out when it's complete, so I'm not looking
> to do anything exotic or complex.
>
> I'm thinking about TV, network and telephone. My thoughts are:
>
> 1. TV
>
> Standard 75 ohm coax from the loft to a socket in the living room.
>
> I've not used TV for ages, so I assume the new digital TV still uses
> the same cable and connectors as the old analog TV from 20+ years ago.
> Or have they finally replaced those horrible belling-lee connectors
> with something better?
>
> 2. Network
>
> CAT 5e from RJ45 sockets bedrooms and living room to a multi-way
> socket in one of the bedrooms.
>
> 3. Telephone
>
> Might as well use CAT 5e for this as well I guess, to avoid getting a
> seperate reel of telephone grade cable.
>
> Can I install a BT master socket and just leave it to BT to connect
> the A/B pair, or are only BT allowed to do that?
>
> Is it actually worth installing telephone, or does everyone just use
> mobiles or VOIP now?
>
> Any thoughts or pointers to guides Etc. would be welcome.
>
> I'm looking for anything that would be seen as standard or desirable
> in a small new build house without adding too much complexity. Bearing
> in mind that cabling is dead easy at the moment because the
> plasterboard isn't up yet.

For you or someone else? Were I doing this from scratch I'd be tempted to
go for:

- Lots of CT100 equivalent TV/satellite/FM/DAB cable from rooms to central
point (and yes, F-plugs are what people use these days not BLs.).
- Similar with Ethernet (at least Cat 5e for 1GB)
- A few phone cables too (can use Cat5e if you like with suitable sockets -
which you could swap later if you stop using the phones and want another
ethernet socket..., or even a VoIP system).

- Bring them to a central point where they terminate, ideally at a patch
panel.
- Bring the phone line, cable feed, satellite, TV aerial feed to the same
point.
- Let the new owners connect together however they want using ADSL
modem/router, TV/Radio distribution box, satellite distribution etc or if
they're only using a small number of outputs, a simple connection cable.

If you use the right Satellite LNB (quattro I think they're called), you can
get a box which takes the 4 inputs and allows a large number of satellite
boxes/Sky/TVs to share them.

Paul DS.

On Wed, 27 Jun 2012 07:51:03 +0100, Caecilius wrote:

> 1. TV
>
> I've not used TV for ages, so I assume the new digital TV still uses
> the same cable and connectors as the old analog TV from 20+ years ago.
> Or have they finally replaced those horrible belling-lee connectors
> with something better?

Still 75R but the cabling has improved in quality, use CT100 or equivalent.
Standrad connector is also the F type (still cheap and cheerful but not a s
nasty as Belling Lee). These days also consider installing a dish for
satellite reception, they are cheap. I'd fit a Quad LNB (two for the living
room for Sky+ or other PVR and one each for the bedrooms). The cables from
the LNB would go to their respective destinations via the cable closet, the
same place that all the network cables end up. They can just be barrelled
through at this stage but it makes life easier to fit a multiswitch later.
I'd also run 4 CT100 cables to the living room as a PVR may well need two,
the TV another and you'll probably need terrestial there as well. Cable is
cheap and easy to fit at this stage perhaps make that 6...

> 2. Network
>
> CAT 5e from RJ45 sockets bedrooms and living room to a multi-way
> socket in one of the bedrooms.

Where ever you think you might need a network point fit two and cable them
back to a central point, preferably not in a room where some one might want
to sleep. The telly position may need several, TV, PVR, Wii, Xbox etc. 6
again?

> 3. Telephone
>
> Might as well use CAT 5e for this as well I guess, to avoid getting a
> seperate reel of telephone grade cable.

Yes keeps things simple. You could terminate some on BT style sockets but I
wouldn't just use adapters into the RJ45 sockets.

> Can I install a BT master socket and just leave it to BT to connect
> the A/B pair, or are only BT allowed to do that?

You can provision the location for the master socket with cable and back box
etc. BT will install the master socket. As this is new build try and
determine where the line will arrive and make the master close to where that
is in the building run two Cat5e cables from there back to the cable closet
and make sure there is mains at the master BT socket as well. Enables you to
fit the ADSL or FTTC box at the master socket and send the filtered POTS
around the house without so much worry about local interference messing up
the ADSL. Wireless AP would be a seperate box mouted in the best place for
wirless coverage, in the loft? So a couple of Cat5e up there as well.

> Is it actually worth installing telephone, or does everyone just use
> mobiles or VOIP now?

You need a land line for VOIP (well mostly). I'd mark down a place without
provision for a landline and as FTTC rolls out it will be needed for that.
Anybody who relies only a mobile hasn't thought it through properly.

--
Cheers
Dave.

Caecilius wrote:

> I'll soon be wiring a new house, and I want to install some
> communication cabling at the same time. It's a small two-bedroomed
> house, which will be rented out when it's complete, so I'm not looking
> to do anything exotic or complex.
>
> I'm thinking about TV, network and telephone. My thoughts are:
>
> 1. TV
>
> Standard 75 ohm coax from the loft to a socket in the living room.
>
> I've not used TV for ages, so I assume the new digital TV still uses
> the same cable and connectors as the old analog TV from 20+ years ago.
> Or have they finally replaced those horrible belling-lee connectors
> with something better?
>
> 2. Network
>
> CAT 5e from RJ45 sockets bedrooms and living room to a multi-way
> socket in one of the bedrooms.

I did something like that once. The multiway outlets could be used as a
crude patch panel with 20cm leads.

> 3. Telephone
>
> Might as well use CAT 5e for this as well I guess, to avoid getting a
> seperate reel of telephone grade cable.

Yep - terminate with Cat5e sockets and use adaptor for phones.

> Can I install a BT master socket and just leave it to BT to connect
> the A/B pair, or are only BT allowed to do that?
>
> Is it actually worth installing telephone, or does everyone just use
> mobiles or VOIP now?

A Dumb (unpowered) phone is essential in emergencies when the power fails
and the mobile base station goes out (happened everytime our village blacks
out) - only thing that works is a dumb handset powered from the batteries in
the BT exchange.

> Any thoughts or pointers to guides Etc. would be welcome.

First - just put loads of conduit in (20mm oval will take 2 ELV cables, eg 2
Cat5e, aerial etc). Have an empty backbox next to every socket outlet (or at
least every 2nd) with conduit. If lifting the floor to thread cable is hard,
then buy a drum of Cat5e and thread cables to everything even if you do not
terminate - leave coil of cable in back of box and fit blanking plate.

> I'm looking for anything that would be seen as standard or desirable
> in a small new build house without adding too much complexity. Bearing
> in mind that cabling is dead easy at the moment because the
> plasterboard isn't up yet.
--
Tim Watts

On Wed, 27 Jun 2012 08:38:32 +0100 (BST), "Dave Liquorice"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>On Wed, 27 Jun 2012 07:51:03 +0100, Caecilius wrote:
>
>> 1. TV
>>
>> I've not used TV for ages, so I assume the new digital TV still uses
>> the same cable and connectors as the old analog TV from 20+ years ago.
>> Or have they finally replaced those horrible belling-lee connectors
>> with something better?
>
>Still 75R but the cabling has improved in quality, use CT100 or equivalent.
>Standrad connector is also the F type (still cheap and cheerful but not a s
>nasty as Belling Lee). These days also consider installing a dish for
>satellite reception, they are cheap. I'd fit a Quad LNB (two for the living
>room for Sky+ or other PVR and one each for the bedrooms). The cables from
>the LNB would go to their respective destinations via the cable closet, the
>same place that all the network cables end up. They can just be barrelled
>through at this stage but it makes life easier to fit a multiswitch later.
>I'd also run 4 CT100 cables to the living room as a PVR may well need two,
>the TV another and you'll probably need terrestial there as well. Cable is
>cheap and easy to fit at this stage perhaps make that 6...

You can't fit too many ;-) I found BL connectors are adequate for
teresstrial TV but F type are "better".

>> 2. Network
>>
>> CAT 5e from RJ45 sockets bedrooms and living room to a multi-way
>> socket in one of the bedrooms.
>
>Where ever you think you might need a network point fit two and cable them
>back to a central point, preferably not in a room where some one might want
>to sleep. The telly position may need several, TV, PVR, Wii, Xbox etc. 6
>again?

We decided not to install network points in the bedrooms or by the TV.
Big mistake. We hadn't anticpated needing so many PCs and that TVs
would want a network connection when I installed the cabling many
years ago.

>> 3. Telephone
>>
>> Might as well use CAT 5e for this as well I guess, to avoid getting a
>> seperate reel of telephone grade cable.
>
>Yes keeps things simple. You could terminate some on BT style sockets but I
>wouldn't just use adapters into the RJ45 sockets.
>
>> Can I install a BT master socket and just leave it to BT to connect
>> the A/B pair, or are only BT allowed to do that?
>
>You can provision the location for the master socket with cable and back box
>etc. BT will install the master socket. As this is new build try and
>determine where the line will arrive and make the master close to where that
>is in the building run two Cat5e cables from there back to the cable closet
>and make sure there is mains at the master BT socket as well. Enables you to
>fit the ADSL or FTTC box at the master socket and send the filtered POTS
>around the house without so much worry about local interference messing up
>the ADSL. Wireless AP would be a seperate box mouted in the best place for
>wirless coverage, in the loft? So a couple of Cat5e up there as well.
>
>> Is it actually worth installing telephone, or does everyone just use
>> mobiles or VOIP now?
>
>You need a land line for VOIP (well mostly). I'd mark down a place without
>provision for a landline and as FTTC rolls out it will be needed for that.
>Anybody who relies only a mobile hasn't thought it through properly.

You may not get enough signal inside the house.
--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) If a man stands in a forest and no woman is around
(")_(") is he still wrong?

On Wed, 27 Jun 2012 10:03:17 +0100, Mark wrote:

> We decided not to install network points in the bedrooms or by the TV.
> Big mistake. We hadn't anticpated needing so many PCs and that TVs
> would want a network connection when I installed the cabling many years
> ago.

I agree. We have a total of 27 network points round the house (although
12 of them are in the 'office'). I put three in the living room; there is
a whole host of stuff near the TV, including a multicore cable to the
roof for antenna rotation, and a telephone socket.

I put them in the bedrooms and one turned out to be useful for an IP
camera (no, not what you think, Adam!). We had a vandalism issue outside
and the bedroom window was a good vantage point.

May not be worth it for the OP, but I ran multiple pairs to the front
door for doorphone/door release, terminating in the big central Krone box
for telecoms.



--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org

*lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor

On Wed, 27 Jun 2012 07:51:03 +0100
Caecilius <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> I'll soon be wiring a new house, and I want to install some
> communication cabling at the same time. It's a small two-bedroomed
> house, which will be rented out when it's complete, so I'm not looking
> to do anything exotic or complex.
>
> I'm thinking about TV, network and telephone. My thoughts are:
>
> 1. TV
>
> Standard 75 ohm coax from the loft to a socket in the living room.
>
> I've not used TV for ages, so I assume the new digital TV still uses
> the same cable and connectors as the old analog TV from 20+ years ago.
> Or have they finally replaced those horrible belling-lee connectors
> with something better?
>
> 2. Network
>
> CAT 5e from RJ45 sockets bedrooms and living room to a multi-way
> socket in one of the bedrooms.
>
> 3. Telephone
>
> Might as well use CAT 5e for this as well I guess, to avoid getting a
> seperate reel of telephone grade cable.
>
> Can I install a BT master socket and just leave it to BT to connect
> the A/B pair, or are only BT allowed to do that?
>
> Is it actually worth installing telephone, or does everyone just use
> mobiles or VOIP now?
>
> Any thoughts or pointers to guides Etc. would be welcome.
>
> I'm looking for anything that would be seen as standard or desirable
> in a small new build house without adding too much complexity. Bearing
> in mind that cabling is dead easy at the moment because the
> plasterboard isn't up yet.

Adding in some random thoughts:
If you are renting it out, tenants are capable of ruining anything you
build, and stealing anything you install. So have good notes of what you
have installed, and make sure it's on the inventory. Take photos of all
sockets, dishes etc.
Check it ALL before refunding deposit. Don't trust an agent to do this,
only you will know what you put in there.
Not all tenants are like this, of course, but plenty seem to think that
your stuff is fair game for them.
Been there, done that.
--
Davey.

"Tim Watts" <tw+(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:dirqb9-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Caecilius wrote:
>
>> I'll soon be wiring a new house, and I want to install some
>> communication cabling at the same time. It's a small two-bedroomed
>> house, which will be rented out when it's complete, so I'm not looking
>> to do anything exotic or complex.
>>
>> I'm thinking about TV, network and telephone. My thoughts are:
>>
>> 1. TV
>>
>> Standard 75 ohm coax from the loft to a socket in the living room.
>>
>> I've not used TV for ages, so I assume the new digital TV still uses
>> the same cable and connectors as the old analog TV from 20+ years ago.
>> Or have they finally replaced those horrible belling-lee connectors
>> with something better?
>>
>> 2. Network
>>
>> CAT 5e from RJ45 sockets bedrooms and living room to a multi-way
>> socket in one of the bedrooms.
>
> I did something like that once. The multiway outlets could be used as a
> crude patch panel with 20cm leads.
>
>> 3. Telephone
>>
>> Might as well use CAT 5e for this as well I guess, to avoid getting a
>> seperate reel of telephone grade cable.
>
> Yep - terminate with Cat5e sockets and use adaptor for phones.
>
>> Can I install a BT master socket and just leave it to BT to connect
>> the A/B pair, or are only BT allowed to do that?
>>
>> Is it actually worth installing telephone, or does everyone just use
>> mobiles or VOIP now?

> A Dumb (unpowered) phone is essential in emergencies when the power fails
> and the mobile base station goes out (happened everytime our village
> blacks
> out) - only thing that works is a dumb handset powered from the batteries
> in
> the BT exchange.

That assumes you actually need to call anyone in that situation.

>> Any thoughts or pointers to guides Etc. would be welcome.
>
> First - just put loads of conduit in (20mm oval will take 2 ELV cables, eg
> 2
> Cat5e, aerial etc). Have an empty backbox next to every socket outlet (or
> at
> least every 2nd) with conduit. If lifting the floor to thread cable is
> hard,
> then buy a drum of Cat5e and thread cables to everything even if you do
> not
> terminate - leave coil of cable in back of box and fit blanking plate.
>
>> I'm looking for anything that would be seen as standard or desirable
>> in a small new build house without adding too much complexity. Bearing
>> in mind that cabling is dead easy at the moment because the
>> plasterboard isn't up yet.
> --
> Tim Watts

On Wed, 27 Jun 2012 08:27:35 +0100, Paul D Smith wrote:

> If you use the right Satellite LNB (quattro I think they're called), you
> can get a box which takes the 4 inputs and allows a large number of
> satellite boxes/Sky/TVs to share them.

A multiswitch ideally it'll also take terrestial TV, DAB and FM as well as
the four feeds from the LNB and send the whole lot down each of it's outputs.
Some multiswitches can drive a Quad LNB to get the right signals on the right
inputs others require the connections to be be correct and the use of a
Quattro LNB.

--
Cheers
Dave.

"Dave Liquorice" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) ll.co.uk...
> On Wed, 27 Jun 2012 08:27:35 +0100, Paul D Smith wrote:
>
>> If you use the right Satellite LNB (quattro I think they're called), you
>> can get a box which takes the 4 inputs and allows a large number of
>> satellite boxes/Sky/TVs to share them.
>
> A multiswitch ideally it'll also take terrestial TV, DAB and FM as well as
> the four feeds from the LNB and send the whole lot down each of it's
> outputs.
> Some multiswitches can drive a Quad LNB to get the right signals on the
> right
> inputs others require the connections to be be correct and the use of a
> Quattro LNB.

That's clever - how do you demultiplex the FM/DAB/TV/Sat at the other end or
do you still need an individual cable per input?

Paul DS.