Wiring up a new house - how many ports in each room?

Hey ocau

we're building a new house, not to live in, but to rent out.

going to be working with my uncle to wire the place up.

now whats generally recommended? was thinking of running 3 lines to each room, with maybe 6 (3 on opposite walls) in larger rooms like the living room and home theatre. think 3 is plenty? allows one for data, one for voice, and one for A/V.

also, do you think its worthwhile putting in a draw cable for easy(er) installation of fiber down the track? or will cat6 be good enough for domestic use for ages to come.

thanks guys/girls

 

Heya mate, i'm planning my home network at the moment too.. planning to put in two double network points in each room, and four double network points in the home theatre, living, study and retreat. Also one double behind the fridge, maybe a couple more under the staircase if i wanted a nas down there in the future.

All terminated to a cabinet in the garage.

Figured why not double what I thought i needed, as they can also act as telephony points.

 

go two sockets for each room.

If you need anymore than that just use a switch in the room that needs it.

 

i was thinking 3 as the cost of cable isnt significant, and its harder to get another one down later if you need it.

guess a switch would be alright, and with gigabit bandwidth isnt a problem at all.

guess 2 should be plenty then.

 

when i did it i used a 4 gang plate

3 for data 1 for coax for antenna point.

That gives you about right

1 for phone
1 for data
1 for extra ( say extra access point in one area of house, or network printer)

and then coax for TV antenna

In my study i wished i had one extra point as i have

1. Main pc
2. Network printer
3. Gaming pc
4. Laptop dock

However i can use the wireless for the laptop dock.

I am a little unusual in i use my home as a training network.

But we found 3 is about right and 2 isn't enough.

In our lounge room we have

1 for phone
1 for htpc
1 for wifes laptop as she prefers it over wireless when doing photos and stuff off the server

 

up to 3 cat6 runs per room is becoming the standard... + a RG6 for TV

 

I'd run at least 2, then run some string / cord so that if you want to add something in later it will be heaps easier for the cabler. Won't cost much more, and keeps your future options open.

 

Mate, getting close to starting our build soon .. will be in touch with you soon

btw, free plug (excuse the pun).... Pugs is the man for networking in Adelaide.

 

awesome mate yeah jsut keep me upto date via email... we can start chatting more details when the slab is down

 

want to do mine then pugs?

how many 305m rolls is required for the average 2 story house? would 3 be enough?

 

yeah send me a pm mate ... then I'll catch up with you off site.. or click on "Licenced Cabler " in my sig...

 

Pugs just did our place, we did 4 for each room and then some.

I have my own server room being built into our house, so we have 48 ports going into the patch panel.

 

<feeling the love...> thanks KK, yeah 3 boxes should be fine if not i have two boxes with 70m on them on standby if needed

 

well im going to say... last time i ever get a sparky to do the cabling. in my current house they arent even terminated, and they dont run to a central place. bloody annoying...

pm replied to

 

Run conduit with pull strings - that gives you the ability to do whatever you want down the track.

 

nice big conduit too has to be above 32mm and a straight run the whole way. best to have it it above the top plate by at least 100mm.

tho in KK's house i was lucky enough to have a "central" void that he had insisted on .. made running all that cat6 very easy

 

Speaking of wiring up a new house.. We're in the process of building a new house, and when we went to the 'electrical' appointment for the wiring, I got them to install a data point in each room. At the time I thought this was very odd, as all they said was, its just a data point, with a wall socket. I've since been into the house, and all there is is cat5 cabling, to each of the points, but it doesn't seem to lead anywhere, just up into the roof. Surely, those cat5 ends must go to a router/switch? At the time of ordering the points, i asked if there was a wall socket, with say, 4 or 8 points on it, so i could attach a switch.. they told me that i don't need it..

surely this is incorrect?

 

sounds very iffy.. tho after hand over have data guy swing past and run a toner over the cables to suss out what the heck they have done... sounds like they have just "dasiey" chained them like with normal phones.. be why i really don't like sparkies doing this work .. yes they legally can (if ticketed) but most of them have no clue at all.

if you can take the wall plate off the wall and take a photo (without touching the cables) and pm them to me.. see if i can't help you id them, and that the heck they are doing...

data is purely one line out and back to a central spot, where it is then patched into the data system

 

Thats what i'm afraid of... there aren't any wall plates in at the moment, just the cables were run down the timber frames, which then the plasterboard has been put over.. the wall plates have yet to be wired in.. from the looks of it, the cat5 cable just runs up into the roof, where it all joins together.. like a daisy chain, I guess..

If it doesn't work when i move in, I'll make a formal complaint because at the time of sale, i was told that 'thats all you need'.. I was under the impression that it would work.. i have a feeling that its not, and is going to cost a lot more money to 'make it work'..

 

Don't wait until it's too late.

Get onto it now - we are building a brand new house and had many issues.

A lot of sparkies don't handle data either, and if they do, they do not understand what you're talking about.

Get it written down. We've had a lot of verbal agreements and what not - builders' words are worth a grain of salt. Even if it's written down make sure there is a complete mutual understanding and you're getting consultation from the right place.