# New House



## Guest (Oct 26, 2007)

I am breaking ground next week. I want to pre-wire the house for Digital Media Distribution, lighting control, network and security cameras. Can anyone tell me what wire to run?


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

No way to know without knowing a lot more specifics. Brand of lighting and controllers? Central media closet/cabinet? What type of digital media? Audio? Video? Both? IP Network? 

Many different brands have their own requirements in terms of specific cable combinations, connectors, etc. 

Bryan


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Just as a side note Bobby... I would go ahead and run Cat 6, cable and phone lines to every single room in the house. In some rooms I might suggest a pair of runs for alternate placements of items. We installed conduit in the center of every usable wall from the attic to 12" off the floor in our office. That way if we ever need some type of wiring on a particular wall, we could run the wire easily. You could even install an empty box with full cover until you get ready to use it.

For the security cameras you will most likely have a central location where your DVR and monitor will be located. Most systems come with wiring. I would install 1" conduit/PVC in the location of the DVR/monitor. Generally your cameras are ceiling mounted later in the locations you desire, then you run your wire from the camera to the conduit on through.

As Bryan suggest... more info is needed for the best recommendations. Do you have a computer generated floorplan with locations marked?


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## Anthony (Oct 5, 2006)

I second the plan to install conduit to every wall you can. Pick one location to tie off (basement or attic, but not both, for heat escape reasons) and run everything from that central point. Smurf tube is the most flexible for applications (blue, bendy, cheap), but standard PVC works well and comes in bigger sizes. It's just a pain if you have to turn a corner (which you shouldn't since it's all open to you now).

Be sure to size the number of conduits for whatever you plan to run + a little slack. I ran two 1" conduits from the back of my HT to the front and it is not enough. Both pipes are full. Once has two data and one cable line, the other has three speaker connections. No room to upgrade now, DOH!

Finally, if you go the conduit route, get some cheap thin phone/alarm wire to run from top to bottom in the conduit and put a washer or something on the end so it can't pull through. Then you have an automatic snake when you finally need to pull wire. You could go with twine or nylon cord, but I did not want to use anything that could act like a fuse in case of a fire.

Good luck. I envy your ability to do all this from the beginning. Retro fitting this stuff is a pain!


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## John Simpson (May 10, 2007)

Conduit FTW!! :bigsmile:

Sonnie's right about CAT6 too... CAT5 is soooo yesterday. You can go a bit crazy with a new house, and we're in the same boat. I figure a computer connection in each room and speaker setups in a couple will do us... any more than that and you should really get in a professional. I've seen houses that literally have kilometres of cabling, and the complexity of it all can overwhelm a hobbyist.

Fun times!


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## Anthony (Oct 5, 2006)

Cat 6 is great and all, but it is a pain to install compared to cat 5 and is much more expensive (although it is getting better).

If you are just wanting lines for internet connectivity and something like lighting control or IP security then cat 5e should support the speeds you need and cost a lot less (and you don't have to bother with Cat6's wire separator widget).

However, if you ever want to stream video from a central server all over the house, then you may want gigabit capability eventually and cat 6 is the way to go.

In either case, conduit makes it so much easier to upgrade. Good luck.


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## Captain Crunch (Apr 2, 2007)

And run dual coaxial cable RG6 to the room you think you may want DVR's in.
I work for Direct tv trust me on this!


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

This is why conduit is a great idea. Dual RG6 and Cat 5/6 is great for now. What about 5 years from now when they want to switch to fiber?

Bryan


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