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Structured Wiring System Design

por thb43

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This instructable shows the structured wiring system that I designed for my home. This wiring system provides a centralized location for the following services for all of my rooms (master, 3 bdrm, kitchen, living, garage, office). 1) Local area network (LAN), 2) File server and backup, 3) Telephone, 4) Cable HDTV, 5) Power surge, 6) Power conditioning, 7) Signal Amplification, 8) Internet, 9) Battery backup. I don't have actual construction photos since I didn't take any but i'll show and describe the final solution that I came up with.

Passo 1: Schematic and Materials List

The schematic for the whole house structured wiring system is shown in this image. I have also attached PDF file which may be a bit clearer. Parts Listing: 1) Cat-5e (internet, lan) 2) COAX RG-59 or RG-6 (cable tv, antenna) 3) Phone cable (telephone, cable telephone) 4) Romex Electrical wire (electricity) 5) 4-port Wired/Wireless-N Router 6) 16-port Switch 7) Electrical outlets 8) 8-way video splitters 9) 2-way video splitter 10) Cat5 patch panel 11) telephone patch panel (bus bar) 12) cable modem 13) file server - primary 14) file server - backup 15) surge protecter, battery backup (cable, phone, electrical, lan)

16) cable try (metal studs) 17) outlets (ethernet, phone, cable) 18) cable ties.

Passo 2: Tools Used

Tools: 1) Wire cutters, 2) Wire stripper for coax, phone, cat-5. 3) Wire spool holder, 4) Pop rivet tool, 5) Screw driver, 6) Wrench set, 7) cable ties Building shelving not covered here but used the following tools: 1) Table saw, 2) Sander, 3) Scroll saw, 4) Electric drill, 5) Screw Drivers

Passo 3: Assembly Details

This picture shows the overall assembly and its parts. Cut sheet rock window in the wall of a closet, dont' cut all the way through the wall, just back to the sheet rock on the other side of the wall, The shelf is build in three sections that slides between the exposed wall studs. Build the shelves back into the wall opening that you created. I used wood wall paneling (masonite) and MDF (1/2" to 3/4") to create these shelves. PVC tubing to route wires into attic.

Passo 4: Installation Details

Here are details of the installation.

AnteriorPrximo

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Ns temos uma poltica de comentrios em que todos devem ser gentis. Por favor, seja positivo e construtivo.

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dbrown75 diz:Mar 13, 2014. 3:33 AM

hi I've been looking up stuff like this for awhile now and i was wondering if there it any way to wire the electrics to a wifi controlled system any useful tips? Responder

thb43 diz:Mar 13, 2014. 5:38 PM

You just need to plug in a WiFi Access Point or WiFi enabled router and any wireless device will be able connect to the network. Make sure you enable the WiFi encryption to keep those that don't know the SSID/password from accessing your network. For further security you can set MAC address filtering to prevent any wireless device connecting unless its MAC address is programmed into the system even it knows the password. When configuring/controlling your router its not recommend to do this via a wireless connection (but it is possible).. always do this with a connection that is hardwired to the router otherwise you will probably loose connection when you start setting up IP addresses and end up connecting the cable to the router anyway. I always set static IP address for printers, servers, cable boxes, TVs, playstation, pools, file servers and other services and let DHCP dynamically set IP addresses for laptop, computers, mobile phones that are not always connected to the local network. Responder

powerndata diz:Out 25, 2013. 4:46 AM

Hey, great work. You have chimed in with some tips for people who want to do their own wiring system. We must employ the most experienced techniques and use the highest quality equipment. powerndata.com Responder

bfollowell diz:Jun 15, 2012. 9:28 PM

Awesome guide. I'm curious, what amplifiers do you use and what program did you use to create your schematic? Thanks for sharing. Responder

thb43 diz:Jun 15, 2012. 9:56 PM

Thanks... Actually I changed services last year from Time Warner cable to Verizon FIOS so I don't use an amplifiers anymore. It has a much stronger signal. I was using 20dB amps from Ce Labs which worked fine (as long as TW cable was working). Found them on ebay. I used AutoCAD for the schematic. Responder

jimbarbera diz:Abr 27, 2012. 6:49 PM

Very impressive setup! I'm using blue jacketed Cat 6 for all Ethernet and gray jacketed Cat 5e for all phone wiring. For the phone I'm using the blue pair for line 1 but which color pair should be the DSL (U-Verse) modem pair? I'm currently using the brown pair from the POTS splitter, but can easily change it to green or orange. I am connecting only the pair that is leading to the modem so as to avoid any "stub outs" to other locations in the house. Thanks! Jim Responder

laxap diz:Jan 17, 2012. 2:24 PM

Wonderfully clean setup. I like how the cables are nicely bundled. Responder

rschlitz diz:Dez 9, 2011. 9:28 AM

Hyper awesome guide. I'm not planning to do this but it was a really interesting read. Responder

pratyushpmhptr diz:Mai 22, 2011. 7:57 PM

1.Do u need surge protection for LAN cables or Phone outlets?? 2.I havent done this at my home but I have a cable connection where the cable connector sometimes give a shock when I touch them. Can u tell me why?? 3.Why didnt use a readyNAS from Netgear.It has DLNA and its by Netgear.So it must be good..

I luv luv this instructable.It puts a smile as wide as Eurasia on my face. :)

Responder

thb43 diz:Mai 22, 2011. 9:03 PM

1) Surge protection... no you don't have to have surge protection for LAN cables or phone outlets... they work just fine without. Having said that....my routers seem to be a lot more stable now that I am using a surge protection and power conditioning.... I haven't had to reboot the router nearly as much as without it. Most surge protectors have connections for LAN and phone so I use them both. It just good peace of mind too know that my expensive equipment is protected. One other thing... when lightening hit my grandfathers house the phone out back in the barn was blown off the wall. He didn't have surge protection.... it may have helped. 2) improperly grounded, bad amp, ESD, TV still turned on while making the connection... could be many things shocking you. I'd get it checked out. 3) readyNAS (Netgear's version of Network Attached Storage) looks pretty good. Cost and performance were deciding factors for me. My Buffalo system has been running non-stop since installed with no problems... the GUI is a bit clunky though. I'm happy you enjoyed my instructable.... there's a lot of information here and I'm happy to share it. with everyone. I have learned a lot of things from the internet and this was my chance to give back and help out others. Enjoy! Responder

nasrudiin diz:Jan 1, 2010. 6:55 AM

Thank you so much for the instructions but really like to know I know you already mentioned. Is there any specific shop you can get the tools or just go shopping? Thank you Responder

thb43 diz:Jan 1, 2010. 9:45 AM

buy the tools anywhere... sears, home depot, walmart, lowes, frys, etc. Responder

ElvenChild diz:Set 1, 2010. 10:50 AM

where do you live? Responder

Mark1955 diz:Jul 14, 2010. 11:19 AM

Hi.....Our house is built and a friend was going to help me out for the router and network switches....I have not gotten through to him. Any ideas for a system that woud work well and not too expensive. Thanks for ant imput. Mark Responder

zchampine diz:Mai 12, 2010. 1:48 PM

Very nice, how much would this cost though? Responder

jaydenthorup diz:Mar 25, 2010. 3:33 PM

I have one concern, the amplifying the cable signal before the split for the modem may put too much signal into your modem. I was an installer for comcast and the signal for the modem needs to be just right. You can check it at 192.168.100.1 i believe. Downstream needs to be around -10db to +10db while upstream needs to be around 32 db to 49 db but check with your cable company to be sure. Otherwise your speed will significantly be reduced, also sometimes the surge suppressor can affect performance. The local cable company should have grounded the cable outside to remove any possibility of surges in the line as well as it is grounded at the pole(overhead) or the pedestal(underground) Responder

thb43 diz:Mar 25, 2010. 6:59 PM

Thanks for the input. You make a good point, I haven't tried amp after the modem since things seemed to work well like I have it. I checked my 192.168.100.1 cable modem reading the following: 1.1dBmV Receive Power Level 54.2 dBmV Transmit Power level Years ago when I set up this network I adjusted the setting on my amps and these were the best readings I could get at the modem (taking the surge suppressor out of line seemed to have no effect on the power levels). www.speedtest.net gives: 22.87 Mb/s download speed 0.49 Mb/s upload speed.

ping 19ms. Its been running like this for several years now with no problems in speed or TV running in multiple rooms at the same time. On one TV I did have to add an additional amp when I moved the TV to the other side of the room with a long coax cable from where the cable come out of the wall to the TV. adding the extra am worked fine. Maybe adding the amp after the modem I might have been able to avoid putting in the extra amp? not sure.

Responder

jaydenthorup diz:Mar 25, 2010. 10:55 PM

aha... the high transmit means it may need to be split down just a little bit more... like a 3-way or a DC-Splitter aka Tap. that could increase your upload if you are need a little more bandwidth... just a thought. Responder

Mark1955 diz:Fev 26, 2010. 5:31 PM

Hi THB43, I could use a little advice ....We are having a house built and I want to have it hard wired. Your system looks great, I think that I need or want at least 2 port in a few rooms.1 so I can hook up a tower for hulu to cut down on cable and one for computer....In the main work room I need one for my computer and an extra for visitor or what ever...Same in bedroom one for tv and one for laptop. I was told that I should use cat 6 cable and get a 1gig router. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.Thanks Mark Responder

thb43 diz:Fev 26, 2010. 11:02 PM

There are several things to consider when deciding to use cat5, cat5e, or cat6. These are as follows; 1) cable cost. I did spot check on prices and cat6 cost 20% to 30% more. 2) Bandwidth: cat5 (100MHz) <--- don't get this cat5e (300MHz) <--- this is what I have and recommend (today for homes) cat6 (500MHz) <--- still expensive, but getting cheaper all the time, if network must be "gigabit certified" get this. Probably more than you need given what you wrote in your message. 3) cat5e & cat6 both can run 1000Mbps/100mbps/10Mbps. Both cables can run gigabit Ethernet

with no problems. 4) cat6 is better in noisy environments with lots of electrical interference due to better shielding (more twists per inch). When installing stay away from electrical lines or cross them at 90 degree angles to minimize interference. 5) rule of thumb. if running long distances use cat6, short distances cat5e. 6) keep cable routes under 100 meters (328 ft) max 7) Your Internet Service Provider will only run at speeds of 3-15Mbps (depending on your ISP service). The cat5e/6 handles 1000Mbps. Therefore all that extra capacity is only used on your LAN (i.e. between computers, not through the ISP's WAN connection). Seems to me like 100Mbps is enough unless you have LAN gaming between computers going on while using the internet through all available ports. FYI, I watch hulu on a wireless laptop with no problems.... not much bandwidth used at all for that. 8) Just because you have cat6 cable does not mean you are running at gigbit speeds. All the network equipment must be rated and operating at that speed. This means to run at gigabit speeds your router, hubs, switches, interface cards, cables, etc.... must all be running gigabit speed. The slowest one dictates the speed of your network. This means a lot of extra expense to get speeds you may never use to its fullest. Hope this helps. Responder

Mark1955 diz:Fev 27, 2010. 4:10 PM

Thanks for the response....I will be meeting with the builders electrician in 2 weeks. I have other questions just not sure how to ask. I want to have one computer for my business, and another for the house in our work room.... I want to have port to plug in in the living room as well as the other 2 bedrooms(2 in the master). Later on down the road when I finish the basement I want a port in the guest bedroom. As I wrote yesterday still trying to figure out how to get more free tv, so I thought that having a tower with a good graphics card in the bedrooms and the living room would be a good idea since we are doing all this before the interior walls are going up.Any other ideas that would be helpful would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Mark Responder

thb43 diz:Fev 27, 2010. 5:56 PM

Here are some random thoughts. I count that you want a total of 8 ports with one in some rooms and two in other rooms. That is very similar to the system in my house... see the schematic. Just run all cables to a switch or router in some central location that is connected to the internet and you're in business. If at some future day you find that you need to connect more computers but you only have one port at that location you can always put a cheap 4-port hub in that location and easily connect 4 computers. Of course to connect the hub you need a power connection nearby.... or go with network hardware that supports

PoE (Power over Ethernet). Sounds like your main concern is getting TV in multiple locations without having to pay the cable company for a box at each location. Think about running two coax cables to each room where you want TV. One for basic cable and the other for over the air HDTV antenna (assuming you have a good signal where you live). The over the air HDTV works pretty good and is free. The basic cable doesn't need a cable box in each room. If you need one in each room for premium channels or HDTV then the cables are available. You can look at devices like the SlingBox and SlingCatcher to send HDTV from your main TV to other TVs in your house over the Ethernet connections. if you have a SlingBox they have a neat app for an iPod phone so you can watch TV from anywhere in the world with internet access on your iPhone for free. If you have computers in each room next to a TV or monitor then you can run media center software or Boxee. There are hundreds of different configurations out there so you just need to find one that fits your budget and need. Just one more thing.... if you put computer next to each TV remember that fans and hard drives make noise and tend to have little flashing lights..... those might interfere with your TV watching or sleeping. Also you would need to leave them on all the time. Responder

abadfart diz:Jan 26, 2010. 7:56 PM

ok so i got it all set up but one of the computer has limited to no connection and my xbox is not registering at all. i know i wired it right but they aren't working any ideas? Responder

thb43 diz:Jan 26, 2010. 8:18 PM

Could be many different things. I don't know from the limited info you provide. If you are using static IP addresses on these devices they may be set to the same IP address so neither one will work correctly. If you are using DHCP server then make sure the number of addresses in the IP address pool (i.e. starting address to ending address) includes enough IP address for all the devices on your network. Responder

abadfart diz:Jan 27, 2010. 4:43 PM

it worked in my test when i had them all in one room and wired together threw the switch Responder

abadfart diz:Set 23, 2010. 2:05 AM

ok now the computer is working and i need to check the the wire to the xbox Responder

fireglow35062 diz:Jan 12, 2010. 2:41 AM

what brand are the servers that you are using? Responder

thb43 diz:Jan 12, 2010. 8:29 PM

The file servers are Buffalo linkstation and linkserver. 250GB each Responder

abadfart diz:Jan 12, 2010. 1:40 AM

very nice i have a bit left to do on mine for instance as i wright this my server is loading its os and i am waiting on a 500 GB hdd to host my media collection

Responder

GasperiD diz:Dez 11, 2009. 1:56 PM

Wow, just wow, this makes me want to cry im so happy. When i am a home owner i will definitely have to make sure that i have something that matches this amount of beauty or out does it. Responder

xd12c diz:Nov 10, 2009. 8:36 AM

Instead of building the cable tray, there are specail purpose trays out there that have a premade & fit cover for vertical & upside down installation. All depends on the amount of money you want to spend. Panduit may have one. Responder

thb43 diz:Nov 10, 2009. 6:45 PM

I did look at several trays. There are plenty of them out there that are really cool looking; yet very expensive per foot. For this part of the build cost was the biggest design factor. I opted to build my own trays using metal studs and pop rivets. This worked well, looks good, and was a very inexpensive way to go. Responder

xd12c diz:Nov 11, 2009. 5:48 AM

I can definitely agree on cost being a design factor. I was just wanted to point it out because you were concerned with the ties to the tray or something to that effect. The plastic cable trays don't have that issue. Not only that, I didn't even know they existed until I had to order them for work. Responder

richenbals diz:Nov 9, 2009. 8:02 PM

I have to say, of all the awesomeness contained in your build, I was most inspired by the "spare parts tray". I'll be damned if I don't install one of those on every single build I do from here on out. Honestly, that one little step will save me more time than I want to consider. Kudos on a job well done! Responder

thb43 diz:Nov 10, 2009. 6:52 PM

I agree. The spare parts tray rocks! Responder

Dizzy49 diz:Nov 8, 2009. 3:24 PM

Fantastic instructable! I started something similar a month ago, wish I found this beforehand! Now I'm trying to figure out how I can adapt/expand my setup. Right now I don't have any power conditioning, and I don't have any cable TV, but I will in the near future and need to get the house wired. For those looking for pricing on cables, I found incredible deals at monoprice.com I paid $85 for 1000ft of Cat6. Responder

piratemike diz:Nov 7, 2009. 9:03 PM

im also interested in your selection of power cleaning / UPS PS: AWESOME job. just bought a new house and am looking at doing something VERY similar. Responder

thb43 diz:Nov 8, 2009. 11:58 AM

I is an APC Back-UPS HS500. I've only seen it online, never seen it in the stores. It has worked well for several years now. It was the only one I found at the time within my budget (approx $100) that could be monitored and controlled by a web page. A couple complaints I have though. 1) The control program used to set the IP address only works with Win XP. I cannot set the IP address using Win Vista. The support at APC knows this and says they have no plans to provided Vista support. 2) I originally setup the IP address to something like 192.168.1.2. I can change the IP to something else, but the web interface always reports the original address. APC sent a new unit with the next firmware version and it does the same thing. They finally said they have no further plans to provide support for this item to fix this issue. Other than that I have no complaints. It works as advertised and the router, switch, modem, etc that I have connected have been very stable even during a few power outages. Responder

mbear diz:Nov 9, 2009. 7:56 AM

"2) I originally setup the IP address to something like 192.168.1.2. I can change the IP to something else, but the web interface always reports the original address. APC sent a new unit with the next firmware version and it does the same thing. They finally said they have no further plans to provide support for this item to fix this issue." There are two possible ways I can see to deal with that IP address issue: 1. Use an entry in your HOSTS file to point to the correct location. 2. Download an Internet Explorer Virtual PC image to get the XP support you need. It'll time out after a few months, but until it does you're golden. Responder

thb43 diz:Nov 9, 2009. 7:07 PM

Funny you should suggest Virtual PC with XP. That is exactly how I was able to work around this problem a couple months ago. It has already timed out. I do have a host file entry. The unit does work with whatever IP address I set using the setup program, however the web user interface never shows the correct address. Responder

jdf2525 diz:Nov 7, 2009. 7:49 PM

beautiful job! my equipment closet should look so nice. Responder

Gonazar diz:Nov 6, 2009. 3:16 PM

It's so beautifully tidy, it brings a tear to my eye. Responder

chimericdream diz:Nov 6, 2009. 9:47 AM

Wow. This is truly amazing work. The only thing I think would make the schematic easier to read would be to add directional arrows on the traced paths. There are so many connections to/from so many devices that having indicators of the flow of data would be nice. Can't wait to move into my house so I can tackle something like this! Responder

thb43 diz:Nov 6, 2009. 3:07 PM

Well nice idea, but the data flow is bi-directional in these wires, except for the electrical wires. When I created the schematic it was really for my own use. Just thought I would post it online as is. Responder

MadisonOH diz:Nov 6, 2009. 8:41 AM

Very nice Instructable. I have one question, when you ran all of these cables, did you run them near or in parallel with your home electric wiring? I thought that I read that it would create interference on the ethernet lines. I am looking to do near exactly this project at my house over the winter. Responder

thb43 diz:Nov 6, 2009. 3:03 PM

No. I keep my network wiring as far as possible from my home electrical wiring to minimize any such interferences. If you must come close to electrical wiring I believe a good rule of thumb is to cross at a right angle and avoid being parallel with the electrical wiring. Responder

ledzippel diz:Nov 6, 2009. 7:50 AM

How much dry wall did you cut into? Responder

thb43 diz:Nov 6, 2009. 8:17 AM

only about 2ft x 3ft. Responder

sajrs diz:Out 24, 2009. 7:49 AM

Awesome setup, really love your attention to detail, not only in your work but your description/instructable. Responder

buddz diz:Out 17, 2009. 7:27 PM

Wow great, clean setup. I do have one question though as I am now trying to wire my home in a similar fashion: What did you use for the telephone bus? and just exactly what is that other white box to the right of the phone bus? Just not sure how I can 'route' the signal out to all the rooms if you know what i mean Responder

thb43 diz:Out 17, 2009. 9:42 PM

The white box and bus aren't anything special. The bus just splits one telephone source line into 10 lines with each line going to a different location in the house. In other words, that same color conductor in each phone line is connected togeter via the bus. I bought this at Home Depot for less than $20 I believe. The white box is a junction box where can connect a telephone to see if I have a dial tone without having to run out to another room. One of the lines from the bus goes to this white box where a telephone can be connected/disconnected.

Responder

DanNixon diz:Nov 1, 2009. 11:25 AM

Is your telephone system just a distribution system? Responder

thb43 diz:Nov 1, 2009. 10:30 PM

currently one line..... to all rooms. Easy to split into multiple lines if desired in the future. Responder

DanNixon diz:Nov 2, 2009. 9:06 AM

I suppose. An instructable on installing and setting up a PBX would be good as I am looking at this kind of system for my house. Responder

thb43 diz:Nov 2, 2009. 5:48 PM

I have not looked into PBX systems. But there are several open source PBX system you might look at when designing your system. Look at Asterisk, GNU Bayonne, FreeSWITCH, and OpenPBX. Popular PBX systems include Avaya's Definity and Northern Telecom's Meridian. Not sure how these will help you out at your house since these systems are used for large companies that don't want to lease a large number of phone lines. Responder

DanNixon diz:Nov 3, 2009. 9:04 AM

I have had a quick look at FreePBX once, but it got lost in a list of projects I have and I never got back to it. We have an Avaya PBX at work and compared to the ols LG system it is much easier to uns and manage, but I would probably go for one of the free systems whenI go back to installing a PBX for my home. Responder

Mike44 diz:Abr 4, 2010. 11:45 AM

@buddz, the telephone bus is a product from Leviton for telephone distribution. This site here has a ton of them for pictures and what not: http://www.smarthomeusa.com/Shop/Structured-Wire/Leviton-

Structured/leviton-Phone-Modules/. I purchased mine from Home Depot though as they seem to have a pretty good selection. Responder

Mike8913 diz:Set 22, 2009. 2:24 PM

total nub q here. . . . where does your cable box come into play? Responder

thb43 diz:Set 22, 2009. 6:41 PM

The cable box is connected directly to my TV via hdmi connection. The cable box is connected to the coax terminal on the wall. I have one in each room were a TV is located. These wall outlets are connected to the 8 way splitter that you can see in the pictures. Responder

hintss diz:Jul 20, 2010. 2:13 AM

you mean you didn't use mythTV?! that would've been awesomer, geekier, and made use of the ethernet! Responder

thb43 diz:Ago 2, 2010. 4:45 PM

Not sure there is an exe file for mythTV that works for Windows OS yet? I only found UNIX/Linux versions online. But it looks cool. Responder

hintss diz:Ago 3, 2010. 12:53 PM

You keep that many servers and you don't use *nix? I have 2 servers and a net book, and I run ubuntu on all of them. Oh, and I'm 13 Responder

MACKattacksnipe diz:Set 20, 2009. 3:33 PM

Super Awesome Good job btw thats a lot of CAT5 Cables in that box Responder

avc diz:Set 19, 2009. 9:02 AM

Excellent setup! I'm planning something similar in my own house but I have question: Is cat5 or 6 ok to use for speaker wire in each room? Thanks Responder

thb43 diz:Set 20, 2009. 3:47 PM

I've heard that you can use Cat5/6 by braiding the conductors. I've never done it and probably wouldn't want to spend the time do that. But it would be cheap way to go. I guess you can try it and if it sounds good to you then do it. Some people say it would not sound good in the bass range unless you braid togeter enough conductors to get the effective cross sectional area of your conductor large enough. I guess my advice would be to use the largest diameter wire you can afford for the length you need. Responder

mirey diz:Set 7, 2009. 3:41 PM

I almost can't wait to get a house to sort stuff out like this. Great idea :) Responder

benny3521 diz:Ago 28, 2009. 8:51 PM

Hi, I was just wondering what program you used to make the schematic Thanks Responder

thb43 diz:Ago 28, 2009. 9:15 PM

The schematic was drawn using AutoCAD. Responder

JSmith1103 diz:Ago 1, 2009. 1:29 PM

Can you provide me with the model number of the APC unit you used? Thanks :) Responder

benny3521 diz:Jul 26, 2009. 12:12 AM

really great work it looks fantastic one question, how much did everything cost Responder

thb43 diz:Jul 26, 2009. 8:07 AM

I'm just guessing somewhere between $500-$1000 plus time to design / build / install. Took about 6 months to install working only on weekends between football games. Responder

matbh diz:Jul 23, 2009. 5:19 PM

beatiful and organized! ur good!!! but, wireless network in theses days r so cheap.... Responder

Groxx diz:Jul 20, 2009. 4:25 PM

I really like the look of this one. Phenomenally well organized. NOTHING in my place is that neat, much less the wiring. But I feel I must ask... What happens if your roof develops a leak? Those bundles of wires and the trays in the attic will serve as perfect conduits to guide the water right to your epic-ness in the basement. I'd really recommend having your pipes-of-wires do a quick zig-zag, with a drain at the bottom of a U-turn (like a sink has), before going to the components. Unless you know of something simpler / better (I'm just working off first-impression here). Responder

magickaldan diz:Jul 18, 2009. 7:42 AM

Nice Instructable, I'm doing something similar but not in the wall. Gonna build a cabinet on the wall to house all my stuff. Building a 3 bedroom 2 story house and plan on having 4 ethernet, 2 cable, 2 phone lines in each room. A spot on opposite sides of the room for each. All the cables run to my garage. lol it's kinda a nightmare to run all these wires through the joists and walls without conduit... and trying to avoid all the 115v lines. But probably easier than doing a finished house. Responder

thb43 diz:Jul 18, 2009. 9:52 AM

Sounds like a nice big project. I wish that I would of had the advantage of running my wires through unfinished walls as it would have saved a lot of time and a lot of crawling through the insulation in the attic. You say you are running cable to your garage? Garages tend to get pretty dirty and hot (a least mine does). Are you sure you want to put your router, switches and other electronic devices in that environment? Responder

thermoelectric diz:Jun 6, 2009. 5:24 AM

Hey, Great instructable, although, why do you have the cable modem connected to the 16 port switch in two ways? The cable modem is connected to the battery backup/surge supressor, One output of the battery backup/surge supressor goes straight to the 16 port switch, the other output goes to the wireless router and the output of the wireless router goes to the 16 port switch. Sorry if I just confused you, but it is a bit confusing having two connections to the same thing in the schematic... Responder

thb43 diz:Jun 6, 2009. 9:06 AM

I probably should have put a legend on the schematic. But I didn't draw it intending to post it online. The color of the lines has meaning. The green lines on the schematic are for power. The blue lines are ethernet. The yellow lines are for cable TV (coax). The purple lines are antenna source (or any other source needing coax). The red lines are for telephone. The sources are actually labeled on the schematic. So following this color code you will see that the cable modem has three lines (power, ethernet and coax). You have noticed that the surge protector is connected to the switch in two ways.... The cable modem goes to the surge protector and then to the WAN port on the router, The router is then hardwired to the switch. The switch distributes internet throughout all rooms in the house. One of the wire on the switch leads back to the surge protecter (which is what I think is confusing you). This wire is for command and control of the battery backup surge protector. Therefore from any computer in my house I can log into the surge protector/battery backup unit via a web page interface. This allows me to monitor the battery status/condition, turn any of the four conditioned power outlets on/off, read the log files. Responder

thermoelectric diz:Jun 6, 2009. 2:57 PM

Yeah, well I figured out the color coding. What confused me was why there were three ethernet connections to the battery backup surge protector. Thanks for clearing that up. How much did all the cable cost? I'm planning on running ethernet, coax and telephone to each room, it just seems a bit expensive, but I am just looking online, not at local shops.... Responder

tyler9613 diz:Mar 16, 2009. 5:35 PM

I just have one quick question- What is the purpose of using a patch panel? I get the switches, but have never came to a setup that required a patch panel... Thanks, Tyler Responder

thb43 diz:Mar 16, 2009. 9:11 PM

You don't really have to have a patch panel but there are some advantages. Without the panel the wires running to each room would have to connect directly to my network switch or router. If for some reason I decided to disconnect one of them then that wire would just hang loose coming out of the wall. With the patch panel I just remove the short wire between the switch and panel and no wires would be hanging out of the wall. Also if wires get moved around much then the wire connections may become loose up. With a patch panel the wire connections are never touched, only the plugs are touched. The panels also give a nice place to label the wires so you know which wire goes to what room. Responder

thb43 diz:Mar 16, 2009. 9:16 PM

Also if I decide to move the router/switch to another location that is further away from the patch panel then I can just install longer patch wires and not have to replace the wire running through the walls of my house with a longer wire. Responder

treagh diz:Mar 18, 2009. 10:28 PM

I like the use of patch panels as a clean way to easily see what goes where. Also, if my kids have been bad, I can just disconnect phone and network to their rooms and lock the cabinet. I use cat-5 exclusively for phone, data, and signal with my home automation/integration business. The versatility of cat-5 allows it to be used for many purposes, and home runs allow it to be re-purposed easily on the fly. If you have a phone jack that you aren't using, make it a data port by plugging the other end into the network patch. Responder

nkmower diz:Jul 29, 2009. 10:39 PM

I've heard you can use CAT 5 for phone, so then, if you can dispel my lack of knowledge, can a CAT 5 cable be terminated with a phone connector (RJ-11 ?)

Responder

treagh diz:Jul 29, 2009. 11:12 PM

You can, but if you terminate with RJ-45, you will be able to insert a regular phone cable connector and it will work... assuming you wire the port properly. I homeran multiple drops of cat5 with RJ45 to each room of my house from a central "media closet". If I want a port to be a phone jack, I just plug it into the phone patch panel. If I want to re-purpose a phone jack to pass and IR signal for a remote control system... I just connect it to the remote control system in the media closet. Every phone/data/signal can be used in a way that it wasn't originally intended if you wire it with forethought. Responder

thb43 diz:Jul 30, 2009. 8:35 PM

Yes you can use CAT5 for phone. Just pick any 2 pairs (4 wires total) and connect to your RJ11 connector the same wires on both ends. Responder

outoforder2day diz:Mar 12, 2009. 9:01 AM

Why did you go with separate CAT5/CAT3 networks? I thought you could run standard telephone over CAT5 with no problem? Responder

outoforder2day diz:Mar 12, 2009. 9:02 AM

Oh, and awesome job. I'm looking to do something very similar and hope it looks and works half as good as yours! Responder

thb43 diz:Mar 12, 2009. 6:17 PM

No reason really except CAT3 is cheaper than CAT5. It is possible to run telephone over CAT5. In fact, it's even possible to run both LAN and telephone over the same piece of CAT5 wire together. However, the when the phone rings it may interfere with the LAN signal.... so I've heard. I didn't want to take the chance so I just ran both. I also have visions of someday setting up to do PoE (Power over Ethernet) using the extra wires in the CAT5 to power some remote devices that don't have power outlets nearby. Responder

Gimpy diz:Jul 23, 2009. 1:50 PM

Awesome setup. I have had crappier setups in houses I've lived in before. I personally prefer mine to be a little less tied down. I tend to keep the cables movable, as I tend to change things often. If I were building this from scratch, I'd follow almost all your conventions, but run cat6 instead of 5 and 3, and run double the amount I foresee using. running 4 lines of cat6 is not that much more expensive, and not much more work then one 5 and one 3. This would ensure it would be upgradeable in the future. (Say, running a centralized TV system, using 2 cat6 for DVI, or, dual gigabit to each computer, etc) Responder

NickMach007 diz:Mar 11, 2009. 8:17 AM

Nice job with the s.w. project. I'm in the very very early stages of planning my own. I was wondering about 2 of the devices you used. Which APC unit did you use? and What file server did you use? Thanks. Responder

thb43 diz:Mar 11, 2009. 6:45 PM

APC Back-UPS HS 500. Had to order from web. This was only unit I could find (for home network prices) that was controllable from a computer on the network. File server is Buffalo Linkstation 250G Good Luck with your project. Responder

bwpatton1 diz:Mar 10, 2009. 1:53 PM

Im going to do a set of instructables on wire networking your house on a shoe string budget (Im very cheap, { I am also 13 soo money would kind of be an issue}) I'll be doing my ibles over spring break which is next week in my case! Whoo I am excited Wonderful work! Responder

gravitus diz:Mar 8, 2009. 3:54 PM

Very Clean Work! I would say that the folks who installed our office network could have taken a tip or two from your cable management folder. :) Responder

munchman diz:Fev 1, 2009. 9:40 PM

Whoa, that looks like what I would expect for a small corporation! It looks really cool. But what could you possible need it for in a home? But simply awesome. Responder

thirdspaced diz:Fev 1, 2009. 8:15 PM

Great work! Your setup is truly awesome! Responder

jimtran93 diz:Jan 27, 2009. 9:32 PM

Im shocked :O Super duper job man! Responder

lurin diz:Dez 28, 2008. 3:05 AM

nice man really nice Responder

Jeebiss diz:Dez 25, 2008. 4:05 PM

I am a fan of twist ties as opposed to zip ties. Less to remove when one wire needs replaced or rerouted. Also they are alot more reusable. Responder

Padlock diz:Dez 16, 2008. 5:41 PM

I'm jealous. :-p Responder

dane480 diz:Dez 16, 2008. 2:17 PM

Wow! great job, that looks very neat and professional. Responder

PKM diz:Dez 16, 2008. 6:26 AM

Just hope you don't end up selling the house to anyone who suffers from "electrosensitivity" :P That's a pretty neat job, I have a couple of friends thinking about wiring up their house (there's a computer in every room except the kitchen and they hate wireless) so I'll point them this way to see how it's done! Also, you look a lot like Nick Frost... Responder

thb43 diz:Dez 16, 2008. 7:08 AM

Not sure I know who Nick Frost is... But I'll take that as a compliment! This system also has wireless. I just connected an access point in one of the rooms centrally located in the house. Good for my wireless laptop and my visitors with laptops. About the electrosensitivity... my aura has really been bright since completing this installation. Responder

bwpatton1 diz:Mar 10, 2009. 1:52 PM

Ya, Im one of those that dont like wireless (too slow and not secure enough for me!). Responder

Michael_in_to diz:Dez 16, 2008. 5:12 AM

Way to go. I am a broadcast/network systems designer for a national broadcaster and used to be a cable installer. This work is at the same caliber of professional broadcast/network installations that we do. One small detail, in theory, you should not use cable ties on the cat5e cables. The indentation that the cable tie makes in the cable bundle alters the spacing and twist inside the cables and can introduce cross talk and diminish the capability of the cable. IN THEORY.....we do it all the time with gigabyte Ethernet and we don't ever seem to have a problem. Again....excellent job. Responder

thb43 diz:Dez 16, 2008. 7:15 AM

Thanks for the cable tie tip for cat5e cables. You make a good point. The only ties I used are what you can see in these pictures. Up in the attic I didn't use ties around individual cable bundles(I think I mentioned that in one of the photos but didn't give a reason). Also I didn't use the ties in the attic because its easier to replace a wire if it isn't tied (but even then some people just cut the bad wire and leave the old wire in the tray when running a new wire). Thanks for the feedback! Responder

xlotlu diz:Dez 15, 2008. 6:33 PM

Really really great job. But place that backup file server somewhere else. While using a separate machine for backup is quite commendable, if you have precious data in there you want to place it at least in a different room, if not off-site. Responder

thb43 diz:Dez 15, 2008. 7:09 PM

Thanks, this is a good suggestion. Always looking for ways to improve. However, my backup file server only has USB connection straight to the primary server so not sure I can run the USB wire that far away. Didn't really want to put in on a desktop in another room and have backup data going over network. Responder

BigCommieNat diz:Dez 15, 2008. 10:13 PM

Beautiful job! I am awed! The remote or off site storage is probably excessive, for a home system anyway. A good tip (for average home file needs) Have a mirrored array, with a third drive you store at work, every week (or whenever, my swap discipline is really poor now) swap out the spare for one of the active drive (I use a hot swap sata bay for this), resync the array... and drop the (new) spare off at work. Any problems that would damage both the array and the spare... well, you'll have bigger issues than data recovery to worry about Responder

friezer diz:Dez 15, 2008. 6:03 PM

Show off. :) Really nice work, man. Responder

digital0129 diz:Dez 15, 2008. 5:53 PM

Those are some very very neat cables. I bet that took a lot of time. Responder

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EthernetTelephoneCable TVHDTVSplitterLANlocal area networkAntennaCoaxCat3Cat5Battery backup

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