Home wiring questions


  #1  
Old 10-07-04, 10:31 PM
gkearney
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Home wiring questions

I would like to home run A/V, data, and phone in an existing home. Planning on running 2xRG6, 2xCAT6, 1xCAT5e. I have done some prep work for the drops.

-Most of the runs will be in attic or crawl space.
-To get to attic am making use of a ~3'x4' shaft that has ducting.
-To get from front to rear of house am routing ~1 foot from a vent behind furnace. This goes through the ceiling of one room and into a crawl space (house is on a hill).

I now have some specific questions regarding.

1. Is plenum cable required?

2. RG6 or RG6 Quad? There are 6+ drops that need to go from front to back house - currently have 5' 2" pvc through the opening that bridges front to rear. I am concerned about fitting all the cable through - switching from RG6Quad to RG6 would save some space.

3. Is there any requirement and/or usefulness to using conduit or pvc for the jump from bottom to attic? for the run behind furnance? (Particularly, behind furnace not using pvc would open up the run quite a bit.)

4. RJ45 or RJ11? The cat5e is for phone. The cat6 is data so it is doubtful the cat5e would ever be repurposed to data.

5. Should a local contractor be consulted regarding these specifics? If so, what kind of contractor/consultant should be sought out?

Thanks in advance for help.
gk
 
  #2  
Old 10-18-04, 12:58 AM
D
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Trying to help...

1. Is plenum cable required?

Only if you actually run the cables through or inside the a/c or heater ductwork that feeds the house.

2. RG6 or RG6 Quad? There are 6+ drops that need to go from front to back house - currently have 5' 2" pvc through the opening that bridges front to rear. I am concerned about fitting all the cable through - switching from RG6Quad to RG6 would save some space.

I think that would depend on how long your cable runs are. For your really long runs, then quad shield would probably be a good idea.

3. Is there any requirement and/or usefulness to using conduit or pvc for the jump from bottom to attic? for the run behind furnance? (Particularly, behind furnace not using pvc would open up the run quite a bit.)

This would make it easier for you to run any additional cables you might need in the future. I'm not aware of any requirement to do so.

4. RJ45 or RJ11? The cat5e is for phone. The cat6 is data so it is doubtful the cat5e would ever be repurposed to data.

I'm not an expert, but these refer to the connectors on the ends, not the cable itself. RJ-11 is a 4 postion connector for standard telephone and RJ-45 is an 8 postion connector used for data. (Computer LAN cables).

Both of your cables will have 8 conductors inside, so the cables used for telephones could carry up to 4 different lines (two conductors per line). The cables you use for data will need all 8 conductors. Hope this helps.

5. Should a local contractor be consulted regarding these specifics? If so, what kind of contractor/consultant should be sought out?

If you have a plan and know exactly what you want to do then I think you could do this yourself. Otherwise I would look for a "Home Automation" or "Home Theater" (something along these lines). Ask around at electronics stores, they may be able to help you. I think hiring any contractor will be very expensive though.

Sorry a reply took so long! You should also know that I am not an expert at this stuff, so some of my information may be a little off or get contradicted.

Good luck!
 
  #3  
Old 10-18-04, 04:49 AM
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RG6 quad is rarely ever needed.
I've run standard rg6 up to 200ft - no problems.

fred
 
 

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