Coax replacement?

[Wild Turkey]

First house we bought had phone jacks in every room, when we built this house we ran phone jacks and coax everywhere.

Now what do you use in a new house?   

 

I'll run a phone line to a couple of places to have a "land line" available ( until somebody gets a new tower built 
), but what about the coax replacement?  Is it all wireless now?  Should I run some kind of fiber optic line in case that becomes the new thing?

Breaking ground this week, got a little time to make up my mind



( posted in both OT and HI)

[R Clark]

Wiring the house a certain way is the technical solution to get to a desired end state.

What do you want in this house?  Home theater?  An intercom style system with the same thing in very room?  TV in every room?

When the original owner built our house, he put low voltage wiring throughout the house and ran standard pow voltage phone wire to RJ-11 jacks in every room.  I've been ripping it out as it gets in my way.  I don't use phones like that, very few people do anymore.  There's coax and outlets in nearly every room.  They sit mostly unused.

If I was building new, I might forego wiring everything, and go wireless.

[scottbrader]

I would probably homerun some smurf tube from various rooms to a location in the basement/mechanical closet to allow me pull whatever was needed in the future if I was building a new house now.

Scott

[dg152]

WT, it seems like everything cable-related is going wireless now. Just switched from Comcast to AT&T cable and while there is a cable coming into our house for the router everything else is wireless. That includes the signal to my TV.

We don't have a land line anymore. If you plan to install a monitored security system many of those systems use a cellular line. But you'll definitely want to talk with your security system provider for that information. Speaking of security systems you'll also want to ask them if their components need to be wired or if they're wireless. The same goes for security cameras. While many are still wired the new ones coming out are wireless.

The only thing I have that's wired is my stereo music system which I installed 7 or 8 years ago. I've got a 5.1 system which means I've got 5 speakers for mid and high ranges and a subwoofer to rattle the windows. It's been a while since I've shopped for a music system so the new systems might be wireless. You'll want to consult with a company such as Crutchfield for what's available.

Sounds like you've got some research work to do! Let us know what you do.

[EricU]

I think I would wire ethernet to some places where you could wire in access points.  Maybe to a couple of closets so you could have switches.  Wifi in our house is problematic on the second floor, for reasons I don't quite understand.  Running ethernet to the second floor attic is on my list.  I think the days of running a lot of coax are over, but you could still do it, wouldn't hurt, you can get MOCA routers and wifi access points.

[Jack01]

First house we bought had phone jacks in every room, when we built this house we ran phone jacks and coax everywhere.

Now what do you use in a new house?   

 

I'll run a phone line to a couple of places to have a "land line" available ( until somebody gets a new tower built 
), but what about the coax replacement?  Is it all wireless now?  Should I run some kind of fiber optic line in case that becomes the new thing?

Breaking ground this week, got a little time to make up my mind



( posted in both OT and HI)

Even Though everything is going wireless.The old network is still a good choice.
Run Coax and cat 5 E or Cat 6 in every room, from a central location.
You can use this for various functions and it will add value when you sale the house.
Make sure you have network jacks in kitchen as the newer kitchen equipment are network capable.
Also connection to your sprinkler system.

Wireless network is ok but keep in mind that it will share the bandwidth with all connected equipment and does slow down the input and output.
Unless you purchase commercial grade wireless equipment.

[Robert Adams]

We have one cable outlet in the house in a closet in the middle of the house. The modem and router are on a shelf in there along with a small backup battery.  I have a few cat5 going to a tv etc but not much. Everything else is wireless.

[MKepke]

What WxMan said..how do you plan to use the cabling?

Pretty much everything consumer is wireless-first now; everything business is Ethernet-first.

I would be inclined to put in some smurf tubes and drop some Cat 6/6a between your internet demarc/patch panel and your high bandwidth locations (4K TV? Video-editing studio?) - and your shop if it is remote to the wireless AP.

But I would only run cabling to known locations and not attempt to 'future proof' everything.

PS. Fiber optic cable has always been nirvana but too hard to install for consumer use. Wireless and ethernet have gotten so fast there's little need for in-house fiber optic.

-Mark