said by tschmidt :

I'm surprised the contract did not require certification. That is the norm for commercial installations.

said by tschmidt :

You want to make sure the electrical contractor is familiar with communication wiring. Ask if they are BICSI certified. Someone on staff should be a Registered Communications Distribution Designer (RCDD).
»https://www.bicsi.org/default.aspx

said by nunya :

Well, if you want to get into a pissing match, I'll say that I can out wire 99% of Bell guys. Why, you ask? I was Bell trained when it was the "Bell System" way or the highway. Then I went on to keep learning. I have more licenses and certifications than I know what to do with.

said by nunya :

My advice to the OP: don't be scared of letting your electrician do what they need to. Wiring practices and training have changed drastically over the last couple of decades. As long as you are comfortable with your contractor and they do right by you, that's all that counts.

said by nunya :

No need for everyone to get their panties in a bunch. I was dishing a tongue-in-cheek response to this previous post on page 2.

said by cowboyro :

They "tested" with a laptop - if there was a link then it was assumed to be good :mad:

said by jhboricua :

Yea there are some low voltage duffers out there but they equal to or are exceeded by the number of electrical contractors who are just as incompetent with low voltage cabling.

said by Splitpair :

Yea there are some low voltage duffers out there but they equal to or are exceeded by the number of electrical contractors who are just as incompetent with low voltage cabling.

Wayne

said by Metatron2008 :

What the hell are people saying about Cat5e?

If you plan on living at this house long term I'd say nothing but Cat6. These people telling this are the same who were saying 640k of ram is all you'd ever need.

said by leibold :

That statement is correct, but consider using plenum cable even if you are not required to use it.

said by sponk :

Thanks so much for the replies!!
So I'll go for cat5e unshielded solid cable then.
I am also running a RG6 coax and a cat3 phone line to each room.

said by sponk :

Side question: Do you know of any deals on cat5e cables around Middletown, NJ area? If there's a local supplier, I might pick them up. Alternatively, I can order online but would need it by the end of the week since then the wiring work will commence!

said by cdru :

If you are running your own lines and not being charged a per-drop fee, I personally would run 2 lines to the middle of every wall, or at least 2 runs per room on opposite walls, plus anywhere else where one might naturally need an network connection

said by Splitpair :

Yea there are some low voltage duffers out there but they equal to or are exceeded by the number of electrical contractors who are just as incompetent with low voltage cabling.

Wayne

said by nunya :

I can't tell you how many "professional" low voltage installers I've have to clean up after just to pass a rough inspection.

said by jeffmoss26 :

If I read correct you plan on having your electrician run this wire. Beware because many electricians have no idea how to properly run and install voice/data cabling. I've had to clean up many a mess when someone hired their electricians.
I would let them home run all the cables and then have someone else come do all the terminations, but that is just me.
I do a lot of cabling and I get most everything from Graybar. I do not trust places like Monoprice, Deep Surplus, etc. I use General Cable and Leviton jacks/plates/patch panels.

said by Metatron2008 :

Huh? Explain how wired signals carry a SPECTRUM.

said by Metatron2008 :

I also did some investigating on your idea that we are close to running out of wireless bandwidth.

These guys may need a word with you:

»www.technologyreview.com/communi···s/21464/

Also, I do know about how wireless works. It isn't just the spectrum, it's the power you send. 'White space' use 700 mhz power and isn't all that usefull.

said by Metatron2008 :

Because these are ethernet cables that connect WIRED, which means they don't have spectrums.

said by Metatron2008 :

If you want to talk speeds, then okay, that could be years away, but beyond wireless n, and 10 gig network transferring, is only a few years away.

The only things that I imagine would come automatically with gigabit 10 ethernet are beyond wireless n modems, and that's because of the way they do home entworking.

said by ArthurS :

Really? With spectrum becoming increasingly crowded, where do you suppose the additional bandwidth needed to support such high data rates is going to come from? No free lunch here!

said by Metatron2008 :

You know, one thing none of who have thought of is beyond wireless n. If your gonna wire your house for ethernet, a protocal more advanced then wireless n would allow you to transfer data to other pcs at 10 gig.

If you want to talk speeds, then okay, that could be years away, but beyond wireless n, and 10 gig network transferring, is only a few years away.

said by JoelC707 :

Nobody selling 10GigE anything? Might want to look that up first. High end core routers from Cisco, Juniper and the like have had 10GigE options available for years. And there have been 10GigE cards available in PCI Express format though I don't know for how long.

said by sponk :

Hello, my new house is currently being built and the walls are still open. I would like to wire all rooms for ethernet; however, I'm quite confused by the different kinds of cables available (i.e. Shielded vs Unshielded, Solid vs Stranded etc..).
What kind of wire do you suggest I use?
Thanks, appreciate any input!!

said by tschmidt :

I love fiber but I think its use will be very limited in a residential setting. If I had to bet I'd say in a couple of decades there will be very little wired communication in the average home, replaced by wireless networks. Coax will also probably fade in importance as video moves to IP based technology.

said by bigfitch :

How is running fiber in a home a joke?? I have Fiber Running out to our Utility Shed where we have a computer setup for the shop use and also out to the workshop. I use fiber converters and put them into a 12 port gig switch that my main router works on.

said by NormanS :

Eh? CAT 5e support Gig-E. Nobody is selling 10Gig-E anything at this time. 3/4s of my equipment is still only Fast Ethernet (100 Mb/s), and not likely to be upgraded over the next three years. And, when it is, only to Gig-E, for which CAT 5e is good enough.

said by NormanS :

<sarcasm>
Might as well install all CAT 7,000 for everything, I guess. Who knows what you will need 1,000,000 years in the future!
</sarcasm>

(Forgot that angle brackets don't display without codes.)

said by Waterbug :

Exactly how is the OP supposed to terminate that fiber? It isn't compatible with copper. If he wants to run fiber for the future, fine, but he still needs copper for use until fiber service becomes available to the premise. For home networking, there is no fiber solution, only copper or wireless.

EDIT: Fiber only conducts light. The last time I checked, there was no light coming out the end of any copper wiring. :)

said by Waterbug :

Exactly how is the OP supposed to terminate that fiber? It isn't compatible with copper. If he wants to run fiber for the future, fine, but he still needs copper for use until fiber service becomes available to the premise. For home networking, there is no fiber solution, only copper or wireless.

EDIT: Fiber only conducts light. The last time I checked, there was no light coming out the end of any copper wiring. :)

said by C0deZer0 :

Think Long term. Yea, 10/100 might be fine now, but for how long? And would you really want to tear apart the walls again to upgrade those cables?

Fiber it if you can, Cat6 if not.

said by Fireblade :

Doing anything less than CAT6 is a poor investment, a waste of time and money.

said by C0deZer0 :

Think Long term. Yea, 10/100 might be fine now, but for how long? And would you really want to tear apart the walls again to upgrade those cables?

Fiber it if you can, Cat6 if not.

said by PolarBear :

If your house is burning down, who gives a shit if the cable burns, too?

said by quetwo :

Many municipalities have changed their regulations to require that all low-volt use Plenum/fire-rated rated cable for all new installs.

said by NormanS :

Eh? CAT 5e support Gig-E. Nobody is selling 10Gig-E anything at this time. 3/4s of my equipment is still only Fast Ethernet (100 Mb/s), and not likely to be upgraded over the next three years. And, when it is, only to Gig-E, for which CAT 5e is good enough.

said by C0deZer0 :

Think Long term. Yea, 10/100 might be fine now, but for how long? And would you really want to tear apart the walls again to upgrade those cables?

said by odinb :

You can get the cable at a good price here:
»www.monoprice.com/products/searc···%20cable

Good luck!

said by NormanS :

In my experience, two-pair CAT 3 is about half the price of CAT 5e. I would expect four-pair CAT 3 is the same price as CAT 5e.

said by NormanS :

CAT 3 is commonly available, here, at places like Fry's Electronics, and Home Depot. In my experience, two-pair CAT 3 is about half the price of CAT 5e. I would expect four-pair CAT 3 is the same price as CAT 5e.

said by tschmidt :

Only need Plenum if you are running wire in air handling spaces. That is not common for residential.

said by GdotMikeL :

Unless you're acting as your own GC you may not be allowed to do this. Many people have tried to prewire their new homes only to find out later that the wire was removed.

said by ArthurS :

Why run CAT3 cable for phone, when the price difference between it and CAT5 is so miniscule (if you can even find CAT3 cable anymore)?

said by ArthurS :

Why run CAT3 cable for phone, when the price difference between it and CAT5 is so miniscule (if you can even find CAT3 cable anymore)? Run CAT5 for both phone and network ports, that way in the future if you don't need a phone jack in a certain room, you have an extra network port.

said by sponk :

I am also running a RG6 coax and a cat3 phone line to each room.

said by cdru :

If you are running your own lines and not being charged a per-drop fee, I personally would run 2 lines to the middle of every wall, or at least 2 runs per room on opposite walls, plus anywhere else where one might naturally need an network connection (behind entertainment center, at the wall phone, next to the toilet ;) ). Terminate them all back at a patch panel and then you can only hook up the ones that you need.

Most network jacks can also serve for a 4 or 6-wire telephone cable as well, so you can kill two birds with one stone.

Don't forget about RG-6 too.