Wiring A New House?

jbp123 asks: "I'm building a new house. Once the electrician has run the phone lines I want to run cat5e ethernet cable. I figure two drops to each of the 6 rooms with phone lines. I've never done this but my plan is to run the ethenet cable through the same path that the phone lines follow. I'll use up the rest of the 1000 foot spool by running a third cable to a few of the rooms. Ethernet cable is cheap. I found solid cat5e 1000 foot spools for $60 delivered so the decision to run cat5e cable is a no brainer. The question is should I run fiber? I really don't know how much the cable costs since I don't know what cable to use. It is much easier to run cable before the drywall goes in so I want to make an informed decision now. Ten years from now will I need/want fiber?"

Comments

Re:Fiber is still expensive -- followup

[Maktoo]

Oh, I just thought of something.

It will be a little more expensive, but you might want to think about stringing "STP" CAT5, instead of UTP... that's Shielded Twisted Pair instead of Unshielded.

STP is what is plenum graded, so that it doesn't catch fire as easily. Also, it's better shielded against interference from other electrical sources that might be in the wall.

It's not a requirement or anything... but it might be worth considering simply for safety reasons.

A few more cat5 suggestions

[Spinality]

Lots of good comments here. I have nothing to add about the fiber/UTP question, other than it might be a little premature to drop fiber everywhere; but here are some other UTP notes from my experience:

Consider using a modular connector system like this one. I saved a lot of time and hassle using them and the result looks great. You can also intermix CATV, voice, data etc. however you like.

Use a star from a cable closet (could be a cabinet in your garage or next to the water heater, doesn't matter). Consider running everything to a patch panel. If you don't want to spring for the connectors etc. of a patch panel, at least create a 'virtual patch panel' where every circuit is tagged and accessible. Leave good documentation in the cabinet 'cause you'll forget what goes where.

Follow the Cat5 specs: minimal bends, minimal tension when pulling cable, loose cable ties, no regular tie intervals, cross AC power perpendicularly and rarely. Pick the cabling spec you'll use and stick to it. Avoid doing what I had to do: running voice on the unused two pairs of my 100Mbs data circuits (even though I've had zero problems).

Be sure you have power near your drops and plenty of power and some shelf space in your closet. You'll be terminating your outside internet connectivity here as well (DSL, cable modem, etc.) so be sure to plan space accordingly for routers, console connections, hubs, UPS, etc.

See the remarks elsewhere here about using plenum cable if you're not installing conduit. But conduit would let you use fiber or other more advanced media in the future.

Invest in some cheap test equipment so you can verify continuity, correct pinouts, etc. in all your cables.

HTH -- Spiny

A few considerations

[Manuka]

Since this is new construction, go the extra mile and feed each data outlet with some sort of conduit (PVC, EMT, or flexible). That way, when you want to upgrade or expand, it's a no-brainer and you don't have to rip things apart. EMT conduit has the added bonus of providing RF shielding to your copper cabling, provided it's properly grounded (which it should be). This also gives you the advantage of only needing to put in the plumbing before you put up the sheetrock, and then running the actual wire later.

Also, Leviton makes a very nice modular structured media system that allows you to do neat things like audio and video distribution in addition to phone and data - they have modular patch panels that make it very easy to do.

Lastly, whatever you do, TAKE PICTURES of everything you do before you put the sheetrock up - you'll want them for reference when you make changes later.

Re:Run conduit

[Russ Nelson]

I used 1/2" flexible NMT, aka smurf tubing, so-called because of its baby-blue color. It's big enough to hold three cat-5 wires. I would have preferred 1", or 3/4", but the 1/2" was all that the electrician's supply store had in stock. I realized that I wanted conduit shortly before the drywall was to go up; after I had installed all the cat5 I thought I would need.
-russ

Re:On the other hand...

[Erasei]

You should check with your local city building code before doing this. While most places won't have a problem with it, in the village where I live (Chicago area, ~30,000population) any in-wall piping is required to be metal conduit. This is done for fire safety reasons regardless if it is electrical wiring inside or not. Just something to consider.