Advice Appreciated - Whole House Ethernet Wiring

[PlainJane]

@worth1, @karstopography, anybody else with experience and suggestions please share your thoughts.

Am about to start the Design phase of a fairly large home renovation project. Architect will be doing the full site measurements in a few weeks. I have the floor plan as it exists today but things are shifting around a bit. I’ll have the new floor plan once design is nailed down.

Part of the work will include new HVAC, new ductwork, new insulation, new roof.
Wiring and plumbing will also be upgraded.

I’m taking advantage of everything being opened up to include hard internet connections across the whole house, and wiring for in-ceiling speakers in several rooms.

Here’s what I’ve spec’d out so far. Feedback really appreciated as I don’t have my electrical wiz DH any longer. I’m consulting with my local high-end audiophile shop for specifics on speaker brands, placement, amp, etc.


TV screen is wall hung, mount slightly recessed such that screen is flush with wall.
Soundbar will be supported by existing antique brackets and either marble or an antique wood shelf.
Two recessed built-in shelving areas flanking TV for music and video collections, utilizing existing antique shutters as doors.
Amplifier, DVD player, IQFiber Internet box, and Apple box in left side recessed shelving niche.
Placement of KEF subwoofer TBD; may affect wiring plan.
All wiring, UPS, electrical strips, USB, etc is hidden but easily accessible.
Electronics recess to include silent exhaust fan vented to outside.
May be additional home sound wiring to accommodate home theater.
In ceiling wired speaker placements in new kitchen, dining and living rooms (not wireless).

As roof will be undergoing work and house wiring replaced, also run solid CAT 6a UV rated, T-568B pattern internet cable to all rooms. (Plenum or Riser required ?)
Use above whole house stereo rack as central distribution point and the internet patch panel.
Label all connections by room & outlet number.
Allow for 2 Ethernet sockets per bedroom, 1 each in utility, dining, living rooms, kitchen, 3 in family room; placements TBD.
Run hard internet cable as above to detached home office, inside buried conduit pipe, placement TBD.

At least 3 floor outlets with power, USB and internet in family room, placement TBD.

IMG_1128.jpeg

[svalli]

I am not enough familiar with NEC rules or house installations in U.S. to comment, but it seems that you have quite good plans. One thing which I wonder is that UV rating of the Ethernet cable. Why do you need it to be UV rated? I assume that the cables will be inside walls and ceiling and you mentioned a conduit going to the detached home office, so the cable would not be exposed to UV radiation.

We recently changed our land line telephone cables in our house to CAT6 S/FTP cables. Most of the wiring in our house goes inside plastic conduits, so we were able to pull new cables in them. We are getting high speed fiber optic connection to our house for internet and TV and that prompted us to get the LAN cables around the house and the old telephone cables and sockets have not been in use as long we have lived in this house. Luckily the builder of our house had the phone lines pulled to every room of the house except bathrooms and sauna .
Most ISPs here recommend using just the WIFI connections in the house, because it is so easy. Currently we have run a LAN cable from our existing 5G modem to my husband's office downstairs and I am using WIFI upstairs. WIFI seems to work well for my use since I am on the same level as the router, but as soon as the fiber gets connected I will switch to the wired connection. We have already the fiber coming to our house, but they are still building the network in our neighborhood, so the system is not yet up and running.

Do you have or are you planning to have security cameras? We could not run the LAN wire to the places where we installed the cameras so those are now connected via WIFI, but it would have been nice to have them wired.

[PlainJane]

@svalli, I picked that particular Ethernet cable because a lot of it will be strung across and through the attic, and even with new insulation it gets pretty hot up there. That cable is rated for heat tolerance as well as UV. I am not planning for security cameras, but do of course have a video doorbell tied into the alarm system.

[PlainJane]

I’m trying to make the house as trouble-free as I can now since so much work is going on anyway.
We just got fiber in our neighborhood and the whole street practically has made the switch. Even with that, I want the house hard-wired as much as possible and lessen my dependence on WiFi.

[zeuspaul]

I highly recommend security cameras. Mine have never isolated a security threat. Possibly they have prevented a security issue. However they come in handy for other things. They are most useful for package delivery. Postman says package was delivered at 12 PM but I know the postman arrived twenty minutes later so now I know the package is somewhere about twenty minutes earlier. Next day inform the postal worker and they know where to go to get the package. FedEx says they delivered a package but where the heck did they put it this time? or was it even delivered to my house? The cameras also inform me of the various critters, rats, skunks, coyotes, racoons, bobcats and rabbits that wonder around the property.

I don't use wireless cameras. To get the wires from outside to inside is a bit of a pain. At minimum I would want a preset conduit for the wires.

[bower]

I have to second zeuspaul about security camera wiring. Don't miss the opportunity to lay those wires in the attic.
I was just having a wired system installed yesterday. The easiest way to do it is with outdoor cable and one hole to the hub inside. I'm not worried about aesthetics but obviously, it's not a plus or the result of careful planning, like you are doing. And the alternative, of running cable inside the home interior, is worse.
It's also a way bigger job to take a ladder all around the house, than it would've been to wire for it during home construction.
My current system is wireless, and that is much easier to add as an afterthought.
It hasn't identified a threat either, but it gives me peace of mind, notification wrt deliveries, and cat video! My neighbor's cat really owns this place. Still hopeful for a little moose cam when the time comes.
It only takes one break in to change our thoughts about privacy and cameras. I don't mind them a bit and leave them on all the time even when at home. I disabled the audio though, because that is more invasive IMO. A few pics of me puttering in the garden or coming and going are not bothering me a bit.
Anyway, for the sake of aesthetics and also cost, running a few wires during a tear up is the way to go.

[TomatoNut95]

Good grief. Never in a million years would I have my house torn through to have it set up to run internet all through it.

[worth1]

You guys wouldn't believe how much cat 6 wire and security stuff I either gave away or it got tossed in the trash.
Brand new very expensive security stuff not residential.
Many thousands of dollars.
I simply had no use for it.
Stuff you would never see in a normal home.
When the van was given to me they told me to keep what I wanted and throw the rest away.
I couldn't think of throwing it away so I put it all in the middle of the warehouse floor.
Then I guess it got thrown in the trash.
The van was packed full of the stuff.
I kept some and later gave it to a guy that I knew that wanted it.
So he loaded up his pickup.
This was the type of access control and security you would see in a downtown office building or something.
Lots of programming and so on.

This subject isn't really my forte so I don't really have much information to give other than I don't really like Wi-Fi all that much.

[worth1]

Make sure you're not getting ripped off too.
And the work is quality.
I'm seeing a lot of garbage going on these days in the construction industry.

[PlainJane]

Make sure you're not getting ripped off too.
And the work is quality.
I'm seeing a lot of garbage going on these days in the construction industry.

As best I can!
I spent quite a bit of time selecting the reno contractor, including site visits to existing projects. Of course, won’t be the same as if DH had been able to do it himself.

[PlainJane]

@bower, I will talk to the contractor and my current alarm company about running the wire while things are open, even if I don’t install cameras now.

[karstopography]

Good contractors are like gold and just as rare. I have a very good painter/light renovation guy, a very good electrician, a very good HVAC contractor, a very good plumber, and my wife has a very good IT guy. I rarely ask how much money they want and try to be a standout in a good way as far as paying them immediately and not beating them down on price.

The good contractors have their pick of work. Jack around with them and they will say see you later, meaning never.

Plenty of no good contractors out there.

[slugworth]

I thought ethernet was obsolete.
Only my old antique laptops have it.
The last time I bought cable they were up to cat 6

[worth1]

I thought ethernet was obsolete.
Only my old antique laptops have it.
The last time I bought cable they were up to cat 6

No it's not obsolete.
Every new construction I'm on has it ran to every room.
It comes into a MDF AKA main distribution frame and then spiders out to the IDF AKA intermediate distribution frame and then to the different rooms and so on.
Also LAN local area network.
Ethernet is faster more reliable and more secure.

[TomatoNut95]

I'll probably be the only person on Earth that doesn't have Alexa running my house or have any appliance with Internet in it. Why? Because I'm against internet dependence and control. I can easily picture an Alexa takeover: it'll shut down everything in your house, laugh menacingly and you'll be trapped in your own house unable to shut off or turn on anything. Or an internet apocalypse will cause everything with Internet in it to crash. Welcome to: the Technology Twilight Zone.
While everyone is screaming that they can't do anything, I'll be the only one left with normal appliances and can still watch my favorite movies.

[MissS]

Good grief. Never in a million years would I have my house torn through to have it set up to run internet all through it.

I guess that you didn't read the first post. You probably should before commenting.

[pondgardener]

@PlainJane You are doing the right thing in including as much future potential in new technology, while the walls and ceilings are open for other reasons. When I was having a new house built over 30 years ago, I wanted to include various options while the walls were bare. I even added a central vacuum system. So it is your house and your funding, so include what you think you need now.

[slugworth]

I use a hotspot for internet and only 1 tv in the house that I just watch dvd's on.
The joy of digital tv on a hot day I can get channels from NY and NJ 200 miles away but not New Haven 20 miles away.
Ant that is with antenna in the attic on a rotor.
I got rid of cable tv in 1996.

[worth1]

I use a hotspot for internet and only 1 tv in the house that I just watch dvd's on.
The joy of digital tv on a hot day I can get channels from NY and NJ 200 miles away but not New Haven 20 miles away.
Ant that is with antenna in the attic on a rotor.
I got rid of cable tv in 1996.

I don't even have that.

[bower]

Even 35 years ago when building my home I never dreamed of the place that new technology would have in our lives.
I even remember, some years earlier than that, when my younger brother told me he thought one day everyone would have a computer, I laughed at it.
Pretty sure I was over 40 years old before I was ever on the internet. Now I would seriously miss it, if we didn't have it!
Never thought cooling my home would be an issue. I'm already on my second heating system... heat pump would be #3....
Cameras have rapidly become a fact of life, and video recording wherever you go. Might as well control some of it. I'm having a camera year but I reckon it will take a few for me to really get up to speed. Just catching up..

Given the opportunity for a comprehensive reno, forward thinking is the way to go. I'm happy for you @PlainJane . I love everything you've done with your exterior, it is simply amazing. It's great that you're updating the house systems as well, and I'm sure you won't regret it.
Kudos for choosing that contractor carefully as well.