Cable TV vs. Satellite

The market is pretty much divided between the traditional Cable TV companies and satellite companies. Regardless of which service you decide to use, you will still require an entrance cable into your home which either connects to either the Cable TV system or to your satellite dish located on the roof or some where outside you home. At the entrance point or hub location that we talked about earlier, you will then want to connect to any room. If you plan to use digital TV, or satellite, you will also have a set top box or digital receiver for each TV that you want to display digital TV channels. Bottom line is you still need to have a coax cable connected to every room that you might want to have a TV set.

If you also are using high-speed services from your cable company, a separate coax cable is required for this connection to wherever you have your computer located.

Telephone, Alarm, & Intercom Systems

Similar to cable TV systems, all telephone, alarm and intercom systems should home to a central hub location to allow interconnection as required. Larger homes and consumers with home offices may also want to have larger cables installed to accommodate multiple lines for private, business, fax, and 2nd lines for the kids. By bringing all connections from every room back to a central location, you will be able to cross connect the incoming lines to the appropriate room in your home. Same goes for alarm systems and intercoms. Your alarm controller can be located at your hub location and then connected to all alarm points in your home using the wiring that has been installed. If you have your home alarm system monitored by an outside company, locating your controller at this central location will also simplify connecting to the telephone line for monitoring purposes.

Telephone wiring has been normally installed using category 3 wire, however with the introduction of data communications and in home computer systems, many builders are opting for Category 5 wiring.

Wireless Home Communications and Networks

Many consumers are opting for wireless in home distribution systems for a number of reasons. Wireless LANs are very flexible allowing consumers to locate their computers anywhere in the home and connect to their high-speed connection located in a central location.

Wireless alarm systems are also available, which can be plugged into any electrical outlet and a wireless signal is transmitted to the controller indicating the state of the alarm at the location of the alarm trigger point.

There are also wireless music distribution systems that can be installed for customers as well, again with a central antenna.

The common denominator of all of these systems is electricity and if you have a power failure, nothing works. Your alarm is off, your computers, even if they are laptops cannot communicate etc.

Some consumers rely heavily on their cellular service for communications. In fact more and more people are using only their cell phone for communications and they do not have what is called a traditional land line. Consumers now can use their wireless phones to make calls, chat via msn etc. and send emails.

In some locations the cellular signal is sufficiently strong enough outside the home, yet too weak for wireless devices to work properly inside. There is a solution to this situation as well which requires wiring to be considered. Essentially a repeater can be provided that takes a signal received from outside on an outdoor antenna and connects to an indoor transmitter or repeater antenna by coax cable and then rebroadcasts a stronger amplified signal to guarantee improved cellular service.

Install Internet / Ethernet cabling in Your Home

Computer communications in new homes is becoming more and more important and most new home customers are selecting to go hardwired instead of wireless for reasons of security as well as throughput. If you intend to connect multiple computers, printers, routers and Ethernet hubs together, you may want to use Ethernet category 5 cable and install a cable to every room in your home were you may want to have a computer.

Usually this means the home office, all of the bedrooms and perhaps even the family room were you will have a game computer for the kids should have Ethernet or category 5 cable installed. Again these can all be run back to a central location and terminated so that connection and distribution is easily accomplished.

Customers who need these sorts of connections may want to hire a company to complete the installation in a professional manner properly designed to accommodate the latest technology.

New Home Pre Wiring

Many consumers give little thought to in-home wiring when they purchase a new home and assume that the builder will install whatever is needed for telephone and TV while the home is being built. Some builders will specify how many jacks or outlets they will provide to you and you can choose were they will be installed.

There are many more new home design issues when it comes to pre-wiring a new home and if you plan and install your wiring before the walls are finished, you will find it much easier than if you try to add wiring after the home is built. What other pre-wiring should a consumer consider when they are planning to pre-wire their home? There are several ways to approach this question. One is to consider what you will want while you are living in the home. Another approach is to consider re-sale value and install all possible wiring to make your home more attractive for future buyers!

A shopping list of potential pre-wiring considerations follows:

• TV Cable / Satellite TV solutions
• Telephone wiring
• Alarm system wiring
• Video system monitoring – front door, back door, etc
• Intercom to various rooms
• Music distribution to various parts of the home
• Local Area Networking (LAN) for computer communications
• Wireless Data in the home
• Amplification of Cellular/PCS signals in the home
• Home office wiring requirements

With so many possibilities you may want to consider hiring a qualified electrician to assist you as well as do some basic research concerning each area. We have included some general references through out this articles that you may refer to obtain addition information.