I'd like to get an idea on how many here include phone & CATV on new construction. Also, if you do, then do you make up the terminations at trimout or just blank them up?

Thanks.

I don't get involved with much new construction, but when I do (or with a major refurb) I always ask about telephone wiring. The most common response I get is "Oh, we never thought about that - Yes, you'd better make provision." Then they suddenly realize that they want a telephone in the kitchen, the main bedroom, etc.

CATV -- As it's never likely to reach this part of the country, no, but I'll always inquire about outlets for a regular UHF rooftop antenna, whether they want backfeeds to get satellite/DVD/VCR signals etc. into other rooms, and so on.

CATV incurs loss at every connection, so it's not really in anyone's interest to install jacks in every room and hook them up to a giant splitter, as signal quality will be horrible. Best to still install jacks to every room (and multiple places in living rooms where they might want a TV on different walls) and run them TO the splitter, but only actually hook up the jacks to the splitter that will be used. Cheap and easy to run & hook up. WAY cheaper and easier than waiting until the house is complete, no?

Phone lines are cheap and easy to wire and hook up, too. Not very professional to blank them out, is it? I know I'd be pissed if I paid $300k+ for a home and had to hire someone to come back to wire up a jack so I could hook up a phone into a phone jack...

Same with CAT5 ethernet cabling now. Biggest problem here is figuring out where to run them to

Low voltage wiring can be an often overlooked item. Couple that with VOIP and/or wireless technology and it becomes a more difficult choice for the HO/GC. I generally advise at least 1 "wired" phone (in case of a power outage, no power for cordless phones). Run CATV "home runs" from a central point to rooms most likely to need them (bedrooms/living room) and inquire about a home office/computer room. Many homeowners choose to install a wireless network (routers, printer servers, etc), rather than wired. IMHO it's better to have it installed and not need it, than the other way around. pete

When my wife was building houses the low voltage was done by a different company than line voltage. It really is a different skill set.

I do it, at least on resi work. Basically, anything with a wire attached to it I do, including home entertainment (I have an AA in sound engineering).

It's really pretty simple, and it makes my job eaiser not to have anybody else pulling wire/cable through my job. I have complete control over what goes where and how it gets there.

As far as pre-wire for cable/sat, if the customer can afford it, I run two co-ax to every location, color coded at the plate. This way, they can run any configuration, including the 2nd dvr line required when sat is the provider.

Also, either optic or Ethernet and a phone line to the same modular plate if desired. All runs are home runs (except the phone) and they run to an in-wall hub (usually in a large walk-in closet or the garage) where all the distribution takes place and the services come in.

Usually the client will find that it is cheaper to have me do it than hiring another company that specializes in telecom. It's more work for me, and it's kinda nice to change-up my routine with a few other specialty jobs.

Good Luck!

I do everything low-voltage like Zapped. I do not do too many intercoms or sound systems. I do cable,Sat, internet, phone, CCTV. I terminate everything and do everything from start to finish. Usually if it is a complete rehab, I recommend a small leviton intergrated network panel for the cable and phones. All are home runs, so the problem later down the road will be at jack, panel or out in town. I love all the new technology for low-voltage stuff.

I disagree. Home runs for phones are probably more important than most others! Looping wiring for telephones is an age-old misconception. That's why most current voice hardware isn't designed for more than one cable termination.

Quite true, Ed.
Ever since we changed over to the 2-wire phone system (from 3 wire) here in NZ it has been required that phone wiring be installed in "Star" topography (ie: all socket cables back to a single point).
It's much easier that way anyway, I've never liked the idea of looping anything together, apart from socket-outlets, it just screams of signal losses.

We run cat5 and rg6 home runs to all specified locations. Usually at least one per bedroom and living room. home runs make troubleshooting much easier. We stub them out the wall at the service and they do all the splicing. I made the mistake of stubbing them out eighty feet around the house and the phone co has to run their undergroud to the service. I had to trench undergound wire half way around the house and splice the wires together. Lots of extra hassle for me not thinking ahead.
I trim them out with cable or phone plates. charge the same opening price as an outlet.

question? When are the wall plane manufacturers going to run out of black and yellow wire and use the now standard blue/orange/green/brn?

Red/green/black/yellow has actually been gone for quite some time. Most electrical device manufacturers have their phone jacks made in China or Taiwan. There are so many millions and millions of them out there that this color standard will probably never go away. Not to mention that it's been the standard for over 75 years. In the grand scheme of things, is the color code really a big deal? Probably not if everything is wired correctly. The relationship between older and newer wire pairing has been the same since at least the 1950's, if not even earlier.

Some US manufacturers (the ones who still manufacture in the US) offer jacks with either color pattern you want. You just have to ask for it.

Rule of thumb: If it's screw-terminal terminations, then it's most likely the imported stuff and not rated for any category (ie: CAT1,2,3,4,5,5e, etc.). If it's quick connect (IDC), then it is possible that it can carry a category rating.

Now, I have a question: Why do people think that they need to run CAT5 cable for voice? That is the functional equivalent of running 8/3 Romex for a bathroom fan. Talk about overkill and wasted money. Voice (phone lines) arrive to the premises via "category nothing" cable that runs for miles and miles. Using CAT5 or better for the last 100 feet isn't going to do anything to improve the signal quality. It will certainly empty wallets a bit faster though.

Just to throw it out there. On Leviton and Pass&Seymour they have E-learning courses online for the people who want to expand or just wanting to learn. Low-voltage and line voltage products are on there. Pass&Seymour gives you points as you complete courses towards their store, for t-shirts and sweat shirts. They are all free and worth checking out.
http://ezlearn.leviton.com/el_front/

on pass&seymour website click on Knowlege center on homepage
http://www.passandseymour.com/

99% of the time, no. 1% of the time when it is a profitable extra, yes we go all the way and do the trim out & makeup and deal with all the issues and headaches involved with getting it right, which isnt very often. It really is a different skillset and most times an unprofitable diversion, but not every time..

Also, between the home theatre and alarm guys there's usually someone to scoop this work up so its just as well. My part extends to giving them a hot receptacle in their data or tv or alarm can and then I'm off the hook for the rest of it

Just out of curiousity what are the issues you run into with "getting it right"?

When you are talking about data there are lots of issues beyond simply getting continuity on the right leads. Most residential users might not reallky notice things like Near End Cross Talk and reduced data rates because they are not hitting the LAN that hard and don't really know what "good" is but if they do figure out they are having 50% packet loss because of a staple in the Cat 5 behind a wall or a poorly made up keystone, they won't be a happy customer.

Ohhh so true. And a whole lot prettier than when the cable guy shows up after the fact. I will add that it is also best (even though you may have run 1,000,000 RG-6Q HR's) only to use a splitter sized for the amount actually used. And for those on digital or HD to use quality 1000Mhz (1Ghz) splitters. They not as cheap - but still not expensive.

I usually shoot for selling as much cabling as I can per job - even if it will never be used. After all thats what we sell is it not? wire.... "Ever plan on having whole house audio, or a theater system - may as well throw some wire in now while the walls are open." Even if it is only speaker wire in the ceiling with no cut out for the speaker, people like the idea that they "can" down the line. Most of the time they opt to just do it then. Otherwise I shoot for all the ports the same - 2 Cat-5e, and 2 RG-6Q's per room at least. 6 RG-6Q's to a southern roof for SAT. One might thing it a waste but if it's there it often gets used. Terminate all the ends of the RG's and leave them, and all of the Cat-5's to 110 blocks - then a patch for the data, and loop the phones on the block. Leave your card on the panel for billable call backs to connect or swap things.

FYI another good use of cat 5e/sh/6 ...

I still come across people who are confused by the old British color coding here. Up until about 1980 the standard quad cable used by the G.P.O. for internal wiring was blue/orange/green/brown (not white/blue, white/orange etc. pairs, just the four plain colors).

Four-conductor cable as white/blue & white/orange pairs came into use about the same time as our new modular-style jacks, and since it was only then that DIY phone wiring was permitted, most people today know little if anything of the old code, since it was rarely used on the customer side of the demarcation point.

I still find the old cable in use from time to time though, particularly where BT has since installed a new drop and master jack, then just reconnected old extension wiring and effectively given the old G.P.O. wiring to the customer. This is particularly so where runs between old junction boxes have been left intact and new jacks run from there.

The problem is that the packaged instructions which come with all the modern accessories just assume that W/B, W/O pairs are in use and make no mention of the old scheme at all. Unfortunately, even some people actually working in telecoms today don't seem to realize that the current color coding scheme only goes back about 27 years!

There was a thread on the IEE forum a couple of months ago in which somebody clearly had the old cable. More than once I pointed out that the standard was for the line to be on blue (ring) and orange (tip), yet others kept insisting that I was wrong and that the line would be on the white/blue pair. I'm still not sure I convinced them.

Just to add to the fun, we had a completely different scheme on the cord to the phone itself which used red/blue/green/white, with the line on red (ring) and white (tip).



Or even for DSL. I can partly understand the non-technical people believing that, as they're just thinking "computer data," not realizing that DSL is not the same thing as Ethernet.

I don't think some of the ISP tech support departments help. I just ran some extension wiring for somebody a few days ago who had been through this with his ISP when the guy there kept insisting that the DSL modem must be plugged directly into the first jack in the house, no extensions permitted. As if another 20 ft. is going to make any difference when we're already at the end of 5 miles of wire from the C.O.

He's right, though. There is a filter has to go on the voice lines to prevent interference. If the house is daisy-chained, DSL has to be on the first outlet, so that the filter can protect all up-stream phones.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought you can plug the DSL modem directly into any jack in the house and then you get a package of multiple filters with the install package that go inline between the line cords and the jacks of other phones to filter out the DSL?

The way they usually do it with Sprint, now Embarq (SW Fla) is you get a new Dmark box with the filter in it. They run a dedicated (unfiltered) line to the DSL modem and everything else goes through the filter. If that can't be done you get a bag of filters for you phones. I had a spare pair in my CAT3 cable so I went with the filter in the Dmark

The ISP guy I was talking about insisted that the DSL modem could only be at the first jack even with correctly installed filters.

Over here, the service provider normally sends a few in-line filters with the "free" modem package, with the usual instructions to use them on all telephone equipment. If I find problems it's often caused by somebody who either just missed one or more phones, or who didn't realize that things like dial-up modems and satellite receiver phone lines also have to go through the filter.

I usually try to persuade people to go with a single filter at the demarcation point to keep things simpler. These are our standard master jacks, which also serve as the demarc between TelCo and customer wiring:

http://www.austin-taylor.co.uk/pages/nte5.htm

We can get DSL filters which are designed to replace that lower removable panel and come with filtered and unfiltered terminals on the rear for extension wiring, like these:

http://www.adslnation.com/products/xtespec.php

Note that the unfiltered DSL connection is RJ11 configuration, the filtered voice jack is the standard BT431 phone connector.

As our standard voice extensions use white/blue for the line, plus one side of the white/orange pair for the bell feed, I usually run the unfiltered line on white/green then use a two-module extension jack assembly where DSL may be required.

Running cat 5 for that last 100 feet makes sense in future possibilities. It is pretty hard to upgrade premis wiring after the drywall is on. Sure if all you ever carry is simple voice then cat 5 is way over the top. If your telco starts adding TV or Video or Internet as Telus is doing here then installing cat 5 can have a payoff for the customer. Our Telco specs cat 3 as a minimum and that beats Z station wire. The cost of cat 5 over cat 3 is around 3 to 7 cents a meter. On a house that is not that much more.

True - you do not need Cat-5 for voice - However, you talk to you customer one day, and they say, "My desk is going to be over here, with my modem, and I have a network printer over there, and my personal assistants desk will be down stairs..." Then the next day - or more correctly the day they move in - it ALL CHANGES. Then you have a bunch of cat-3 in the wall that you can't "re-purpose" nessesarily - where with cat-5 you could. And not to mention several supply houses here have stopped carrying Cat-3 altogether.... It's now a special trip for me to get it.

I have also started running RG6 to every jack just due to people wanting cable modems, and SATV. Hey - they pay for it, and are well aware of the cost before I start...

In Canada here is what the 4 ILEC's recommend for residential wiring taken from their web pages. Working west to east.

BC and Alberta Telus cat 5 to each jack

Saskatchawan SaskTel cat 5 to each jack

Manitoba MTS Allstream cat 3 and cat 5 (cat 5 for digital tv if required later at that location)

Everything east of Manitoba Bell Canada 3 pair cable cat not specified