Don't forget ethernet/CAT-5 in your living room!

14 years ago

DOH, we've been in our house for 3.5 months. Damn if we didn't miss having a CAT-5 connection put in the living room for things like Netflix/playstation, etc. Getting to our living room from underneath is not trivial either...

I know I can get wireless but I like the hard connections if I have the option. One less gadget you have to worry about and plug-in.

We added TV/internet to the kitchen which my wife loves (uses a little 15 in LCD flatscreen).

Food for thought.....

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Comments (6)

zimzim
14 years ago
We installed (2) Cat5/cable/phone outlets in the living room, just in case my wifes decides to rearrange the room. Also have it in the kitchen and all the bedrooms.

I would have had one in the bathroom, but my wife thought that would be a bit too much ;-)
bus_driver
14 years ago
I have Three 3/4 conduits in each room for communications cable. Updating those cables is a 15 minute job, if Category 15 should be introduced.
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moongoon
14 years ago
(I have Three 3/4 conduits in each room for communications cable. Updating those cables is a 15 minute job, if Category 15 should be introduced.)

That's the benefit of wireless. Your tech is independent of the house. I have CAT5 throughout our home, but still don't plug anything in.
cynandjon
14 years ago
yeah we didnt add it to our living room, He forgot. UGH !
creek_side
14 years ago
That's the benefit of wireless. Your tech is independent of the house.

We use both wired and wireless. Wireless can be a real pain to set up for some people, especially if it is encrypted with a really long non-dictionary key, as it should be.

It's a whole lot easier if you can do everything without resorting to wireless. I recommend wiring the whole house with cat 5.
terry_t
14 years ago
I addressed this somewhat weakly in a post re speaker wiring. I agree with the conduit and wiring method. Conduit is a little more costly in mat'l & labor and it obviously requires larger holes than the wiring alone. But, as bus_driver inferred, future wire upgrades will be costly and labor intensive without conduit. A fish tape makes the job of running future wires very easy.

I am a communications enginerd and wireless certainly has its places. But, squeezing today's multiple wireless systems into a relatively small footprint, coupled with the household mini-solar flare generator (aka microwave), introduces a lot of signal interference. Many systems are changing to operate at different frequencies but there is still the microwave. I also have the issue of aluminum heat distribution plates for my in-floor heating system. The plates reduce my wireless internet signal strength and I lose the signal whenever the microwave runs. I can relocate the wireless modem but that will require additional hardware now that everything is essentially finished. Plugging into one of my hardwired network drops lets me worry about the wireless solution at a later date.

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Don't forget ethernet/CAT-5 in your living room!

Comments (6)

zimzim

bus_driver

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moongoon

cynandjon

creek_side

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