1. The proposal makes sense but I can't comment on the value of the proposal without knowing the full price.

2. In my opinion it is worth upgrading to the 7.1 system or 7.2, the difference is noticeable now and will be more noticeable in the future. An additional $250 is a little steep for pulling two more wires in places that you were already going to pull but in the end still worth it.

3. This one is very concerning to me. The information transferred to and from electronics is so much greater than it was 5 years ago. I think at the minimum every bedroom should have a hardwired ethernet connection in addition to every television having at least one hardwired ethernet connection. There is no way that wifi could approach handling my present usage and I am broadcasting over 2 wifi networks already, even shotgunning two routers broadcasting two networks each would not work. In my build, I am putting in two ethernet networks, an AV network that runs 2 or 3 ethernets per television location, and a computer network that runs one per bedroom and one in the living spaces. Mine is a little over the top but presently my house uses 6 hardwired computers, 4 tablets, 4 cellphones and a random number of other ethernet capable devices.

I am not an audio expert, but I did choose the have speakers in my kitchen because in my previous house, where I didn't have them, I was always cranking up the sound while I was in the kitchen and lowering it when I got near the set. Drove me and everyone else crazy. I have a large kitchen now and put speakers at both ends. We also run Sonos through them. A very good investment for us--about $250 per pair of speakers.

A couple thoughts:

- make sure Ethernet cable is specified as at least cat5e (that "e" gets you 10x more bandwidth than regular cat5) or cat6 (even better, but overkill for a residence)

- agree that every TV should have a wired Internet connection; I think just one would suffice

- I've never had good luck with wireless printers, so I would want the shared household printer to be hard wired

- we have 4 laptops, 4 tablets, and 4 phones on one wifi network with no problems; I wouldn't run Ethernet to each bedroom unless it was for a possible TV per above. YMMV

Currently Netflix is streaming at 15.6 mb/s for 4k videos. It is probable that something along these lines will become the standard. Along with Dolby Atlas that can easily eat up another 15 mb/s, who knows where we are heading.

To get a feel for what this means currently 802.11n runs at 150mb/s per stream (the advertised 600 mb/s requires 3+3 bonding to achieve. So far users are actually only getting about 50% to 60% of that theoretical limit. So unbonded you are looking around 75mb/s. Three video streams and a background download would destroy your bandwidth.

I would never sacrifice my hardwired internet connections in bedrooms and office. Every other connection in the house could go and my life would be more peaceful than one bedroom gone.

Lots we don't know here but I say do it. One regret I have is the csmeras. I was a little shell-shocked by all the expenses going on all around me and we said no. Now I am trying to figure out how to do it after the fact.

I did 5.1 and we love it. Idk about 7.2. My hearing is not that great anyways lol.

Amazon Alexa in the kitchen. Love her. The sound is good so not regretting not doing recessed speakers there.

We have a lot of cat5e and honestly? WiFi is where everything is going. Because ppl are demanding ease. Imo it will just get more and more robust.

Good luck.

Didn't see whole house audio listed. We love having speakers in each room and outside areas.

Make sure it's CAT 6 Ethernet.

http://www.howtogeek.com/217463/wi-fi-vs.-ethernet-how-much-better-is-a-wired-connection/

The real bottleneck is the Internet connection ... where it all comes into the house.

Another possible bottleneck is if you will be moving LARGE files around from computer to computer inside your house: But even this only matters if you regularly transfer large amounts of
data between your computers and you want it to be as fast as possible. In that case, setting it up so any given computer can hook into the wired network makes sense.

We had ethernet connections in all children's bedrooms - made shifting "office" and file servers around much easier - and they all connected to one point where the external network cable came into the house. That's where a LARGE router sat, with a wifi access point also connected to it.

Wifi was for browsing the net, checking e-mail and other lightweight things, but when you have children playing multi-player games, an engineer working on large circuits via his VPN and a gardener making and uploading BIG landscape plans a wireless router gets bogged down.

If you add TV to the mix ... even worse. Streaming files suck up lots of bandwidth.

Personally, I would say you shouldn't waste the money on cat 6 Ethernet. Cat 5e will run gigabit connections and will be cheaper. It's a little more prone to interference but unless you have some big industrial equipment in your house, you would never know the difference. I work in IT and do this stuff everyday. I would tell you that I'm not going to be relying on wifi in my new build. I am going to be mounting two access points to my ceiling and an outdoor access point for access outside (we are in a very rural area with limited cell service). The access points will basically be used for web browsing/email/etc. The main living room tv I'll probably have about 4 Ethernet drops to it just because you never know what TV connected devices you may have tomorrow. At least an Ethernet drop to every other TV.

I wished you lived nearby, ethernet, coax and speaker wire are so easy to run and install when your walls are still exposed.

Just my personal thought - balance the cost of the "pre-wire" with the benefit. The question of benefit depends on your specific usage scenarios. Think about how/where you are most likely to leverage the connections:

- Coax Cable to the TV areas - most likely a given. Option to also run Ethernet over coax (for instance in a TIVO setup).

- CAT5/6 to possible wireless router / central home computing locations - most likely a given.

- How closely do/could your wireless router locations match your TV locations? How close is that to the locations you might have a central home computing solution like a connected hard drive or printer?

- Audio/Music: to me it seems like wireless sound options are plentiful and growing. Would it pay to pre-wire for sound, or just buy some nice Sonos speakers?

"Robust" WiFi? What does that mean? I have pro grade access points (Ubiquiti). Basically means a CAT5 run to a ceiling mount location. Power of Ethernet allows the power source to be in the wiring closet, not the ceiling.

WiFi is great for light stuff. Surfing, streaming music etc. Portable devices insist on it. However I would NEVER run video over it. My IP cameras are all hardwired. Testing them on WiFi soon clogged my airwaves. No good. WiFi is fragile. Neighbor's WiFi or leaky microwave oven could kill your speed. I've seen cheap powerbricks cause IF interference on garage door openers. Wireless is not for serious applications. Then there is security issues as well.

Video, hard wire it. With 4K and up in the future, pull a CAT5e to each room with a TV or possible TV. In fact, I'd run 2. Easy to do now then later. I'd pull 2 drops to each room on opposite walls. (move a device later).

What about other wiring stuffs:

Alarm, windows, doors, glass break, fire, keypads

Electric Blinds

Distributed music, keypads, speakers

Low voltage lighting (under cabinets, tray ceilings, landscaping)

Cameras? What technology? Analog is old school. IP cameras are future proof and higher resolution.

True, the bottleneck TODAY is the internet pipe coming into the house. That keeps getting faster. Make sure the pipes distributing network are plenty and big.

If you want to learn all possibilities, DL this guide. Great stuff about all kinds of wiring.

Outlets each side of front door, under mantle, for Holiday decorations

Location of outlets (corner of room where lamps generally are located)

http://cocoontech.com/forums/files/file/64-wiring-your-new-house-101/

Jason, what kind of gang box is that you're using? Did you just drill a hole into the top of it?

Here's a link to the boxes... they have punchouts on the top, bottom and sides for ENT

http://www.lowes.com/pd_239513-223-A238-CAR___?productId=3136491&pl=1&Ntt=electrical+box

I'd have it wired for 7.2. Some subwoofers need A/C power - so you would need an outlet. Also make sure that you have power for the cameras (unless you have POE - the max distance is about 300')

Coax is for the signal from the satellite dish / cable - to the receiver. You will need HDMI from the receiver to the TV.

Two ethernets wherever a TV and/or gaming system would be, or wherever a computer would be (I have two desktop computers). Use one for the receiver and one for the gaming system/Bluray/Netflix. Best to have this available in each bedroom and each living room.

It can all be wired centrally via router and switch. Just have all the wires labeled.

You should have a 'wire closet' - where you have the ethernet router and switch and perhaps a wireless router. With all the cameras you may need a 32 port switch. Also the cable / dish wiring, as well as your security system, perhaps a UPS, and land line if you have one. It should have it's own breaker. The wall should be plywood so you can mount things easily. Don't make the mistake of making it too small. It should be in a cooler part of the home.

For TV - the cable connection is coax to the receiver. But from the receiver to the TV it's HDMI, and some TV's accept ethernet. If you are planning to have a TV over a fire place (or some fixed location) you should have an outlet box with power / ethernet / HDMI.

I would not waste money on a whole home audio system.

I didn't read through all the answers, but wiring for 6 cameras isn't nearly enough. We've got 12 and sometimes wish we had a few more.

A comment on the debate of wifi vs. wired - we live in a 6,000sqf 1860s home. It's built very solidly, which has proven to be quite the problem with the wifi signal. Not to mention all the interference and channel problems with having 8 security cameras on the network. And everything could be ground to a halt when my sister showed up with her multiple baby video monitors. Regular boosters did nothing to help with the signal. And while there were tweaks one could make to tings like the cameras to get things on different channels and working, it was constant work and trial and error. The final solution, after countless tech people worked on it, was wireless access points in various spots all over the house. But all those access points had to be connected to a switch next to the router. So a tech guy came and ran ethernet cord all over the house, some inside the walls, some outside the house. All to get these various spots wired. All in the pursuit of reliable wireless.

I completely agree that wifi is the future. Heck, it's the present. But I would expect a lot more clarity around how this company is planning on delivering "robust" wifi to the entire home - and surrounding the home, since I also expect to be able to use my laptop on my patio. Because as wifi keeps getting better and faster, we are using it more and more and the data keeps getting bigger and bigger. I would want wired protection to ensure that my wifi could keep up with the growing demands placed on it.

As for the debate over cat5e or cat6 cables - I am no expert. But I remember being on this board about 15 years ago, and people talking about how cat5 was a nice "future-proof" solution, but not necessary as the less expensive cables could keep up with the workload just fine. I think people always underestimate how quickly technology keeps evolving. I would personally throw the best cord you can afford at it right now. Because, having had a lot of Ethernet wires run outside my house, I can attest that you will regret missing this opportunity while the walls are open.