Wiring

Wiring Your Home for the 21st Century

Make Sure Your Home Is Ready for Smart Technologies

Telecommunications Wiring

A key component of the 21st century smart home is telecommunications wiring. These wires have many new uses in the modern home, including:

  • Internet access
  • Home security
  • Remote heating and air conditioning monitors and controls
  • IP TV and interactive video
  • Home theaters

With so many technologies relying on telecommunications wiring, and more “smart home” innovations emerging each day, it’s important to make sure your home has a solid telecommunications “backbone”.

Wiring

Room Wiring

At least four “common area” rooms should have multimedia ports with a minimum of:

  • Three CAT5E cables/RJ11 jacks
  • One RG-6 quad shield coax cable

Each cable must be home run back to the termination box with no “daisy-chained” or looped wiring.

Any room with coax cable for video should also have CAT5E for IP and interactive video systems.

Utility Room

The utility room should have:

  • A location close to the outside telephone box
  • A distribution box or ample plywood backing for equipment
  • AC outlets (single gang) reserved for telecom system and within three ft. of fuse panel
  • Ability to accommodate dual 110 outlets and other electronics
  • A minimum of two CAT5E cables and two RG-6 quad shield coax cables
  • Possibility to have spare conduit to attic, and/or from NID to distribution panel, for future expansion

Electric Wiring

DO NOT run power wires parallel to communication wires.

Cabling and Documentation Standards

  • Each cable should be labeled at the jack location, as well as the termination point on the distribution hub.
  • Cabling will be installed and tested to EIA/TIA 568A/B standards.
  • The wiring contractor should provide documentation to the homeowner, including the wiring system overview, wiring diagram, and any tests completed.

Additional Recommended Wiring Standards

  • TIA 570 Residential telecommunications cabling standard
  • FCC Part 68 of Title 47
  • IEEE 802.3 10baseT standards applied to a 100 Mbps
  • Ethernet LAN and 1000baseT

Why is a wired home network beneficial?

A wired home network uses Ethernet cable to connect the computers to the network router. The advantages of a wired network compared to a wireless (Wi-Fi) network include:

  • Lower Cost – Wired home networks are less expensive to install and maintain.
  • Higher Speed – Although Wi-Fi speeds are improving, in most cases the speed of a wireless network is still dwarfed by the faster speed and capability of a wired connection. A variety of things can interfere with Wi-Fi radio waves, making your wireless connection weaker and more unreliable.
  • Increased Security – Security threats are everywhere today, and there is no such thing as a perfectly secure network. However, because a wired network relies upon physical connections for access, it is that much more difficult to compromise. Additionally, robust security measures are more easily put in place on a wired network.

Schedule an In-Home Consultation

Trust the local experts at Alpine Communications to help you choose the right kind of network for your home. Call Alpine at (563) 245-4000 and let us handle all your technology needs.

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