Comments on: Home Renovation: What Tech Do I Need?

By: Steven Hughes

Steven Hughes — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:39:47 +0000

As the rest of the comments say- drop Cat 6/6e in each room or multiple drops- there is even some cable that includes a side of Coax. The best thing is if you have everything marked off you don’t even have to terminate them,but I would at least put a gang box and a plate. You can use CAT cable and coax for multiple applications and is cheap when bought by the spool.

Think about speaker cable too, power, not only in the walls, but the floor and ceiling(if you are planning to have a projector). I love my in-ceiling speakers (Polk)- Home theater, kitchen, office, master bedroom and master bathroom - once the cable is there cutting a hole is simple. Outdoor speakers for the deck, everything broken down into zones. Some controlled by Sonos, others by RF remote control to my receiver(has 3 zones). Think about sub-woofer placement too as well as size and room fill. Velodyne has some great room calculators on their website.

Pull all types of cable you think of using in your home theater, you never know what you will add later on -HDMI, Component, Coax, CAT, Headphone wire for IR repeaters, audio,etc.(Make sure it is in wall grade). Check out http://www.monoprice.com for prices on everytype of cable. Make a list and draw a diagram of all the cables you will need.

Look at in wall surge protectors for your television and other stand alone, mounted equipment like a projector. Furman makes a good one that can be placed in wall.

Since you got the blueprints plan everything very carefully, how you plan to use it and how you may use the room in the future- move the Television, office, etc. Also think about lighting and lighting schemes. Be sure speaker wire is pulled perpendicular to electical lines to reduce crosstalk and noise.

When looking for routers, switches,etc look for ones that are low power (green).I just switched over to some Dlink ones and was amazed what my old ones consumed.

If have any questions feel free to ask.

By: bryan whalen

bryan whalen — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 20:57:28 +0000

Two turntables and a microphone.. oh, wait. Those will be Rock Band peripherals soon enough. Speaking of Rock Band, what about a customized gaming peripherals pull out storage space? Kind of like the horizontal freezers on newer fridges… Minus nourishment.

By: Joel

Joel — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 04:16:10 +0000

I would strongly suggest you provide TWO Ethernet ports for each room. This is to have more flexibility when one port is used by device like IP Cam or printer server. This is also to save money for extra network switch.

By: Sara Abrons

Sara Abrons — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:40:03 +0000

If I was taking a house down to the studs, I would definitely run Cat5 everywhere, even if I didn’t know right away what I was going to use it for. You don’t have to terminate it if you don’t want visible wall plates in every room right now! I would also run speaker wire to a few extra locations, such as the kitchen, master bath, and especially back porch/yard area, where you might want whole house audio later even if you don’t have plans to put in the speakers right now.

By: Arie

Arie — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 04:54:19 +0000

You definitely want to have a dimming system in the heart of any automation that you may have and you’ll want to get one from the big companies who have been around for over a decade like Lutron’s Homeworks or Radio Ra, or a system by Vantage Controls Inc that provides true home automation and intergrates all your audio/video with your lighting and shading system.

Stay away from the cheapie radio-shack quality controls that go out of business after a year or two and fail to deliver.

By: Dave Zatz

Dave Zatz — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 23:25:34 +0000

I’m also not sold on most of the home automation solutions, but if Ethernet hardwiring isn’t going to break the bank DO IT.

It may not be home automation, but I like remote controls - in my former condo I got the theater/living room track lighting on a Lutron controller. So when I’d hit the ‘theater’ Harmony activity, the lights would dim to like 1/5th (while the projector, receiver, etc turned on). Electric and remote controlled blinds would have been a nice addition. (If we had stayed longer, a bedroom ceiling fan with remote would have been a must.)

As far as prepping for wall-mount TVs, I don’t know - some of the new furniture designed for flat screens is slim, has a “wall” section and includes the storage you need. Though I do agree having raceways might be good insurance for any kinda of crazy AV project.

Theater seating with butt kickers might be fun.

By: Shawn Farmer

Shawn Farmer — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 07:40:39 +0000

While the walls are open, put in CAT 5e/6. If you don’t you will be kicking yourself. There will be a time that you will say… DAMN YOU WIRELESS! Trust me… I have both and I tend to go with wired unless I’m on the couch.

By: tivoboy

tivoboy — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 21:59:48 +0000

I’d also put in some nice remote cameras, the small ones. Just get them wired in advance so you can always setup nanny cams, or motion cams for when you are away. I know, 802.11G cams are available cheap, but not as easy to install in hard to reach place, inconspicuous and at entry ways like doors and such.