Customer building a house - best automation wiring before drywall

Will do

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Second the whole home surge protector with how many electronics there will be.

Something I thought of related to that is whole house water filtration. There are even wifi connected models now. Related to that would be water shutoff valves that connect to the Hubitat as well. Similar thing if they plan on an irrigation system.

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As with everything else, ability to add easily in the future is far more important than present installation. Speaker wires -- or just conduit and pull-strings -- are cheap now but make future additions easy.

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I completely agree. This will be the most wired house I ever did. From speaker to security it will be wired!

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I am not an expert and I didn't read every comment above.

Don't forget that the physical installation of the cables can be a weak link. Best not to have a garden-variety electrician run the data cables in a parallel bundle with the electrical runs and invite crosstalk. Make sure that they leave plenty of extra cable at both ends. Six feet may not be too much. You don't want to end up with some clown using a high-power staple gun to staple all your Cat whichever cable to the wood every 2 or 3 feet crushing the insulation.

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We have our own team which is really careful. I do agree; I totally agree with your comments.

This SO much - Also drywallers just don't care and will nail over everything - they must get paid by how fast the do the job or something.. Had this happen with a loop of Cat 6a hung off a stud, plain as day in a new build basement.. :rage: fortunately was able to crimp and it checked out okay but it was tight.. Also NEVER run romex and ethernet in a conduit together. This is why I am starting to look into Cat 8... but putting ends on seems fun. Otherwise E-Z ethernet connectors FTW!!!!

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I really have the work supervised. It has all happened to me aleady.

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Ok, there’s lots to read here and I’m sorry if any of it is repeated.

I have a home built in 1944. I bought it 11 years ago, and have upgraded it MYSELF to the most modern standards. Here is what I learned:

1 – it is impossible to “future proof” your home. Whatever tech is “hot” right now is likely going to be OUTDATED in 5-6 years. So the best thing you can do is maximize what is available now. Someone mentioned 6 vs 6a network cabling. Well, your network is always limited by the SLOWEST component and if everything is gigabit (or 10x gigabit) then you want every piece of wire to be 6a. And technically, you should do what I did and run FIBER OPTIC to every room. Nothing is faster than light… so the moral is: You never know what the trend will be in the future, so assuming the standard today will be the standard tomorrow is foolish at best.

2—I have found that putting just one ethernet is not enough in a large room. Think of all the places one could place a TV and each one needs both ethernet and coax (yes, I said coax… to receive satellite or cableTV feeds). Oh yes, and that FIBER connection as well.

3—ideally, you should also run HDMI everywhere, or for long runs there are ethernet-to-hdmi converters to use (which would require TWO ethernet cables to each location possible for a media center).

4 – WIFI… yes UBIQUITI access points are the best. But, like everything else… require constant administration and the devices always become “outdated” and “unsupported” after a few years like everything else. I have indoor and outdoor ubiquiti AP’s which cover my entire 3 acres. But maintaining this tech is NOT for the average homeowner. Forget about it. You are better off looking at the newest tech.. MESH networks. The point is… they are acknowledging that most people are incapable of the mental capacity necessary to maintain a solid, top-quality network so they are going to new ideas to “dummy proof” wireless networks. But if you go with ubiquiti, be sure to get a cloud key and also use all network components (other than basic switches) that are in the correct product line.

4- The network closet… oh boy that was a fun one. Make sure it is OVERSIZED because the last thing you want is not enough room for everything and all the HEAT that the equipment generates. It must be ventilated properly as well. I installed 2 vents into the door, and put a large computer fan at the top vent to blow out hot air.

5- POWER… yes, I’ve also learned to be SURE that your network components are on DEDICATED circuits and all things plugged into the network MUST be in the SAME BUILDING. If you have any structure not connected to the main house that also is wired to the network… you will have issues because of the voltage differential between 2 separate physical locations. I solved this by running a dedicated electrical line to the building and all computer/media devices plug into those outlets.

6 – every room in the house has one outlet which is branched from one of the 2 dedicated circuits that power network equipment. This is very important… it eliminates network noise and maximizes throughput on the ethernet. It also electrically isolates any network device from all the other appliances and lights and hairdryers etc which are NOT network devices and can impact the network. Why? Network devices are sensitive and should be provided clean power that is only shared with other network devices.

7 – a LARGE conduit, as big as you can fit, to run from the network closet to each floor (i.e. each floor will have a network closet if more than one floor), AND the attic AND the basement area/crawl if unfinished. Trust me… after the home is finished someone will always be adding more cable and running more connections… and running out of room in your conduit is a nightmare.

So to recap… run fiber and cat6e to every room and to some rooms, more than once. I even ran it to the bathrooms :blush: as I have TV’s and Roku’s in each one. Run special/separate outlets that are dedicated circuits ONLY to be used for network devices. Make these outlets have a different color than ordinary power outlets. As someone else said, keystones are your friend. Be sure to include HDMI (which can run AUDIO and as well as ethernet signals).

Every media location in my home has: ethernet x2, HDMI, coax, and fiber at bare minimum, as well as power split and run separately JUST for network equipment, branched from one of the 2 dedicated network circuits.

Another reason for the dedicated network power outlets in every room… someone will thank you if there is ever a lightning strike nearby!

Install a whole-house surge device. And also look into Belkin “clean power” devices for the network closet(s) and also any large media center.

I’ll put my 1944 smart, super-networked farmhouse against any home built in 2022…

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So yes and no - If you anticipate swapping out your devices every 5 to 10 years then possibly otherwise a hub like HE should work until the hardware gives out - why change a working switch? Also thanks to the local processing and ability to write custom drivers/apps it takes a bit longer for things to go out of date - people are still using their C3's . Also there are systems that can be continuously upgraded like Home Assistant, Node-RED etc. The key is the flexibility of the system you deploy.

I don't like HDMI to Ethernet adapters - they lose resolution over long runs and require a powered adapter at each end. I've found optical HDMI cables to work much better - max run I've done at a clients has been 200 feet at full 4K resolution. Having said that ethernet should be run everywhere as you suggest.

:+1: - totally agree with this, the system is definitely prosumer/small-mid size business and works great. Again like for point #1 - because you can continually upgrade that's where the future proofing comes in..

For the rest of your points - 100%!

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Wow. That is some great advice and it shoulds like your 1944 house is more like 2044 house :nerd_face:

Also keep in mind that HDMI is moving to 2.1a (8K) and I have to make sure those cables are capable of that.

Yes exactly - although you can still get away with 2.1

but also this (a little dated but relevant):

The fact that certain features of HDMI 2.1a can be optional is just bonkers.

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I could be wrong but I think 2.1 cables will be able to run 2.1a HDMI? I am still investigating it.

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[quote="John_R, post:109, topic:97395"]
1 – it is impossible to “future proof” your home.
[/quote] @John_R

This is true in the sense of "buttoning up the walls and not having easy access ever again".

But....while every wall can't have conduit (smurf or otherwise) ....one logical wall/corner/ceiling placement could. And as has been mentioned before, raceways above hallways and between floors (with future-proofing in mind) can go a long way towards making future revamps easier.

If the belief is that wireless will be "the last 25 feet" (last mile analogy), then having data conduit at least to/between key junction point closets, cabinets, pantries, utility rooms (networking closets in the commercial scheme) is not a bad forward looking plan.

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I agree with pretty much all of that, except

IMHO coax is already yesterday's technology, not even today's tech. I haven’t used coax in years. All my TV comes via ethernet or satellite via HDMI

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Actually I am doing a new house right for a customer and they are insisting on coax and a good antenna in the attic.

Past-proofed as well as future-proofed :+1: :joy:

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Coax can be a godsend with MoCA adapters when you need a hard wired connection but ethernet is not in the budget. Sometimes old phone Cat 5 works too.. Not sure I would recommend running it otherwise unless client wanted OTA TV or other. Like you, I have not used it in a long time either.

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I think over the air and Internet TV seems to be trending. Just from what I am seeing. Sometimes old becomes new :nerd_face:

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