Audio/Video, and network cable layout questions

[1233user]

I am getting ready to run my coax, network, and speaker wires in my 24x60 attached garage and I would like to hear some opinions on how to run them. I will be running the speaker wire to all 4 corners of the garage so I can have a speaker in every corner, and it will run back to an area where I am going to put a shelf which will have a A/V receiver with a radio tuner built in. I am going to put several jacks for the TV around the garage because I don't know yet where exactly the best place for it will be. I was thinking that it would be really nice if I could have it so the TV sound could also play through the speakers that will be in the 4 corners of the garage and also have my cable box located in the same place as my A/V receiver. My questions are about the coax and network cables. For the coax, should I run just 1 cable into the house where the feed comes in and have it go to the area that the A/V receiver will be and have all the cables from jacks in the garage also run to the area with the A/V receiver? Or should I home run all the coax cables into the house where the main feed comes in? How about the network cable? Is there any reason to run more than 1 to each of my jacks? Can I send the TV signal from the cable TV box over the network cable to the TV (use the network cable as HDMI cable)? Am I better off keeping the cable box at the same location as the TV, instead of by the A/V receiver? What is the best way to go about doing this? All the walls and ceiling are open now, and I want to do this the best way possible. I already have a 1000' spool of Commscope Quad Shield RG-6 coax (part number 5781), I also have a 1000' spool of Belden cat 6a shielded, bonded network cable (part number 10GX62F), and a 250' roll of 12 awg CL rated speaker wire. I also want to run some of the network cable for possible future security cameras, motion sensors, and ??? Any tips or suggestions you guys have would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Dick in Wisconsin]

Why are you going through so much work?

Why aren't you using Bluetooth speakers (no wiring, just 120volt power to the speakers) and WiFi?

We have AT&T U-Verse for TV and Internet access. I think we have coax from the router to the "master" DVR and then a wireless TV box in another room.

10 or 15 years ago I would have been right with you wiring all that stuff up, but technology has moved so far beyond wiring. Unless I misunderstand the technology that is available today.

I look forward to other posts.

 

[pmiranda]

I would go nuts with either homerun CAT6 or homerun conduit with pull tape in it. They have HDMI, stereo line level, and video baluns to run anything on CAT5e. If you homerun the 4 speakers (I would think about doing 6 or 8 for that matter if you want to run 5.1 on either axis) you can do just about anything with them. But maybe that's overkill for a garage. No matter how easy wireless bluetooth is, I would prefer a normal power amp and separate speakers since I usually have spares of one or both and they're cheap to get used.

 

[1233user]

Why are you going through so much work?

Why aren't you using Bluetooth speakers (no wiring, just 120volt power to the speakers) and WiFi?

We have AT&T U-Verse for TV and Internet access. I think we have coax from the router to the "master" DVR and then a wireless TV box in another room.

10 or 15 years ago I would have been right with you wiring all that stuff up, but technology has moved so far beyond wiring. Unless I misunderstand the technology that is available today.

I look forward to other posts.

Its not really a lot of work at all, thats why I want to do it now before the insulation and sheetrock are up. I figure if I wire everything, and do it in a well thought out way, my options will be wide open down the road.

Any other suggestions on the best way to lay out the wiring?

 

[bottom feeder]

I'd homerun all the wiring in the garage to one central location. Between that central location and the house, I'd run two coax (one and a spare), one CAT5e or CAT6 for Ethernet, and another one for telephone (yes I'm old fashioned, and cell coverage here *****). I'd also run a spare conduit between the house and the garage for any future wiring needs.

"**** in Wisconsin" has a point regarding wireless, so don't count that out. Chances are very good that you'll want wi-fi in the garage (unless the wi-fi in the house is close enough for good reception) for various electronic gadgets. I tend toward overkill, so in addition to that I'd have a few well-placed RJ45 Ethernet jacks just in case (you may not want or need these though). I'd also consider running an empty conduit or two from the homerun point to vacant wall outlet boxes for future, to-be-determined use.

 

[James-W]

I agree with the WIFI idea. Way back when, everything was hard wired. But now, people are enjoying the benefits of having WIFI for everything. As far as having more options available by having the speakers hard wired, I would think you would have less options available. I mean, if they are hard wired, how are you going to move the speakers if you should decide to put them someplace else?

 

[rsnip988]

Why are you going through so much work?

Why aren't you using Bluetooth speakers (no wiring, just 120volt power to the speakers) and WiFi?

I've used the bluetooth/wireless speakers before and encountered too much interference (poor signal quality) to justify the extra price, so I took them back...
Wired speakers and WIFI internet is the way I would go (the way I went also)

 

[ovrrdrive]

I would go nuts with either homerun CAT6 or homerun conduit with pull tape in it. They have HDMI, stereo line level, and video baluns to run anything on CAT5e. If you homerun the 4 speakers (I would think about doing 6 or 8 for that matter if you want to run 5.1 on either axis) you can do just about anything with them. But maybe that's overkill for a garage. No matter how easy wireless bluetooth is, I would prefer a normal power amp and separate speakers since I usually have spares of one or both and they're cheap to get used.

I'd homerun all the wiring in the garage to one central location. Between that central location and the house, I'd run two coax (one and a spare), one CAT5e or CAT6 for Ethernet, and another one for telephone (yes I'm old fashioned, and cell coverage here *****). I'd also run a spare conduit between the house and the garage for any future wiring needs.

"**** in Wisconsin" has a point regarding wireless, so don't count that out. Chances are very good that you'll want wi-fi in the garage (unless the wi-fi in the house is close enough for good reception) for various electronic gadgets. I tend toward overkill, so in addition to that I'd have a few well-placed RJ45 Ethernet jacks just in case (you may not want or need these though). I'd also consider running an empty conduit or two from the homerun point to vacant wall outlet boxes for future, to-be-determined use.

These are spot on. Don't mess with wireless speakers in a room with so many points of interference. The wifi is ok for watching howto video's on tablets or phones but when we start getting internet appliances for the garage you'd probably be better off with them hard wired. Run everything back to one central point and then from there run single home runs back to the house with spares for the hookup. You can put splitters and switches in the central point to run everything from there.

Wire is cheap. There's no reason not to run it now while you still can easily. The best thing I ever did was pull hardwire to my TV area in the living room. Wifi worked but the hard wired ethernet works much much better. Don't skimp now.

 

[ddawg16]

Wireless speakers?

What is easier.....running 120Vac to 4 different locations? Or running speaker wire to 4 different locations?

And....with wireless, unless you put the outlets on a switch, the speakers are on all the time.

I'd go hardwired speaker any day. It's 'upgrade' proof.

 

[1233user]

Wire is cheap. There's no reason not to run it now while you still can easily. The best thing I ever did was pull hardwire to my TV area in the living room. Wifi worked but the hard wired ethernet works much much better. Don't skimp now.

This is exactly my thought, the cost of the wire really isn't that much. I would much rather have it there and never use it, then not have it and wish I did. Its very easy to do now while the walls are bare framing, much harder to add later once the sheetrock and insulation are up. I just want to do it in a way that will make hooking up everything down the road easy.

 

[CooperS7777]

Keep in mind that cat 6e runs are limited to 164 feet before you lose the 10gb network capacity and drop to the same 1gb capacities as 5e. Depending on where everything is located, you may be able to save yourself some money on wiring there.

Id suggest running 2 cat 5/6 cables for each device you plan on running at that location (1 and a spare). If you think your going to have a TV, network box, and Apple TV at the location; make 6 runs. Plan the runs back to a central spot where you can use a network switch sized to your needs. This allows not only a backup, but plenty of runs for future expansion. It wouldn't surprise me to see TV's with PoE (power over ether-net) capabilities in the not so distant future.

For the speakers, make sure you run a good wire while everything is apart; I generally run 16-4. You can do some cool things with a very simple setup using something like an airport express and a decent zone amp.

 

[SouperGrover]

To add a bit I would say for the ethernet run lines for everything you can. You can still hook up a WiFi access point if you feel you need it.

Install a patch panel in the garage somewhere. You will want everything terminated in the garage and then 1 or 2 runs back to the house where the internet connection comes in. You will use a network switch in the garage to connect everything in the garage together and then connect the cable from the house. Don't do homeruns back to the house. Only the single backbone cable to the house. You can do 2 if you want for redundancy but just DON'T connect them both at the same time.

Get a spool of Cat6 to run all of your drops in the garage. Using store bought patch cables for everything is a bad idea. And more expensive than crimping your own. But, make sure you terminate all of your drops into plugs - from the patch panel to the wall jack. If you decide you need more connections at a particular area you can run another drop to the patch panel at that time. Or plug in a small switch. Just don't do too many of those because they can make weird things happen on your network if they start to act up.

HTH

 

[mjbasford]

Keep in mind that cat 6e runs are limited to 164 feet before you lose the 10gb network capacity and drop to the same 1gb capacities as 5e.

Just an FYI when you buy, there is no such thing as Cat6E cable, and i would not buy from a manufacturer who would market something like that.

Cat6 and Cat6A do exist, and the difference is the frequency, which helps eliminate crosstalk. (6A is usually not needed outside of highend/industrial settings)

Cat 7/8 stuff is more theoretical right now, even tho it is available for purchase.

 

[CooperS7777]

Just an FYI when you buy, there is no such thing as Cat6E cable, and i would not buy from a manufacturer who would market something like that.

Yes, thanks for clarifying!

 

[jd_1138]

Yep, may as well wire it up since the walls are open now. The cat cable will be faster with less latency than WI-FI. Also, I don't think Bluetooth is as high quality as old fashioned speaker wire? Granted, my Bluetooth speaker is pretty cheap, so I may be wrong about that. But speaker wire is so cheap, may as well put it in.

I'd put the A/V receiver and the cable DVR all on one shelf because you'll have wires running from the DVR to the A/V receiver for the sound.

 

[1233user]

Just an FYI when you buy, there is no such thing as Cat6E cable, and i would not buy from a manufacturer who would market something like that.

Cat6 and Cat6A do exist, and the difference is the frequency, which helps eliminate crosstalk. (6A is usually not needed outside of highend/industrial settings)

Cat 7/8 stuff is more theoretical right now, even tho it is available for purchase.

I got a 1000' spool of Belden Cat6A shielded cable which is also "bonded pair". This cable got really good reviews everywhere I looked, and its made in the USA.

 

[plow]

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[1233user]

I'd put the A/V receiver and the cable DVR all on one shelf because you'll have wires running from the DVR to the A/V receiver for the sound.

This is what I would like to do, keep everything located in the same place except for the TV. One thing that I am unsure of is the best way to get the signal to the TV from the cable box that will be on the shelf with the receiver. Anyone have experience with HDMI over cat6 ethernet cable? I have COX for my cable TV, and I will most likely just put one of there "mini" boxes out in the garage. The downside to this is the only outputs on the "mini" box are HDMI, and the standard coax cable connection.

Thanks for all the replies!

 

[1233user]

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[SouperGrover]

This is what I would like to do, keep everything located in the same place except for the TV. One thing that I am unsure of is the best way to get the signal to the TV from the cable box that will be on the shelf with the receiver. Anyone have experience with HDMI over cat6 ethernet cable? I have COX for my cable TV, and I will most likely just put one of there "mini" boxes out in the garage. The downside to this is the only outputs on the "mini" box are HDMI, and the standard coax cable connection.

Thanks for all the replies!

So here is where a wireless network may help you. You could get a Google Chromecast and hook it to the tv. Many apps like Netflix, Youtube, HBO Go and Time Warner (not sure about Cox) allow you to pull up content on your phone/tablet/computer and play it on a TV with a Chromecast plugged into it. I do this all time time for On Demand content even on my TV with a cable box hooked to it. TIme Warner even lets you watch some of the live feeds in their app. Works great. Runs about $35 for one unit.

Even if you put WiFi in the garage to do this you should still move forward with your Cat6 drops.

 

[plow]

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[plow]

I think she wants you.

 

[plow]

LOL. She's a click talker!

 

[Walterchang]

Tac 12 fiber. Home runs of cat.

 

[Kiwi Canuck]

Not sure if it was mentioned but when you bring everything back to a central location you may want to consider a structured wiring cabinet, go for the 28" tall one and install one or two 120VAC outlets in the bottom.

Or you can go straight to wall plates for the terminations.

http://www.legrand.ca/structured-wiring.aspx

 

[ddawg16]

This is my 'data center'.

I wired coax and Cat6 to all the new rooms. Each location for a TV has coax and 2 Cat6's. In key places I also have an Ethernet port for computers.

I also have a large conduit going from my data center to the existing part of the house. Makes it easy to add ckts.