Running Low Voltage Network Wire

[cderalow]

I have never seen a joist you cannot drill through. None of the wood I-joists for sure, which is what I specified when I said that.

Did you confuse a joist with an engineered truss or beam?

not to nit-pick, but other than size, what is the difference between a joist and a beam?


And no, I have not confused the two. I have an engineered joist that due to it's location within my house cannot be compromised, which means no drilling.

technically it is serving as a beam, but physically it is sized as a joist.

 

[rodm1]

My boss recently mentioned that talking to his satellite guy, that he recommends all copper RG6, not the copper clad. Something about regular coax is copper clad and it corrodes so when your satellite guy shows up, he ends up stringing all new coax around the house since the corroded copper clad doesn't pass the signal properly.

I'm no LV expert, so I'm just passing this info along.

I didn't realise the RG6 had the cheep aluminium cable to. Cat5e and 6 Network Ethernet Cable has the same problem. Since copper is sow high they are using aluminium and coating it with copper. It created all kinds of problems at termination (breakage, poor connections, corrosion).

 

[rodm1]

My plan was to run the coax from room to room by splitting it—(a) entry point to 3 way splitter1 (b) 3 way to Office1, Office2 and 3 way splitter2 (c) 3 way splitter2 to LR, Master BR, 3 way splitter3 (d) 3 way splitter3 to Upstairs LR, Outside, Upstairs BR.

After doing a little further research, I am concerned about any kind of loss of signal as I run from splitter to splitter. However, I wanted to avoid 7 coax runs emanating from my entry point.

Thoughts?

That will be a problem if not right away in the future. My house whose wired similar then when I upgrading to digital I had to rewire do to cable box wouldn't work very well (not all channels would work or pixelated). After running a direct feed it works grate.

Use only high quality splitters (Evolution or Extremes) with all ports used or you could get signal lose from the open port.

Not the best way but you could add a booster AFTER THE INTERNET connection. Motorola 484095-001-00 Signal Booster

 

[TX63CONV]

Well I have measured everything and mapped everything out. I am going to run coax from one central point instead of splitting it off as I go. I think I am going to run my switch into a bedroom closet and have my cable modem there as well for aesthetic reasons. I will have several extra runs of cat 6 for future use.

I found some info regarding size of holes on the power joists that are supporting my upstairs floor. My question for the day is: Which is more favorable—running my lines horizontally through vertical use only studs or through the power joists above? There are about 5 joists that I am going to HAVE to drill through but I have the option of either going horizontally along the wall or up and horizontally through the joists on the rest of the run.

 

[ishiboo]

I didn't realise the RG6 had the cheep aluminium cable to. Cat5e and 6 Network Ethernet Cable has the same problem. Since copper is sow high they are using aluminium and coating it with copper. It created all kinds of problems at termination (breakage, poor connections, corrosion).

Copper-clad uses a steel center conductor, not aluminum.

I use only copper-clad steel as I've never had an issue with it, with Dish, DirectTV, Time Warner and at a time Comcast and even free-to-air television. The copper coating pretty much prevents serious signal-loss issues due to corrosion on properly installed connectors, though I wouldn't use it exposed on salt-water boats

Well I have measured everything and mapped everything out. I am going to run coax from one central point instead of splitting it off as I go. I think I am going to run my switch into a bedroom closet and have my cable modem there as well for aesthetic reasons. I will have several extra runs of cat 6 for future use.

I found some info regarding size of holes on the power joists that are supporting my upstairs floor. My question for the day is: Which is more favorable—running my lines horizontally through vertical use only studs or through the power joists above? There are about 5 joists that I am going to HAVE to drill through but I have the option of either going horizontally along the wall or up and horizontally through the joists on the rest of the run.

Either is acceptable, just be sure to drill close to the center of either. Absolutely NO notching of joists on the top/bottom edges or near.

not to nit-pick, but other than size, what is the difference between a joist and a beam?


And no, I have not confused the two. I have an engineered joist that due to it's location within my house cannot be compromised, which means no drilling.

technically it is serving as a beam, but physically it is sized as a joist.

I think of a joist as one of the repeating members of a floor/ceiling, and a beam usually acts alone. A beam may be comprised of several typical joists. Most of the time a beam holds up joists. A floor joist that you could not put any holes in would not be popular with contractors, as it would be very difficult to install lighting and string cables and plumbing. Fortunately, since the joist derives its strength mostly along the bottom (and top) edges, it's safe to drill most holes in the middle.

A typical floor joist does not have the strength to be used as a "beam", and most are not designed to be the sole support of a load.

 

[TX63CONV]

ok, after reading everything and knowing to get STP solid Cat 6 wire. I ordered UTP Cat 6 wire. My runs are all less than 50'. Any issue with using UTP if I keep it away from electrical?

I should be able to keep all my runs away from electrical and at worst only cross perpendicular. I would put my wall plates in the next stud cavity over from the electrical outlet.

 

[jeffmoss26]

There is no need to use STP except in large industrial applications like in manufacturing. Total overkill for a home. Just keep your wires separate and you will be fine.

 

[ishiboo]

Yup, UTP will be fine for all but the noisiest applications.

 

[PR1975]

Not sure if you've thought about this but you might have. In the last few years, CAT3 was surpassed by CAT5, then 5E, CAT6, and now CAT6A. See what I'm getting at? Wiring fastened inside the wall is outdated the month after the sheetrock is hung.

What I did was an improved variation of PVC conduit called NMT or "smurf tube". Easy to run in continuous lengths, cheap, varieties of sizes, and easy to run cable through. I have all my "runs" terminate in one central location (laundry room, on it's own circuit). Just vacuum a kite string through the tube, attach some mule-tape, hook bundles of wires to it and pull it all through. CAT7 comes out and you can pull the old **** out. Fiber? Just as easy.

HTH.

-P

 

[ishiboo]

Not sure if you've thought about this but you might have. In the last few years, CAT3 was surpassed by CAT5, then 5E, CAT6, and now CAT6A. See what I'm getting at? Wiring fastened inside the wall is outdated the month after the sheetrock is hung.

What I did was an improved variation of PVC conduit called NMT or "smurf tube". Easy to run in continuous lengths, cheap, varieties of sizes, and easy to run cable through. I have all my "runs" terminate in one central location (laundry room, on it's own circuit). Just vacuum a kite string through the tube, attach some mule-tape, hook bundles of wires to it and pull it all through. CAT7 comes out and you can pull the old **** out. Fiber? Just as easy.

HTH.

-P

Great ideas and that looks really nice, not sure what NMT is but we call it ENT here. I typically run it up to the attic or basement, not home runs as mine get too long. I have the Cat6/Cat5 and RG-6 to the plate outside the ENT, and have it completely open for future runs.

If you're just running through a single wall, even though it's a little more expensive it's easier to buy the 10' lengths and use that instead of cut some off the rolls, the ENT really takes to the curve and doesn't want to loose it... the straight pieces are much more fun to work with I think I have as many runs in my bedroom as you do in that whole panel