Data / Phone / TV Wiring Panel
- Each panel is built from 2'x2' 1/2" plywood.
- The panel on the left is for phone and network.
- The panel on the right is the TV panel.
- All network and phone connections were wired using the T-568A wiring standard.
- The phone company is Embarq and they offer a couple DSL packages with the top package at or above 3mb.
- The green PCB phone boards at the top of the panel are from Leviton. These boards are connected to the phone company panel on the side of the house using Cat-5e cable. There is a separate cable run for each one.
- The phone panel is a 16 port Cables-to-Go Cat-5e panel. Each room has a minimum of one Cat-5e port dedicated to phone service. Cat-5e is capable of supporting up to 4 phone lines.
- Each phone jack in each room is a home run back to the 16 port panel. This allows one port to stop working without taking out service to the whole house the way builders used to build phone ports.
- Cat-5e patch cables are used to make each of the 16 ports "live".
- Cable internet is available from Suddenlink. Current speeds are up to 3mb but Suddenlink is in the middle of upgrading to 6mb. The timing for this area has not been published.
- The patch panel at the bottom of the board on the left is a 48-port Cat-5e patch panel from Cables-to-Go.
- The house is wired for 2 separate computer networks. This allows you to run an internal network that is not exposed to the public internet. Alternatively, you can run multiple devices in one room with the existence of 2 ports without using a hub or switch. This design gives you flexibility when designing your home network.
- Each port is a home run back to the network patch panel. The patch panel allows you to "turn on" ports as you need them.
- Cat-5e cable is capable of running at gigabit speeds. Wired networks are faster and more reliable than wireless.
- For laptop use a wireless router placed near the panel will provide a strong signal to the entire house. One of the ports in any room of the house can also be used to position the wireless router or a repeater for additional range.
- Cable television is available from Suddenlink. The house is currently using satellite TV from Dish Network.
- The panel on the right is dedicated to distributing the TV signals to each room.
- All coax cables used throughout the house are RG6 quad shield cable for the best signal quality. Quad shield prevents outside noise from interfering with the TV signal.
- Each coax jack uses an individual home run back to the coax patch panel. Again, this prevents problems when something in the wall happens to one cable the other cables will continue to work. Most builders still daisy chain coax cables in the house. This can lead to signal problems and fuzzy or shadowy TV picture.
- Just like the computer network most rooms are served by 2 separate coax cables. This allows for multiple devices to be hooked up or the "back feeding" from one cable box back to another room.
- Dish Network has dual-tuner receivers that allow you to run the signal from one TV to a TV located in another room without using a separate tuner. The remote control uses radio signals to control the changing of channels. For example, we have a tuner in the master bedroom that also sends a signal to a TV in the kitchen. It would have been inconvienent to locate a tuner in the kitchen.
- The family room has been pre-wired for rear channel theater speakers using Monster Cable in-wall speaker wire.
Room Ports:
- Each room has at least one media port with many rooms having two. The master bedroom, home office, kitchen, family room, and basement rec room have two media port locations for flexibility of room design. The two additional upstairs bedrooms, main floor formal dining, main floor informal dining, and basement bedroom have one media port.
- Most media ports are the same as pictured above.
- Each of the ports like the one pictured above has 2 separate coax RG6 quad shield TV jacks (top of port).
- Each of the ports like the one pictured above has 1 Cat-5e phone jack (middle jack).
- Each of the ports like the one pictured above has 2 Cat-5e compute network jacks (bottom jacks).
- Some locations (main floor family room, basement rec room, and basement bedroom) have additional media ports or only one media port with one coax, one phone, and one computer network jack.
- The faceplate and ports are built using Leviton modular components.