Installing CAT5 at home

I'm moving into a new home soon and am thinking about putting in CAT5
cabling around the house (one double-point per room for example), idealliy
invisibly along with existing electric circuit.

In a 3 bed, 2 reception room terraced house how much should this cost
roughly and what type of company is best to get to do this? (local computer
store/reputable cabling co?) My electrician hasn't got a clue!

Cheers
James

In article <20040802075253.358$(E-Mail Removed)>,
(E-Mail Removed), a.k.a Cheggerz says...
> I'm moving into a new home soon and am thinking about putting in CAT5
> cabling around the house (one double-point per room for example), idealliy
> invisibly along with existing electric circuit.
>
> In a 3 bed, 2 reception room terraced house how much should this cost
> roughly and what type of company is best to get to do this? (local computer
> store/reputable cabling co?) My electrician hasn't got a clue!


Anyone who can do it comes highly recommended, even electricians!

Whereabouts are you, someone in 'here' might just know someone local to
you?

"Cheggerz" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:20040802075253.358$(E-Mail Removed)...
> I'm moving into a new home soon and am thinking about putting in CAT5
> cabling around the house (one double-point per room for example), idealliy
> invisibly along with existing electric circuit.
>
> In a 3 bed, 2 reception room terraced house how much should this cost
> roughly and what type of company is best to get to do this? (local
computer
> store/reputable cabling co?) My electrician hasn't got a clue!
>
> Cheers
> James
>
>
I assume your home is a newbuild.
Get your electrician to run the cat5 from wallboxes in various places around
the house to a central location (close to where your Phone / Cable comes
into the house, garage maybe ?).
Getting the cables installed is a good idea, you don't have to connect them
up straight away, just leave them behind blanking plates until you are ready
to use them.
Probably best to use a foil shielded cat5 £44.99 per 200m from
www.screwfix.com product # 34326

The fact that it is cat5 shouldn't deter your electrician.

You can purchase wallplates and patch panels from Screwfix too, they are
easy enough to fit yourself unless you are colour-blind, or get someone in
to do the finishing touches for you when you are ready if your electrician
isn't up to it.

Guess it's obvious to say try to avoid running the cable too close to power
cables.

Cheggerz <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> I'm moving into a new home soon and am thinking about putting in CAT5
> cabling around the house (one double-point per room for example), idealliy
> invisibly along with existing electric circuit.
>
> In a 3 bed, 2 reception room terraced house how much should this cost
> roughly and what type of company is best to get to do this? (local computer
> store/reputable cabling co?) My electrician hasn't got a clue!
>
Lots of money, and lots of mess!

The cost of materials is peanuts but the cost of chasing out all the
walls for the cables and sockets and then making good again is
considerable. A house rewire (i.e. ordinary electrics) is reckoned to
cost 2000-2500 pounds. Materials for a 'cat5 only' rewire would
probably be 500 pounds less but the rest will cost you about the same.
So, I reckon in the 1000-1500 ball park.

--
Chris Green

In article <20040802075253.358$(E-Mail Removed)>, "Cheggerz"
(E-Mail Removed) says...
> I'm moving into a new home soon and am thinking about putting in CAT5
> cabling around the house (one double-point per room for example), idealliy
> invisibly along with existing electric circuit.
>
You shouldn't run it close to power cables.

> In a 3 bed, 2 reception room terraced house how much should this cost
> roughly

What sort of construction is the house?

> and what type of company is best to get to do this?

> (local computer store/

Probably wouldn't have a clue

> reputable cabling co?)

Might need a second mortgage

> My electrician hasn't got a clue!

Some are happy to do it.

> thinking about putting in CAT5<

Why not just go wi-fi, drop in an 802.11g access point and add cards/devices
as needed to connect up?

"Cheggerz" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:20040802075253.358$(E-Mail Removed)...
> I'm moving into a new home soon and am thinking about putting in CAT5
> cabling around the house (one double-point per room for example), idealliy
> invisibly along with existing electric circuit.
>
> In a 3 bed, 2 reception room terraced house how much should this cost
> roughly and what type of company is best to get to do this? (local
computer
> store/reputable cabling co?) My electrician hasn't got a clue!
>
> Cheers
> James
>
>

You could do it yourself quite cheaply by buying the materials online. (eg.
ebuyer or screwfix)
Plenty of cat5 cable (300m) only costs about £30, double sockets are about
£5 and you could buy a 12 port patching panel to install in the garage for
example for about £30.
The "punchdown" tool for connecting sockets and panel is about £6.50. You
can get 2m patching cables for about £1 each.
When installing the cables, you MUST keep them separate from any mains
wiring - cannot share trunking etc. with any mains cables and don't run them
parallel with mains cable (to avoid electrical interference) and never run
them outside.
You can search for installation guides on the web - here is a good one -
http://www.kevinboone.com/homenetwork.html

Dave

logized <no-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> When installing the cables, you MUST keep them separate from any mains
> wiring - cannot share trunking etc. with any mains cables and don't run them
> parallel with mains cable (to avoid electrical interference) and never run
> them outside.

The IEE regulations require either 'mechanical separation' (separate
sections in trunking, or separate trunking) or at least 50mm (2")
between the signal wiring and the mains wiring. Interference isn't
likely to be a problem unless you have really big lengths running
parallel to mains cable.

Outside in trunking is OK mechanically but you may (or may not) want
to worry about lightning strikes. I had some coax ethernet running
outside for many years without problems in Colchester but there were
other much more attractive things for any lightning to hit nearby.

--
Chris Green

On Mon, 2 Aug 2004 13:54:40 +0100, "John" <jrl @ bushinternet dot com>
strung together this:

>The fact that it is cat5 shouldn't deter your electrician.
>
Yes it should, if he doesn't know what he's doing then he should leave
well alone. Although it might work I've seen plenty of bad
installations of phone\data and tv distribution done by clueless
electricians and it's only caused problems further down the line.
--

SJW
A.C.S. Ltd

On Mon, 2 Aug 2004 12:53:35 +0100, "Cheggerz" <(E-Mail Removed)>
strung together this:

>In a 3 bed, 2 reception room terraced house how much should this cost
>roughly

Depends on how difficult the layout of the house is to work in and
conceal the cables and how the house is constructed. Ball park figure,
anything between £500 and £1500 ish.

>and what type of company is best to get to do this? (local computer
>store/reputable cabling co?)

Depends on where you are and who can do a good job. I'll do it if
you're not too far away.
--

SJW
A.C.S. Ltd