I need to do some simple low voltage wiring in my house as part of a remodeling project before I move in. It’s a fairly small footprint house. I need the cable (cable TV/modem) to go from it’s entrance to the house to four points (bedroom, computer room, living room, basement). I also need the phone to go to the same rooms along as well as the kitchen. My only other need is some speaker wire to the rear speakers of a surround system.
Here are some questions:
What cable? Is in wall RJ-6 enough? I’m seeing some “quad shielded” RJ-6. Is this actually better or hype?
How far does my cable have to stay from the electrical wiring in the house when running in parallel (down walls, etc.)?
My cable comes into the house in the basement. Should I split it four ways there and do four separate runs? Alternately, I could split it in two there (one for the basement and a branch for the rest) and later split the branch for the living room, bedroom, and computer room. This would decrease the amount of cable in the house (and possible noise), but increase the number of splits by one.
Can you think of anything else that I should keep in mind?
RG 59 will be enough for your cable.I’ve run miles of coax and never used RG6.
Personally I’d split 4 ways from a central location.
Use a distribution amp if you are on an antenna.
Use the best cable you can find and noise will generally not be a problem.
Try not to run any of your wires parallel to AC.I don’t know a specific distance to keep away.
Hope this helps
I’m not sure I can come up with the best solution for you situation. I can give you my opinions (IANA professional wire guy) and point you to some informative sites that may help you figure out what you want to do. Hope this is some help to you. Good luck
I’d use RG6 QS it’s not all that expensive. Whatever cable you choose make sure you have the correct connectors for it. (Bascially don’t use RG59 connectors on RG6 cable or vice versa.)
I would probably just use plain old RG6. At work, we use the quad shield stuff in industrial uses for certain things, and it definately has better noise immunity than the regular stuff. If you use quad shield then you’ll likely get a lot less noise from other things onto your cable. Quad shield is a bit more difficult to work with (harder to get the connectors on, for example), but it’s not that bad.
If you split the cable once into four, then each output gets 1/4th of the signal. If you split it once there with a 2 way splitter, then each cable there gets 1/2 of the signal. Then you’ll split it again with a 4 way splitter to get the remaining 3, which will get 1/4th of 1/2 of the signal, or 1/8th of the original signal. Unless your cable runs are long enough to drastically cut the signal, you will be much better off just splitting the signal once into four runs. If you end up with unused taps (which you’ll have one if you do the double split option) remember to cap them off with a terminator.
NEVER EVER use RG-59 for cable TV. NEVER! That stuff leaks signal in and out like mad and you’ll have more ghosts than a Transylvania graveyard. Or, even worse, the local cable TV company’s ghostbusters (they really do have such folks) will track you down and ask why you’re re-broadcasting their signals.
About the only thing RG-59 is good for anymore is to be used like rope.
Go with the RG-6 The QS isn’t absolutely necessary, but it is more robust and will be less likely to be damaged while you’re fishing it through the house. (The single layer of foil in the regular stuff can be broken if the cable is snagged or kinked.)
For splitting the cable, you’re looking at a 7-8 dB loss per connection. It’s not a simple 1/4 power loss per tap - the splitter “eats” some signal. Consider a distribution amp - this will eliminate a splitter’s signal loss and will ensure strong signal at the other end of all your wiring. Be sure said DA is rated for cable TV - some of the cheapies won’t pass the higher-frequency cable signals.
Ideally, signal lines will be at least a stud bay (16") apart from AC power if running parallel.
My take on RG-6 vs RG-6QS: I do the quad shield for short noisy runs in the house. Like around all the switches and equipment I have tacked on. I like RG-6 for long quiet runs for lower loss. So I look at the situation: is there going to a lot of nearby noisy stuff that makes QS worth it? (Money isn’t a factor. It’s cheap enough.)
A more careful examination of the cable going into the house is going to help me eliminate a run. There is a much better place for it to enter the house.
It’s funny though. The cable company seems to be the worst offenders on splitters. They have two splitters on the outside of the house that I’m currently renting.
ftg, are you saying that RG-6QS actually has more loss/ft than normal RG-6?
Not really… Here are specs for RG-6 and RG-6QS as sold in bulk by Radio Shack. The RG-6 is actually a touch more lossy. Other brands may be different, but I wouldn’t expect by much:
RG-6QS:
• Loss in dB per 100 feet
@ 100MHz: 2.1
@ 400MHz: 4.4
RG-6:
• Loss in dB per 100 feet:
@ 100MHz: 2.2
@ 400MHz: 4.4
The -6 is 24 cents a foot and the -6QS is 32 cents. At least it looks as if their -6 has foil and a braid, so it should be just fine for threading through walls. The last time I was face to face with a piece of -6, it was foil only, and the stuff was fragile and a pain to work with.
On the plus side, Radio Shack has stopped selling RG-59.
You can still get some things at Radio Shack, at least around here you can. We also happen to have an electronics parts place around here, but they are also going the Radio Shack route and are concentrating more on consumer electronics.
There are a lot of online places to get parts from. Digikey, Newark, All Electronics, Mouser, etc. Online parts are cheaper than what you can usually get locally (if you can even get the parts locally), but then you have minimum orders and shipping charges to deal with.
Since the TV horse has been sufficiently beaten, I’ll answer the other issues.
For ordinary telco, Cat3 is often used. Although telco used to daisy chain, all new telco work I’ve seen home runs from each outlet to the demarc box. If you’re only going to do one line with a backup, you could run 2pr (4 conductor), but all things being equal, I’d still use Cat3. If you already have Cat5 and don’t want to buy a separate cable, you can use 5 also.
As far as electronics sources, my favorite is MCM Electronics, with Allied as a good backup.
This is a little unclear to me…let me try to restate this:
A good quality 2-way splitter will be down 3.5dB on each output leg. A 4-way is down 7dB on each. A 3-way is down 3.5dB on one and 7dB on the other two. So assuming your connections are tight and properly crimped, there’s no signal level advantage or disadvantage to using cascaded 2-ways over a single 4-way.
Also, contact your cable installer or company - they may supply you with wire and splitters for free or at a discount - it’s in their best interest for you to have good quality wiring in your home so you don’t interfere with your neighbors’ signals. When I moved into my current home last year my installer (at the instruction of his manager) supplied me with over 500 ft (the remainder of the roll after our house was hooked up) of RG-6 plus a decent selection of splitters and a handful of connectors, all for no charge.
If the OP goes with multiple splitters, it will be a 2 way then a 4 way (with one output capped) since the second split is a 3 way split. It’s not a case of a 2 way split with two 2 way splits off of that.
Using your quoted losses, this would make for -3.5dB on the basement cable, and -10.5dB on the other three, compared to -7dB on all four.