Home Construction : Wiring your new home

[poofygoogle]

Where and what brand to buy CAT6 cables in Chennai. Need this info asap....

Also need to buy speaker cables. Which brand and where in Chennai.

[VWbuggy78]

Poofy, you can get D-link or Finolex CAT6. We bought ours from Akash Cables in Parrys Corner. Between the two, I suggest D-link (just better brand name). The price could be about 3 - 6k for a coil of 300m of CAT6.

For speaker cables, I suggest getting them from the US. The ones bought locally can turn green after a year or so of use. But if you need that rightaway, you should specify oxygen free cables. Mercy in Adyar (near telephone exchange, Globus) carries it. You have to specifically ask for the most expensive speaker cables they sell. Otherwise they give you a 1.5sqmm red and black wire.

[r2iGolkonda]

Hello,

It's a very informative thread and i read all posting in this thread. I have new questions on my needs. I really appreciate if you can share your feedback on this.

Sorry - it's bit lengthy email but it's a easy read. Thank a lot in advance in helping me on these items.

My home wiring & automation planning is based on using Central Wiring Rack(CWR). More than calling this as wiring rack, it will host all my DVD players, cable box, media server or any devices which can be centralized to minimize devices in each room.


I will be having 8 audio zones (stereo speakers), 4 home theater zones (surround sound speakers, video outlet for cable and HDMI/Ethernet outlet to stream video content).
1.

V 11. Video & Audio distribution to multiple rooms

· Cable/satellite connection will terminate into cable/DBS device in CWR. From here I would like to connect to wires which are going to specified rooms.

[INDENT]

Question: In each room we would like to have ability to watch different channels. Which device/or how I can distribute this from CWR? Assuming that I have IR/RF based remote which can reach to CWR to change channels? Do I need to have multi channels output satellite received from Airtel/TataSky/Dish etc? Is it even possible?

[/INDENT]

· Multimedia server/Apple TV/DVD player

[INDENT][INDENT] i. All these devices will sit in CWR. What device do I need or how do I deploy config such a way that each room can watch whatever they need. For example my multimedia server have tons of MP4/video movies files. For different rooms I would like to have ability to watch different content? Any video distribution box can do per channel/per room basis?
[/INDENT][/INDENT] 2. 2. In-wall/In-ceiling speakers:

· Which one is more effective for sound? In-wall or in-ceiling?

· Any good brand reco in India for in-wall/in-ceiling speakers?

· Any issues with in-wall/in-mount speakers in India like concrete issues etc?

3. 3. Automation with control system
[INDENT]· Later stage, I would like to automate many things like lights, external/internal video monitoring cameras, motorized curtains/shades etc.
[/INDENT] [INDENT]· What control systems are available in india? Control4, HAI any reco here on local support/installation etc
[/INDENT][INDENT]4. Any good resource who makes such a good central wiring rack to host all these devices with good air flow and connection brackets etc?
[/INDENT] 5. If you know any good consultant who has fairly ok knowledge but willing to work to do these things in Bangalore, can you please recommend one?

[VWbuggy78]

There are three aspects to home entertainment: network connection, satellite (or cable feed) and local content (such as Blu Ray) processing.
You can (and should) centralize networking and satellite feed. But centralizing something as inexpensive as DVD/Blu Ray is adding complexity without reducing costs much.
If you want to serve video or audio content from a central location such as through a server or NAS, that is possible and even desirable. Video content is a storage hog but you can archive your entire audio content on a few hundred GB of storage with lossless compression.

We have centralized our audio storage. It gets served to all the rooms through Roku Soundbridge or through a Squeezebox setup. I am not aware of a box that can handle video but you can try apple TV or use a small form factor media PC to receive feed from a central NAS and feed it to your entertainment system.

TataSky guys will take care of splitting the satellite signal and redistributing it to various rooms from your CWR. But it is nice if you have concealed wiring from CWR to each room. Otherwise, they will run wires all over your home making an unsightly mess. But you need a separate set top box in each room to view different channels. The cost of a set top box is Rs 5 - 8k (the more expensive version is if you want recording).

In Wall speakers and in ceiling speakers are usually not that great in terms of sound quality. It is OK for music in a lounge in a hotel but not for serious music listening pleasure.

For automation control, speak to Legrand representatives. You can download their US catalog for ideas. Then import them and fix them here. There is also a book by Black and Decker on Home Wiring, which will equip you with basic knowledge.

You will not find too many consultants in India. Most guys here will know basic audio wiring and or sound proofing (which can add good acoustics to the room). Many here would never have seen or heard the kind of speakers are are discussing on these forums. The technological change in many of these are so rapid that you have to take the initiative to learn them yourself.

For a CWR rack, buy a basic LAN rack (through D-link suppliers). But make sure it is enclosed in a small pump room type set up - protected from excessive heat and water (in case you plan to place it outside the home - which is what we have done).

For many of what you are looking for you may have to get it from the US.

[r2iGolkonda]

Hi VWBuggy78,

Thanks a lot for your detailed responses.

If you can, can you please post your photo of your rack? CWR?

For Audio, looks like you are doing wireless based audio distribution. Is it right?

For networking, would you recommend Cat5e or Cat6 cable? Long run, i would like to have all home networking and automation devices are IP type so i am thinking of going with Cat6 even it is slightly expensive.

Thanks a lot.

There are three aspects to home entertainment: network connection, satellite (or cable feed) and local content (such as Blu Ray) processing.
You can (and should) centralize networking and satellite feed. But centralizing something as inexpensive as DVD/Blu Ray is adding complexity without reducing costs much.
If you want to serve video or audio content from a central location such as through a server or NAS, that is possible and even desirable. Video content is a storage hog but you can archive your entire audio content on a few hundred GB of storage with lossless compression.

We have centralized our audio storage. It gets served to all the rooms through Roku Soundbridge or through a Squeezebox setup. I am not aware of a box that can handle video but you can try apple TV or use a small form factor media PC to receive feed from a central NAS and feed it to your entertainment system.

TataSky guys will take care of splitting the satellite signal and redistributing it to various rooms from your CWR. But it is nice if you have concealed wiring from CWR to each room. Otherwise, they will run wires all over your home making an unsightly mess. But you need a separate set top box in each room to view different channels. The cost of a set top box is Rs 5 - 8k (the more expensive version is if you want recording).

In Wall speakers and in ceiling speakers are usually not that great in terms of sound quality. It is OK for music in a lounge in a hotel but not for serious music listening pleasure.

For automation control, speak to Legrand representatives. You can download their US catalog for ideas. Then import them and fix them here. There is also a book by Black and Decker on Home Wiring, which will equip you with basic knowledge.

You will not find too many consultants in India. Most guys here will know basic audio wiring and or sound proofing (which can add good acoustics to the room). Many here would never have seen or heard the kind of speakers are are discussing on these forums. The technological change in many of these are so rapid that you have to take the initiative to learn them yourself.

For a CWR rack, buy a basic LAN rack (through D-link suppliers). But make sure it is enclosed in a small pump room type set up - protected from excessive heat and water (in case you plan to place it outside the home - which is what we have done).

For many of what you are looking for you may have to get it from the US.

[VWbuggy78]

For audio, it is a wired distribution in all the places from receiver to speaker. During construction, it is easy to allow for more concealed conduits. You can still choose to go wireless later if you wanted to.
The Roku and Squeeze box allow you to receive signals through Wifi.

For LAN, we used CAT6 from Finolex. But Dlink is also a good brand. Also make sure your RJ45 female jack is also CAT6. Legrand sells them. When you wire them use 568B scheme throughout.

[r2iGolkonda]

Hi All,

I have done some more investigation on home automation. I talked to few consultants in Bangalore. Finally i come across www.eloka.net.
I talked to them and they seems to be very knowledgeable on home automation of lighting and security areas.

One of their solution is using HAI Omni Pro system. They also had demo and i am impressed with their shop. I might go with them for my home lighting, security and multi audio zone solution.

I have to do more investigation on HAI system but it seems their lighting one is based on Cat5/6 cable as backbone.

They also have bigger office in Chennai.

[r2iGolkonda]

Hi Friends,

For new home, for TV points, does structured cable make sense for TV?

I mean, should I run TV cable from every room to central location or can this be looped from one room to other?

If it goes in loop wiring, can we still have more than 1 receiver connected to see different channels in different rooms?

Thanks a lot.

[VWbuggy78]

If you want satellite TV, you need to run it to a central location. Each individual location will have a set top box. When you loop, you lose signal strength to the sub branches.
In any case, it is better to do the "structured" cabling since we don't know what your future requirements are. Looping may not work with set top boxes. Troubleshooting a problem also may become difficult.

[crashnburn]

For audio, it is a wired distribution in all the places from receiver to speaker. During construction, it is easy to allow for more concealed conduits. You can still choose to go wireless later if you wanted to.
The Roku and Squeeze box allow you to receive signals through Wifi.

For LAN, we used CAT6 from Finolex. But Dlink is also a good brand. Also make sure your RJ45 female jack is also CAT6. Legrand sells them. When you wire them use 568B scheme throughout.

We have a Central NAS for Video/ Audio. Havent gone to Roku as yet.. But have XBMC to play / Stream the Media in rooms.