Until recently, homes only used copper-based cable for electricity service. Later, came cable for telephone (usually installed by the local phone company after the house was built.) After the homeowner moved in, he would install himself an antenna on the roof and some 300-Ohm twin lead to his one and only TV. Those were the simple days!
Today, when people are building homes and electricians are wiring them, there are many more types of cable that need to be used. The electrical contractor will still be installing pretty much the same type of electrical cables that were in use decades ago.
For telephone service, we are seeing homes now being built with Cat 3 or Cat. 5 cable. Originally developed for computer networks, installers now use this cable for telephone service as its electrical properties lead to better signals and less cross-talk between telephone lines. The prices on these cables have come down dramatically in recent years so that the cost differential between ordinary telephone cable and Cat 5 is negligible. It’s a big selling point in many newly built tract houses.
Since the late 70’s most homes have access to cable TV service. During this time and succeeding years, the cable company would wire your house for cable service. Actually, I should say that they would wrap the outside of your home with cable since they would not run cables between walls. A few years into this period, we saw the phasing out of twin-lead 300-Ohm twin lead cable in favor of coax cable. Unfortunately, many people installed the wrong type of coax in their homes. Today, the smart move is to install RG-6 coax cable. It comes in basically two varieties, double shield and quad shied. Quad is the better one to invest in as it resists interference from the outside world. Smarthome recommens running two lines of RG-6 coax to each jack and the central distribution point. Read more about this on our web site at this address: Whole-House Video Distribution Cabling
The other big thing right now is an in-home network. A wired network is faster and more reliable than a wireless. If you are building or remodeling a home, run a second Cat. 5 cable to each location where each telephone jack will be installed. Ethernet, the most popular networking technology, can send data up to 100 megabits per second over Cat. 5 cable. Wireless solutions only offer a fraction of that speed. Smart homeowners are taking these new DSL and Cable modem technologies and sharing it with more than one PC. At each telephone jack, install a CAT. 5 rated RJ-45 connector.
Smarthome has all the part and pieces to wire your home better than the Jetsons. Check out this index page on the web site: Cables, Distribution Panels, and Wall Jacks.
Check out this page on the web site for all the “dog-gone” information on cabling your home: Wiring Your Home for Automation.
