Introduction

Prepare your home for communication wiring. We'll show you how to install CAT-5e and RG6 coaxial cables to update the telephone, TV, Internet, and other communications. It's easy to install and the expense is modest when you do it yourself.

Communication Wiring Overview

The Two Key Cables

CAT-5e phone cable and RG6 coaxial cable will take care of all your future communication needs.

You may not think you’ll ever need an updated communication system, but with the increasing digitizing of our society, you will. The need is now. Within a few years, digital TVs will be the only show in town, and the high-speed links to the Internet will be more necessary and affordable. More and more, electronic components will need to “converse.” And your old phone and cable wires just won’t be up to the task.

It’s easy to feel intimidated by all the electronic jargon. However, for now, all you need to know is that your telephone, TV, Internet and other communication needs can all be handled by running only two types of cable—all headquartered in a central distribution system you can install yourself. It’s as easy as fishing in a new phone line, except that you’ll need four cables (two phone and two coaxial) to each jack to do the job right.

We’ll show you how to run the wires, install the proper jacks and hook up the central distribution box. The new system doesn’t mean you have to scrap your old cables and jacks. Existing phone lines and jacks can coexist with your new system.

We recommend that you initially install new cables and jacks to rooms only where they’re needed, and upgrade the system with new jacks and lines as your electronic needs change. The beauty of the installation system shown in this article is that it will be easy to reconfigure, enhance or expand it in the future. Eventually you’ll be able to connect any compatible devices simply by “jumping” cable or phone lines in the distribution box (much like old-time telephone operators used to do in the first half of the 20th century).

It’s easiest to install the system when you’re remodeling, adding on or building a new home. The walls are open and it’s simple to route the cables to every room. But in most cases, you can also retrofit your existing home (although it’ll take a little more effort fishing cable and sometimes cutting and patching walls). We’ll show you some strategies that’ll help.

Capabilities of a New Communication System

Family Handyman

Communication cable outlet

• One DVD, VCR, and cable or satellite TV receiver will be able to transmit to any television in the house.
• Computers can be networked to share files or computer peripherals like printers and scanners.
• Remote closed-circuit TV cameras can be hooked up to televisions anywhere in the house, and security-system hookups are a breeze.
• You’ll have enough telephone-line capacity to run the Pentagon.
• Your home will be rigged for either cable- or telephone-based high-speed Internet service.
• The necessary lines will be in place to handle the inevitable switch from analog to digital TV.
• Whole-house audio systems can be routed over the same cables.
• Depending on the system, integrated home controls can be coupled with “smart appliances.”

Plan the distribution panel location and cable routes

The key to an upgradable system is to place the main distribution panel in a location where it’ll be easiest to fish additional wires and jacks to the rest of the house. In the example home (Fig. A, below), we show the laundry room as the logical place for the distribution box. From there, wires can be easily fished to the basement and to the attic and then on to selected outlet locations anywhere in the house. But the best location for the distribution panel may be different in your home—a furnace room, garage or even a closet.

You’ll also need to create an access into the stud space above and below the panel. For easiest access, position the panel in an open stud space so you can fish new lines into the panel. We show you how to do this with a panel that unscrews from the wall (Photo 18).

Next, plan your cable routing paths. Attics, basements, crawlspaces, garages and even closets offer the easiest unimpeded routes. Then you can usually drill holes through top or bottom plates and fish the cables in without opening up finished walls. But middle floors that are sandwiched between finished floors can be more challenging. Routing to those rooms by surface-mounting cables through closets is one good strategy, but sometimes cutting and patching holes in finished walls or even ceilings to run the wires is inescapable.

Here we show you the most useful jack configuration: two cable jacks and two phone jacks, all in the same cover plate. (A single cover plate will handle four different lines.) And a cable jack will handle video- or cable-based Internet.

The extra two phone and coaxial cables will handle “interhouse” networking. You probably won’t need all these lines right away, but pull the wires in anyway. However, you don’t have to hook them all up. Just attach the jacks and snap them into the cover plate and coil the extra lines neatly inside the distribution box.

All four of the lines from each outlet go back to the distribution box. That calls for a lot of wires, but wiring and jacks are relatively cheap. If you know that you’ll only need one cable or one phone jack, just run single lines and use a different cover plate.

Figure A: Typical Working Plan

Typical wiring plan: Locate the panel where there’s easy access to the attic, basement and/or crawlspace. The cables are low voltage and not hazardous.

You can download Figure A and print it. Go to ‘Additional Information’ below.