Installing Communication Wiring

Installing True cat-5 and coaxial cable for Internet, calculator, telephone and other uses.

Time

Multiple Days

Complexity

Advanced

Price

$501-1000

Introduction

Prepare your habitation for communication wiring. Nosotros'll testify yous how to install True cat-5e and RG6 coaxial cables to update the telephone, TV, Net, and other communications. It'south easy to install and the expense is modest when yous exercise it yourself.

Tools Required

Materials Required

  • Cable staples
  • Low-voltage remodeling boxes
  • PVC cement
  • PVC conduit
  • PVC conduit male adapters/ 1-one/2 and 2-in.

Advice Wiring Overview

The Two Fundamental Cables

CAT-5e telephone cable and RG6 coaxial cablevision volition accept intendance of all your futurity advice needs.

Y'all may non think you'll e'er need an updated communication arrangement, merely with the increasing digitizing of our society, you will. The need is at present. Inside a few years, digital TVs will be the simply show in town, and the high-speed links to the Internet will be more necessary and affordable. More and more than, electronic components will need to "antipodal." And your former telephone and cable wires just won't be up to the task.

It'due south easy to feel intimidated by all the electronic jargon. Nonetheless, for at present, all you demand to know is that your telephone, Goggle box, Net and other communication needs can all be handled past running just two types of cable—all headquartered in a central distribution system you lot tin install yourself. It's every bit easy as fishing in a new phone line, except that you'll need four cables (2 telephone and 2 coaxial) to each jack to do the job right.

We'll show yous how to run the wires, install the proper jacks and claw up the central distribution box. The new system doesn't mean you lot have to scrap your old cables and jacks. Existing telephone 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 equally your electronic needs change. The dazzler of the installation system shown in this article is that it will be easy to reconfigure, enhance or expand it in the futurity. Eventually you'll be able to connect any uniform devices simply by "jumping" cable or phone lines in the distribution box (much like old-time telephone operators used to do in the commencement one-half of the 20th century).

It's easiest to install the system when yous're remodeling, adding on or building a new home. The walls are open and it's unproblematic to road the cables to every room. Only in most cases, you tin can also retrofit your existing domicile (although it'll take a lilliputian more attempt fishing cable and sometimes cutting and patching walls). Nosotros'll show yous some strategies that'll help.

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Communication cable outlet

  • I DVD, VCR, and cable or satellite Television set receiver will exist able to transmit to any television in the house.
  • Computers tin can be networked to share files or computer peripherals similar printers and scanners.
  • Remote closed-circuit Goggle box cameras tin can be hooked up to televisions anywhere in the house, and security-system hookups are a breeze.
  • You'll have enough telephone-line chapters 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 identify to handle the inevitable switch from analog to digital TV.
  • Whole-house audio systems tin be routed over the aforementioned cables.
  • Depending on the organisation, integrated home controls can be coupled with "smart appliances."

Plan the distribution console location and cable routes

The key to an upgradable system is to place the principal distribution panel in a location where it'll exist easiest to fish additional wires and jacks to the rest of the house. In the example home (Fig. A, below), nosotros show the laundry room as the logical place for the distribution box. From in that location, wires tin be hands fished to the basement and to the cranium then on to selected outlet locations anywhere in the house. Just the best location for the distribution panel may be unlike in your abode—a furnace room, garage or fifty-fifty a cupboard.

Y'all'll also demand to create an access into the stud space above and below the panel. For easiest access, position the panel in an open stud infinite so yous tin fish new lines into the console. We testify you lot how to exercise this with a console that unscrews from the wall (Photo xviii).

Side by side, programme your cable routing paths. Attics, basements, crawlspaces, garages and fifty-fifty closets offer the easiest unimpeded routes. And so you lot can usually drill holes through top or bottom plates and fish the cables in without opening upward finished walls. But center floors that are sandwiched betwixt finished floors can exist more challenging. Routing to those rooms past surface-mounting cables through closets is 1 skilful strategy, but sometimes cut and patching holes in finished walls or fifty-fifty ceilings to run the wires is inescapable.

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

The extra ii telephone and coaxial cables will handle "interhouse" networking. Y'all probably won't demand all these lines right away, but pull the wires in anyhow. Nevertheless, you don't have to hook them all upward. Just attach the jacks and snap them into the cover plate and ringlet the extra lines neatly inside the distribution box.

All iv 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 just demand one cable or one phone jack, just run single lines and employ a unlike encompass plate.

Figure A: Typical Working Plan

Typical wiring plan: Locate the console where in that location's piece of cake admission to the attic, basement and/or crawlspace. The cables are low voltage and not hazardous.

You lot can download Figure A and impress it. Become to 'Additional Information' below.

Project step-by-step (21)

Step 1

Mount the distribution panel

Cut open a stud space

Use a drywall saw to cut out the drywall betwixt two wall studs. End the cuts at the top plates at the ceiling and ii in. above the baseboards at the floor. (Cut a minor inspection hole beginning to locate wires within the wall to forestall damaging them.)

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Step ii

Mount the distribution panel

Screw the distribution box to the sides of the studs at a comfortable working superlative. Make sure the box projects past the drywall 1/2 in. to allow for the thickness of the access panels (Photo 18).

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Step 4

Add PVC conduit

Install 1-1/2 in. male adapters with locknuts. Cut two 12-in. lengths of two-in. conduit and cement two-in. male adapters to i stop. Drib one from the attic and poke one upwardly from the basement (Photo vi).

Photos 1 – 4 show how to cut out a stud infinite and mount the distribution panel. We opened upward the stud space inside a few inches of the ceiling and floor to mount the distribution box and to fish the cables (Photo two). But that stud space has to remain attainable for running new cables later as your system grows.

A handsome cover panel made from painted MDF (medium density fiberboard) screwed through the drywall into the studs makes access just a matter of unscrewing it from the wall (Photograph 18).

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Pace 5

Run the cable

Cut outlet openings

Hold a depression-voltage remodeling box against the wall between two studs and so the middle of the box is 12 in. above the floor (or friction match the heights of other outlets in the room) and describe effectually the box and holding wings. And so cut out the opening with a drywall saw.

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Step 6

Detail of cablevision staples

Utilise special staples that concord the Cat-5e cablevision, but won't crush or crimp it.

Following your program, position and cut holes for the low-voltage remodeling boxes (Photo 5) and run the cables (Photograph 6). When you fish wire from the jacks, label 1 cable of each pair with an "in" and the other with an "out." It's piece of cake to get confused one time all of the lines have been run. Utilize colored tape around both ends (Photos 7 and 14) of the cables and identify the outlet by writing its room location on the record at the end you feed into the wall before you fish it. To continue everything straight, do the same on the outlet end later on information technology's cut to length.

We used orange tape to designate "in" and blue record for "out." Retape and marker the ends every bit you cut the cables to final lengths within the distribution box for hookups (Photograph 16).

Handle Cat-5e cable with care. CAT-5e cable is made to exacting standards with especially designed twists between each individual pair of wires. For all-time functioning, follow these wiring guidelines:

  • Make sweeping, gradual bends of no less than a 2-in. radius, not precipitous bends.
  • Gently pull phone cables when fishing, with no more than than about 20 lbs. of force (about the tension you lot'd use for good, tight bootlaces). Don't jerk or yank on the wires or pull them around abrupt corners.
  • Never beat out CAT-5e with staples or other fasteners like bent-over nails. Instead, bundle it or strap it to framing with loose loops of Velcro and so use special cable staples afterward all the cables are run.
  • Cantankerous whatever existing electrical cables at 90-caste angles to avoid electrical interference. Never run them adjacent unless in that location's at least a ii-in. separation.

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Footstep vii

Fish in the Cables

Fish the cables from the openings into the distribution box in pairs of coaxial and CAT-5e. Marking the ends of the cables with colored electric record for the outlet location.

Run the fish record down into the outlet stud cavity through a iii/4-in. hole drilled through the plates from the attic, then tape both of the marked cable ends to the fish record. Pull them up into the attic and then push them downwardly to the distribution box. Leave about 3 ft. of actress cable at the distribution box. Cut off the outlet cease of the cables about 12 in. past the openings and mark the ends with more than colored record.

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Step 8

Wire the telephone (Cat-5e) jacks

Peel dorsum the outer insulation

Install the remodeling box, and then cutting into the end of the CAT-5e cable about an inch with the electrician'due south scissors and peel back the insulation. Pluck out the internal string and employ it similar a zipper to skin open about 4 in. of cable.

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Step 9

Snip the insulation

Snip around the base of the insulation with the scissors to remove it. If you cut it with a pocketknife, you might nick the wires.

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Step x

Punch downwards the wires

Gently Untwist the colored pairs and bend them into the matching terminals. Work from the forepart of the jack toward the back, using the punch-down tool that comes with the jacks. Push button them in until y'all feel the little snap that tells you the connector has bitten into the wire. Using the pair of scissors, cutting off the excess wires flush with the side of the jack.

Note: You don't have to strip the insulation. The connector cuts through it when you lot dial it down.

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Footstep xi

Close-upwardly of CAT-5e modular jack

Parts of a True cat-5e modular jack. You'll apply the 'A' color-coded wiring design.

Photos 7 – 9A show you how to wire the True cat-5e jacks. Information technology's easy to become confused by the "A" and "B" markings on modular jacks (Photograph 9A).

The color-coded sticker on the side of the jack shows you where to dial down each wire. Generally, residential telephone systems and telecommunications modules are designed for the "A" layout while commercial systems are designed for the "B" system.

Tip: When you're installing jacks or punching down wires on the terminal board, untwist pairs carefully and dial downward within 1/2 in. of the beginning of the untwist.

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Step 12

Wire the coaxial cable jacks

Strip the coaxial cablevision cease

Clench the stripper tool effectually the coaxial cable with well-nigh 5/viii in. of the cable projecting past the tool. Spin it around the cablevision several times until the audio of cutting metal stops, then remove the tool. You may need to adjust the cutting depths of the little knife blades within until it strips the cable as shown beneath right. Expose the three layers of the cablevision by stripping with your fingernails to reveal the inner signal wire, white insulation and metal shielding.

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Step 13

Coaxial cablevision connector and jack

Gather these parts for the wall outlet (Photo 12).

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Pace 14

Crimp on F-connectors

Push on the F-connector until the white insulation is tight against the back of the connector, and then crimp it on with a crimping tool. Snip off the copper wire so information technology projects 1/8 in. past the end of the F-connector.

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Stride fifteen

Snap the jacks into the comprehend plate

Screw the F-connectors to the back of the F-jacks and tighten them with a wrench, then snap them into place in the cover plate. Snap in the modular jacks besides, so spiral the cover plate to the remodeling box.

Photos 10 – 12 show you how to attach the coaxial cable connectors and jacks and snap them into the wall outlets. You demand special tools for this operation (Photos 10 and xi).

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Step xvi

Wire the distribution panel

Basis the console

Connect a No. x ground wire with a grounding spiral to the bottom of the box (Photo xiv) and to the main basis line of the home service console with a separate-bolt connector.

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Pace 17

Organize the panel

Snap in the telecommunication module and cable splitter and organize the phone and coaxial cables within the box for like shooting fish in a barrel hookups using loose-fitting Velcro straps. Leave an actress loop in the main coaxial cable line from the street for a hereafter indicate booster. Route coaxial cables in from the acme of the box for easier splitter hookups.

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Stride 18

Connect the main telephone and coax cables

Punch down the master phone line (from the interface box) into the telecommunications module. Crimp an F-connector to the main coaxial cable(from the cable company's hookup box) and tighten it onto the center splitter port.

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Step 19

Connect the other cables

Crimp F-connectors onto the 'in' coaxial cables and screw them to the splitter terminals. Cap whatever unused terminals with terminating resistors. Strip the CAT-5e cables (Photos seven and viii) and punch them into the terminals on the voice and data module, then clip off the excess wires with the electrician's scissors.

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Step 21

Install a cover panel

Cut, rout and paint eighteen-in. wide MDF cover panels and screw them through the drywall into the studs with 2-in. drywall screws and finish washers.

The dial-down markings on the module in the distribution box also can be confusing because the slots are marked with a color but no stripe designation. Yous'll have to study the instructions that come up with the module to make sure.

Unremarkably the mostly white wire with small colored stripes goes in the uppermost or farthest left slots followed by the generally colored wire with the thinner white stripe (Photo sixteen).

If yous get either the module wires or the jack wires mixed up, your phones probably won't piece of work, and so be certain to consult the directions before hooking upwardly either one. To further alleviate confusion after the system's installed, plan on using colored jacks, too (Photograph 7).

Remember to ground the system
Information technology'south important to ground the distribution box (Photos thirteen and 14) before snapping in the telecommunications module. Fifty-fifty minor static charges you introduce to the system from your body can damage delicate electronic components.

Nosotros testify connecting a 10-judge wire from the ground screw in the box to the chief ground wire of the electrical service panel. Hook the new ground wire anywhere on that main ground wire. You can also attach the ground to your main water supply pipe within v ft. of its entrance point, if the pipe is metallic.

Let the phone and cable companies do the chief interface hookups
The phone and cable TV interfaces (the boxes where the lines from the street hook upward to your abode lines) can be positioned either inside or outside the house. It's up to you to get the lines from the distribution box to the interfaces. Run them to the interface locations and get out a couple of actress anxiety of cable. Call the phone and cablevision TV companies to take intendance of the actual hookups.

What Should I Buy?

You'll notice all the materials and tools you need for your wiring project at about home centers in the telephone accessories section. The big-ticket items are the distribution box and its components. After this initial investment, expanding the organization is cheap.

1. CABLES
Purchase your cable in bulk— it's much cheaper that manner. True cat-5e phone cable is sold in 1,000-ft. spools. It's made to extremely high standards and contains four twisted pairs of wires, then it'll carry up to iv different telephone lines per cable. RG-6 coaxial cable is sold in 500-ft. spools.

2. DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
The middle of the system is the distribution box (Photo two). If you think you'll only need half-dozen or fewer outlets throughout the business firm, buy a small box. Simply if you desire to leave room for expansion with lots of outlets and space within the box for networking, signal amplifiers or other hardware, get a larger one.

Go to whatever electronics shop or home heart and you'll find plenty of hardware designed to speed upward, expand or improve your basic system. The infinite needed for this hardware is one of the main reasons we recommend going with the larger distribution box.

The telecommunication module (Photo 14) is the nerve centre for telephone jacks and jack-to-jack link-ups. Likewise included in the module is a coaxial splitter. The splitter distributes the cablevision connexion from the street and "splits" the signal to send it to any components you hook up to it. You can add more phone banks or splitters as needed. A starter module volition take care of your immediate needs. You can snap in banks of jacks or fifty-fifty more modules as required.

3. JACK MATERIALS
At the outlets, you'll attach modular phone jacks that snap into the backs of the encompass plates. Don't worry—they'll accept old and modern phone lines.

You'll find crimp-on F-connectors in packages of 10. End all coaxial lines with crimp-on male F-connectors, which so screw on to splitters inside the distribution box or onto snap-on female F-couplings at the embrace plates. F-connectors screw into these, which in turn snap into the dorsum of 4-port comprehend plates.

The four square holes receive either modular jacks or F-jacks in any configuration. In add-on to buying the hardware, you'll have to buy these must-have specialty tools for working with advice wiring and fittings:

  • Coaxial stripper (Photo 10)
  • F-connector crimping tool (Photograph eleven)
  • Electrician'south scissors (Photo 8)
  • Plus, y'all'll need a right-angle drill (rental; Photograph iii) and a 2-i/2 in. pigsty saw (Photograph 3) to drill the wire-run holes.

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Additional Information:

  • Figure A: Typical Working Plan

Originally Published: Jan 08, 2019