Audio/Video home network

[ISUFan22]

Looks like I may be moving forward with some things in our basement much quicker than I anticipated. Wanting to make sure I get the proper cables/wires run before drywall. Here's the setup we have and plans for later...

Current

- System in our living room with a DirecTV HD DVR (receiver, DVD player, etc)
- Bedroom TV with old DirecTV DVR (plan to upgrade to HD TV and receiver)

Future (when I say future, it likely will be at least a year or two)

- Complete system in basement living area (HD projector or flat panel TV, DirecTV HD receiver, surround sound, etc)
- TV and DirecTV receiver in wetbar area
- TV and receiver in workout room
- TV and receiver in office
- Computer (Mac) and wireless router in future office in basement (currently in an upstairs extra bedroom).

I'll be running 2 coax lines to each of these areas in the basement this weekend. Will also run phone and eithernet as well. I'll have a central hub in our utility room where all of these run to.

I'll also be running speaker wires for an unknown system in the basement - likely will be 2 bookcase speakers in the front, center and sub speakers in the front and 2 in the rear. Unsure on placement though.

I want to have the proper networking setup for a future home media system that will manage our recorded shows and movies - should we record something and want to watch it in any room of the house. I gather eithernet takes care of this? Do I need to be running 2 eithernet cables to each future DirecTV box (home media network and internet)?

Sorry, spending time doing research very quickly today. Fire away with tips or further questions.

 

[cybsball20]

I did alot of this when I set up my Manctuary (basement). Run a cord (not sure the name) from where you intend to put your computer to your entertainment center too, you won't be disappointed. Works well for music, Clone Zone, MLB.tv, etc...

 

[ISUFan22]

I did alot of this when I set up my Manctuary (basement). Run a cord (not sure the name) from where you intend to put your computer to your entertainment center too, you won't be disappointed. Works well for music, Clone Zone, MLB.tv, etc...

I have a laptop, so that part I'm not worried about. I can wirelessly get the feed then connect the laptop to any TV. I did it for one of the basketball games last year that was broadcast over the web.

 

[Clonehomer]

One word for you, Conduit. Install the conduit in the walls (without any sharp corners) and if technology changes that you need a new cable you can pull it through.

On the ethernet lines, you probably only need one per room. If in the future you need to add more you can always put in a switch. Even HDTV doesn't need its own dedicated gigabit line.

For the subwoofers, if you are using speaker wire I would recommend instead using coaxial cables. Not like the TV coax but they make sub cables that look like individual component cables. This provides a much clearer sound and when you amplify the signal you'll appreciate it. Also on the speaker wire, don't run them near your power cables. It'll interfere.

 

[jumbopackage]

Yeah, well nothing currently does what you're looking to do (well, anyway), aside from solutions like MythTV, and some Tivo units (and hacked apple TV boxes).

Basically, the best you can hope for is just to have ethernet (wired) wherever you plan on having stuff so that when something comes along (in the future), you're ready for it. I'd run two lines to each location just in case. If you need more ports than that, you can just get a cheap little switch to stick somewhere behind there (or they make little wallplate switch dealies that do PoE. I'd recommend running Cat-6 if you can. It will likely "future proof" whatever you are doing for a goodly long while.

If you're going to do it right, I'd suggest getting a wall-mount rack/patch panel to terminate your ethernet runs in. You would then use a short jumper cable from that rack to your switch (which would probably also mount in that rack).

You can also get modular patch panels that will let you terminate your RG6 (you ARE running RG6, right? not the cheaper, crappier RG-59. Right? And preferably solid core RG6), and then you can patch from there to your multiswitch. Or you can just home-run them right into the multiswitch.

I prefer the patch panel option because it gives you flexibility down the road. You could put OTA, cable or satellite wherever you wanted it in the house without having to do anything other than screwing a few wires together.

 

[ISUFan22]

I thought I read somewhere even speakers are going toward using HDMI cable instead of the standard speaker wires.

 

[ISUFan22]

Yes, I am running RG-6 - that's what we currently have in the upstairs and it's what I have to run in the basement. I have that running into the utility room - no multiswitch yet as we just have 2 rooms with TV - but will get one when we need it. I currently don't have my OTA in the utility room, but will be running it there. The OTA just goes to the main TV right now. With DirecTV HD locals, I don't need it in the other rooms - but it would be nice to have. I'd have to run 3 lines though, or just switch one line out from DirecTV to OTA if I wanted to.

And "same" for the eithernet, I plan to get a wall-mounted "switch" to put in the utility room.

 

[jtd9046]

Think about your audio for a second and figure out what system will be your main hub. I'd recommend running speaker wire to all of the rooms you mentioned from this main hub and adding a volume control switch in each of those rooms. It comes in handy for large gatherings at your house and as you can have the same audio feed in all rooms or just the rooms you choose. Something like this does everything, but you can piece things together to you liking:

On-Q/Legrand lyriQ 1-Source, 4-Zone Audio Kit with Knobs - OQAU7395WH available from Home Controls

I have surround sound in my main room and then sets of two speakers in the kitchen, dining room, bedroom, bathroom, garage, and outdoor speakers on the deck.

 

[ISUFan22]

Think about your audio for a second and figure out what system will be your main hub. I'd recommend running speaker wire to all of the rooms you mentioned from this main hub and adding a volume control switch in each of those rooms. It comes in handy for large gatherings at your house and as you can have the same audio feed in all rooms or just the rooms you choose. Something like this does everything, but you can piece things together to you liking:

On-Q/Legrand lyriQ 1-Source, 4-Zone Audio Kit with Knobs - OQAU7395WH available from Home Controls

I have surround sound in my main room and then sets of two speakers in the kitchen, dining room, bedroom, bathroom, garage, and outdoor speakers on the deck.

I have looked into those and am not interested in going that route - but thanks.

 

[ISUFan22]

After doing more research and checking out dmclone's setup (thanks!)...this is my plan...

Have a central location for all DirecTV boxes. I understand that DirecTV is working on one box that will have multiple tuners in it - allowing it to be central box controlling many TVs, one DVR, etc. I will run from this location to all future TVs...

2 eithernet connections - Cat6 (one for internet, one for possible future audio/video ability)
1 Cat5e for IR remote ability
HDMI or component (depending on the room, some I don't care about HDMI

In the central location, I'll place my DSL modem and wireless router. I'll make sure to have an outside coax line into that area in the event I switch to cable internet.

I also have an HD antenna and will run this one line into the central location and run extra coax to the rooms I'll want OTA ability.

This should allow me to simply the setup as well as "future proof" myself.

Let me know if I've missed anything.

 

[dmclone]

No problem.


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BTW-You asked about how wide my 100" screen is. It's 92 inches.