Getting attic coverted in 2 weeks

BobbyT28

Hi,

We are getting the attic coverted in 2 weeks time.

I know this is asked alot of times but just hear me out.

I was wondering what your opinion is regarding wiring and future proofing.

When we got our extension done 3 years ago I ran cat 6 all over the bottom of the house and put my central point (Patch panel, Switch, Modem, Synology NAS) in the front room which in hine sight was a bad idea.

Current setup downsatirs,

All cat6 cable running downs stairs is patched to a patch panel.

Is there a way of running one cat6 cable from the modem or switch down in the front room to the attic? If memory serves me right all the lats (not sure that's the right wording) inside the wall are running horizontilly and it would be a disater / near impossible to run it up inside the walls to the attic.

I want to run cat6 cable, speaker cable (for surround sound) and Sat cable to different pointsaround the attic. I want to have CCTV (IP) out the front and the back of the house (just under the roof at the top of the house) but if I don't have a direct connection to the switch down stairs it probably won't be worth it as I would have to use wifi extenders etc.

what do you think would be the best option? Any hel would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
BobbyT28

mossym

if everything has it's own network port/can be networked, run a single cable into the attic connected to the switch, put another switch up there and hook all the devices to that second switch. job done.

the problem is if you want to use hdmi to cat5/6 converters or something like that which require 1 or even more dedicated cables, then you need seperate runs.

network switches can be daisy chained no problem

BobbyT28

mossym wrote: »

if everything has it's own network port/can be networked, run a single cable into the attic connected to the switch, put another switch up there and hook all the devices to that second switch. job done.

the problem is if you want to use hdmi to cat5/6 converters or something like that which require 1 or even more dedicated cables, then you need seperate runs.

network switches can be daisy chained no problem

Hi,

That's what I suspected that it's the only way to do it (run cat 6 inside walls up to the attic) which I think is gonna be nearly impossible the way the lats in the wall are running (horizontally)

Any other suggestions on future proofing or tips

Thanks.
BobbyT28

mossym

homeplugs may do what you want then

Mickalus

Are any of the cables you have run around the ground floor in a room that has an easier route to the attic?
Re-purpose one of those cables and daisy chain it that way??

mossym

you have a path panel upstairs? can you not a run a cable from that up to the attic

BobbyT28

mossym wrote: »

you have a path panel upstairs? can you not a run a cable from that up to the attic

I'll have to go searching for an alternative way. I want to stay away from homepage if I can.

Do you mean patch panel? No I only have a patch panel downstairs (central point).

mossym

sorry, misread your post, thought it said current setup upstairs.

you mentioned wifi extenders, homeplugs would be a better option

after that, i think you are out of options other than a drill and chisel

BobbyT28

mossym wrote: »

sorry, misread your post, thought it said current setup upstairs.

you mentioned wifi extenders, homeplugs would be a better option

after that, i think you are out of options other than a drill and chisel

Yeah I think I'm gonna struggle here. I'll have a chat with the elctritican next week and see if he has some ideas. home plugs are not the end of the world but I would prefer a direct connection over cat6.

Any recommendations on homeplugs? Haven't bought any in a while

spongerobinson

Use outdoor cable, and run it up an outside wall from downstairs to the attic. No more difficult then installing a tv/satellite cable.

Access

spongerobinson wrote: »

Use outdoor cable, and run it up an outside wall from downstairs to the attic. No more difficult then installing a tv/satellite cable.

Was about to suggest this...

We had near enough same issue, but electrician drilled out downstairs, and ran cable outside, up the wall and drilled into attic space.

Job done and never an issue in 8 years!

Try stay away from homeplugs, ive had a couple of Tp-link homeplugs fail/not want to come out of sleep mode all the time. They are handy but not a fully permanent solution.

BobbyT28

Access wrote: »

Was about to suggest this...

We had near enough same issue, but electrician drilled out downstairs, and ran cable outside, up the wall and drilled into attic space.

Job done and never an issue in 8 years!

Try stay away from homeplugs, ive had a couple of Tp-link homeplugs fail/not want to come out of sleep mode all the time. They are handy but not a fully permanent solution.

Yeah it's looking like the best option at the minute.

Any recommendations on CAT 6 outdoor cable? Amazon links would be great ort even better, would you have a local contact around the Kildare or Dublin area?

spongerobinson

Can't recommend any cable in particular. I just bought some off eBay a number of years back when I was looking to do similiar, and touch wood it's been fine so far.

BobbyT28

Ok here is what I've done.

I'm running a cat5e (unable to get cat6 quick enough for the electritian) from central point (cat6 patch panel) down in the front room to the attic up the front of the house. This will connect into a Netgear 8 port (4 POE ports) .
I will then connect 4 of those ports to 4 different points around the attic using cat6 so when I eventually change out the cat5e for cat6 it will bring the speed up in the attic. Not worried about only having cat5e coming from attic as I will on be using it to watch no idea from my nas and watching my satbox.

I plan on installing 2 POE cameras in the next few months which is why I got the switch with POE ports.

I also have 2 x 2 sat cables coming in from sky dish to two different points in the attic.

I am also running QED 79 speaker cable to all 4 corners of the room

I have a 10m HDMi 2.0 cable that I'm not sure what to do with. TV, receiver, satbox etc will be at the partition wall where you walk up into the attic, the bed will be on the opposite wall. I also have a projector that I plan to use so I was thinking of running the HDMi cable from the TV point over to a HDMi wallplate on the bedside wall. But I'm not really sure I need it.

My projector was wall mounted downstairs but I don't think the missus wants this in the attic so I will have to make do with using a proctor stand everyone I use it or just sit it on the ground and it has tilt shift

Any other things I'm missing out on?

Electrician is back on Monday so anything I should be asking for before he finished up??

Thanks again for all the advice

BobbyT28

mossym

cat5e or cat6 for the distances you are talking about will make no difference, you'll get gigabit no problem with the cat5e

BobbyT28

Ok attic finished. Anyone recommend a LNB to replace on my sky dish? I need one that will take 8 sat cables if that's possible.

Johnboy1951

BobbyT28 wrote: »

Ok attic finished. Anyone recommend a LNB to replace on my sky dish? I need one that will take 8 sat cables if that's possible.

Maybe this?
http://www.freetv.ie/octo-lnb/