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Installing Communication Wiring

Installing Cat-5 and coaxial cable for Internet, computer, telephone and other uses.

By Travis Larson

From The Family Handyman

Images from this article

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Introduction

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 re configure, 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 this century).

FIG. A TYPICAL WORKING PLAN

Locate the panel where there’s easy access to the attic, basement and/or crawl space. The cables are low voltage and not hazardous.

• 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.”

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.

Planning The Installation
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, above), 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, crawl-spaces, 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 “inter house” 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.

What Should I Buy?
You’ll find all the materials and tools you need for your wiring project at most home centers in the telephone accessories department. If parts aren’t available in your area, see the Buyer’s Guide. They’ll be able to help you find suppliers in your area. The total cost for this arrangement was $600 for three outlets, including the specialty tools. But the big-ticket items are the distribution box and its components. After this initial investment, expanding the system is cheap.

Cables
Buy your cable in bulk— it’s much cheaper that way. CAT-5e phone cable is sold in 1,000-ft. spools for about $60. It’s made to extremely high standards and contains four twisted pairs of wires, so it’ll carry up to four different telephone lines per cable. RG-6 coaxial cable is sold in 500-ft. spools for about $60.

Distribution System
The heart of the system is the distribution box (Photo 2). If you think you’ll only need six or fewer outlets throughout the house, buy a small box for about $50. But if you want to leave room for expansion with lots of outlets and space inside the box for networking, signal amplifiers or other hardware, get a larger one ($75).

Go to any electronics store or home center and you’ll find plenty of hardware designed to speed up, expand or improve your basic system. The space 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 center for phone jacks and jack-to-jack link-ups. Also included in the module is a coaxial splitter.

The splitter distributes the cable connection 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 costs about $75 and will take care of your immediate needs. You can snap in banks of jacks or even more modules as required.

Jack Materials
Modular telephone jacks cost about $8 each. At the outlets, you’ll attach these telephone-plug receptacles that snap into the backs of the cover plates. Don’t worry—they’ll accept old and modern phone lines.

Crimp-on F-connectors cost $20 for a package of 10. End all coaxial lines with crimp-on male F-connectors, which then screw on to splitters within the distribution box or onto snap-on female F-couplings at the cover plates. F-connectors screw into these, which in turn snap into the back of four-port cover plates.

The four-port cover plates sell for about $2 each. The four square holes receive either modular jacks or F-jacks in any configuration.

In addition to buying the hardware, you’ll have to spend about $100 on these must-have specialty tools for working with communication wiring and fittings:

• Coaxial stripper (Photo 10)

• F-connector crimping tool (Photo 11)

• Electrician’s scissors (Photo 8)

• Plus, you’ll need a right-angle drill ($17 per day rental; Photo 3) and a 2-1/2 in. hole saw (Photo 3) to drill the wire-run holes.

When you fish wire from the jacks, label one cable of each pair with an “in” and the other with an “out.” It’s easy to get confused once all of the lines have been run. Use colored tape around both ends (Photos 7 and 14) of the cables and identify the outlet by writing its room location on the tape at the end you feed into the wall before you fish it. To keep everything straight, do the same on the outlet end after it’s cut to length. We used orange tape to designate “in” and blue tape for “out.” Retape and mark the ends as you cut the cables to final lengths within the distribution box for hookups (Photo 16).

A Cover Panel Keeps the Wiring Runs Accessible
We opened up the stud space within a few inches of the ceiling and floor to mount the distribution box and to fish the cables (Photo 2). But that stud space has to remain accessible 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.

Cat-5e—Handle With Care

Click image to enlarge.
CAT-5e cable is made to exacting standards with specially designed twists between each individual pair of wires. For best performance, follow these wiring guidelines:

• Make sweeping, gradual bends of no less than a 2-in. radius, not sharp bends.

• Gently pull phone cables when fishing, with no more than about 20 lbs. of force (about the tension you’d use for good, tight bootlaces). Don’t jerk or yank on the wires or pull them around sharp corners.

• When you’re installing jacks or punching down wires on the terminal board, untwist pairs carefully and punch down within 1/2 in. of the beginning of the untwist.

• Never crush 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 then use special cable straps after all the cables are run.

• Cross any existing electrical cables at 90-degree angles to avoid electrical interference. Never run them side by side unless there’s at least a 2-in. separation.

It’s easy to get confused by the “A” and “B” markings on modular jacks. The color-coded sticker on the side of the jack shows you where to punch down each wire. Generally, residential phone systems and telecommunication modules are designed for the “A” layout while commercial systems are designed for the “B” system.

The punch-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. You’ll have to study the instructions that come with the module to make sure.

Usually the mostly white wire with small colored stripes goes in the uppermost or farthest left slots followed by the mostly colored wire with the thinner white stripe (Photo 16). If you get either the module wires or the jack wires mixed up, your phones probably won’t work, so be sure to consult the directions before hooking up either one. To further alleviate confusion after the system’s installed, plan on using colored jacks, too (Photo 7).

Remember to Ground the System
It’s important to ground the distribution box (Photos 13 and 14) before snapping in the telecommunication module. Even small static charges you introduce to the system from your body can damage delicate electronic components. We show connecting a 10-gauge wire from the ground screw in the box to the main 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 5 ft. of its entrance point, if the pipe is metal.

Let the Phone and Cable Companies Do the Main Interface Hookups
The phone and cable TV interfaces (the boxes where the lines from the street hook up to your home 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 leave a couple of extra feet of cable. Call the phone and cable TV companies to take care of the actual hookups.

Leviton Manufacturing, (800) 323-8920 (in Canada, 800-469-7890). At www.leviton.com, choose “Leviton Integrated Networks.“

Pass and Seymour Legrand, (800) 223-4185.

At www.passandseymour.com, choose “All Products,” then “Network Wiring Products,” then “Do-It-Yourself.”

The Siemon Co., (860) 945-4395. www.homecabling.com.

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