Home Distribution Box location suggestions

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Home Distribution Box location suggestions

Neviden

18 posts

Geek

#138249 27-Dec-2013 00:05

Good Evening, I have recently purchased an older 1960’s 2 bed house and renovating it – which I am trying to get some ideas/advice on my proposed home network setup (star wire configuration).

We currently are not in a fibre area but are in the area for the 2016 planned chorus fibre upgrade, so I thought now is a time to think of future and am cabling the house with Cat6 cable. I have purchased a distribution box to keep all the Router/NAS/patch panel etc in the same place – the problem being is that I am stuck with where to put the box (it will fit between studs in the wall and be gib-stopped around for a flush look). My idea was to stick it in the laundry so that it could be close to the opposite external side of wall in which the ETP could be placed (eye level height) - but from recommendations as per chorus website, it is not a good idea to put in wet areas – my thoughts though is that there is not exactly going to be any water splashed around?

The other thought is that since there is place in the hallway near entrance it could go there, but having the ETP outside on the front entrance might not look so good – but does anyone know whether the ETP can be under the house? (Note: The house is raised approx 2m so it is not hard to access underneath).

I’ve attached an image of a basic layout of our house (not exactly to scale size wise but you get the idea), and according to the dot I will wire up the telephone cable under the house to where ever the best location would be for the distribution box and drill through the bottom of wall into the box. The Cat6 cable is being run through the ceiling/roof to the distribution box.

We plan to get set up with VDSL for now until Fibre is available in 2016 but I want to try and get location of telephone inlet/distribution box etc correct so when it comes for chorus to change things around there’s no need to rip off brand new gib board – Mainly to make sure the distribution box & ETP are in the right place for easy enough access.

Appreciate your feedback ~Jonathan

Zeon

3918 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#957765 27-Dec-2013 02:40

I would definitely be putting that in the laundry as that's a utility room where the looks isn't so important. The location of the ETP and the distribution box are irrelevant - either can be anywhere. I would suggest you run conduit from the bottom (or side then bending down - wherever the cable holes are on your box) to the floor underneath the wall for easy fibre installation further down the track.

Do you even conceive of building under if its 2m? If so I would suggest you run your star wiring in conduit also in case cat25 comes out in 2 decades and you can easily replace your cat6 with that then!

Speedtest 2019-10-14

InstallerUFB

840 posts

Ultimate Geek

#957773 27-Dec-2013 06:33

The reasoning behind not putting the disribution pannel equipment in the laundry is not the splashing of water but the rasied humidity in such areas.

JWR

821 posts

Ultimate Geek

#957968 27-Dec-2013 14:47

Hi.

I have just had an Orcon/Enable fibre install completed in my 1970's house.

I elected to put my cat 6 in plastic conduit under the floor. It seemed like a lot of hassle trying to drill down from the ceiling space. You might need a very long auger/drill bit to get down from the top.

I think the practical options are to put your cabinet in the laundry or hallway.

Of course the main problem with the laundry is if your clothes dryer isn't properly vented outside. If it is, then I wouldn't think the laundry would that bad of a place for the cabinet.

If you use the hallway, then you can probably mount the cabinet lower so it needn't be so noticeable.

You also need electrical power in your cabinet and that will probably affect where you want to put it.

If you use WiFi, then a metal cabinet will cut the signal a lot. It may still be satisfactory. However, if you want top performing WiFi then you will have to deal with aerials or extenders outside the cabinet.

As far as UFB planning goes...

Your telephone cable has to go to your cabinet now anyway. I'd have a separate hole for it to go into the cabinet (not bundled with cat6 etc.). The fibre+conduit they use is only about 2-3mm wide. So it should be easy to replace telephone cable with fibre.

The ITP and ONT will take up quite a bit of space in your cabinet. The ONT also needs an external power supply. Enable's ITP is approx. 85mmx85mm, the ONT is approx. 200x160mm and the ONT PSU is about 50mm wide (possibly causing problems on narrow spaced powerboard). Chorus quite likely use different items. But, it gives an idea on planning your cabinet layout.

I have no idea if Chorus would put the ETP inside your foundations. I think it would cause them a few hassles.

andrewNZ

2487 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#957971 27-Dec-2013 14:56

Mines in the side of the top of a wardrobe.

sonyxperiageek

2959 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#957976 27-Dec-2013 15:06

JWR:

If you use WiFi, then a metal cabinet will cut the signal a lot. It may still be satisfactory. However, if you want top performing WiFi then you will have to deal with aerials or extenders outside the cabinet.

Or you could have a separate wireless access point somewhere in the house connected by the Cat 6 cable.

Sony

Neviden

18 posts

Geek

#960454 2-Jan-2014 23:21

Hi All, Thanks for all your replies. Sorry for the long delay in replying to the posts as we still don't have internet at home quite yet but hopefully I shall order VDSL2 in the next few weeks/month. Your suggestions have been a great help, I have now got the cabinet installed in the wall around Gib in our laundry (see pictures below) with more than enough 25mm conduit to fit in a lot of Cat 6 cable with fiber upgrade in mind for future. Currently i am a little stuck with the wiring from the in ground telephone cable, we have old style 2 wire with a thick black outer core (yellow and black wires) which comes up through a conduit pipe (under ground) under our house - from the main line somewhere at on the roadside. I have wired up under the house a standard 2 core (4 strand (black, white, blue, red) telephone cable from this line, just wiring the yellow to red and black to black (does not matter about colors), skipping the white an blue and leaving them aside - I have connected up a standard BT telephone socket in our distribution cabinet and plugged in an old non powered phone which has picked up a dial tone confirming the connection is good. Since VDSL2 is available in our street & in the next few weeks I hope to get this connected, would you think this is sufficient for VDSL2 or would we need to do something else? E.g. pull up the underground cable (mostly not an option) & replace with something else or wire a different way? What are the requirements or needs for VDSL2 to operate at optimum speeds? (note we have opted for Cat 6 cable to run throughout the house but for now I am just getting the cabinet wired up and will use wireless in the meantime).

Would getting a chorus tech in to do this help? Or would the guy that comes as part of the installation provided by ISP do part of this or what is needed to ensure everything is correct & up to spec?
If getting a chorus tech - would anyone know how one would go about contacting someone or could suggest someone that may be the man to speak with?

Thanks again for all your help & suggestions :) ~Jonathan

Altan

23 posts

Geek

#960475 2-Jan-2014 23:44

From what i understand you do not have a connection between your new cabinet and the copper line from the street.

All you need to do is get yourself a
"Master Filter"
http://www.impc.co.nz/products/pb_moddnx001.html
and "UR Connectors" these are the cable joiners Chorus guys use. (jaycar sells them)

Run a Cat6 cable from the cabinet to the black cable coming out of the ground.
Hookup the "Master filter" (it has instructions on the side) either under the house or in the cabinet depends on how you are wiring the lines used for a phone.

I think the rest is self explanatory.

I have re-wired our rental property's with cat5 and Master filters using UR Connectors. Just like the chorus guys but better
:)

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

Neviden

18 posts

Geek

#960478 2-Jan-2014 23:55

Altan: From what i understand you do not have a connection between your new cabinet and the copper line from the street.

All you need to do is get yourself a
"Master Filter"
http://www.impc.co.nz/products/pb_moddnx001.html
and "UR Connectors" these are the cable joiners Chorus guys use. (jaycar sells them)

Run a Cat6 cable from the cabinet to the black cable coming out of the ground.
Hookup the "Master filter" (it has instructions on the side) either under the house or in the cabinet depends on how you are wiring the lines used for a phone.

I think the rest is self explanatory.

I have re-wired our rental property's with cat5 and Master filters using UR Connectors. Just like the chorus guys but better
:)

Thanks for your reply Altan,

I mentioned in the post that I have wired up from the ground cable to our Distribution Box, confirming also that the line has a dial tone and seems to be operating correctly to my knowledge by plugging in one of the old style telephones.

I don't think we really need a master splitter as there is only one phone cable coming in from the ground and that is going directly into our distribution box (aka star wiring box as per picture), which will then join phone/voice/data etc in its own voice splitter I have - at this stage I am just trying to get the VDSL sorted (we don't plan on having a phone, but instead running VOIP or just stick to cellphones).

Mostly it is just ensuring I have wired up the cables correctly since they are only 2 wires coming out of ground & that the current cabling will be sufficient for VDSL.

Would you recommenced it would be any different replacing the standard telephone cable I ran from the main line in, into the distribution box with Cat 6 instead? As myself I'm not sure it is needed since I will only be utilizing 2 wires out of the 8 in Cat 6 and the cable is not that cheap to waste a good 10m on..

Thanks :)

Altan

23 posts

Geek

#960482 3-Jan-2014 00:05

Ah sorry for my confusion.
The copper lines are not polarity sensitive so you really cant go wrong with the wiring.
You are totally right with not needing a master filter, its great to hear a new install with VOIP :)

The main things to consider if you are wanting the best signal quality with your phone line run.
- The method in which you joined the cables, do not solder or tape. (UR Connectors are best)
- Thickness should be equal/very similar to the main cable.
- Do not cross any high voltage power wire in the house.

Regarding the cable you used. as long as its of a good thickness you should have no problems.
I have done a re-wire for a friend using the kind of wire you find in the back of a phone.. way to thin for the job, degraded the signal and had constant disconnects. (replaced with cat5 and all was good.)

So my 0.02c would be do it once and do it right. (cat5 or higher)

Other than that you seem to have it all done on your end.
:)

InstallerUFB

840 posts

Ultimate Geek

#960497 3-Jan-2014 06:39

Neviden: <snip> Currently i am a little stuck with the wiring from the in ground telephone cable, we have old style 2 wire with a thick black outer core (yellow and black wires) which comes up through a conduit pipe (under ground) under our house - from the main line somewhere at on the roadside. I have wired up under the house a standard 2 core (4 strand (black, white, blue, red) telephone cable from this line, just wiring the yellow to red and black to black (does not matter about colors<snip>

Thanks again for all your help & suggestions :) ~Jonathan

To meet the current requirements of a point of demarcation between the external and internal networks, the cable coming from the street will need to be rerouted by the chorus tech to the outside of the house and an external test point added. They will extended it as required. Is the cable you have then run up to your distribution box long enough to allso be rerouted to a point outside ? - if not replace it with at least two CAT5e cables.

take a look @ the following web site for cableing recomendations

http://www.tcf.org.nz/content/02b3940f-1b3b-4cc8-bfc6-28173756da29.html

The cable you have refered to as a 'standard 2 core' telephone cable - i gather is a black sheathed lead in cable - If it is the colours actualy do mater as they are in twisted pairs - Old colour code pr 1 Yellow/black pr 2 brown/whilte - New colour code pr 1 blue/white pr2 red/black - you can use any combination for normal voice services but if you dont use a pair combination then as soon as you add xDSL services over the top you cause issues.