Wiring in Master Bedroom

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cldlr76

289 posts

Ultimate Geek

#74980 11-Jan-2011 08:49

I am going to start renovating our master bedroom shortly and just after a bit of advice on how many and where outlet should be. Currently there is a 26" LCD on the wall receiving analouge TV reception and a RF out feed from SKY and a WDTV box which will get upgraded to a WDTV live box.

Here is what I'm thinking...

Behind the TV on the wall:
1 powerpoint
1 RJ45
1 UHF
1 HDMI

Bottom of the wall under TV:
1 powerpoint
1 RJ45
1 UHF
1 Satilite
1 HDMI

Either side of the bed:
1 powerpoint
1 RJ45

All the RJ45's will run back to the patch panel in the garage and will be able to be phone or network.

How does all that sound?

Cheers

cyril7

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#426003 11-Jan-2011 08:54

Hi, sounds ok, I take it you are not in a FreeView|HD area. I probably would drop the 2nd coax feed on the wall plate below the TV, I guess this is only needed for a FreeView Sat box, the UHF from Sky is only needed to go straight the TV, but no biggie.

Cyril

cldlr76

289 posts

Ultimate Geek

#426005 11-Jan-2011 09:00

Thanks Cyril,

Yeah we are in a Freeview|HD area but not using it at the moment. The TV doesn't have a built in freeview tuner so the idea behind the second UHF feed at ground level was to allow the option of either SD or HD Freeview or a second sky decoder.

cyril7

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#426007 11-Jan-2011 09:07

Hi, well if it were me I would find a way to dump the current TV (trademe) and get a FreeView|HD one, a 26" set is as little as $500 if not less.

I know it sounds harsh, but the functional advantage well outweighs the cost (in my view of course), just hide the cost in the renovations. The idea of adding an external decoder to a wall hung TV just defy s the aesthetics of the setup in my view, but hey its your $ :)

Cyril

Jaxson

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#426009 11-Jan-2011 09:29

cyril7: Hi, well if it were me I would find a way to dump the current TV (trademe) and get a FreeView|HD one, a 26" set is as little as $500 if not less.

I know it sounds harsh, but the functional advantage well outweighs the cost (in my view of course), just hide the cost in the renovations. The idea of adding an external decoder to a wall hung TV just defy s the aesthetics of the setup in my view, but hey its your $ :)

Cyril

+1!

ojala

188 posts

Master Geek

#426014 11-Jan-2011 09:45

cldlr76:
RJ45

Put at least two two RJ45's everywhere. All 8 wires (easy to split for 2 x 100BaseTX if necessary), cat5e/6 or better.

HDBaseT looks very promising as an alternative to HDMI and may become common sooner than one realizes.

cyril7

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#426015 11-Jan-2011 09:51

Put at least two two RJ45's everywhere. All 8 wires (easy to split for 2 x 100BaseTX if necessary), cat5e/6 or better.

Agree, although beside a bed I think one is enough, especially if there is one either side of the bed. If anything you might consider 2 below the TV but thats only if a desk might go there, be even then, in bedrooms too many TOs about does not seem right unless that room may also operate as a home office, there is a fine line between providing adequate service and not making a sleeping area look like a commerical area.

+1 for HDBaseT, this I believe is the great hope for domestic (and commercial) AV distribution.

Cyril

cldlr76

289 posts

Ultimate Geek

#426033 11-Jan-2011 10:38

Thanks for your replies.

I am using cat5e and will have to buy another patch panel at some stage so I don't need to split.

The outlet below the TV is hidden by drawers so doesn't get seen so I could put 2 RJ45's there and not affect the look of the room.

I just want to make sure the room (and whole house as I work my way round) is reasonably future proofed.

Re the HDMI, did PDL ever release HDMI module (I'm using the 600 series) or do I need to find another solution?

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Zeon

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#426047 11-Jan-2011 11:10

TBH rather than going with the HDMI socket you would be better to put in 4x RJ45 instead. You can run HDMI using 2x cat5e and I bet any future technology (including anything ethernet obviously) will also be able to use that medium.

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cyril7

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#426065 11-Jan-2011 11:50

TBH rather than going with the HDMI socket you would be better to put in 4x RJ45 instead. You can run HDMI using 2x cat5e and I bet any future technology (including anything ethernet obviously) will also be able to use that medium.

HDBaseT is the answer, HDMI, including HD Audio, 100Mb/s ethernet and remote control over a single cat5 or 6 cable run.

Cyril

Zeon

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#426071 11-Jan-2011 11:58

cyril7:
TBH rather than going with the HDMI socket you would be better to put in 4x RJ45 instead. You can run HDMI using 2x cat5e and I bet any future technology (including anything ethernet obviously) will also be able to use that medium.

HDBaseT is the answer, HDMI, including HD Audio, 100Mb/s ethernet and remote control over a single cat5 or 6 cable run.

Cyril

Wholly crap that's awesome!

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webwat

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#426211 11-Jan-2011 17:05

Zeon: TBH rather than going with the HDMI socket you would be better to put in 4x RJ45 instead. You can run HDMI using 2x cat5e and I bet any future technology (including anything ethernet obviously) will also be able to use that medium.

I presume the HDMI is for the short link to the TV above? If you have no problem getting the HDMI plugs through the wall then why not, the cables themselves are cheaper than HDMI RJ45 converters. You can still allow an extra RJ45 if useful, but should go back to the patch panel instead of linking directly to the TV. Would be handy to have a 2nd RJ45 at and below the TV if HDbaseT eventually takes off.

2 x RJ45 beside bed would allow future use of media devices without re-patching the phone line.

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JimmyH

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#426234 11-Jan-2011 18:19

That sounds like a good setup.

+1 on replacing the TV with a Freeview capable one, if the budget allows.

If it was me, and I was kitting out the Master bedroom that well for entertainment and already opening up the wall in the places you list to run cabling, I would add 2xRCA sockets under the TV wired to 1 RCA socket each side of the bed. (Note: This assumes TV is on the wall at the foot of the bed). This means that you could later add the two rear speakers for a 5.1 sound system without having to run cables over the floor. As twin RCA sockets go for about $5, and decent speaker wire goes for about $1.80 a meter, and you are already opening the wall, it shouldn't cost more than around $40 and 20-30 minutes extra work to add in.

The other thing to consider, if you are already planning on opening up the walls to run the cabling and using wall plates for the various sockets, is running conduit and pulling the cables through it. This means that you can change the configuration later by pulling a different cable and changing the face plate, which should be a bit more future proof.

cldlr76

289 posts

Ultimate Geek

#426235 11-Jan-2011 18:21

Yeah the HDMI is from a device, e.g. the WDTV to the TV. The Gib is going to be off so shouldn't be a problem running the HDMI cable in the wall.

The HDBaseT looks pretty cool, but to be honest I can't see the advantage of it right now as the as everything still has HDMI outlets/inlets so you would need some sought of adapter, unless I'm missing something? And then I figure 2 Cat5e cables would be smaller than a pre-made HDMI cable so it would be easy to replace in the future.

I'll put 2 RJ45's below the TV, and I was always planning on running them all back to the patch panel.

I know what your saying about the 2 outlets either side of the bed but as Cyril pointed out I don't want to make the bedroom look commercial so what I might do is put 2 runs in the wall but only terminate 1 of them, then if in the future there is a need for 2 outlets its just a matter of changing the faceplate and adding another module.

Jaxson

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#426400 12-Jan-2011 09:23

Yeah you can push hdmi plugs through a light switch face plate or other if you are worried about it looking nice. Hard to justify buying extra hdmi faceplates if you are actually only running over a 1m distance or similar.