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should I pre-wire my house with CAT6 cable?

1,590 229 March 28, 2017 at 06:35 AM
We are building a new home and need to decide on pre-wiring. Currently we are planning on having Ethernet jacks in family room, office, and master bedroom. The standard cable run is CAT5E, but the builder will upgrade to CAT6 for $60 per run (so $180 total). Is this a worthwide upgrade for future-proofing? The internet provider there is AT&T Fiber and they offer 1G service.

Also, the builder is suggesting they install a wireless access point in the upstairs level loft (cost of $570), and connect this to the planned structured wiring box in the basement. He says we should instruct AT&T to install the router next to this wiring box in the basement. They say this arrangement is the best way to get a strong Wi-fi signal on all 3 floors. Is this a worthwhile upgrade also?

Thanks.
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Joined Dec 2008
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jkee
10-23-2017 at 09:23 AM.
10-23-2017 at 09:23 AM.
Quote from adams135 :
Just a suggestion. When I built my house, 2400 sq ft two stry, I went overboard in wiring. Ended up with 30 home run coax cables to attic as well as 32 4 pair Ethernet cables also home run back to attic. Also ran a central vac pipe between the attic and craw space under house in case I ever needed to run wire/cable etc. between the attic and under house.

Also ran 12 Gage speaker wire between possible speaker locations and two different central TV points. 12 Gage was probably overkill but I got it a good price and of course it would have less resistance.

Long story short .. when I built a two story 1200 sq foot addition instead of running all the wiring as I did the original house I ran interduct from the possible locations I may need an outlet of some type (1st and 2nd floor) extending up thru into walk up attic and sticking up ~4 foot above the attic floor. This way I ONLY need to run cabling to where I needed it at that moment (easy pull thru the innerduct) as well as only running the type I need PLUS it is easy to update as technology changes For example it would be easy to run fiber to any of the new outlet locations when and if it is needed.

I guess what I am saying is instead of running cabling if you run innerduct you are future proofing for new technology as well as only running the actual cable you need at the time.,
Some flexible conduit is a good option, but it can be expensive. It's worth calculating the cost per foot. IIRC, cat-6 runs about $0.09/ft and 1/2" ENT which is pretty small runs $0.24/ft.

My advice would be to run cables to a fair number of locations, but not to go crazy and then run an empty conduit to the most important locations for future use.
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Joined Sep 2003
L10: Grand Master
> bubble2 11,113 Posts
adams135
10-23-2017 at 11:02 AM.
10-23-2017 at 11:02 AM.
Quote from jkee :
Some flexible conduit is a good option, but it can be expensive. It's worth calculating the cost per foot. IIRC, cat-6 runs about $0.09/ft and 1/2" ENT which is pretty small runs $0.24/ft.

My advice would be to run cables to a fair number of locations, but not to go crazy and then run an empty conduit to the most important locations for future use.
I just like the flexibility ... easy to update cables as needed.
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