Tech Tips Radio

Structured Wiring – How To – wire your own home network, video- Project

ericbarstad — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 21:10:00 +0000

The weekend is coming to a close and I need to get things working again. I have pulled the coax and attached the needed cables to the 8 port splitter. I used the media brackets to mount my Vonage VOIP router, and main router. I cable tied the unconnected coax cables along with the CAT 5 cables. The CAT5′s at the top and the coax runs down the right side. I placed a power strip along the bottom. It all works (thankfully). I need another switch so I will be done with this for a bit.

The cluttered wall now looks like:

This is what it looked like at the beginning of the weekend..

Tools for rewiring your home’s Cat5 and phone using Leviton Enclosure and Media Panels

ericbarstad — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 02:30:00 +0000

Ok..I have had some nice tools to help me with my project. They have really come in handy but in no means needed to do the job..

See photo below:
On the left: Fluke 620 LAN Cablemeter w/ #1 plug
This thing works GREAT! Plug the #1 plug ( the small plug at the bottom of the screen) into one end of a cable run and the tester into the other end. The Cablemeter will tell you how long the run is, if there are any breaks in the cable ( and at what distance ), and tell you if you wired the cable right!!! It has many other features but the beeeeep that says the cable is done right is really great…

The tools in the middle is a high grade punch down tool. Leviton sends along a plastic tool that will work, but I happened to have the upscale model. I think it is about 25.00. However, I bought it many years ago…

The tool on the right is a cable tracer. The one I have is a Progressive Electronics, Inc 200EP inductive amplifier and the 77HP ” The Tracer”. I have had these for many years and as I recall, it cost about 30.00. This tool is helpful in finding the right cable. If your cables are not labeled you just connect the Tracer to one end of the cable. It sends out a signal on the cable that the 200EP can hear. The cable will make a whooping noise when the 200ep gets near to it. This is a great tool and well worth the money.

Tools for rewiring your home’s Cat5 and phone using Leviton Enclosure and Media Panels

ericbarstad — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 02:30:00 +0000

Ok..I have had some nice tools to help me with my project. They have really come in handy but in no means needed to do the job..

Adding a NAS device to my Leviton media enclosure

ericbarstad — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 02:01:00 +0000

I need to add my NAS device before I quite for the evening. I will use another of the Leviton brackets I purchased and use some cable ties to hold everything in place.

That should do it for today. Actually I have about 8 hours into it today. Here is the before and after so far…(far from complete).

BEFORE:

So far:
The new wire enclosure looks like:
Not bad for a days work… ( The video connections come next…)

Re-wire the house. Low voltage products from Leviton. Phase 3

ericbarstad — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 01:37:00 +0000

I have been at it for 3-4 hours. I decided to swap the first two panels and run the phone line to the block closest to the middle. ( next to the phone module).

I have the data ports on the left most and right most modules. I used the Leviton supplied patch cords to connect my phone runs to the phone module. I also connected my Vonage line as line 2. It is hooked up that cable that runs off to the lower right. This is temporary. I just need to get my business line back running…
Here is the temp. location for the Vonage router…on top of the water softener…

It is time to wind down for the day. I need to cobble up some fixes to keep the network happy.

I need to hookup a switch for the business network and rewire for the home network… I will use one of the brackets I purchased from Control Cable ( see prior post) to mount a 5 port gig switch.
All systems go!!

Here is a closer view. I have a few more items to add…see next post..

Rewire the home project using Leviton Enclosure and Media Panel

ericbarstad — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 01:14:00 +0000

Well, all my stuff has arrived. ( short 1 8 port video splitter). No problem, I will find another when the time comes..

My brother Steve gave me what he calls the greatest tool ever made..

This tool nicks the cat5 casing. Just clip it on about 2-3 inches from the end then spin it around a few times. Take the tool off the wire and just pull off the sleeve.

I pushed through a few cable ties and added a twist tie for temporary positioning.

Phase one is to get the home phone line working! Mom needs the phone! Just punch down the run from the demark ( the run from outside the house ). I then punched down the run from where our cordless phone plugs in…then realized I punched each wire set in reverse…ooops.

Starting from the top of a section you need to start with blue/white then blue. If you look close at the photo I reversed them…..This is for just “phone” not data so it really dosen’t matter but I will have to fix it…

Tested the phone and we are “on-line”

Additional parts for the Leviton enclosure.

ericbarstad — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:19:00 +0000

The way the panels snap into the enclosure is pretty cool. Small pins push through the back of the enclosure and expand to hold the module in place. Pulling on the pin releases it from the back.

These pins are called Push-lock pins part number 47615-nyl and cost about 4.60 for a bag of 20.

I am ordering them from Control Cable Inc. ( it was the best price I found )

I was planning to re-use the coax splitters I had and create my own bracket but the 8 way splitter from Control Cable was pretty cheap so I bought 2 of them for $29.25 each.

To help mount other items in my enclosure I purchased the Multi-media Adapter bracket ( part 47612mma ) I bought 4 of them at $8.65 each from Control Cable Inc.

So my cost so far is about $460.00

Installing the Leviton 42 inch enclosure

ericbarstad — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:07:00 +0000

Installing the enclosure is pretty straight forward. First knock out the top where your cables will go. Place the foam tape over the holes and use a razor knife to cut a X in each foam strip. Bend out the mounting tabs and you are ready.

Make sure that the box is level.

I have the 24-port structured media panel and I have snapped it in place.

I ordered the 42-Inch Leviton Enclosure

ericbarstad — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 02:30:00 +0000

I placed my order for the enclosure and while I wait I can do some prep work.

I need to route the cat5 and video coax through the 2×4′s not over them. Doing so will allow sheetrock in the future.

Time to drill some holes:
As you can see the cables go over the 2×4′s…bad!

Now I will be able to route the cables inside the walls.

Got wire closet blues? I do. How to rewire your home’s video, ethernet, and phone system

ericbarstad — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:51:00 +0000

My goal is to get the wire mess cleaned up for under $500.00.

First the list:
I have :
PCT-MA-1015-1p Video booster. ( Provided by my friends at Comcast )
Vonage VOIP router
D-link DES-1024d ethernet switch
Coolmax NAS drive
Netgear WG-602 Wireless access point
Gigafast GE500-S Gigabit switch
Dlink DIR 625 Router
Sony Location free Video Router
D-link external antenna
Cable modem

I have 16 home run cat5 runs, 16 coax runs, and 3 active telephone connections.

With this much stuff I figure I better go for the 42 inch Structured Media Enclosure + lid. While I am at it I will start off with the 24 port media panel.

After searching for the best price on the Leviton 42 inch enclosure and panel I found Smarthome to have the best price. total cost for the Leviton enclosure, media panel and flush mount cover…

$330.97
Shipping to Minnesota was $25.99
total $356.96

I am going to have to be creative with the TV/coax to keep under $500.00.
More photos of the project:

This is the home for the Leviton enclosure. This is the backside to the wire mess. I will have to drill some holes in the 2×4′s so I can route the cables and allow for sheetrock in the future.