TV and phone extensions: Can I use CT100 and CAT5e?

[overlandrover]

Further to my posting about 13A sockets fitted to trunking
//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=598699#598699
I have a couple more questions regarding cables...

As a few of you will know, I am running TV, BT and broadband extensions from a central cupboard in the house. I have purchased reels of the following:
- 25m of CT100 for extending satellite cables to from a Loftbox
- 25m of normal Coax for TV sockets from the Loftbox
- 25m of normal BT extension cable from master socket to secondary sockets
- 100m of CAT5e from router to RJ45 sockets.

I'm going to have loads of CAT5e left over, but then I read elsewhere on the forum that you can use CAT5e for BT extension sockets. This strikes me as a robust solution, and I can return the BT cable to B&Q.

But then I read somewhere (this forum, I think?) that you can use CT100 satellite cable for normal TV cable, so long as you fit the correct connectors. Is this true? 25m should get me to all points in the house, and allow me to get a refund on the coax as well.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[Roo]

I've used screened sat coax cable from my tv ariel before now and all worked fine for me.
In fact I would of thought it would be better on long runs as it wouldn't pick up as much interference?
Just more expensive.
But then again somebody might say i'm wrong in a minute

 

[wobbin]

Yep - spot on

CT100 coax cable is lower loss than standard coax cable for a given length and frequency. It's also double screened so as Roo correctly sates it's less susceptible to interference sources.

Just done exactly this with my new tv aerial for Freeview and it's working nicely. Go for it.

Cheers
Robin

 

[plugwash]

sat grade coax is far better than the cheap brown stuff and i'd use it for all long runs (its a bit of a bitch to terminate though so for short runs i'd stick to the brown stuff) especially if you plan to use digital terrestrial.

nothing wrong with using cat5 for phones either, you can even run both phone and data down the same run if you want though thats something i'd only do in a pinch.

 

[Lectrician]

If you are going to flood wire cat5e points, dont bother running any secondary phone points/cable.

Flood wire the house with RJ45's, and where ever you decide on a point, fit 2 in a single plate. Put as many in a room as you feel you would need when moving furniture etc.

You then use the patch panel at the cupboard to patch in the networking AND the phones to where you want them.

You could even fit a small PBX in the cupboard to allow intercom calling between roomes, call transfer etc.

flooding cat5 is the way to go.........although strong consideration should be given to gigabit, although this is still costly.

 

[plugwash]

personally i'm dubious of using RJ45 connectors for phone. You can do it but i've heared of some network interfacess (i belive it affects gigabit capable interfacess more because they have signal on the center pair which is what is normally used for phone with RJ style connectors. This will be particularly painfull if it happens to something like a laptop or a mac mini where you can't just drop in a new card easilly) can be fried by accidental connection to phone signals.

 

[overlandrover]

Thanks guys, these are excellent answers.

It's too late to fit more RJ45 sockets, but the suggestion of a PBX is intriguing - the bungalow is being renovated for my in-laws who are both disabled. However, they get by in their current Victorian terrace with the use of a baby monitor!

I've already ordered the "two-BT-socket" version of this Sat/TV faceplate:
http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/triax_304114.htm
so one of the BT sockets will be used for the Sky box, and another for the lounge phone.

The kitchen will have a modular faceplate, with one BT and one RJ-45 socket. I'll be running separate CAT5e cables for each of these - the idea of sharing data and phone down the same cable confuses me!!


I've got another question about wiring-up the LoftBox, but I'll post that separately - apparently LoftBoxes don't support stereo...
http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/loftbox.htm

...but had I found this product earlier,
http://www.satcure.co.uk/accs/milestone.htm
I might have flood-wired the house instead. However this solution isn't cheap, but maybe for the next project!

 

[Steve]

Doesn't gigabit use the came cables?

I wired a skylink a few weeks ago. Installed the cable from scratch. Used B&Q's finest screened black satellite cable. And it works great! Even the weak analogue signal from the aerial gets to the kitchen fine. And the Sky signal is like watching it through a scart lead. Excellent stuff.

By the way, the co-ax connectors that the skylink comes with are easier to wire, but P poor quality. The plug itself just pushes together / apart FFS. No screw joints / compression at all.

 

[electronicsuk]

Doesn't gigabit use the came cables?

Cat 5e certified cable is supposed to (and does) work fine for 1000baseT (i.e. normal household) gigabit connections, but if you want to future proof then it makes sense to run cat 6 cable if you can afford the extra expense.

 

[wobbin]

I'm using CAT5 round the house for Gigabit connections with a central network switch via a patch panel without any problems. The same couldn't be said of my previous setup using WiFi !!

IIRC, Cat 6 cable has an overall screen and uses all of the cores in the cable. Better for very long runs using gigabit or where there's interference sources present.

Cheers
Robin

 

[electronicsuk]

IIRC, Cat 6 cable has an overall screen and uses all of the cores in the cable. Better for very long runs using gigabit or where there's interference sources present.

No, cat 6 cable doesn't necessarily have screening. Just like cat5, it comes in UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair) and FTP (Foiled Twisted Pair). The main difference is the use of slightly thicker conductors and the fact the the cable itself is better specified, i.e. less attenuation and crosstalk than the cat5 equivalent.

 

[MasterAbacus]

Hi guys,

Interesting post...

Heres what we did....

Used Cat5e for everything...... totaly flooded the house with the stuff...

Data Points
Phone points
TV points
TV links
HiFi connection
Speaker system
Entertainment control pannels
Heating / AirCon
CCTV
Alarm


Everything runs back to a central control pannel that has Media server inside it for streaming our music and dvd collection to any point in the house.

 

[davelx]

personally i'm dubious of using RJ45 connectors for phone. You can do it but i've heared of some network interfacess (i belive it affects gigabit capable interfacess more because they have signal on the center pair which is what is normally used for phone with RJ style connectors. This will be particularly painfull if it happens to something like a laptop or a mac mini where you can't just drop in a new card easilly) can be fried by accidental connection to phone signals.

It's common practice. All our (BT) offices use RJ45 for phones and data, as does every large office/data centre in the city I've ever worked in for ages (Digital Equipment, Reuters, BT) You just have to label/colour code them.

 

[bobbyp]

I'm about to do something very similar in my house. I'd heard bad things about the brown 'low-loss' coax and was going to try and get CT100.

Is the PF100 they sell at screwfix the same same stuff?

 

[fumb]

Good god

What are you people planning to install in your homes that will need gigabit in every room?

Sure it makes sense for backbone links between switches but what is the point of gigabit connections to individual outlets?
Unless you're planning switches in each room this is totally OTT

If you look at typical large building IT systems you'll still find most floor outlets are 10/100 even though the backbone might be using 10G

You might well want to install 4mm ring finals too - the Cray computers that would justify gigabit connections need a lot of power