Now I must confess that I am no expert when it comes to wiring and I don't do this for a day job! I'm sure there are probably a few others out there who can probably give me a few tips or advice and correct me on some things! :-)
So why install a structured cabling system? My answer? Why would you not install a structuctured cabling system! Telecom have recommended now for several years that all new houses be wired with a minimum of cat5e cable in a star configuration back to central point to replace the conventional method of running phone cabling in series between jackpoints. There are still a surprising number of "experts" in the trade who are still stuck in the dark ages and continue to stick to this but the reality is no new home should be wired like this any longer.
With multiple phones, multiple internet connected PC's and cable or satellite TV now the norm in many homes a structured cabling system is a logical approach and also doesn't need to cost the earth - for an average new house the cost of an entire fitout consisting of cable (cat 5e and RG6), patch panel, and all sockets shouldn't cost you more than $500. Right now wireless is still nowhere near as fast as Ethernet for computer networking and cat5e cable can also carry a myriad of signals ranging from phone, ethernet right through to component video and HDMI with appropiate baluns. With the VoIP era also about to approach you've got to be crazy to not be prepared while you have the opportunity!
This is a 3 bedroom house with open plan kitchen and lounge with a semi detached dining room which could easily be used as a study or kids play area or converted into a bedroom. My plan has been to use 12 cat5e jackpoints around the house and F connectors for RG6 for TV in all rooms. This is all run back to a 16 way patch panel in a hallway cupboard. The lounge has 3 RG6 sockets allowing for a terrestrial aerial, satellite dish and a return feed so the output from your STB can be viewed on any other TV in the house.
Master bedroom: TV + dual RJ45 + single RJ45 next to bed for a phone
Bedroom 1: TV + dual RJ45
Bedroom 2: TV + dual RJ45
Dining/Study: TV + dual RJ45
Kitchen: Single RJ45 for phone
Lounge: TV + dual RJ45
The choice of a 16 way patch panel allows 12 sockets wired back to jackpoints with the last 4 jumpered back to the incoming phoneline so they can be patched as required. The incoming phoneline is terminated in a standard jackpoint on the wall (which also serves as a test point as required by Telepermit regs) and this is then connected to port 16 on the patch panel and jumpered across to 15,14 and 13.
This house will have TelstraClear cable service provided to it so there is no provision for a central ADSL line splitter however this could obviously easily be retrofitted if needed. If you're like most of the country and rely on ADSL for your broadband this is something you will want to factor in as it's so much simpler and tidier than requiring filters on every jackpoint that will have a phone on it.
This layout is probably about the bare minimum you would want to install in a house, it's certainly much cheaper to run extra cable when a house is being built than later on wish that you had done it so!
Choose a logical place to wire all your cable back to. A garage makes a great place but a hallway cupboard is really your only choice if you don't have an internal access garage. Remember to also install a power point nearby as you'll need this for your modem/switch and things such as a VoIP ATA. A wall mounted rack cabinet makes things look nice and tidy if you have space and remember that you may want to have your network running off a small UPS since they are so cheap these days so factor options such as this in when you're working out the dimensions.
So on with the pictures. First up is a quick view of the inside of the house with most of the electrical wiring now done.
Use 25mm drill bits for all wiring holes. Be wary of any structural walls if you're drilling multiple holes in the same beams - ask a builder for advice if you're unsure. Also remember that flush boxes need to be flush - if they stick out you'll have trouble attaching the jib to the wall. Also try and avoid running cable near power, if at all possible try and stay a minimum of 200mm away with the main cable runs. Running plugs on the opposite side of a stud is an easy way to keep cables seperate at the jackpoints. If you do need to cross power cables (and there are times where this can't easily be avoided) ensure the cables cross at right angles and do not run parallel to each other.
Use electrical tape to bundle cat5e cable together. While solid cable is fairly robust it is not invincible. Do not staple this cable or run it at extreme angles. Cable ties stapled to beams are a good way of attaching cable but again do not tighten these up fully as it could easily damage the cable.
Cable all running back to the hallway cupboard. RG6 coax and alarm cable is still to be run back to this same wall.
Well that's about it for part 1 - I'll update this as the work proceeds.
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While surfing the interw3b this morning I came across this very cool new Symbian S60 application. Once installed it allows your phone to act as a WiFi hotspot sharing it's GPRS/3G data connection via WiFi.
Now you might think this is nothing special but if you have an iPod Touch, PDA or laptop that has WiFi built it it allows you to connect to the internet when you're not within range of a WiFi network. WiFi is also significantly faster than Bluetooth for data transfers so if you're somebody who connects their laptop to their phone via Bluetooth there could be significant speed increases moving to WiFi.
This software is only very new and currently lacks any security which means your WiFi connection is wide open for anybody to leach but certainly shows a lot of potential!
www.joikuspot.com
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Everyone likes the Apple Mac’s Expose feature and wondered why Vista didn’t bring it on along with Windows Flip 3D 
Well, today I found a function with my Microsoft Notebook Presenter 8000 Mouse that there is a function called Instant Viewer that does the same thing and you can bind any one of the mouse buttons to it (Thanks to David 
Here is a screenshot,
(Click for full view)
Read MoreYahoo! Music Unlimited will be shut down in "the first half" of this year. Yahoo! Music site will still remain, but subscribers will be shifted on to RealNetworks' Rhapsody music service.
Now how many of these poorly executed music services have collapsed?
[Via Engadget]
Read MoreThe proposed $45 billion acquisition of Yahoo by Microsoft has created a tremendous amount of coverage, even in the main-stream media. Clearly, Yahoo as the world's most visited web-site, and Microsoft as the world's most successful ... (more in the full post)
Read MoreI blew away XP on my eeePC and restored the original Xandros - great little OS in Easy Mode with iceWM. I also enabled advanced mode (a full KDE desktop) using pimpmyeee.sh (Google it - its a no-brainer quick way to enabled KDE). You can switch back ... (more in the full post)
Read MoreHot off the heals of upgrading my 1.1.2 Jailbroken iPod Touch to 1.1.3, I thought I'd post a how to and some of my observations.
DRM Music files work.
Jiggling icon reorder works
Maps, Mail etc work. Positioning should work.
Your music and videos will stay, but you will lose all your old apps that are in /Applications. If they are in /Var/Applications they are safe.
Summerboard isn't compatible with 1.1.3 yet.
SSH access works.
How to:
Note: Turn SSH on before doing this, if it gets stuck in restore mode, use iNdependence to sort it out.
I did this using the new iJailbreakme method.
1. If you are running 1.1.1, upgrade to 1.1.2 using the okto prep method. Using 1.1.1 with this method causes DRM and other problems.
2. Install the latest versions of BSDsubsystem and Installer
3. Add 'http://ijailbreak.com/repo.plist' as a source in Installer (sources -> edit -> add)
4. Back up anything that you want to keep. This could easily go wrong and require a restore.
5. In installer there should now be a 'iJailBreakMobile' category, from that install 'iJailBreakMobile 1.1.2'. This will put a new icon on your springboard.
6. Set the iPod auto lock to NEVER.
7. Run 'iJailBreak' from your springboard. This will take some time, it downloads the entire iPod 1.1.3 update from Apple.
8. When it finishes, it should either reboot on its own, leave you with a spinning cog, or say process completed. If you get the latter two, reboot yourself by holding the sleep and home buttons at the same time.
9. Upon reboot you should be greeted with your new springboard, which will contain the basic applications and Installer.
10. Run installer and from the 'iJailBreakMobile' category, run 'iPod Touch Software Upgrade'. Or if that doesn't work, as it did for me, add the 'Apple Repository' to installer 'http://applerepo.com' and run their preparation patch.
11. Reboot, and you should have the jiggly icons, all the 'Premium' applications and the ability to add webapps to the springboard through safari.
If installer randomly crashes when installing applications, it's because you're out of space on that partition. I was getting
mv: /bin/: terminated with 1 (non-zero) status: Cross-device linkwhen trying to symlink and move applications. So use this guide.
This method worked fool proofedly for me. You may get a different experience. If things go wrong, force recovery mode and do a restore.
Read MoreHere are some shots of my Jailbroken iPod Touch running 1.1.3 after using the iJailbreak method I posted about the other day.
(Click the image to get to the gallery)
- Summerboard is now working
- Installer 'Main script execution failed' problem has been solved by doing this in SSH
cd /
This downloads the latest installer.app. I fixed mine another way, by setting the correct permissions via ssh then updating installer within installer.
cd Applications/
wget http://repository.apptapp.com/packages/System/Installer.zip
rm -rf Installer.app
unzip Installer.zip
chmod +s Installer.app/Installer
chown -R root:wheel Installer.app
rm Installer.zip - Runs very well.
- Maps, Mail, Webclips, lyrics, Weather...etc All run perfectly
Read MoreI got a tip from Telecom New Zealand telling me that Mac OS X users can now plug the Sierra Wireless data devices (CDMA EVDO) to their Apple computers and get their daily intake of fast cellular data.
Sierra Wireless has added support for Mac OS X to their Watcher software. The software supports the AC597E (Express Card), AC595U (USB) and AC595 (PCMCIA) models.
There's also an updated Windows version (v0.6.0.64) which introduces a new driver, and allows additional VPNs to be added.
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