There has been quite a bit of discussion on Geekzone lately discussing structured cabling for voice, data & TV. There is a great thread here that talks about home wiring with GZ's resident expert cyril7 providing some great advice on the topic. As my family are currently building a new house (that is for sale if you're after a place in Lower Hutt!) I thought I'd give a quick DIY guide for anybody who's looking at options for a new house or renovating an existing one.
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.
Wikipedia on Vodafone live!
If you are in New Zealand and use Vodafone live! services, check the Mobile Wikipedia, developed by Instinct.The service is a WAP interface to Wikipedia and can be accessed from Vodafone live! > Communities > The Answer Is Here.
A few comments though:
- I tried it using a Palm Treo 500v (screenshot) which is the first Windows Mobile Vodafone live! compatible handset. It all worked ok but the articles themselves were not showing any formatting If you test this with other handsets (Nokia, Sony Ericcson, etc) please leave a comment how the experience goes.
- Why didn't Vodafone use something like "Mobile Wikipedia" in the link, instead of "The Answer Is Here"? It would probably attract more attention.
Good luck with the new service.
Blast from the Past! 025 N-AMPS mobile phone!
And not just any N-AMPS phone, but a Phillips ISIS! (You can't get much info on it as well... so it has to be old!)
(Yep, I previously said D-AMPS, but found out it's N-AMPS)
Featuring:
- 20 Phonebook Contacts
- 3 Subtle Tones
- 1 Line LCD Monitor
- Backlit Keys!
- Runs on 4 AA Batteries! Perfect for those who are always on the move!
I've kept everything (except the box) and it still works, even all the contact numbers have been stored there... from 2000!
Ah, I can still remember how my dad used it. He would go into Settings, crank up the volume and play one of the mono tones, waking me up in the morning.
My mum still remembers how much he paid for it: $99.
Microsoft Windows Server 2008
I've just finished downloading Windows Server 2008 RTM from Connect. You will notice that MSDN and Technet only have the 64 bit version, while Connect lists all versions but only for the next 30 days.
It took only 29 minutes to download Windows Server 2008 32 bit. I am now going to use this to upgrade the test environment on a virtual machine. This is in preparation for the migration of our Geekzone production server from Windows Server 2008 RC1 to RTM.
We have been running Windows Server 2008 RC1 on Geekzone for almost three months now as part of an early adopters programme with Microsoft. The experience couldn't have been better.
During this time we had only a couple of updates installed, only one restart because of this and installed a second drive to mirror the system. Modifying the drive to a dynamic partition and creating the mirror did not require a restart (as I remember it needed on Windows Server 2003) and all completed ok.
I have heard comments from Geekzone users on how they feel the site has been more responsive in the last few month - and I've noticed this too.
If you want to find out more about Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 check the Summer Road Trip.
As for Windows Vista SP1... I am waiting for it to be available for download, ready to install on my laptop.
Is a Yahoo/Google alliance better than Microsoft buying Yahoo?
The 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)
iPod touch bug
Bringing Vista Features to Windows Server 2008
Ok, dont ask me why and for what I am brining Vista Features to Windows Server 2008
The Vista Features includes things like,
1) Windows Media Player
2) Windows Flip 3D
3) Windows Aero Theme
4) Windows Mail
5) etc.,
By default this is not installed in Windows Server. To enable them, you need to add the Desktop Experience Feature from the Add Features wizard.
Here is a screenshot,
Microsoft Mobile Notebook Initiative Solutions
A couple of days ago I received a press release from one of the companies exhibiting at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona... In the middle of the text there was this:
"Including Microsoft's new mobile notebook initiative solutions."
Believe me or not, I haven no idea what they are talking about - and I haven't got a reply through my channels.
So exactly what is this new thing?
Any ideas?
eeeXubuntu booting great from SDHC on Asus eeePC
I 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)
Are Microsoft going Yahoo and stuff
Yahoo has been having a few problems the last few weeks have to lay of 1000+ people.
Now Microsoft is saying, here is $44.6billion us for Yahoo. Will it happen? Quite a few people have been predicting that Microsoft was going to buy them back in 2006.
They are a good match, I wish them well and hope they can both learn from each other. Like everyone.
Could this mean a change back for Xtra from Yahoo back to Microsoft. I don't think so mate.
I have had a thing with Yahoo, ever since they broke flickr. I use to be able to generate Slideshows based or a group of TAGS ie user+tag1+tag2 It was great for working with alot of data, But they changed it to just one tag. meh useless
http://news.google.co.nz/news?q=microsoft+buying+yahoo
TechCrunch had a great repot on the numbers.
Oh I was impressed with a few threads on Geekzone this week, ok sometimes my mental illness become very noticeable and have have to sit back and remove my feet from my gob. But the read profecional jurno's entering into a debate was a thrill and then to cap it off for being there, in the public, Malcolm Dick, Co-founder of CallPlus talking. Wow, I think I had a bit of a reality shift on that one. For Mal to come into a public like was strangely cool. Great PR for the opening to the Slingshot/CallPlus Geekzone forum. Nice One Stu
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