Uverse and home renovation...

[jshier]

I'm about to start some serious renovation on my condo and one of the things that will be done is full wiring of coax and ethernet to the main rooms. In addition to that, I'd like to redo the run the Uverse installer put in, which runs from the utility box right outside my basement, up a floor along my deck, and into a utility room where the CAT5 is converted to coax. I'd like to bring the CAT5 directly into the basement from the outdoor utility box, along with the phone and Comcast connections, if possible. So I have 2 questions: first, is it okay for my contractor to pull this in himself? And can I hook the AT&T CAT5 directly into a switch before putting it into the RG? I'd like to have the RG upstairs if at all possible. Or does the connection have to go to the RG first, before being connected to the main switch?

[mibrnsurg ACE - Geek · Accepted solution]

First the cat5e coming from the NID, must go directly to the RG, no switch in between on this homerun or you're just asking for trouble.  Then I'd say, run a double set of cat5e to each room from the eventual RG location, one for Uverse TV and one for data, etc and stil an RG-6 coax if you some time want to go back to something other than Uverse.  W/cat5e, everything is plug/play and will avoid any possible coax problems.

Decent priced cat5e for in-wall use (CMG) here @ Home Depot:

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202316502/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalo...

Good luck

Edit: Any switch you use for Uverse TV must have 602.1p(riority).

Chris

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Please NO SD stretch-o-vision or 480 SD HD Channels
1-800-288-2020, After he gets acct info, press # a bunch of times, get a menu from Mr. Voice recognition
Your Results May Vary, In My Humble Opinion
I Call It Like I See It, Simply a U-verse user, nothing more

[jshier]

Thanks, that helps a lot. I was already thinking double runs of ethernet but I was also think about double runs of coax. I'll keep the 802.1p requirement in mind, but the switches I was looking at all had it. 

Any recommendations on network cabinets to store the main switch + RG? Dropping at least 8 runs of ethernet and 4 of coax, plus probably want the phone to go into there as well.

[mibrnsurg ACE - Geek]

One cavaet, the RG (and DVR/STBs) needs as much airflow as possible, if it might get hot in a cabinet, it can get into a reboot loop from the heat.

Chris

---

Please NO SD stretch-o-vision or 480 SD HD Channels
1-800-288-2020, After he gets acct info, press # a bunch of times, get a menu from Mr. Voice recognition
Your Results May Vary, In My Humble Opinion
I Call It Like I See It, Simply a U-verse user, nothing more

[jshier]

Basement is pretty cool year round, and all of the network cabinets I've seen have ventilation.

[RobertWillis]

Do not put the RG in the cabinet. It will reduce your wireless range.

 I agree with pulling a minimumn of two CAT5 or CAT 6 cables to each location. I would also add to this in any location that you expect to have more thah two devices connected. You can add a switch to expand the number of ports but consider the fact that most switches will have the port indicator lights blinking all night. Not good for someone who is looking fo a dark room.

[jshier]

I was planning on getting a wireless router anyway, so I don't care about the wireless range of the RG. N wireless plus more networking features and I don't have to wait for a new RG.