I have a 2-bedroom apartment that I rent out that is now being re-done -- including new electric wiring. While the ceiling and some of the walls are open and accessible, I am thinking about pre-wring the apartment for telephone, Internet, and TV services. FIOS is not yet available at the apartment but it will be soon. Cable TV and Internet service is available. I am not really interested in Satellite TV or any pre-wiring for Satellite TV or Internet services.
What I am trying to figure out is what type of wiring to run to each room to pre-wire it for telephone (regular and FIOS), and FIOS TV and Internet.
I know how to pre-wire for Cable TV and Cable Internet. And I know how to pre-wire for a hard wired Internet network with a patch panel. But I'm not sure what FIOS TV, FIOS telephone, and FIOS Internet use for in-house room-to-room wiring and how to pre-wire for those services.
Can anyone clue me in on what kind of wiring to run in order to pre-wire for these services, or point me to any websites that explain this?
*No need for special wiring for FIOS. Just bring all of the telephone and TV cables to one central point where power is available. Verizon will bring the fiber to that area and re-feed the existing wiring and install a box.
Thanks. I'm not exactly sure what you mean when you wrote, "Verizon will bring the fiber to that area and re-feed the existing wiring and install a box."
What kind of "existing wiring" should I have that goes to each room where there will be a telephone, FIOS Internet, or FIOS TV?
I don't want them to run new wires to each room after the fact if I can pre-wire each room for those services.
Run your standard telephone cable (possibly Cat5) from each location to a central point, probably where the utilities enter the building, and RG-6 quad shield from each TV location to the same central point. Verizon will run the fiber optic line to a converter at that central point, and use the standard internal wiring for TV and telephone
Basically, your existing wiring for your old style copper telephone was going to a grey box on the outside wall of your house. The copper wires coming from the street end (terminate) on one side of that box (and so does their responsibility for the wires) and your internal wires terminate on the other side of that box (and your responsibility for wires beyond that point begins). FIOS box is an active device that needs power, has batteries etc and in not designed to be located outside. Well, at least those varieties they normally install in a residence. So, your telephone wiring will have to start inside of the house at some point (garage, basement). They can just pull a single cable back to the grey box outside, disconnect the old copper wires from the street, connect the wires from the FIOS box and that would be the end of your rewiring for FIOS telephone service.
Cable TVs and computers are entirely different matter though: since Verizon did not have your Cable TV before, they cannot just go back to the grey box (another grey box on the outside wall installed by your Cable TV provider) 'cause it belongs to the competitor. So they'll have to devise a way to pull the coax cables to the FIOS box or to the Verizon router if it's located away from the box. Computers and Cable TVs terminate on the router instead of the FIOS box which gives you a little more flexibility 'cause the router is MUCH smaller and can be located anywhere in the house.
You might want to think this setup through and pull all the cables you need to the points where you think the FIOS box and the Verizon router will be located inside the house. Do it before Verizon shows up. Verizon guy that will show up for the install will be under quite some pressure to get this installed quickly and, although he can pull some cables, chances are you are not going to like his craftsmanship. In any case, be ready to provide him with some assistance: cable pulling requires two people (one for each end) but Verizon always sends the guy alone so he just has to cut some corners to get anything done.
God luck!
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*Run a 4 pair CAT 5 cable for each phone jack. Run an RG6 quad cable to each cable TV jack. Run a 4 pair CAT 6 cable for each data jack. Do every room including the kitchen. I had one customer ask me to run a TV cable to the area behind the refrigerator because he planned on buying a fridge with a TV built into it.
I don't know how this apartment is laid out or where exactly you will be installing the termination points for all of these cables, but if needed you might want to install a conduit from outside the building to the termination area so that Verizon can easily pull the fiber into the building.
Usually the FIOS box requires 120 volts to operate. You might want to put this on a separate circuit and have a double duplex receptacle (Quad) all ready for Verizon.
On all the new/remodel jobs I've been involved with in the past 15 years, we would install a 3/4 plywood backboard in the basement for all phone, cable, alarm and computer network cabling. This makes service, repair and changes very easy for the home owner. There is also power for the modems, switches and whatever all there in one central location. I do the same thing for business customers too. It's absolutely amazing how much wasted time and frustration is alleviated. In an apartment, there could be some closet space sacrificed to the god of electronics.
Nobody mentioned this, but since the walls are open, you might want to consider running 2 coax cables to your TV's . The second coax would be for an over-the air antenna in case you drop Cable/FIOS or as a backup in case Cable/ FIOS goes out. Although I use my cable box primarily to watch TV, I also have a over the air antenna hooked up to get HD channels from the major networks. Running 2 coax drops eliminates the need for you to switch coax cables back and forth. With 2 coax cables you would be set: 1 coax feeds the Cable BOX or FIOS box, and the other cable would go into the antenna input on your TV. You can then switch from "Cable" to "ANT" from your couch using the remote. And if you can, see if it's possible to mount an antenna in the attic or outside.
yes, I would have mentioned this had I seen this thread sooner.
If you wanna get real fancy, I believe you can get "structured cable" termination panels and cables made just for this purpose - usually two coax and two CAT-5 or CAT-6 in each cable (one cable TV, one antenna, one phone drop, one network drop) then you bring each service to the panel where it is distributed to all rooms, and usually there's a signal amplifier for each of the cable TV and antenna. If you wanna be real high speed, that's the way to go, because then you can have all your surge protection in the same place, with short ground runs.
I've been thinking about doing this myself, but there's so much other work with the basic electrical stuff that needs to be done... plus around here to get anything decent on cable you need digital cable (at least according to my POS provider) so I'd have to buy another box to watch cable upstairs, don't care about TV that much. And I don't have a land line phone and my network is wireless, so...
you wanna get real fancy, I believe you can get "structured cable"
I've seen those "siamese cables", but depending on where the OP's TV is, he might be better off running the antenna coax alone in the attic or right outside the wall rather than bring it to a central dist panel. I've learned the shorter the antenna cable is, the better off you are. Plus putting an amp on might make the signal worse, especially when it comes to digital HD channels.
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