Home Networking/re-wiring - basic advice
Discussion
Hi,
I'm in the planning stages of a major renovation of an unmodernised 1930s 3 bed semi (it has no kitchen beyond the conceptual stage of 4 walls and a ceiling, no central heating and is single glazed to give the pitcure) and need to consider a total re-wire.
In short sentences and uncomplicated words what should I be considering when it comes to the re-wire? Sockets everywhere is a given. LED lights from guy, natch. What about network points? I uderstand very little on the topic but I understand I can place a broadband router in a central position (under the stiars?) and run Cat5/5e/6 cabling to the receptions and the bedrooms so as to do internetting from there. I can also stream to tvs using the broadband router.
What else can I do (within a sensible non-PH budget)? Can I have a DVD/Blu-ray under the tv in the lounge playing through HDMI to that telly but also via the network cable run that DVD/BR player on a tv in the bedroom? Can I use an amp (also under the tv downstairs) to power speakers upstairs? What hardware will I need?
Apologies for the GCSE questions but I'm a novice on all things hi-tech (I don't even own a smartphone) and hope to future proof the house while it's being knocked about as part of the re-fit and don't want to regret not having done something differently a couple of years down the line.
You can talk to me about central heating controls too or anythig else you think I might appreciate.
Thanks.
I'm in the planning stages of a major renovation of an unmodernised 1930s 3 bed semi (it has no kitchen beyond the conceptual stage of 4 walls and a ceiling, no central heating and is single glazed to give the pitcure) and need to consider a total re-wire.
In short sentences and uncomplicated words what should I be considering when it comes to the re-wire? Sockets everywhere is a given. LED lights from guy, natch. What about network points? I uderstand very little on the topic but I understand I can place a broadband router in a central position (under the stiars?) and run Cat5/5e/6 cabling to the receptions and the bedrooms so as to do internetting from there. I can also stream to tvs using the broadband router.
What else can I do (within a sensible non-PH budget)? Can I have a DVD/Blu-ray under the tv in the lounge playing through HDMI to that telly but also via the network cable run that DVD/BR player on a tv in the bedroom? Can I use an amp (also under the tv downstairs) to power speakers upstairs? What hardware will I need?
Apologies for the GCSE questions but I'm a novice on all things hi-tech (I don't even own a smartphone) and hope to future proof the house while it's being knocked about as part of the re-fit and don't want to regret not having done something differently a couple of years down the line.
You can talk to me about central heating controls too or anythig else you think I might appreciate.
Thanks.
scenario8 said:
Hi,
What else can I do (within a sensible non-PH budget)?
(1) Can I have a DVD/Blu-ray under the tv in the lounge playing through HDMI to that telly but also via the network cable run that DVD/BR player on a tv in the bedroom?
(2) Can I use an amp (also under the tv downstairs) to power speakers upstairs?
(3) What hardware will I need?
(1) Yes. If it were me, I'd look either for (a) a Blu ray with 2 HDMI out sockets, or if that's a no go, I'd use an HDMI splitter. One feed goes to the TV in the lounge. The other would go into a wall socket. I'd run an HDMI cable in the walls to the bedroom, and have an HDMI out socket on the wall in there. nexxia.co.uk has a ton of sockets like this. What else can I do (within a sensible non-PH budget)?
(1) Can I have a DVD/Blu-ray under the tv in the lounge playing through HDMI to that telly but also via the network cable run that DVD/BR player on a tv in the bedroom?
(2) Can I use an amp (also under the tv downstairs) to power speakers upstairs?
(3) What hardware will I need?
(2) Yes. Some (say) 7.1 amps will allow you to run either 7.1 configuration or a 5.1 configuration and a 2.0 configuration in what the amp usually calls Zone 2. With some AV receivers offering up to 11.2 I'd imagine there are a few twists and turns you could do from this basic idea. Again, I'd run speaker cables in the walls from lounge to bedroom and use speaker-specific face plates.
(3) In the situation you've mentioned, you'd need a remote that you could use in the bedroom to control hardware in the lounge. There are (I think) some bits of kit that will do this but I'm not sure which.
An alternative would be to rip your blu ray & dvd collection to a NAS drive and plug that into the router. If you have a DNLA compliant NAS drive and DNLA compliant TVs you should be able to pull video to any room that has that sort o TV via an ethernet cable.
The slight drawback I see with what you're proposing is that your lounge bluray/AV amp can only do one thing at once. So I can't see how one person could watch one thing in the bedroom and another could watch something else in the lounge. That may not be an issue now, but it may be worth thinking about for the future.
Greg66 said:
An alternative would be to rip your blu ray & dvd collection to a NAS drive and plug that into the router. If you have a DNLA compliant NAS drive and DNLA compliant TVs you should be able to pull video to any room that has that sort o TV via an ethernet cable.
^ Do this 
It will be far easier as its central (although you'll need to configure the NAS and make sure you buy correct/compliant gear to suit), it will allow multiple people/rooms to consume multiple streams (the Blu Ray when split limits to one source), and I expect it will work out almost as cheap even including the cost of the NAS once youve factored in not needing different sockets, cable runs and the labour on those etc etc.
R.
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