eBook

Structured cabling
in the home
Guy Kasier
E&D Systems
July 2008

Home of the Future

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Structured cabling in the home

Structured cabling in the home

1. Introduction
It used to be a lot easier. It used to be that 230V cabling would be laid in the newly
built home, to which a few sockets, power points and switches were connected. At
most, there was also a telephone socket in the wall and a coax cable connection for
the television. A small distribution board was sufficient to protect a few socket circuits
and lighting circuits. The installation was ready.
That is no longer the case today. With the arrival of integrated home systems and
many other technological marvels of this day and age, the number of networks in the
home has increased sharply. Generally, one telephone connection is no longer
enough; we want to have a connection in almost every room. This is also the case for
the television and radio. In addition to the flat-screen TV in the living room, we also
want a television in the bedroom and kitchen. And in the bedroom, we also want to
be able to watch and operate a DVD recorder with hard disk. Furthermore, we have a
desktop computer and a few portable computers for which we also provide a
separate network. All these computers must also be able to use the Internet. There is
a video entry phone at the front door that we want to use in various places in the
home. When we are watching television, the picture of the person at the door
appears as a PIP (picture in picture) on the screen, and why not on the computer
screen when we are using the computer as well. Furthermore, we would also like to
hear our entire MP3 collection on the audio system in the living room and the audio
equipment in the childrens rooms. In the bathroom and kitchen, we want to listen to
the news on the radio. We also want to use IP cameras on certain televisions and the
computers.
The expansion of the various networks in the home is enormous. It is then obvious
that we are looking for solutions for dealing with such network cabling in the home in
a well thought out way. In this article, we will discuss a few practical examples and
smart solutions. We will see that the flexibility (the adaptability) of the installation will
play an important role.

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Structured cabling in the home

2. The basics
Depending on the systems that have to be cabled, we generally use two cabling
methods. The first is to connect from component to component. This method is used,
for example, when the operating points of an integrated home system are connected
to a bus system via a decentralised interface. In practice, we come across this form
of cabling in the EIB/KNX integrated home system.

Figure 1:
Connection of operating points to the same bus cable. (Illustration source: E&D Systems)

The advantage of this form of cabling is that only a few connections have to be
made. The disadvantage is that there will be a greater loss of function when the
cable is damaged. A second cabling method, that we will use a lot more in practice, is
star cabling or home run. Every component is connected to a central point by its
own cable. There are many examples of this, such as the telephones that are
connected to the local telephone exchange with their own cabling, or the speakers of
a multi-room system that are connected to the central amplifiers with their own
cabling as well. The most well known example is probably the computer network
where every computer has its own connection to the hub or router.

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Structured cabling in the home

Figure 2:
A Gira EIB/KNX button is connected to the bus cable here. We see two red and two black cables. The
bus comes to the connector and then goes on to the next component. (Illustration source: E&D
Systems)

Figure 3:
Integrated home system buttons that are connected to a central point using a star topology.

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Structured cabling in the home

Figure 4:
Example of an audio system and a telephone system in which every component is connected to a
central point by its own cabling. (Illustration source: Russound)

The advantage of star cabling is that there is only a limited loss of function when a
cable is defective. The disadvantage is that a lot of connections have to be made at
the central point.

3. The traditional installation method

For every room in the home, a decision has to be made regarding which connections
and how many of them have to be put in, and where to locate them. How many
phone connections do we want in the living room? Will there be a fax machine there?
Where should the connection for the television and radio be? Must there also be a
connection for the computer network in the living room? Where will the home theatre
speakers be? We can continue like this for every room.
The traditional installation method consists of linking every connection to a central
point with its own cable. On the one hand, this entails a lot of cabling work and
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restricts the flexibility of the installation. This is certainly the case when the cables
that come to the central point are connected directly to the active components such
as the local telephone exchange, the TV amplifier or the router. For example, when
originally deciding what has to go where, if we did not anticipate that a year after the
installation, we would also like a telephone connection in addition to the television
connection in the guest room, then we have a problem. The connection cannot be
made.
A further disadvantage of this traditional cabling method is that a lot of recessed
boxes are needed to place all outlets alongside one another. Certain producers have
responded to this by providing a module that fits into one single box in which all types
of connections can be made.

Figure 5:
A television, radio, dish antenna, telephone and computer are connected with this R&M multimedia
connection. (Illustration source: Reichle & De-Massari)

It probably goes without saying that it is useful to use a very deep recessed box in
such a case. A number of cables go into it and a certain minimum-bending radius has
to be respected for every cable.
Bticino has found a solution by using just two modules and two cables. A coax cable
is connected directly to the TV outlet. A fourfold twisted-pair cable to another module
provides the possibility to make a connection for the computer, telephone and the
SCS integrated home system bus (for example, the entry phone).

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Structured cabling in the home

Figure 6:
The Bticino multimedia solution uses two cables. (Illustration source: Bticino)

4. Smart installation methods

If we just carry on directly connecting everything at the central point to the active
units, then there continues to be a problem regarding the flexibility of the installation.
It is better to use a patch cabinet, in which every individual cable comes to an outlet
in the cabinet. We can now make the correct connection using patch cables. We can
always decide whether we will use an outlet in the home for a computer connection
or for a telephone or fax machine. Certain manufacturers go much further here and
only use one cable for telephony, audio, video, television and computer connections
throughout the home. We will look at a few concrete examples.

4.1. Abitana
Abitana uses its own cable. It is a screened TP cable with four pairs of conductors.
One pair of conductors in the cable is screened separately. This pair can be used for
the distribution of video and television signals.

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Figure 7:
The Abitana cable, in which the brown-white pair is screened separately. (Illustration source: Abitana)

All RJ45 outlets throughout the home are connected in a star topology to a separate
multimedia distribution board by this cable.

Figure 8:
The multimedia distribution board. (Illustration source: Abitana)

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Structured cabling in the home

All incoming cables are connected to an RJ45 outlet in this distribution board. These
outlets are mounted on the DIN rail. Depending on the residents desires, one or
more active components can also be incorporated into the multimedia distribution
board, e.g., video distributors, a hub or router, an audio distributor, a telephone
distributor, etc. An outlet in a certain room can be connected to any active component
by using patch cables. In practice, this means that, for example, an unused outlet in
the childrens room can be connected to the local telephone exchange, because you
now want to use a fixed telephone there as well. If you decide to take the telephone
out of the room, but you still want a data connection for the computer or a TV
connection, then it can be done in no time at all in the patch cabinet.

Figure 9:
Left: a TV distributor that is secured to the DIN rail in the patch cabinet. Right: the coupling from an
RJ45 outlet to a coax connection for the television. (Illustration source: Abitana)

In order to further increase flexibility, splitters are also supplied. These ensure that an
RJ45 outlet can be used not just for one unit, but also for a number of units. For
example, two telephones can be connected to one RJ45, or a telephone and a
computer, etc.

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Figure 10:
Distribution of antenna or CaTV signals throughout the home. (Illustration source: Abitana)

4.2. Gardy
Gardy (Schneider Electric) also has a similar solution to Abitana, under the name of
Freedomnet. However, Gardy has the Freedom Multinet system specifically for
homes. This does not use a distribution board with separate components, but a
multimedia distribution box. Up to 8 RJ45 outlets can be connected to it. Two
telephone lines, antenna or CaTV signals and a router can be used as the sources.
In this way, each RJ45 outlet can be used for these different signals.
In order to be able to use an RJ45 outlet for a number of purposes at the same time,
Gardy provides a multimedia splitter. This looks a little like a computer mouse. The
splitter is connected to the RJ45 outlet in the room. On the other side, 3 units can be
connected: telephone, TV and computer.

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Figure 11:
Distribution of telephone, computer and TV to 8 RJ45 outlets in the home. (Illustration source: Gardy)

Figure 12:
Up to three units can be connected to one RJ45 outlet using the mouse splitter. (Illustration source:
Gardy)

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4.3. Reichle & De-Massari

Aside from the multimedia connection module that we discussed earlier, R&M also
has a smart solution for the home in the form of a micro-splitter. To this end, a small
connecting piece is plugged into an RJ45 outlet. R&M provides different patch cables
that have single or double micro-plugs. A single plug is sufficient for an analogue
telephone line. A double plug is used for TV signals and data communications. All
types of combinations are thus possible on one and the same RJ45 outlet: a
computer connection, an analogue telephone and a fax, or a computer connection
and a TV connection, etc. The function of each connection can be indicated with
coloured strips.

Figure 13:
Top left: the small micro-splitter that can be plugged into every RJ45 outlet. Below: the various patch
cables for telephony, computer and TV. (Illustration source: Reichle & De-Massari)

5. Installation tips
Every producer provides sufficient information on how the outlets have to be
connected to the cables. For example, the length to which the outermost cable
insulation must be cut back is important, as is the length of the screening with STP or
FTP cables. These instructions have to be strictly adhered to in order to ensure
optimum data communications.

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Figure 14:
Example of the way in which a producer indicates how the connection has to be made to an outlet.
(Illustration source: Niko)

In addition, a number of general installation rules apply. Data cables must not be
bent too tightly, otherwise the twisting of the conductor pairs in the cable will be
spoiled. Generally, a minimum radius of 8 times the outside diameter of the cable is
stipulated. Furthermore, there must be no mechanical tension on the data cables
(also with regard to the twisting). Therefore, it is better to roll out the cables from a
reel that can turn freely.

Figure 15:
Some important installation tips. (Illustration source: Niko)

You must also ensure that the outer sheath is not compressed when securing the
data cables in place. Finally, it is also important not to place data cables too close to
230V cables, in order to avoid interference.

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6. Links to producers
Abitana: www.abitana.com
Bticino: www.bticino.com
Gardy: www.gardy.com
Gira: www.gira.com
Niko: www.niko.be
Reichle & De-Massari: www.rdm.com
Russound: www.russound.com

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