I am building a new home, what wiring should I consider?
We suggest “structured wiring”. In simple terms it is a network of wires for each service in your home. ran to a central location
Probably the one everyone understands is cable TV so we will use that as the example. If you have a home with four TV jacks, those jacks have a wire connected to them that all run to a central location where the Cable Guy connects them to his service. Once he does that all of the TV’s have cable. The same holds true of your telephone service, speaker system, computer network and security system or even the Central Vac system. They are a “network” of locations throughout your home all coming to a central spot (usually the utility room) where the connection takes place.
When you look at your blueprints, imagine where you want your TV’s, Telephones, speakers, computers, security keypads and Vac ports based on your furniture layout and your lifestyle. Or, If you want to make it easy just fill out our “New home questionnaire” and we will take it from there.
Do I want a computer network?
It used to be that a house should be wired for connectivity; the norm was to run computer jacks to every room just in case.
With the advent of “wireless” that has changed to a degree. Nowadays people have laptops, I Pad’s, Cell phones and a myriad of items all wanting to be on the wireless network.This is where it can get complicated because a wireless network can be overcrowded and the end result is the network slows down...We all hate slow networks.
We recommend you “hardwire” anything that can be hardwired and leave the wireless part to items that are mobile. Entertainment systems, TV’s, AV equipment, PC’s Etc. are good examples of hardwired items. Mobile devices (I Pad’s, Cell phones, Laptops etc.) are examples of wireless devices.
It is very common for us to run network jacks to an office/study, entertainment system for hardwired items and in addition wire and install a wireless access point (used to be called a wireless router) to connect all of the mobile devices. This is a good mix of all and will keep your network running at a good clip.
What services should I order?
This is always an issue in a sea of choices or bundles. A bundle is a term used by providers because nowadays you can get all three services from one provider usually saving money in a bundle.
It used to be you got phone service from the phone company, cable from the Cable Company and internet from either.
Nowadays these services can be delivered to your home if bundled on one single wire. That wire is plugged into a “modem” that splits apart the services which then are connected to your home. The phone connects to the phone jacks, cable to the cable jacks and internet to the network jacks.
If we wired your home the infrastructure will accommodate any service by any provider and so the choice is up to you.
Here are the links to the most common providers.
Do I want a landline?
Many people are choosing to be wireless and without a landline in their home. Our only advice is it is up to you.
The Pro’s of a traditional landline are they are very reliable and not susceptible of outages hardly ever. The 911 system can pinpoint your location and your security monitoring is typically lower if you have it. There is little issues with reception and in general providers are giving away landlines because of the influx of cancellations due to cell phones.
IP or internet phones are popular but they are dependent on a running computer and internet service to work. They also convert the information into a language compatible with the internet and then back on the other end so some items may not run properly like fax machines, security systems etc.
In the end the choice is up to you as there are pro’s and Con’s to either. Whichever you decide the wiring we provide will accommodate any of the provider’s services.