[dizzy123]

Is it possible to use a coaxial cable to connect to a cable box if its got a f connector, if so what are the draw backs.

As i want to lay cable down myself so i can then get virgin multi room and only have to plug the boxes directly into the wall sockets instead of getting virgin to put cables down anywhere.

[m.stephens]

Only the connectors are different. Provided you use decent coax there shouldn't be a problem. It just needs to be TV/satellite coax (75 ohm impedance) as you might possibly come across 50 ohm coax which used to be used for 10Base2 computer network installation.

You could install faceplates with either F-connectors or with normal push fit and then use adaptors (try Maplin) for anything which needs a different connection type. Using adaptors increases signal loss slightly but its not likely to be a problem.

Consider running at least 2 separate coaxes to each room as you might want Freeview as well and trying to put DVB-T (freeview) or indeed terrestrial analogue down the same wire as DVB-C (cable) is a recipe for disaster. You may also want to run a couple of Cat 5 cables at the same time so that you can have a wired computer network if you want. None of these additional cables actually need to be connected to anything until you need them - its just easier to do the cabling once and not have to add extra runs later.

[dizzy123]

Thanks for the advice, should i put cat 6 down instead of cat 5 is their much diffidence apart from price.

[Boostrail]

Originally Posted by m.stephens

Consider running at least 2 separate coaxes to each room as you might want Freeview as well and trying to put DVB-T (freeview) or indeed terrestrial analogue down the same wire as DVB-C (cable) is a recipe for disaster.

Fully agreed - got the T shirt!


You may also want to run a couple of Cat 5 cables at the same time so that you can have a wired computer network if you want.[/QUOTE]

I find todays wireless network systems perfectly adequate for the domestic environment. We sometimes have 5 PC's in the house and the Linksys wireless router never puts a " foot" wrong. As we are on VM 20MB we get an average of 4MB per system but this varies as to who got into downloading what but I have never had reason to question my basic access response. (This compartes with other people round here who chose to ignore the cable point outside their house and use the dreaed BT phone line. At best they get little more than 1.2 MB total i.e. 6% of what I get, although one friend says he gets 1.8 MB from O2 - 9% of what I get!!)

We also find that file transfer between PC's on the wireless networkis pretty instataneous

[dizzy123]

I find when transferring files from PC to PC wirelessly or from PC to NAS wirelessly it can take some time especially when i move around 5gb at a time, which i do often.

I have found when wirelessly connected to my PS3 it will take some time to stream movies from my PC which are normally avi at around 700mb. Works fine if im playin games online tho.

Wireless is good, but i consider wire's to be better as they are more future proof, if i upgrade to 802.11n it means i have to buy more kit and only be able to get a max transfer speed of up to 600 Mbit/s, But with CAT 6 i can instantly get 1gb transfer a sec nd then get kit which will cater for 10GBASE-T which will hopefully be cheaper than a 802.11y wireless router when that comes out.

I want a network which will allow me to transfer files at around 50gb almost instantly while being able to stream a blue ray film to a tv.

[m.stephens]

Originally Posted by dizzy123

Thanks for the advice, should i put cat 6 down instead of cat 5 is their much diffidence apart from price.

I'd put whatever seems reasonable to you cost-wise. If you went for cat 5 and then decided you actually needed cat 6 you could use the cat 5 to pull the cat 6 through at a later date which is still easier than putting the cable in from scratch. Plan your cable runs with a view of what you might want (or need ) to do in the future.

It all really depends on what you think you need. Many people will find a wireless router does them fine but my view is that you only really want to wirelessly connect the stuff that needs to move around or sits in the middle of the room. If you have NAS boxes etc you might as well wire them in and get the better performance.

[dizzy123]

Cheers for the advice, as it is a new build i think it would be easier if i just put cat6 cable in from the start, just to avoid having to redo it.

Here is a drawing of what i was thinking of doing:

Is their anyway i could use just 1 single cable to send Cable and Terrestrial analogue together, or is it just a complete recipe for disaster.

[m.stephens]

The problem is that cable uses a whole range of frequencies from VHF right through to the normal UHF TV band for cable TV and (at the moment) analogue FM radio. The actual frequencies vary depending on where you are in the same way that the terrestrial frequencies vary. The likelihood of the terrestrial frequencies not clashing with the cable ones is exceedingly small plus you would probably need to look at filtering, not to mention the unnecessary signal loss -simplest way to look at it is each time you split an output you get half going each way even if you don't use one of them (not quite true but near enough) so splitting it back out in each room would waste half of each. And then you might need to amplify one or both just to get round it which in turn can add extra problems.

Using two coaxes to each room will be simpler, more flexible and very probably cheaper and will certainly save you having to pay for hair implants.

Very nice drawing by the way!

[dizzy123]

Originally Posted by m.stephens

The problem is that cable uses a whole range of frequencies from VHF right through to the normal UHF TV band for cable TV and (at the moment) analogue FM radio. The actual frequencies vary depending on where you are in the same way that the terrestrial frequencies vary. The likelihood of the terrestrial frequencies not clashing with the cable ones is exceedingly small plus you would probably need to look at filtering, not to mention the unnecessary signal loss -simplest way to look at it is each time you split an output you get half going each way even if you don't use one of them (not quite true but near enough) so splitting it back out in each room would waste half of each. And then you might need to amplify one or both just to get round it which in turn can add extra problems.

Using two coaxes to each room will be simpler, more flexible and very probably cheaper and will certainly save you having to pay for hair implants.

Very nice drawing by the way!

LOL Cheers