Confused with cables running through my new house

[Tbone68]

Hi
Hope someone can help.
I just moved into a 2 year old house.
In every room, there is a small hole in the wall with an Ethernet cable connector and an HDMI connector.
So, I assume this is for internet and tv.
But I am confused about the hdmi/tv setup.
I have no idea how the previous owner configured this, only thing I knew was that they had sky and there is a satellite dish on the house.
My guess is that they had a central sky box then split it over the other rooms in the house ?
I don’t want sky.
So if I want to use freesat (for example) I still need to connect the satellite cable to the freesat box at the tv.
The hdmi connector doesn’t help me.
It seems a shame that I have all these cables running through the house if I can’t make use of them

Also, even if they had a central sky box - how could they control what to watch on multiple TVs ?

Thanks

 

[Arcam_boy]

All the cables must run to a central point somewhere in the house to get a feed.

If you can find that then you maybe able to use the Ethernet points if you connect your router? If you have no use for the HDMI then just ignore it and leave it and do what works best for you instead.

 

[Joe Fernand]

As @Arcam_boy says if the Satellite Box was distributed it likely lived somewhere central (where the Satt cables terminate) and it sounds like they may then have had some form of HDMI Distribution out to multiple rooms.

Any pics of what you see in each room and is there are form of patch bay or place where lots of cables terminate - the lift, garage or under stairs cupboard are alway popoular!

Joe

 

[Tbone68]

Thanks for the replies.
I know where all the cables terminate. It’s a small cupboard.
That’s also where the router will be.
There are also cameras on the outside of the house that connect there. So it’s a bit of a mess and very confusing. It seems that there are two bug distribution boards to feed all the Ethernet cables going all around the house.
I have not actually moved in yet but I will post pictures later

I just don’t understand how feeding an hdmi ti every room would help.
Surely all tvs would just show whatever channel the receiver box was set to ?

Anyway - thanks again

 

[Joe Fernand]

‘Surely all tvs would just show whatever channel the receiver box was set to ?’ - which was (is) the norm for many ‘legacy’ systems, though there may have been a multiple Input/output Matrix to allow you to view multiple sources simultaneously.

Will be interesting to see the pics.

Joe

 

[Tbone68]

‘Surely all tvs would just show whatever channel the receiver box was set to ?’ - which was (is) the norm for many ‘legacy’ systems, though there may have been a multiple Input/output Matrix to allow you to view multiple sources simultaneously.

Will be interesting to see the pics.

Joe

Thanks Joe
I will get more pictures when I officially move in next week, but I have attached some.
There is also cctv cameras connected into all this mess

Appreciate your help

 

[maf1970]

Rack is a bit messy and could do to be done a bit better. e.g. coloured cables, etc.
At the top of the rack picture -

3 small black boxes look like POE injectors for 3 video cameras. These are connected to the switch.
The Spro NVR in picture 2 would also be connected to the switch to record the cameras.

Underneath them is a standard Cisco Small Business Switch that is now obsolete.

Next are two patch panels for the ethernet connections throughout the house. Are these patch panels labelled ? Looking as close as possible at the picture you can see that the wiring into the patch panels is different. The top one is for the ethernet connections, the bottom one could be for the HDMI connections or HDMI over Ethernet ?

On the floor infront of the rack are 2 black boxes, 1 I'm sure is the Spro NVR, not sure about the other.

The red topped box is just a Tesmart HDMI 2 input to 8 output switch. One of the inputs could have been the sky box.

In the cupboard are there any other sockets on the wall ? e.g. Satellite dish feeds and broadband connections.

 

[Kapkirk]

Wow what a mess, I'd be tempted to just rip the whole lot out.

 

[Joe Fernand]

As @Kapkirk says your options are start over or decipher what the previous owner has cobbled together, @maf1970 has ID’d most of the bits.

The pic of the red HDMI Switch also shows an HDMI a over CAT or (more likely) HDMI over LAN Transmitter (TX) - which would suggest a bunch of matching Receivers (RX) at the TV end points.

Wouldn’t be the first time we have seen the RX cable tied to the rear of TV’s and a removal firm simply unplugging everything at the rear of the TV and walking away with the RX attached to the TV’s. You may have to ask for them back

I’d start out ignoring the installation and work out what you want to achieve room by room, create a connectivity plan and then see if the cabling infrastructure is going to work for you.

Joe

 

[Tbone68]

Thanks

I hope to get a better idea once I actually move in.

Appreciate the responses

 

[MrFluffyWalrus]

Thanks Joe
I will get more pictures when I officially move in next week, but I have attached some.
There is also cctv cameras connected into all this mess

Appreciate your help

Phew! - quite a video/sound production set up. You sure there isn't a hidden bdsm dungeon you haven't found yet?

 

[MrFluffyWalrus]

Seriously - I did a renovation in my home 2 years ago and had all rooms connected with ethernet (who knows what I'll want to connect in the years ahead) and placed the router, NAS and tp-Link switch box in a hall cupboard. No video feed stuff as it's not my thing. Has plenty of ventilation, is out of the way but easily accessible. Works like a charm, the feed to the M33 ( and TV) is rock solid, super stable and dependable. I only use wifi for tablets now.

 

[maf1970]

The pic of the red HDMI Switch also shows an HDMI a over CAT or (more likely) HDMI over LAN Transmitter (TX) - which would suggest a bunch of matching Receivers (RX) at the TV end points.

Given the OP states there are both LAN and HDMI in the rooms could the other transmitter be behind the wall ?

@Tbone68 - To help with things can you get in touch with the previous owners for more info ? e.g. about the networking, did they have Sky? if so what version ? If Q you may need to get the LNB changed if you want to use the dish for something else.

I’d start out ignoring the installation and work out what you want to achieve room by room, create a connectivity plan and then see if the cabling infrastructure is going to work for you.

Great point from Joe. This is where you should start.

 

[Tbone68]

Update.
We had the alarm company out as there was a fault on the box.
Turns out this guy also had to try to get everything in order with the previous owner.
So, upshot is, he knows everything
We just have to schedule a visit and this hero will get everything configured fo4 us.
Alarm, cctv, video, WiFi repeaters etc.

I wanted to marry him, but the wife said no.


Thanks for all your advice.