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Product Article: Leviton Structured Wiring - an Easy-to-Use Solution for Every Project (5/11/2007)

By Adam Brinton, The Multi-Room Company

The growth of broadband and the increase of on-demand music, movies and TV have led to consumers wanting to access the Internet all around their homes. While wireless is an option, it has limitations, especially if the house has been built to current insulation regulations - foil-backed plaster-board really does hamper a wireless system's performance! The simple answer is to install a wired data network. Let's face it, nothing is as reliable as a bit of copper.

Reliability

All projects should be robust and have as little call-back potential as possible, as continued returns to site will eat into any profits and into the client's confidence. A proper wiring infrastructure will save you money in the long run, removing needless maintenance and trouble-shooting, but it will also offer you the option to increase revenues from every project, and the chance to add extra services for your client. All you need to do is look at the huge growth in on-demand web-based TV services. The BBC, Channel Four, ITV, and Channel Five all have systems that let you stream content, and this becomes so much easier if you have the correct cabling infrastructure in place. Of course, it is possible with a wireless system, but latency is improved over wire, and you will get fewer problems with slow buffering.

If you haven't installed a data network before, don't worry - it's as easy as any other wire-based system, especially since the main cable used is the Cat5e or Cat6 network cable that is commonly used for computers and phone systems, and costs very little. In fact any system that doesn't use this cable to T568A wiring standards should be avoided like the plague. A non-standard infrastructure will limit the flexibility, upgradeability and usability of the installation.

When you partner network cabling with other standard cables such as RG-6, you start to establish a reliable wiring backbone for the rest of the systems to hang from or communicate via, avoid latency issues, and keep data secure and robust.

A structured approach

Considering it requires only a modest financial outlay, a properly-designed and implemented structured wiring system should be the first thing on any job's plan/specification. The key is to adopt a methodical and structured approach to running the network cable around the project.

At The Multi-Room Company, we use a range from the market leader in structured wiring systems in the US. The Leviton SMC (Structured Media Center) range offers a complete solution, predominantly in a stud-mounted 'can' format, which is perfect for many domestic projects here as they can't always accommodate a 19" rack (although Leviton also produces a full range of rackmount equipment). The SMC is also easy to use and low cost, and therefore suitable for every project.

Planning

Figure 1 shows a basic schematic of a structured wiring plan for a house. Once the right cable is run to each room, you simply terminate it in different fashions for the equipment required. The wiring 'can' is normally at the heart of the system, and usually sited at the point where services enter the dwelling. The system then spreads out from that point.

Figure 1 - Basic schematic of a structured wiring plan for a data network, based around the Leviton SMC.

The wiring can shown below has TV/RF/UHF/satellite cables running into it from various antennas. These are then split out to the various rooms via runs of the appropriate cable, in this case Cavel QF100 foam-filled coax. We advise in our regular training sessions, that at least two runs of QF100/RG-6 and three runs of Cat5e are installed to each room's break-out point. In fact many installations now include up to four runs of coax and six network cables. This enables a huge number of output options from that point, depending on how the wires are connected back at the wiring can and finished in-room.

The wiring can with voice, data and video distribution.

In essence, the wiring can becomes a switchboard or hub for the services on the cable or structured wiring network. Image 2 shows a TV/RF distribution system in the can, and Image 3 three shows a telephone and fax system.

Image 2 - SAT/TV/UHF/DAB distribution system.

Image 3 - Phone, fax and data punch-down boards.

The real beauty of the Leviton system is its speed of commissioning. The boards clip into the can, and the cables punch down on the colour-coded punch-down blocks, as shown in Image 4. With a simple, supplied tool, it took only 30 minutes to terminate the whole board!

Image 4 - Close up of colour-coded punch-down termination blocks and tool.

Image 5 shows a DSL or broadband filter board which, like all of the available modules, clips straight into the frame. This neat solution means that the user doesn't have to have little filters hanging off all of their phone sockets, as it is done centrally. It is easy to install modems, routers and many extra services for your clients in the can. The clip-in system is so flexible that it can even host a NAS drive that enables all of your customer's CDs and DVDs to be stored centrally and then viewed or listened too on any connected TV or local system across the network!

Image 5 - Leviton SMC can with DSL broadband filter board inserted using clip-in system.

Terminating the cables at the room end

Terminating the cables at the room end is also very straightforward. Image 6 shows a 47mm deep UK back box that has more internal space than the regular shallow back boxes typically used for high-voltage work.

Image 6 - 47mm deep back box.

The Leviton SMC system uses a standard range of face plates to go on the back box. These plates allow you to clip in the required socket. Image 7 for example, shows a TV, phone and Internet connection for one back box. So if a room only requires a phone socket, that is all you fit, if it requires more, such as pictures and/or audio, you clip in the extras.

Image 7 - Clip-in frame and sockets.

Face plate and one of the clip-in frames with two RJ45 sockets, one for phone and the other for the computer connection. The last RF socket is for TV, and each socket only takes a few minutes to terminate.

The Leviton system is unique in that you can terminate four discrete cables in one UK back box - that's double the amount of any other break-out product on the market! This means that the number of back boxes that you need to chase out and install is halved, resulting in a huge amount of time and money saved. It also means less 'wall acne' for the customer, and a neater finish as the sockets are all available in black or white and the trim plates are available in different finishes to help match any interior design scheme.

One of the many 'designer' metal finishes of trim plate available.

Conclusion

The Leviton structured approach is a very straightforward way of building extra services into your projects. If you are on site pulling cables for high-voltage work or distributed audio, you can very easily pull the cables for the data network, and then supply and fit the extra hardware for the second fit. It fractionally increases the time on the job, but gives a huge increase in potential revenue in return. For those wishing to learn more, The Multi-Room Company offers comprehensive training, delivered by a Microsoft-certified professional, showing how to plan, install and use a Leviton structured wiring system. Contact Adam Brinton or Mark James at The Multi-Room Company for more details on +44 (0)1452 858260.

Adam Brinton is the networking and IP systems specialist for The Multi-Room Company, importer and distributor to the residential custom install trade.

www.multi-room.com