Low Voltage Wiring Solutions

Q: What is structured wiring?

A:  Structured wire cabling is the highway that information travels on in a home. All video, satellite TV, cable TV (CATV), computers, telephone lines, security, cameras, and sound systems wiring are ran to a single distribution panel. Cabling, such as Category 6 communications cable, coaxial cable, and fiber optic cable are installed as home runs from the distribution panel to outlets in each a room. Once the wiring is installed and the walls are finished within the building, connections for the various systems are available at the equipment rack or media center.

Q: Why is structured wiring overlooked?

A:  It’s hard for homeowners to assign value to the wiring because they aren’t thinking about what’s going to be connected to the house in six to nine months after it’s finished. They are swamped with other decisions that are having to be made, and it’s very easy to overlook the wiring needs. Wireless is for convenience not stability. TVs, audio systems, theater rooms, security cameras, and the network backbone as a whole should never be done wirelessly. You don’t want this to be an afterthought because once the drywall goes up, we have no idea what is behind the walls.

Q: Could my electrician run the wiring for my technology system?

A: The short answer is yes, however electricians traditionally run basic wiring without taking into account the requirement of emerging technology. The electricians often times are not knowledgeable of proper termination of the cabling. The Audiohouse designs your wiring package while keeping in mind what wiring may be needed for future technologies.  

Q: What should I budget for structured wiring?

A: Based on our experience, it normally costs around 1 percent of the value of the home to design and put in a wiring infrastructure that will prepare your home for current and future needs. The cost to add a properly designed wiring system after your home’s construction is complete is much more costly than doing it right from the beginning. Cutting drywall, removing stone, strategically running or fishing cables, the hiring a contractor to do patch work and to finish out the cosmetics and painting can sometimes amounting to 2 to 3 times more costly that doing it during the construction phase. We see these scenarios constantly with underwired brand new homes. Avoid money and emotional distress by bringing in a professional integrator from the get-go."

Q: Will a home’s network bandwidth be better with structured wiring?

A: Today, a typical house uses 10 times more network traffic than most small businesses that just use Internet for sending emails and accessing online documents. A robust network infrastructure that can handle the traffic of multiple streams of music, Netflix playing in the game room, Pandora cranked up in the kitchen, kids playing Xbox online, mom or dad working from home, and other areas, will be exponentially better when supported by a strategically designed wiring plan.