Re: Newbie confusion - wiring guide and product selection

["rclhome" <rcldave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi All,

...so I thought I'd got the cat5 part worked out, but it's almost an
endless list! The list from Andrew throws a few more complications in;
for example, I haven't even looked at where things like smoke alarms
or outside lights will be located.

I think it's a case of leaving as much cable lying around as possible
and trying to work out what's practical to have just now. I realise I
need more than 2 cat5 per room though!

Thanks - Dave

> Aplogies if this is too common a  question, but I've searched the
> archives and can't really find what I'm looking for.
>
> I've recently purchased a house that needs a lot of renovation and
> would like to add some automation. I'd originally planned on using
> X10, as I'd read quite a bit about it and that was all I was aware of.
> I armed myself with "Smarthomes for Dummies" and the
"Automated Home"
> wiring guide and was ready to add all the wiring I need.
>
> However, on further investigation I'm now confused what to do. I hear
> X10 can be unreliable and have come across things like Idratek, xPL,
> xAp etc. I don't want to make a mistake at this stage and end up with
> something in the walls that may not be too much use later! It now
> seems there are hundred different ways of achieving what I want and I
> don't know how to select the best options for me.
>
> My rough requirements are: I'd like to end up with a system that will
> allow me to have a data LAN, control the lights, connect phones (was
> originally planning on using Asterisk), connect into the security
> system and have a (simple) audio/video distribution. I don't mind
> paying/using something proprietry, but would like to be able to
> manipulate things myself later and would be quite happy to write
> code/scripts to do so if required.
>
> I'm hoping someone has a few pointers to help me to move forward with
> this, such as are there any suggested "best practices"? Do I
have to
> select the products first then wire to suit? Is "Smarthomes for
> dummies" out of date now? Should I move to proprietry products?
>
> Thanks for any help. Dave
>




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