Happy New Year!
One of my "resolutions" for the year is to make full use of my existing AV systems and components. I have an "immediate" stumbling block created by the evolution of RF cable infrastructure in an old baloon construction brick two story home designed and built in 1938-39. Some of the cable and parts of runs date back as far as the late 1950's or early '60s. I'm not sure excatly how many splitters and splices can be found in the system, let alone how critical some of the historical variations in cable and cable ends may become.
The house also has a study containing two computers networked to a cable modem in the room which is "downstream" of the splitter cluster in the basement. A recent attempt to install a Comcast digital cable box in our master bedroom failed, according to the tech, because the signal was attenuated to a "-13" Tests in the basement upstream of the splitter resulted in "+4" which was deemed acceptable.
I understand the basics of making custom RF cables and am considering a DIY effort. The issue raised is all the "might as wells" associated with this effort. Ideally, I understand from Comcast, the cable modem should reside on its' own "split" immediately downstream of the incoming line. Again, according to Comcast, all the rest of the RF in the house can be amplified before it is distributed to RF taps where TV's or cable boxes are installed. If I "split" in the basement, I'll end up with a cable modem in the basement and probably an ethernet run from it to a second floor room where a four port switch/dsl router is currently located. This can theoretically be completed using a pre-built 100' ethernet segment, if the cable modem outputs full ethernet standard signals. Another alternative is a separate 100' ethernet run for each of two computers located in the same room.
But, If I "do it right" I want a whole lot more. A "wall jack plate" with phone, ethernet, and RF in three rooms upstairs, a larger interconnect center on the back wall of a family room on the first floor, and an associated center on a wall of an inside hall converted to a closet with older stereo components and a set of high quality 1970's vintage KLH speakers already wired in the living room, and a pair of rare wood boxed US made Zenith speakers at the back of the family room. The front wall of the family room has a fairly high quality Onkyo system with the right switching to do a 50' run to the hall/closet so that if I want, I can source from the AV cabinet and activate speakers in the Living Room, or I can source from the closet and play vynl, reel-to-reel, cassette, etc from there over the surround speakers in the family rooom and the same Zenith boxes for what will probably be "over kill" sound.
Future enhancements include a computer based source or two, as both of my main AV monitors are 2005-6 high end Samsung components, and the ability to use a computer to store, sort, annotate, and display my growing library of digital photos, play MP3 audio selections from a computer sound library, etc., etc. are all coming attractions.
This adds to the question of how to best manage the ethernet requirements and whether or not it makes sense to try to connect two monitors to a single HD cable box. I'm currently using a digital "cable card" in the family room TV which I put in on the verbal assurance from one source that "On Demand" services could be triggered over the internet and delivered to my set without leasing additional equipment from the cable provider. To protect its' economic interests in leased equipment, Comcast has been very slow in responding to the developing capabilities of modern digital High Definition Display systems.
My concerns are:
1). Most "advertised" AV consultants I've met have little or no internet/computer networking skills and experience. I made a living for 35 years making computers do what other people wanted in academia and in business, but most of the networking I know was learned in "self defense" rather than formally, so calculations to determine wire sizes, etc. are a bit beyond me.
2). Commercial enterprise "networking" service providers are reasonably good with ethernet and phones, and I've recently had my phones "gone over" after repeated problems, again caused by the evolution of the phone wiring since the house was built. I currently have a 50 line punch down block screwed to a rafter near the phone wire coming into the house. For many years there were two separate phone numbers in the house so one could be used on a modem while the other remained open to voice. One line was taken out when the family got cellular service and I retired from active consulting.
3). But... a recent "hassle" with old phone instruments led to the purchase of a modern three handset phone with walk about intercom capabilities. Luckily, so far, this is the only "wireless" component in the house at the moment. What happens when/if I put the router in the basement with the cable modem and add a high quality current technology wi-fi ethernet source to the mix? My wife has a portable computer with built-in Wi-Fi which I connect to ethernet in the study where she used to keep her MAC. She's happy right now, but I keep telling her, we could change the router to one which gives her mobility but a potentially slower internet.
Finding a single consultant with the range of knowledge I need to tap seems unlikely. (I'm a retired consultant, so I am painfully aware of modern specialization pressures, and recognize that all of the issues I've raised here have subtle elements I may not fully appreciate or be capbable of recognizing as I develop a work plan and a bill of materials for this year's home improvement project.
I'm located near Ann Arbor, MI which has a reputation for being a Tech Saavy region, but my experiences over the 35 years I've lived here, with people found in the phone book, have not been consistently satisfactory. Also, I'm an expeienced DIY guy. Do you all think I can learn enough on my own to produce a competent state of the art design?
