Future-proofing my VM cabling

[kevinherring]

Hi all
I am currently in the process of re-doing my lounge and am chasing in cables. I would like to ensure my cabling will meet my future needs.

Current setup
VM cable comes to the front of my house (outside the lounge) to a brown junction box on the outside wall. A coax cable connected to this snakes it's way round to the side of my house and into a cupboard where my modem/router sits.
There is no TV (there was but I ripped it out as it was not connected and in the wrong place). I do not subscribe to TV.

Proposed Setup
The router/modem is being moved to the loft. I will move the existing cable that snakes round the house so that it goes up the back of the drain pipe and into the loft.

Questions
So the question is regarding the TV. In future I may want to subscribe to VM TV and, given that I will be chasing cables, I want to ensure that the TV cables are correct and the face plate is in the right place (in the opposite corner in the lounge).

In understand that I will need some HD100 cable and some EX6 connectors (anything else?). I also need a faceplate. Does the faceplate need to be anything special? Or would something like this do:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aerial-Sat...#ht_876wt_1163

Also what is the configuration of the cable routing? I assume that a splitter would be installed in the external junction box with one cable going to the modem and the other going to the TV. This is a big assumption, so I need to make sure it is correct. Or perhaps the cable goes to the Tivo first and then there is an output to go to the modem?

Have I missed anything?

Thanks
Kevin

[nodrogd]

More than likely the splitter will go into the brown omni-box if the other connection is moved to the loft (less signal loss). Where the cable enters the house an isolator has to be fitted on the internal wall.

[kevinherring]

Thanks nodrogd, I appreciate your help!

Some clarification on what you said and my subsequent research.

The current socket in the cupboard for the modem has an isolator on the wall. I have read that every device must have an isolator.

The current isolator is mounted on the wall in the cupboard. When I move it up into the loft wall mounted wont be a problem. However, in the lounge I am aiming for neatness and would like to have the socket recessed.

Is there a way of having the isolator recessed into the wall (i.e. a flush face plate)? I need to know if I need to make space for it somewhere.

Thanks again
Kevin

---------- Post added at 12:56 ---------- Previous post was at 12:48 ----------

I think this answers my question:
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/62...n-methods.html
flush/recessed isolators don't exist.

I am wondering if I can fit a deep back box and 'stuff' the isolator in there? Not sure whether a metal back box would cause problems though.

Could be more trouble than it is worth though so I guess it's not worth the effort!

Thanks for your help.

[Peter_]

You should not move any external cabling or fit equipment to the external cabling as you could cause noise ingress into the local network plus it would be in breach of the Virgin Media terms and Conditions.

You should call up Virgin Media who will move everything for you correctly and with the correct wiring and connections for a one off charge of £99.

If you do decide to go down the DIY route and cause any issues you could be billed for any work required to rectify the issue.

[TheDon]

Don't try to predict what cables you'll need and pre-lay them, just put ducting in with thread ran through instead. Then when you do need to run cables in future you can just pull them through.

[Nedkelly]

I have to agree get virgin into move it .As speeds get faster the tolerence on the network gets smaller. I am on average fitting noise blockers to customer drops 4 to 6 a week (noise blocker stops the noise comming from a house causing problems on the whole node stops the upstream) .Most of them are diy installs sub standard cable poorly fitted fs and one customer fitted aerial type face plates removed all the isolaters . The amount of noise that is put on the upstream by 1 customer can cause problems for everybody on the node causing modems to reboot because of high return levels

[kevinherring]

Thanks for all your input guys, I appreciate it.

I intend to use ducting, but you are right, there is no need to lay the cables yet (and it will save me a bit of cash). I just need to know the rough layout of what might happen to ensure that the ducting should meet my future needs.

Regarding getting VM out to do the work: I understand the advice but the risk of problems caused by moving a single cable from entering the side of the house to entering the loft is so low I am prepared to take the risk.

Thanks again
Kevin

[kevinherring]

thanks heero_yuy, good tip.

[kevinherring]

Having taken down the ceiling in the lounge completely, I can confirm that largely it doesn't matter whether or not I use conduit. The total angles (around the fireplace) exceed 360 degrees so there is no way in hell someone would be able to pull cables through. Back to the original design of running the HD100 cable but not connecting it.