Today’s illusive home of the future is suddenly coming into sharper focus as new home wiring systems set entirely new standards of convenience by enabling devices to be connected tone another, as well as to the world outside.

The term connected home describes a collection of equipment linked throughout the house.  These devices can include anything from televisions, VCRs, computers, close - circuit cameras, modems, and printers to household appliances of every sort.  With a fully connected home the boundaries between community, work, family and entertainment choices simply begin to disappear.  The home becomes much more accessible.

In a customer’s connected home, they can have multiple PCs in different parts of the house communication, exchanging files or playing the latest 3 – dimensional computer games.  They can program a movie to play on all of their home’s television sets.  Music can be enjoyed throughout the home, and they can monitor their baby’s nap on any television or computer screen in the house.  A connected home can even answer the doorbell for them.

Your customers can manage their home’s basic functions such as security, energy management, and lighting, directly or through remote access.  Check or set their home’s alarm system or monitor fire and intruder detection from the office.  Set there heating and cooling systems to be active when they’re home and inactive when they’re asleep or away.  Spot heat or cool certain parts of their house.  Adjust lighting for ambiance, activates, or for varying needs throughout the day.  A home outfitted with an adaptable, high-tech infrastructure will enjoy growing value.

The connected home’s true potential is based on the power of high-speed data communications.  Although products are available that allow limited connections through existing phone jacks, electrical wiring, or wireless, these schemes lack the ability to fully utilize today’s powerful and sophisticated multimedia communications.  Today’s voice, data and video applications require faster and more voluminous data rates than the traditional home – wiring infrastructure can handle.

Making your customer’s home connected is a matter of installing a network similar to the one they probably have in their office, but much simpler.  A new generation of residential wiring has been developed for this purpose, which is known as structured wiring.  Structured wiring – which can be readily installed into new construction – allows homeowners to integrate the control and operation of telephones, VCRs, cable television, home – office equipment, security systems and environmental management systems.

The structured wiring that will enable their connected home is similar in concept to the wire that already delivers television programming to their living room or telephone service to their kitchen.  However, this new generation of wire is of higher quality, and is installed following a few fundamental concepts:

1. The wire is no longer daisy – chained from one information outlet to the next, but is “ home run “ from each information outlet back to the central connection point.  The home run architecture allows for better signal integrity and convenience when adds or changes are needed.

2. New information outlets are added by home running a new wire from the service center to the information outlet, and not by cutting and splicing into an existing wire.

3. Trained and qualified installers should install structured wiring systems.  Just like a garden hose loses water flow when kinked or pulled too tight around a bend, so will a data cable lose speed if not properly handled and installed.

The wire runs throughout the house, connecting the various rooms, and terminates in a central location – the service center.  The service center is a metal box that can be either surface – or flush – mounted in a closet or a utility room.  It is the central interconnection point for all signals passing through the system and provides a central distribution point for voice, data and video services.  All cables run directly from the service center to information outlets in rooms throughout the home.

These information outlets connect different endpoints in the house to the service center. 

These outlets – which various devices are plugged into – can be mounted alone, or together with an AC wall receptacle.  They provide a single access point to connect telephones, televisions, VCRs and computer equipment to the structured wiring system.  Each outlet is designed to support one or more different types of devices:  one, for example, connects telephone and computer networks, another accommodates internal and external video sources, such as closed – circuit cameras or cable television.  They choose which devices they want in each room.

Today, homes are designed and built with multiple outlets in every room.  Electricity at every point in the home has become an essential requirement for homeowners.  The same model holds for digital services.  Information outlets in the connected home will become as ubiquitous as AC outlets.

More Consumers See Technology As A Requirement, Not An Option

So what is structured wiring and why can it make such a difference in a consumer’s decision to purchase a new home? Structured wiring is a combination of wiring types that work in conjunction to deliver data throughout a home.  This includes telephone, video and computer network wiring such as category – 5, RG – 6 coaxial and possibly fiber optic cables.  All terminate at a central location within the house, generally referred to as a wiring can.  Essentially structured wiring is the backbone for communications and entertainment in the home.

Why is this becoming something that people want or feel they need in a new home? Simple – the emergence of the Internet as an important part of a family’s life.  With growing numbers of families having more than one PC, and everyone wanting to get online at the same time, the need for a built – in networking system is becoming more apparent.  Parents are increasingly bringing work home, or becoming telecommuters, and many grade – school students are using the Internet as a reference tool.  By including a structured wiring system that includes the ability for Internet sharing, it is possible for every family member to access the web simultaneously.

With the rapid growth of the Internet, many service providers are looking to capitalize on a high-speed connection into the home as a means of providing more services to customers.  Telephone companies are beginning to roll out digital subscriber line (DSL) service in many areas that deliver a high-speed Internet connection over existing telephone lines in addition to phone service.  Cable television companies are starting to offer Internet service through high-speed cable modems in addition to their existing video services.   While theses, in and of themselves, are not driving the growth of structured wiring, in order for a customer to take full advantage of the service they need an in – home networking infrastructure.

The Future

Looking down the road a few years, many of these service providers are planning to broaden their offerings even more.  Soon residents will have the option of receiving all of their in – home services from a single provider, via a single connection in the home.  These services, known collectively as “broadband” services require a simple device called a residential gateway.  This gateway coordinates the incoming signals and sends them to the right system using a structured wiring network in order to deliver those services throughout the home.

With all of these developments happening it is no wonder that consumers are asking to have structured wiring built into their new homes.  By incorporating theses capabilities into a home they are able to take advantage of the advances it offers today including

PC – to – PC networking, video distribution and device sharing and flexible location for phone lines.  Understanding the capabilities that a structured wiring system offers today, and the additional benefits that is offers for tomorrow is critical when deciding the right solution to meet homeowners evolving needs.

Coaxial cable.  A dielectric, a shield, and an outer insulator surround a center conductor.  The signal is unbalanced, and the shield provides noise immunity.  Generally used for broadband TV transmission.

Integrated services Digital Network, residential or commercial digital telephone service.