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Product Article: Hellerman Tyton Home Networking Cabinets for Current and Future Needs (2/8/2010)

By Jason Dando, Asheridge Communications

Asheridge Communications is a UK-based trade-only distributor of cable, connector, HD and home networking products. As the main distributor for Hellerman Tyton home networking, it services installers, integrators and developers across the UK.

Home networking products are essential in every modern 'connected' home if the occupants are to enjoy fully the benefits of modern communications and entertainment technology. The Hellerman Tyton home networking products from Asheridge are a refinement of a design from one of the commercial data industry's leading suppliers. Asheridge takes this a stage further however, by adding the latest fibre and HD distribution technologies to make a truly connected system.

The cabinet

The hub of the Hellerman Tyton home networking system is the cabinet. This is a specially-designed slim enclosure that can recessed into a plasterboard or cavity wall in order to make it as unobtrusive as possible. It holds the terminations for all of the phone, data, audio and television aerial connections behind a covering panel, to keep things neat and tidy. The cabinet is available in two sizes, depending on the size of project and the number of connections required.

The Hellerman Tyton home networking cabinet, in two sizes, with sheet of colour-coded labels included.

Since this the most visible part of the system that the householder will ever see, it is essential that the integrator puts their logo and contact details on the front cover. The cabinet is always the part that gets shown off first when the home owner or estate agent is showing off the property, so what better place to have your marketing details as an installer!

Data and telephony

Having all of the phone and data terminations here makes it easy to patch connections from the broadband hub and data router out to any of the network points around the house. Likewise, the main telephone input point is also located here, so that a telephone connection can be patched to any location. Indeed the cabinet includes a telephone module which allows a line to be split up to 8 locations around the house.

There is adequate space inside the cabinet to hold an ADSL receiver as well as a data networking switch and hub. The individual cables from the home are punched down onto the back of RJ45 sockets on the back of the patch panel, which then allow patch leads to link the data and phone connections to be patched to the correct socket. Colour-coded patch leads are used in order to keep things clear and simple.

RF distribution

The cabinet also holds the RF distribution module. This is the booster and distribution point for all of the RF signals coming into the house. Connections from the TV roof aerial, DAB/FM antenna and any RF security cameras connect to this. The signals are then combined and distributed to up to 8 points around the house using RG6 or CT100 cable. An RF output from a satellite decoder is also able to connect to this box, enabling a slave feed from the main satellite viewing point to be seen around the whole house. An IR return path is also possible, enabling remote operation of the decoder from another room.

Multiroom audio

If multiroom audio is required then the amplifier and controller can sit within a cut-out in the front of the main patch panel. Audio sources such as a CD player, DAB radio or iPod routed to here, can then be played around the home, via in-room control pads and speakers.

Room terminations

In each room around the home, the connections for the various signals and services are located. These connectors for TV, data and phone etc are terminated in modules which snap in to regular single- or double-gang sockets. This flexibility allows the installer to connect exactly what is needed in each room. The RF signal over a single coax cable is terminated in a plate which has TV, FM/DAB and a satellite feed on it. If telephone connection is required, a standard RJXX socket can be used, or a phone adapter can be plugged into a normal RJ45 data socket.

Hellerman Tyton plates in single- and double-gang socket sizes, with snap-in termination modules.

With the increasing reliance and demand for communications and electronic entertainment in homes, it is essential that enough outlets and connections are specified for each room. As a minimum, each room should have a TV point, phone point and at least two data points.

HDTV

If it is envisaged that HDTV is going to be needed in the room, then the installation should be future-proofed by providing at least two more CAT5 cables and an extra coax cable. For transmission of HDMI over CAT5, the cables should run from point to point rather than terminating through patch panels and sockets at either end, so ideally enough spare cable should be provided at the source end and behind the viewing point. In modern builds, it is easy to conceal this spare cable by coiling it up behind the plasterboard wall, enabling it to be pulled out when required.

Conclusion

Home networking cabinets enable easy organisation and control of all of the RF, TV, phone and data services around a connected home. They keep things tidy and out of the way for the homeowner, as well as making configuration and upgrades easy for the installer. Often, one of the first things to be removed from projects by developers when budgets get cut, they have one of the biggest impacts on the smooth operation of entertainments and communications in the modern home. In the future more and more cabling and services will be terminated in the cabinet as HDTV, whole-house audio and media become more commonplace. As the bandwidth requirements of the systems increase with HDTV, 3DTV and faster Internet services, then copper cables will make way for fibre around the home, for which Asheridge has already brought to market a range of products that will make this easy and straightforward for the installer.

Jason Dando is Product Manager of home networking and distribution systems for Asheridge Communications Ltd, specialist distributor of cable, connector and signal distribution products to the UK and EU.

www.ashcomms.com