***UPDATE*** This retrofit structured wiring installation has been working with no problems since it was designed and installed in 2006, and most of the concepts are still valid today. However due to advances in technology some of the plans should be changed to accommodate the latest technological developments. Please review THIS UPDATE (CLICK HERE) before proceeding with any new plans for a home structured wiring project.

The xsvtoys "RETRO" Structured Wiring Story - CONCLUSION

Conclusions and Using the System

Despite the fact that I knew nothing about structured wiring when I started out to build this system, after everything was installed everything is working as anticipated, and there are not any significant changes that I would make if I were to do it again.

floor plan

This system currently is used for the following:

Cable TV is distributed to all rooms with TVs or computers with TV cards.
Telephone service is available in the desired rooms. Any telephone line can be designated to any room wall plate if desired for future use.
Hardwire computer network access is available at any wall plate in any room.
Wireless internet surfing is available through the house. The wireless portion of the network is separated from the wired network by an additional router.
FM antenna is available to stereo receivers in any room.

Plans for future additional uses, changes, and expansions (stay tuned here for updates):

Larger outside antenna to pick up over the air (OTA) HD television channels to be distributed to various rooms.
Video/Audio Modulator to send television signal from main theater system to all other televisions.
Gigabyte networking
Integrated web cams for security monitoring while away.
Media streaming (music files and video files) to main theater system and possibly other televisions.

Photo Gallery

Click thumbnails to enlarge photos.


Supplies purchased	Cat5e cable connections for 3 phone lines	Structured media center - early phase installation.	Attic view of structured media center wiring connections. Now all cat5e pass through the far tube and all RG6 coax passes through the near tube, with the middle tubes capped for future expansion.

Wall plate - Living Room, 4 Cat5e and 2 RG6 jacks. Surround speaker wall plate is next to it.	A look at pulled wiring before wall plate is installed. The excess is trimmed if necessary and them put back up into the wall.	Easy to install "retro" wall brackets. These go in the wall cutouts and have "ears" that turn behind the wall to clamp in place. Cheap and easy.	Structured Media Center V1.0

Structured Media Center V1.0, labeled.	Lighting for structured media center with a flexible neck lamp. Probably an LED lamp would be better as this type puts out a lot of heat.	Keep a supply of patchcords and other accessories next to the structured media center.

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