New Home Installation

The only new consideration you may have is to have a coax run to wherever your network modem/router will be. Everything else would stay pretty much the same... although I would suggest two RG-6 cables to each TV location, the second being a spare and also for potential OTA use. Hopefully, you're using RG6 with a solid copper center conductor rather than copper coated steel.

I would include a Cat5 Ethernet cable to each location as well.  Many TV's, BluRay's and games benefit from an Internet connection.

Thank you - i will have solid RG6 x 2 to each and a CAT5.  How do the receivers talk to each other?  Am I ok to hub all the coax from one location, or do they connect to each other somehow?

Also, do I need the SWiM 16 or not.  Thanks in advance. J

No, the hub is the preferred way.  They will communicate over the coax signal cable and at one point in the system a coax run will connect to your router which in turn will network all of the connected HD boxes.  The Cat5 to each TV location will be for non Directv devices.  A splitter at the hub (you'll want AC power there) will connect to the runs and one coax will go to the dish for signal.

If it was me, I'd run two coax cables to each TV and several ethernet drops with cat6.  I'd get all rear and mid speaker placement drops as well from behind the TV to the proper placement.  I'd terminate all of the wiring in a closet in my office and make sure a couple go outside near the other wiring (for cable/satellite/etc).

I'd also run 2 coax and 2 cat6 cables to an outlet in each other room in the house.  (kitchen, bedrooms, offices, game rooms, etc.) just to be sure I got everything covered. 

Then if you want to get all "smart homey" you can run a cat5/6 cable to a control box in each room near the light switches for future control panels.  And if you went that far you might as well run speaker cabling to each room for future room specific music or intercom systems.  

You can search around the net for "Smart home" wiring diagrams to get a good idea of what to do. 

It's always cheap to install cables during build (you can maybe even do it yourself if you can convince the builder you know what you're doing).  Adding cables later is expensive and time consuming. 

Wow, only a single coax to the dish?  Sounds like a big improvement.  So - just to clarify - that one coax will come in from the satellite to a point and split to send a coax to each device - 6 TVs in all.  Each TV has a single coax feed from the split.  I want to make sure i get that "hub area" in the right location before we insulate (spray foam so very difficult to go back later).  My Internet source (cable router) will be located in a cabinet with one of the DVRs and connected to a wireless router - so I should have the Internet access handled.  Will DirectTV supply the split - I know the HD signals can get a little sensitive to weak splitters.  Also, any distance max before I need an amplifier?  I am running one to a detached garage - 200 or so feet away.

dan1son

Thanks for your thoughtful comments.  I am doing this by myself - because it is fun.  I am installing a Russound MCA-C5 system for whole home audio to 6 zones and have run the associated speaker and CAT5 wiring for each control panel and speaker.  I began running CAT5 for distributed video, but decided I didn't want to embark on that journey yet - but do have 3 CAT5 to several locations for TV in the future.  I am just concerned that I understand the DirectTV wiring system and make sure I locate all the coax to a single location for distribution to each TV.  I began running 2 coaxs - and have to 3 of the 7 TVs (missed one earlier).  I have a crawl space that makes it easy to navigate under the house.  I have also pulled a 3rd coax to a couple of spots for basic cable - for that once in a while satellite outage.

Any other input / thoughts / ideas would be appreciated.

I'm more a fan of having extra than not enough. Ethernet wiring is cheap, and as you said, it's hard to go back and do it later. The reason I'd run several ethernet jacks to TV areas is for "internet connected" devices. Blu-ray players, new TVs, HTPCs, streaming boxes, receivers, etc. are all starting to require networking and a wired connection is ALWAYS better than wireless. If you go cat6 it'll easily handle gigabit and beyond. If you only run one ethernet jack to a TV and need 3 things plugged in you need a switch at that location. That takes up room, looks tacky, and adds another point of failure.

CAT5/6 can also be used for other things like telephone systems, lighting control systems, a/c and heating control, etc. They're probably the most versatile. It's not just for networking anymore.

DirecTV technically only needs one coax at a TV (and with SWM will probably only ever need one). The second is mainly to be future proof. RG6 can be used for cable/satellite, closed circuit TV cameras, etc. Having two just gives you more options.

Note the 'one coax from the dish' assumes that you will have no more than 8 DirecTV tuners (count 2 per DVR and 1 per regular receiver). This is due to an 8 tuner limit on one Single Wire Multiswitch segment. If you have or contemplate having more than 8 tuners, then you'll need four cable from the dish to a SWM-16 module, which supports up to 16 tuners on two separate SWiM segments (bridged internally so that the DECA connection works between the two segments).