New build prewire

This chart will help as you debate the size of the conduit in. A single 2” (24) allows nearly double (14) the number of cat6 cables as 1.5”. But as you point out- an empty and a full one make a lot of sense, too (or a speaker conduit, an rg6, and a cat6).
Offices are not like houses, but in my office, I actually put an LV 2-gang box (x4) with 12-keystones on each faceplate and terminated right into the wall. No one really does it like this, it seems, but it allowed me to grab Monoprice Cat 6A slim cables which look a whole lot more attractive coming out of keystones into a switch than a bundle through a recess.
Given this is a closet and not somewhere that will be seen much, you may even consider leaving no face on the drop or having him drop a second empty 2gang opening.

I currently have 12x cat6a (don’t do this. Found a spool cheaper than cat5e, figured “yeah!” And then realized just how big it is vs cat5e and 6) + 2x 4-wire speaker wire cables (similar size but probably not the same) coming through a faceless 1-gang drop with plenty of room for more, if that helps you with working space reference. In my home, I have an old CRT cabinet that has a 1-2” gap from the back wall on an upper tier of cabinets but goes all the way to the wall on the lower part. The cable guy couldn’t drill out a fireblock, so I let him mount it originally up there before realizing there was no power. Now I have that back 1-2” mostly drilled out, so cable comes from the wall, through the recess, and down into the CRT cabinet into a rack. I wouldn’t use this as a shining example of how to do it. We are eventually going to spray foam the attic, pull all of this back up to where it drops from and put the rack there and replace the CRT cabinet with a more bookshelf-y type built in eventually. But for now, it’s functional and doesn’t actually look bad unless you get up close to the holes for the drop itself.

Neither place uses conduit (I did predrill a 4” into my office but they didn’t cut a hole for it in the drywall, and it’s in a corner near a stud, so I’m not certain it is accessible at all and didn’t want to guess where that thing came down to, and I wanted my boxes a little higher than it when it all came down to putting the wall up. Poor planning on my part.



Sounds like you’ve got it mostly figured out with the exception of what you want your bundle to look like. From memory (3y now), seems most people are ok with exposed bundles.



ETA- you said something about a 3-4gang box and drilling a hole in it. Don’t do this. Buy a low-voltage box that is really just a trim to mount your faceplate to (4gang pictured but 1-4 and both old/new work boxes available at Lowe’s, Home Depot, and everywhere)

A few random thoughts from when I pre-ran wire in 2014 and then just re-vamped my rack.

I have like 2-3 drops and a coax per tv location (8) 6 cameras, some APs, and a bunch or speaker locations. I have a ginormous wad of wires coming out of a 2 gang plate cut open to be bigger. I had room constraints being under the stairs or I would have had it come out behind my rack. Is what it is now lol.

I forget the brand but there is an orange color flexible conduit I used that hooks to the same brand outlet boxes. Run conduit every place you have a drop. Exterior walls will have fire brakes in them so it will likely be a MFer to try to access that later.

In bed rooms and such if you have a TV on the wall and you will have your gear un a cabinet under it run some conduit from the TV to that area behind the conduit.

Run all the wire now NOT in the conduit but rather stapled to the studs and out of the way for drywall and the like. Use the conduit for future runs, no need to fill it now.

The wire is cheap, id run it all now and run extra in case a run gets damaged. I'd run security cameras and speaker wire now too.

Think about your wifi and access point placement. What brand will you run? How do the APs mount? For instance, Unifi has some inwall APs that if I had it pre ran for id have them outlet high on the wall and not behind something.

Make sure every wire has a good label on it!

Think about power draw, I have 2 dedicated 20amp runs in there because I wasn't sure what I'd end up in there. It can draw some power if I have all the audio on. I would at least think about making the room its own circuit.

Think about the heat in the closet, you will generate a bit. Pumping AC into it does not always help enough if the AC isn't running. Think exhaust-type vent sucking hot hair out. Look at AC Infinity for some ideas on different kinds of fans. I run them in my rack.

Last but not least LEDs will make your Wifi faster

My mini man cave under the stairs, still a work in process.

quote:

---

Damn, baw, nice rack. What all you got in there?

---

Let’s see, bottom up:
LED driver on the ground
Fan controller vs psu vs UPS
Fan
UNVR Pro
Patch bay
Switch
Patch bay 2
Unifi Dream Machine Pro
Keystone path bay with network and either USB or HDMI for the 4 raspberry pi just above it
4 raspberry pi computers
8-bay synology NAS
1u rack shelf with a Mac mini
Tablo—Sonos amp—AppleTV
Denon AVR
Either another fan or the fan controller
8 more sonos amps
Fan

quote:

---

Sonos Port for the denon

---

Oh. How’s that set up? Do you have some sort of auto-sense so when you play to the port it kicks the Denon on and flips the input? Or does it require universal remote?


ETA- my in-laws have a similar setup (3 zoned Sonos amps + a port), but they essentially never use it because someone sold them a control4 setup, and using the physical remote to run the scene to change the receiver input is too hard for them.
They will use the AppleTV remote and airplay from the AppleTV to the sonos. They will sonos to other zones from the app, but the port is essentially a useless feature to them for that reason.


I’ve seen a Homebridge app to sense if the port is playing and trigger an automation (usually from a harmony remote) to there, but they don’t have a harmony remote and the last time I looked, they’re going for a premium, and I’d rather avoid that scenario if possible (too many moving parts, even though I trust all those pieces to work. I just don’t want to do it somewhere that I’m not)

quote:

---

Hopeful Doc

---

No auto sensing setup altho that would be cool. The port is 99% for me. The rest of the house has Sonos amps that the wife and child can easily manage. The Denon runs my den that is my 9.1 setup. So I either just walk over to the receiver or use a harmony remote then my phone. Put the receiver on -2 to 0db and then control the volume from the sonos app. I use a apple TV if not using the port so I am usually using the new apply tv remote, that I really like. I will sometimes just use spotify on the apple TV when im jamming the denon when no one is home

quote:

---

For home use, beyond overkill

---

Agree unless you are trying to run 10g connections far to things that can run that speed, and you probably are not. 7 Is also thick and more difficult to work with if im not mistaking. A good 6e if you can is what I would do and be set for a while.

Also use cat6 to run to your doorbell. Might come across a doorbell camera that you want to run via poe like the unifi g4 pro.

quote:

---

My plan is to have 2 1 1/2" pvc conduits run into the media closet, one for all the current wire and one for future wire. A pvc run behind the fireplace in the living room and on the patio for ease of wire changes in the future because it would be difficult to run these because of the brick.

---

Here’s (2) 1-1/2” PVC runs I ran to my patio where it is bricked. They run up to the attic where I can access. I ran (2) HDMIs and (1) optical in 1 side and it’s relatively tight

You’re probably gonna want more than that going to your media closet. Either bigger or do more