I am behind the curve to be sure. Current cat5/6 solutions will keep us going for the near term. And I know for "future proofing", conduit is the best way. But I wanted to open a conversation.

It seems that there are a few options. But if future proofing is the goal, on a prewire that may not use fiber for a few years or more, some of those options do not seem appealing.

The least appealing option would seem to be an "HDMI over fiber" solution. As I read it, fiber is the pathway, and active devices exist at both ends of the cable. Essentially, it is an active HDMI cable, just like current copper ones, with fiber being the only difference. I don't see that as a solution for 5 years down the road (just like active copper cables) since they will either fail because they have electronics in each end or will not be fast enough.

Then there are pre-terminated cables with different types of connectors available at each end. Will one style of connector survive in the next 5-10 years and have something HDMI to connect to, or will the industry move on to a new connector?

Then there is raw cable. Simplex, duplex, multimode... just grab a box, pull it, buy the tool whenever? Look for the HDMI solution when cat5/6 no longer is able to keep up?

Just opening the conversation.

I’m beginning to pull multimode fiber on all prewires. In most cases it will remain “dark” for the near near term. For network switch to switch locations duplex fiber is a must. I’m torn with video locations. At the moment the electronic terminator boxes are expensive and it may be cheaper to run four to six fibers than try to find multifunction “boxes”. Eventually, I think that there will be inexpensive breakout boxes that will provide audio, video, and networking with a single fiber. Much like we saw network hubs, then switches, 10-100-1000 starting out expensive, then become commodities. I’ve seen networking in a few drugstores. (Ernie probably has tales about tube testers in drugstores) 10G Home Lans won’t be far behind.

I’m using Clearline at the moment because it is quick and easy to terminate. While it seems a little wasteful, I think that terminating now is a good idea. The fiber and Kevlar packing are very slippery. It doesn’t require much force to pull the fiber and Kevlar out of the jacket. If one is not careful, one could pull the fiber at the other end far back inside the wall, leaving only the jacket. Fixing this is similar to pushing toothpaste back into the tube.

Just install some Innerduct and wait until you know which type of fiber you need to pull.

[Link: comstarsupply.com]

About twenty years ago we pulled fiber in a bunch of houses. Total waste of money because it was the wrong kind of fiber. Cat6 is probably a safe bet for now but conduit is the only way to really future proof.

I say Cat6 because we can do 4k distribution with Cat5e (Crestron NVX for example). I'm guessing we have another 5-10 years before we need something better in place.

Long term I would think network, not video interconnects.

We are nearing the end of centralized owned sources. Its internet streaming or inhouse streaming. The end day's for the cable box are approaching, we already have server-clients, and before long the cable client box will be an app.

HDMI will be for dedicated highend theater spaces, and conduit is the best long term solution there. Everything else will be on some form of network cable.

Tom, you may want to check out these guys: www.tlnetworx.com

They are the purveyor for my favorite supplier, and offer lots of info, including defining terms, recommending which type for which application, how to terminate (surprisingly easy). Check out their knowledge base. Very happy with them...

There is no way to send any signal over fiber without active electronics. Singlemode fiber has essentially an unlimited bandwidth, HDMI will have long since disappeared before singlemode would be unable to handle the bandwidth. The way I see it, IP/Networks are going to be the ideal way to extend/distribute video. So a fiber pull based on future network usage seems like a good idea.

That looks like the same product softdrink venders install when a new bar is built.

David, How does that product get terminated?
Compression connector to conduit box?

Been done to death.. Wesley Mullings has a great write up on this..

That FuturePath product is micro duct. Intended for use with air blown fiber, it is expensive,sold in rather large putups and HDPE so residential use would be questionable. Better to stick with innderduct like something from Carlon.

Singlemode has no place for residential installs. SM gets installed when the distance surpasses what multimode can handle. Think miles away here.

MM, OM3/4, duplex should be the minimum cable recommendation for fiber locations, but a 6-strand cable would be better to install for redundancy.

LC terminations are the preferred choice by most manufacturers and don't see that changing any time soon. If it does, great, lop off the ends and re-terminate the fiber to whatever comes along.

Singlemode has far greater bandwidth than multimode and is not limited to use on longhaul fiber runs. We do data center jobs that are 100% singlemode fiber, all with short haul, rack to rack usage. The notion that singlemode fibers only benefit is distance is short sighted.

This:

Made me think of this:


You just said "HDMI will be...." As simple as that sounds, it requires some thinking.

It seems completely logical for HDMI, possibly the best signal transmission method of today, to continue to exist. But remember Wesley? He was working within the cabling available at the time to come up with a means of futureproofing our systems. That was a laudable goal, but most of us thought it was not possible. I don't think any of us realized how thoroughly the next thing, HDMI, would show futureproofing with wire (and per Mac's example, with fiber) to be impossible. But it did, yet here we are, talking about it again.

Whatever comes after HDMI will not be able to be wired with HDMI cabling! It might possibly be able to be wired with high bandwidth copper such as RG6, or use signal converters such as some kind of "balun," but if so, that will be a fortunate surprise. (Fiber has a better chance here.) We've lived through the unfortunate surprise that was HDMI, where ALL previous interconnection methods were suddenly worthless. It took several years for someone to figure out ways around it.


And you have to be sure your conduit is wide enough. Back in Wesley's day, we would also have laughed at anyone insisting that conduit should be run that was large enough for an HDMI connector to be pulled through.

Edit: fixed appearance of that last quote of Mac.

Just read up on a guy from NJ who was suing his neighbor for cigarette smoke, this person tried to get a public defender as a court appointed lawyer for a civil suit.

As do we.

The discussion is about residential, not commercial or even data centers.  The bandwidth that multimode provides will far exceed anything that is required in residential setups.

One off applications is one thing to consider, but for residential, MM is just fine thank you.

Am not going to play the "who knows more" game.  Keep the discussion on track.