Wesley, I just decided I want XM and Sirius Radio as well as DirectV and DishNetwork cause I'm a TV and radio fanatic. But your %!#%^!! system doesn't cover that and I've got to run new wires. I'm suing your ass off!!!

Wes are you stoned or just stupid?

Hi guys, been away for a while, just noticed this thread. Haven't read all of it, or seen Wesley's site, but I may have the answer.

Here in Western Australia most houses are built with double brick external walls. i.e. two brick walls with a cavity of about 2 inches between them, joined by the occassional wire tie set in the mortar.

As you can imagine getting any cable into a room is pretty easy - so long as its to an external wall. Just drill a hole, lift a couple of roof tiles and you're just about there. Internal walls and multi-storeys are a bit harder, but not too bad.

All you need to do Wesley, is convince the builders over there to use double brick for both internal and external walls and I think you'll have a house that can actually be retro-fitted with any cabling you like. Of course, unless you have a brick factory, or become a brick layer, there won't be a lot of money in it for you, but then that wasn't your intention anyway.

Strangely enough, even though we have houses here that are pretty friendly to post construction cabling, there are still a number of companies who use clever marketing (and even political lobbying) to bamboozle builders, architects and clients into installing their expensive "future-proof" wiring and hardware standards into new homes. The fact that most of it will never be used, or will be obsolete by the time it is (who here will be satisfied with the Cat5 and 10mbps Home LANs we were installing only a few years ago in the next 5-10years) seems to have somehow been overlooked.

The only effective future-proofing being done is that of the financial future of the companies selling the kilometres (sorry, miles) of cabling. Who'd have guessed.

Bottom line. You can't truely future proof a home against future technologies using current ones. You can't cable for the next owner of the house by carefully interviewing the first one. The best solution is through well laid out building plans and constuction techniques that allow for easy future cabling access to most of the home ........ but where's the money in that eh??

Aussie,

I'll agree with you only partially. I think quite a LOT CAN be done today to make a house ready for the future. To give but one example, those who years ago designed their video distribution systems around homeruns of RG-6 were able to easily accomodate satellite TV when it came out. It's just that Wesley guarantee's things that can't be guranteed and engages in a lot of hyperbole.

I suspect that even with your system of conctruction in Autralia it makes more sense to runs what might be used at the beginning of the project rather than trying to retrofit it later on.

Agree totally QQQ. There are services (such as RF Distribution) where major technological changes are not so frequent, and we can provide product that will serve the client both now and in the reasonably foreseeable future.

My gripe is with so-called future-proofers that sell product they know won't cut it in a few years, and claim that it will last forever. Or install product in such a way that it can't be changed without major headaches.

I remember one young couple building a home with a 1 year old child and another due in 3 months. They had been told, among other things, that they needed to set up a LAN to ensure both kids educational requirements for the future. Commendable idea that I agreed with, but the other salesmen specified Cat5e cabling and a overpriced 10Mbps 8-port hub for this particular part of the job, and told the clients it would see their kids through school .....give me a break!!!

I still put Cat5e all through the house (including behind the fridge - never know when those internet fridges might take off), but the client was well aware that, in all likelyhood, it would probably be used as draw wire by the time their kids were old enough to need a LAN, if we hadn't already gone wireless. As for the hub, I suggested they get one when they finally need it, as I was pretty sure that 10Mbps would be outdated by the time their kids hit primary school.

Also agree that a lot of retro fit can be avoided by a good pre-wire, but even with the cavities, I still use conduits, and there is rarely a single cable I can't easily change/upgrade at a later date.

Trouble is, Wesley will possibly enjoy some success in the early days due to the thoroughness of the scam.

"This way to the Great Egress"

Wait, right guy, wrong quote.

"There's a sucker born every minute"

Aussy, I don't have anything against wireless (that is part of my job), but there will - always- be wiered, and in most situations it is the best choice. As to the 10MB for a home, I would guess it will be more then enough for many years to come (office is different). Now do I agree that he should wait for the hub? Yes since even though I don't think they will need more, chances are that they will be able to get it for less or get something better for the same price(needed or not).

PS I agree that you cannot guaranty future proof (no matter how short a time period) but there are always stuff you can do to help. A few years ago we were building a plant. Some of us were pushing for air blown fiber instead of the cheaper traditional fiber. Luckely we won, and went with air blown, but if we would have gone the other way, we would have already reached the limit of what would have been put in.

WHERE IS OLE WESLEY NOW??? HASN'T GOT THE GUTS TO FACE THE MUSIC!!! i LOVE IT WHEN WE ARE RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SEEMS THIS DUDE BIT OFF MORE THAN HE COULD CHEW!!!! YEHAW....I LOVE A GOOD FIGHT............. RADIORHEA

You just had to be the one to bring this thread back to the top....didn't you??

:)

Jeesh... Let this thread die.............

I wish threre was an option to Close threads here on RC. (Maybe there is.. Daniel?)

Excuse me, guys, but maybe I've been reading too many articles about the future! Wiring is becoming obsolete. In the future, everything is wireless - transmitted on a frequency of 26.9 QB (quadrillion biggaherz!)

Dave

God, please make this thread die..... (sorry for bringing it to the top!).

I/m probably too cynical to respond to this thread. I actually thought that this thread had dried up and blown away. Wesly, I haven't even read your last post other than the first paragraph. You want to turn the custom AV industry into a home depot wal mart type of paradigm that will in effect eventually eliminate the creative innovators that drive the industry and eventually stagnate it. From a consumer point of view, they can expect; lousy designs, poor service, and mediocre results. But hey, your vision of integrating vacuum cleaners and pot lights with custom AV might just get off the ground (sort of ) like an early wright Borthers aviation project.

I might even entertain your premise of a standard (even though it's naive) if I thought that you came from a place of integrity. But celarly you come from another place. Given the nature of this industry, your proposed standard won't have muich of a chance at becoming integrated, or impacting the existing and ever evolving model.

OK can we stop this crap!?!?! 8 pages on this is 8 too many! Please, lets all of us in this industry just sweep this one under the carpet and let it die! It's never gonna happen - we all know this - nothing is gonna change! Just let this horrible thread die, i'm begging all of you!