Guidelines released to meet today’s home technology needs

Friday 16th October 2015

New guidelines released to meet today’s home technology needs

The New Zealand Telecommunications Forum (TCF) has today published new guidelines on how to install telecommunications wiring within a premises.

The purpose of the guidelines is to inform cable installers on the principles and best practices of planning, installing and maintaining a premises wiring system that will deliver good long-term telecommunication service performance and reliability for New Zealand consumers. In addition, the TCF has produced information to help consumers understand how their property should be wired for optimum delivery of broadband services.

Geoff Thorn, CEO of the TCF, comments: “Since the last guidelines were published in 2011, there has been exponential growth in both digital services and data usage.*

“Nowadays, it’s not unusual for every member of a family to be online at the same time, in different rooms, using multiple devices and consuming a variety of content. It’s important to understand some of the fundamentals of how to network a premises to get the best online user experience,” explains Thorn.

He says greater awareness is needed on how some basic premises wiring design decisions can significantly impact the delivery of broadband and telephony services to the home, particularly as subscription to broadband services accelerates.**

An area of concern, Thorn says, is that when connecting an existing home to modern telecommunication services, it is common to find the lower performing, traditional 2-pair premises voice wiring systems. This traditional ‘daisy chain’ wiring style, where one room is connected to the next, is unsuitable for modern home networking purposes; internet connectivity requires a different network layout to the traditional voice network.

He adds: “Many people use Wi-Fi within their homes, sharing their internet connection across multiple devices. Good premises wiring is complementary to Wi-Fi and can provide faster connections with greater levels of consistency, reliability and security to wired devices.”

Other points highlighted in the consumer’s guide include the importance of battery backup in case of a power cut (if the phone and broadband service is fibre-based); connecting the home wiring directly back to a single location in the home; why installing multiple jack points in key living areas facilitates maximum coverage; and that Cat6 cable – a high quality cable designed to deliver high-performance connectivity – is stipulated as the recommended minimum standard for broadband deployment.

“Everybody from consumers to property developers, architects, builders, electricians and cable installers should read these guidelines, otherwise it could result in a costly retrofit later on,” says Thorn.

“Are you wiring for a smart home” and “Premises Wiring Cable Installers Guidelines for Telecommunication Services” are free and available atwww.tcf.org.nz/wiringyourhome

-ENDS-

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