Homemade or Purchased Structured Wiring Panel?

[fas 0]

Do most of you that do pre wires make your own structured wiring panel, or buy a pre made panel? I prefer to make my own because I feel like I have more control and can customize it the way I like. It might be a little sloppier, but I prefer it. I think it is a lot cheaper also. I have never used a purchased panel, so maybe I am wrong. What do you think?

[rory 0]

for an alarm system you wouldnt need it ..

[Jasper 0]

This is what was put in my house when I had it prewired:

 

OnQ Ecnlosure for Structured Wiring

 

http://www.onqlegrand.com/jahia/Jahia/pid/1143

 

My alarm, TV Cables, Phone, Cat5 and all other sorts of things can go in there. They have all different sizes and seem like they could help make you some more money in the long run because of the specialized equipment that goes inside of them. They are hot items being installed in the new homes in California. Definately the future.

 

The alarm company that did all the prewiring installed it.

[JMANOFNVS 0]

These are my 2 best sellers for enclosures...custom or not.

http://www.eurobex.com/

http://www.mierproducts.com/

[cachecreekcctv 0]

I have mostly used Hoffman Panels. Hoffman makes steel, stainless steel, fiberglass panels. Have used all three designs for indoors and outdoors. You just might have to make your own subpanel to mount inside, but sometimes they come installed. Their stainless panels are super expensive , as one would think, but when there is an auction at a large company closing, warehouse sale, etc. , they sell for 10 cents on the dollar!

[CollinR 0]

I mix and match but prefer 19" racks, with alot of those panels you get limited on components. In a rack you can do whatever you might want.

 

http://www.dsienterprises.com/item.cfm?id=74

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EDIT: That ones only 24u not everything will fit inside that.

 

http://www.dsienterprises.com/item.cfm?id=93

 

42u fill fit a bunch. That have all kinds of these things too.

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Plus the geekier/engineering type customer gets a hard on when they see it installed.

 

 

 

You can put almost anything in them and the accessories are readily available. Install the normal stuff flat in a drawer or shelf most theater gear fits no prob. Unfortunately it does jack up the price in areas:

 

Rackmount PC cases (and PCs) tend to be more expensive then normal ATX cases, sux for no real reason.

 

You can spend gobs and gobs on patch panel work, the config is ultra cool but the terminals and termination add up fast FAST!

 

Some stuff is cheaper though.

 

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/ProductDetail.aspx?sku=A0234853&c=us&l=en&cs=555&category_id=6412&first=true&page=productlisting.aspx

$279.99

 

OnQ I don't think has any gigabit stuff but 16 ports

 

http://store.digital-orange.com/dh36473301.html

x2 = $374.48

16 ports but they are not gigabit.

 

I'm also concerned about putting switches in panels, if you have traffic it can generate some heat and they are aften passive cooling.

 

 

This is a place where lots of change will come in the future, more embedded devices and devices that combine many of these functions.

[Jasper 0]

Yeah those racks make an OnQ enclosure look like a pack of cigarettes. Of cousre most people don't need to hide a body.

 

Thats the other thing I don't like about OnQ is that many times you are stuck with what they have so it can fit in their panels. Like you mentioned the gigabit switch is not available that I can see either.

 

That is one of the things I wanted to put in mine. They do have a lot of parts available for them though. They are expensive though. I don't know if it because of miniaturization of stuff or what.

[CollinR 0]

I don't know if it because of miniaturization of stuff or what.

 

It's the "gotcha by the short and curlys" thing...

 

 

I hate that but basically thats it, the only thing special about them is all the parts fit into the panel and look organized. Once your hooked you get stuck with not using the panel for alot of what it was design for because cost effective stuff won't fit in it.

 

Look at the CCTV offering, I bet that "Video IP Server" (that won't fit in the panel BTW) is as much $ as a crappy stand alone network DVR.

[Jasper 0]

Yep. I agree.

 

The majority of homeowners will never upgrade components in their panel for that exact reason. Just way too much money for what you get.