Our client had recently purchased a home in Boulder that was 20 years old and was in dire need of a few upgrades. The owner wanted us to address the aged video system in the house and upgrade the networking and communication along the way.
The current setup was an older, 3-gun system that went back to a rear projection 4:3 video format TV. There was a need to make the theater room as similar to operate as their heavily-used hearth room to top it all off, the network throughout the house was inconsistent and unreliable. Is any of this a problem? Not for us!
The first order of business was to address the network. We upgraded the network to an Araknis system, because we needed a robust network with great wi-fi that was compatible with the Control4 system the owner also requested. One access point was placed in the office to cover the west end of the house. The house had pre-existing Cat5e cabling that was re-utilized for the Office, Master Bedroom, Guest Bedroom, Hearth Room, and Theater. The line going to the theater was able to be extended and used to connect a second access point between the theater and fitness room, creating even better coverage throughout the home.
With this the newly created ethernet loop, we were able to loop through the line-out and come back to the theater where another network switch was connected to a processor, new TV and Xbox. The line to the hearth room was used to add a second processor and a hard network line to the master bedroom for the new NVR for the camera system. By having a robust network in place, the rest of the installation can go smoothly and the equipment will function at its best.
Once this was completed, the next step was to install the new 12-Camera Luma Surveillance system around the house to cover the property. In most homes, these cameras would have a wire-run into an attic of the house. For this home, it had 3 different attics which were separated by flat roofs and hidden gutters. We were able to use the gutter system to run all of the cables from the Master Bedroom roof area to each camera. All 12 cameras were run through this route into the Master Bedroom so the homeowner could view the camera feeds from their TV.
Meanwhile, in the Theater Room, the old 4:3 rear projection TV was removed and left a massive 60”x80” hole in the wall. To address this, we framed behind the wall to produce a shadow box effect then installed a new 86” LG TV in the box. The TV was installed with black carpet inset on the wall and then a wood picture frame was custom mounted around the edge of the TV inset to produce a very clean look for the owner. As a side project, a new TV was mounted in the fitness room and the two rooms were wrapped into a Control4 systems. This allowed for a simple, easy-to-use remote to control both rooms and the 5.1 surround sound.
This was a great project for the owner and Jennings AV since most of the existing cabling was able to be reused. This allowed for simplicity and sped up the completion of the project. Whether your project needs to start from scratch or be adopted to an existing infrastructure, Jennings AV is your go-to resource!
Products Used:
Araknis 210 Series Network Switch
Araknis 510 Series Wireless Access Points
