FAQ’s Question: My builder says he can have my house wired with “Category 5” wire and “Coaxial cable”, and I don’t need anything else. What’s the difference between that and “Structured Wiring”?” Answer: The actual wires are only a part of the structural wiring system. It is also essential to have a server, which both accommodates practically any gateway device AND creates a local area network (LAN) within your home. This acts as a router, which allows communication between various types of media. Most servers are modular, so that additional media can be easily added. Typical packages offered are: Basic: wiring and connectors for TV and phone lines at each outlet. Standard: adds a network hub for a computer network within the home. Extra: includes a family safety camera, a line chooser for instant reconfiguring, plus other options such as two-channel stereo, appliance and lighting controls, and interactive entertainment. Question: Isn’t everything going “wireless” today? Why do I need Structured Wiring? Answer: Wireless is a nice supplement for portability, but transmission takes incredible mounts of capacity. Typically this results in compromises to speed and efficiency. Question: What are “Category 5” wire and “coaxial cable”? Answer: Category 5 wire is 4 twisted pairs of telephone/data wire enclosed in an insulated sheath. This high-capacity wire will handle normal telephone signals for phones, faxes and modems, also video and data signals from computers. Coaxial cable is normally used to deliver video signals and is also capable of handling computerized interactive services to and from the home. Question: What about “fiber optics”? Do I need that in my new home? Answer: Many experts feel that all homes will use fiber-optics cable in the future. More likely, fiber will be delivered to the house and converted to copper.