Re: Preference on LV distribution centers?
Best way is to forget about those hokey "distribution centers" and do it right if you want expandibility. Anybody who has read my previous posts on the subject knows I'm not a big fan of "prepackaged home networking" products and systems. I've been doing communications wiring, both commercial and residential for a long time and it's always been done the old fashioned way. IMHO that kind of stuff just makes it easy for people who don't know what they are doing.
This is what you do: terminate all the CAT5's on a patch panel with a hinged bracket screwed to a plywood backboard in some readily accessable location like a utility room. Patch cords are then used to connect each port to a hub or router as necessary. I like to do two separate runs, one dedicated for data and the other dedicated for voice. Both can be CAT5 for redundancy although voice can be CAT3. The data runs terminate on a patch panel, the voice runs terminate individually on a 66 punch down block. This makes it easy to cross connect the voice runs to multiple lines at once or even a key system if necessary.
All the RG-6's should be bundled neatly, cut to ample length and terminated with fittings. They can then be connected as the need arises. I wouldn't try to "engineer" this end of the system unless you know what you are doing. Problem with TV distribution is that a little bit of thinking is needed with regard to signal level, highest frequency carried and if there is a return band used (CATV) or if this is DBS, before you can say exactly how to handle what these cables connect to. Sometimes it's best to only connect the jacks that are actually being used. I like to leave plenty of room on the backboard for TV to allow for all eventualities and that's one thing those stupid distribution centers sorely lack.