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Q: On Q vs Leviton

I am building a new home and the electrician suggested adding some infrastructure and cabling to permit addition of some home automation, computer networking and home entertainment. I'm not really ready to implement any of the above but the house layout is pretty simple so the logical cabling locations is pretty inutitive.

My question has to do with the brand of equipment to use. The electrician recommends On Q brand equipment and left me a catalogue to review. But I'm not sure where to buy this brand of component in the future other than the electrical wholesaler. Leviton on the other hand is available from the local hardware outlets.

The only components that really need to be purchased right now are the main enclosure and termination components for bringing the telephone and CATV lines. It appears that enclosures are made to accomodate specific brands of components. In other words, if I install an On Q enclosure and then later decide to add a Leviton router I'm concerned that its mounting attachment points might not align with the mounting slots in the On Q enclosure or vice versa.

Is there any reason to be concerned about this or are the various home automation / networking components standardized?

Is there any advantages of On Q vs Leviton?

Projects I envision taking on include some basic home entertainment, local ethernet, some lighting etc. I can gain easy access to any interior walls of the house through the attic, so we are only running Cat 5E cables and speaker wires to a few locations in exterior walls.

Reply to
Jon Juhlin
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A lot of it is surprisingly compatible; perhaps the attachment pattern inside the box is not, but I've got a Leviton enclosure with Channelvision stuff mounted in it. I suspect other brands are similarly compatible.

Being concerned that components are easily available is right on the money. Any of these brands is going to be around a good long while; weather it's in a home center or at a local wiring supplier.. well, I find my wiring supplier to be significantly cheaper. Unless I'm already in the hardware store buying something else, it saves me money to go to the other place. I also buy from

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and have always gotten excellent prices and services.

Reply to
E. Lee Dickinson

Another real advantage to the electronic wholesaler is that the folks there usually know a LOT more about their products and how to use them than the average employee at any of the box stores. If I'm buying something very standard, like an ordinary light switch or receptacle, that's one thing. For computer wiring or if I need to ask any question beyond "how much does it cost", I'll go to the folks who know. It's not quite as convenient in terms of location or hours but it's worth the effort.

Reply to
HLS

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