For me cabling is a no brainier for the reasons most people have picked
up on.

Wireless has its place but the quoted network speeds for this stuff are
laughable. The physical throughput is dramatically lower so much so I'm
surprised that no one has taken the manufacturers to court. I have
wireless for occasional use, laptops, music steaming in the garden etc.


It still surprises me how many times I see CAT5e sockets next to
telephone sockets. CAT5e can carry almost all media types given the
right sorts of adaptors, HDMI, Telephones, RS232, Data, Environmental
monitoring etc. And because CAT5e has been in the commercial sector for
years the adaptors are relatively cheap. Points adequately provisioned
will provide a flexible communications infrastructure for years to
come.

I would argue that fibre is not the way to go. The cost of installation
and correct termination coupled with the cost of the media converters
rule it out. It does make a fantastic backbone so it will appear more
and more as the main feed into the house. Potentially fibre can support
much higher data speeds but due to the costs data cable often catches
up shortly after.

If it were a new build then flooding the property with CT100 coax for
the RF and CAT5e for data is very cost effective. An alternative is
something like this:-

http://www.singlepointnetworks.co.uk/

This effectively combines the two cable technologies and provides a
range of adaptors to cater for nearly every media source. Also cuts
down on the wall acne. Not cheap though. If I were contiplating a new
build or referbishment I'd go for it.

And for the chap that was looking at HD media streaming:-

http://www.cyberselect.co.uk/product/1010 I have not have any
practical experience of the unit however.