What is the Hills Home Hub?
The Hills Home Hub is a service connection facility and is home to the devices that enable the delivery and distribution of various signals throughout your home via structured cabling.

What do I need to do to install a Hills Home Hub?
Please submit an information request at http://www.hillshomehub.com.au/ and we will arrange to have a consultant in your area contact you about all the options of installing a Hills Home Hub into your home.

Is future planning important when considering installing a Hills Home Hub?
Yes, it is important that you plan which rooms you would like to access TV, video, audio, phone and the Internet as you may change the use of a room down the track. In order to access or share these signals, cables, modules and wall plate outlets for the various services need to be installed.

Are there any safety issues I need to be aware of when working with the Hills Home Hub?
There are some parts of the Hills Home Hub that you should not touch - this includes your security system wiring. The intelligent Hills Security System can detect tampering attempts to its security wiring and may notify your monitoring company of this if you have a monitoring system. It also uses power, so if you are working on equipment contained inside the Hills Home Hub make sure to turn the power back on if you have turned it off.

How do I know which socket to use with each wall plate?
The descriptions below will help you work out which socket to connect to which wall plate.

• RJ-45 Socket – this is used for data and telephone connection
• PAL Socket – this is used for TV, antenna, remote viewing of DVD and other entertainment devices
• F-Type Socket – this is used for TV, antenna, remote viewing of DVD, VCR and Set Top Box and modulator, which distribute signals from home entertainment devices
• 3.5 mm Socket – this is used for InfraRed and music distribution
• Speaker Post Socket – this is used for 5.1 Home Theatre Speakers

RCA Socket – this is used for audio such as red and white connectors and video, usually yellow or red green blue connectors.

For further instructions please see the Hills Home Hub Owner’s Manual. A detailed service facilities chart should have been filled in by your installation company outlining installed components in locations throughout your home.

What does the Hills Home Hub connect to?
You would have selected which services you would like the Hills Home Hub to connect to during the time of installation. With most selected services you simply plug-in your equipment into the correct wall plate outlet and everything should be ready for you to enjoy.

These services include:

• Telephone
• Data (computer, internet, home network, printers etc)
• TV (free-to –air, pay TV, DVD etc)
• Multi-room Music Distribution
• Home Theatre Connections (eg projectors)
• 5.1 Surround Sound Home Theatre

The Hills Home Hub and structured cabling has been designed to allow you the flexibility to easily configure different features of your structured cabling system to suit your changing lifestyle.

Can I install the Hills Home Hub into my existing home?
It may be installed into an existing home, however it will be more costly to install. If you submit an information request at http://www.hillshomehub.com.au/ we will arrange to have a consultant in your area to contact you about all the options of installing a Hills Home Hub into your existing home.

Who do I call for assistance or for spare parts?
Please contact your installer if you have any questions regarding installation, additional parts or wish to expand your installation.

If you have an installed system and are unsure of the installation provider, you may submit an information request at http://www.hillshomehub.com.au/ and we will arrange or recommend a consultant in your area to contact you regarding your requirements.

Service fees may apply.

Is the telephone connected through the Hills Home Hub?
When you install the Hills Home Hub with the Hills HTM-408S or HTM-408SRJ telephone modules, the Hills Home Hub becomes the heart of your telecommunications needs. Each module allows up to 4 incoming telephone lines to be connected to your home and directed to up to 8 room service locations.

How do I connect to data?
The Hills HDM-808 Data/patch Panel provides data connections to specially configured Hills wall plates around your home via the Hills Home Wiring network and the Hills Home Hub. At this point your home has now been pre-wired for data communications to utilise the data outlets in your home.

If you have requested structured cabling for data, then a HES-108 Hills Ethernet Hub will be installed in your Hills Home Hub. Its is capable of connecting up to eight pre-wired service outlet locations as a Local Area Network and you are now ready to take advantage of networked high speed internet and resource sharing throughout your home.

 

Technical Terms

W hat are RJ-45, RJ-11 and RJ-12 Sockets?
These refer to the different types of sockets and plugs used for connecting equipment like telephones and computers.

The RJ-45 cable and plug are commonly used for connecting computer equipment like PCs and modems to a network.

The RJ-11 socket (also known as RJ-12) and RJ-11 plug are commonly used for connecting telephones and faxes.

What are patch cables?
A patch cable in the Hill Home Hub is a short cable (10-100 cm in length) with RJ-45 connectors at each end; they come in a variety of colours.

There are 2 types, Straight-through and Cross-over – all equipment in the Hills Home Hub uses the more common one – Straight-through.

Inside the Hills Home Hub they are used to connect an ADSL/Cable modem to Ethernet Hub and to connect Telephone Modules and Ethernet Hubs to Data patch Panels. This effectively connects phone lines and data outlets to rooms.

What are REN and RN – Ring Equivalence Numbers?
When connecting telephone and faxes you need to be careful of something called ‘REN” or Ringer Equivalence Number. In Australia it has a value of 3. In New Zealand it is abbreviated to RN and has a value of 5. This is the maximum number of phones, faxes, ADSL filters, dialup modems or telecommunications equipment that you can connect in your home.

What are modules used for?
HTM-408S Telephone Module is used for connecting phone lines directly to room outlets.

HTM-408SRJ Telephone Module is used for connecting phone line to room outlets via HDM-808 Data/Patch Panel.
HD-808 Data/Patch Panel is used to connect both phone lines and data equipment (e.g. computer, modem or printer) to room outlets. It is designed to be used with an HTM-408SRJ Telephone Module and an HES-108 Ethernet Hub.

HES-108 Ethernet Hub are used for connecting data equipment (eg computer, modem or printer) to room outlets via an HDM-808 Cat 5a/Patch Panel. Can you use the one RJ-45 socket for both phone and computer usage?

You may have a single RJ-45 socket on a wall plate, and the Hills Home Hub allows you to easily change phone and data sockets whenever you need to change from a phone connection to a computer connection.

For your home to be set up for patching services you will need the following:

• HES-108 Ethernet Hub
• HDM-808 Data/Patch Panel
• HTM-408SRJ Telephone Module
• Some patch cables

For further instructions please see the Hills Home Hub Owner’s Manual.

Am I able to connect to ADSL?
If you have subscribed to an ADSL service for high speed internet, you may wish to install the modem and ADSL filter in a central location for convenience.  This means that micro ADSL filters will not be needed at each phone socket in your home. After setting up your ADSL connection and home network, you will be able to share equipment eg printer and access high speed internet using your ADSL connection in multiple rooms of your home.

For further instructions please see the Hills Home Hub Owner’s Manual.

Troubleshooting Problems

I am having phone and data connection problems, what are the first things I should be looking at to see what the problem is?

• Check that you are using the correct wall plate outlet – Consult the owners manual for verification
• Check that you are using the right cable to connect to the wall plate
• Check that all required modules and devices are turned on
• Check that you have configured your device correctly
• Check your telephone equipment
  • Try unplugging equipment from the wall and try again.
  • Try another wall socket – are you using a phone or a data socket?
  • Try dialling and receiving calls from another room
  • If the phones don’t ring refer to the REN section in your Hills Home Hub Owner’s Manual.
  • Try swapping with a phone from another room that you know works
• Check your Hills Home Hub
  • Refer to the Security System Warning section in your Hills Home Hub Owner’s Manual.
  • Open the lid on your Hills Home Hub
  • Check that all cables are firmly plugged in and that there are no loose wires.
  • If you have something connected to the Mode 3 socket make sure that the Mode 3 Switch is in the ON position.
  • The Disconnect Switch for the number of phone lines you have should be in the ON position
  • Check that patching is correct

Disconnect switches as they allow you to disconnect your home’s telecommunications equipment from the telecommunications provider to assist in isolating possible locations of faults.