BT Smart Hub - CAT6 vs CAT7 vs CAT8 at new home build?

[ashthekid]

I'm in the process of building a property and designing the networking setup inside myself. Most likely having BT Smart Hub but would like to know what people recommend for the cabling from that router to the rest of the house? There would probably be about 12 ports needed to distribute to various bedrooms, TV's and office etc(possibly an access point or two) but what would be the best CAT cable to run for today's technology and perhaps future-proof myself a little but without going crazy on the costs involved? Would I be correct to assume that CAT7 cabling would be a middle of the road choice for speed and cost?
And secondly, would I be best having a 16-port switch at the router or maybe run 2x 8-port switches?
Given some of the runs would be around the 30m distance mark would it be best I run one cable from the router to a baby 2-port switch which splits closer to the end location? Would only be to Smart TV's.

Sorry, lots of questions, just want to get the setup right.

 

[bremen1874]

You don't need anything better than Cat6, or if you insist Cat6a. For most tasks, Cat5e is still okay.

The fewer switches the better. Every connection between switches is a potential bottleneck.

If you can avoid having additional switches by running more cables then try to do it.

 

[Caged]

Cat7 is a marketing term rather than a TIA standard, and Cat8 isn't designed to cable your house with.

Cat6 is more than enough, and the price premium over Cat5e is tiny, so you might as well go for it. Cat6A is not worth bothering with due to the increased cost of the modules and the time required to terminate. I'd only consider a shielded connection if I was running HDMI extenders that were just using the physical cable to send a signal down, rather than network devices.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

As others have said, CAT6 is fine. If your working with an empty house, get some plug sockets put in the loft, terminate all your cables up there and put your switch and any other gear you need hidden away (NAS, CCTV recorder etc).

Have a couple of runs going back to the where the internet comes in, a couple of runs going to each room and runs going to ceiling mounted access points and any potential camera locations. Consider doing a few runs to any TV location (TV, games consoles, set top boxes etc.)

It’s easier to get all the runs in now, you don’t need to terminate them all. If a cable gets damaged in 10 years or 5 mins after you move in (say a mistake when putting a picture up) it becomes much more difficult job to fix, cable is cheap in the grand scheme of things, you might as well put in some spare runs.

Just make sure you label them all as they go in!

 

[ashthekid]

Is it best having the CAT6 or CAT6a cables run to sockets in each room or just have a little roll of cable to terminate straight into which device it plugs into? I can’t help but think into a socket and then another short cable plugged in affects the quality of the line and speed etc.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Terminate to sockets.

network cable can be broken easily if it’s tugged and you don’t want to break any runs back to the switch, that will be a nightmare.

Pre made patch cables are so cheap to buy and pretty much available in any length, don’t worry about making your own for going from the socket to the device. Also don’t worry about buying expensive CAT6A ones, CAT5e will be more than fine for 10gb over a short run and they are more flexible.

when I say short run, we’re talking 40m in total length.

 

[ashthekid]

Yeah the most distance it will likely be is 20-30m in some cases.
I may still try my best to run as best a cable as possible to each room just to be extra safe to future proof myself. If kick myself if in years to come everything suddenly becomes CAT6a minimum standard. You think that’s sensible?

 

[bremen1874]

Networking moves slowly. The chances of you being able to get (at a cost you’d be willing to pay), or need, anything better than 10GBe in the foreseeable future is just about nil. For that, at domestic distances, you don’t need better than Cat6.

 

[stoofa]

As above, at 50m you're good on CAT5e, but as CAT6 has such a tiny premium, that's what I'd be buying now - I'm not however planning on upgrading my numerous CAT5e runs as the very longest is only 30m.

 

[bledd]

New build? Cat6.

Wiring into an existing house that you'll have limited access to etc? Cat5e.

Put 2 ports where you need 1, put 4 ports where you need 2.

I never bother with spare cables.