Cabling up the house

Yaayuh! · 11 Jun 2019 at 16:00

Cabling up for WAPs and CCTV soon. Was going to just use CAT6 UTP either solid core to a compact patch panel or stranded straight to switch.

Worth using shielded, foiled and/or CAT6a or better? Interested to know what others have used.

Stephanie Peterson · 11 Jun 2019 at 16:07

Naa in a house, just cheaper cable (still cat 6 but you dont need to go all mega fancy) - or even cat 5 is enough.

Yaayuh! · 11 Jun 2019 at 16:29

That's what I was thinking. It's going through loft space and the like at about 50m~60m in length and I don't believe i'd need to reuse in the future for 10Gb.

And I think i'll get solid and terminate directly at the devices' end but patch panel the other end.

Interested to know what others have cabled with though.

Meddling-Monk · 11 Jun 2019 at 17:03

Cat6 here, Foil Shielded, but that was the only solid core option I had at the time, otherwise non shielded would have been preferable and just as fine. Connected to keystones mounted in face plates at various locations. Each run lasts less than 10m and 1 run near 13m, so was never going to be an issue for any beyond 1gbit connections really.

Yaayuh! · 12 Jun 2019 at 08:38

Meddling-Monk said:
Cat6 here, Foil Shielded, but that was the only solid core option I had at the time, otherwise non shielded would have been preferable and just as fine. Connected to keystones mounted in face plates at various locations. Each run lasts less than 10m and 1 run near 13m, so was never going to be an issue for any beyond 1gbit connections really.

Tempted to just cable in with plenty of slack straight to the switch rather than using keystone/patch panel, given the permanence of it.

Any advice on suppliers? I'm not using blackbox any more as they kinda screwed me over. But in amongst the rubbish (CCA) on Amazon, I found this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B077D7KF7T/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?smid=A2H9MSIILW7I5R&psc=1
I'd prefer white if not terminating at a patch panel/keystone first.

bledd · 12 Jun 2019 at 10:29

I would use decent quality solid core cat5e if adding to an existing house.

No point in shielded for this use.

labcoattech · 12 Jun 2019 at 15:20

If you laying solid core cable throughout your house then I would advise terminating to a patch panel before connecting to a switch. You can terminate direct to the sockets in the rooms though. Cat6 UTP will be more than adequate.

WJA96 · 13 Jun 2019 at 04:37

If you use good quality keystones (I’m thinking Connectix) then there is a massive time saving when terminating the connections compared to making up RJ-45’s (unless you make up RJ-45’s for a living of course). You don’t even need a tool for the new ones. Just lay the cables on the terminals and snap the cover shut. Then snap it into the wall socket or patch panel.

While it’s significantly more money to buy a keystone patch panel and the connectors, running them back to a short-depth 6U Data Cabinet where you can also mount your switch (and potentially router) will ultimately be far better long-term. You have to think of this as a permanent infrastructure project that will add value to your house if done well.

I wouldn’t use anything other than CAT6 these days. 10GbE is close to tipping point in terms of cost for consumer use and under 30m good CAT6 will definitely work with 10GbE whereas CAT5 is ‘almost certainly’ going to be fine, when/if you get issues you’ll always be second-guessing yourself about if it’s the cheap cable you bought.

Yaayuh! · 13 Jun 2019 at 08:52

I've lost count of how many RJ45 connections i've done over the years. They too are really simple so long as you get the right connectors, where you can push the wires straight through and out the end with a loader too, simple.

I may get a small 8-16 port patch panel and wall point it next to the switch if I go that way.