Cat6 or 6a UTP or STP??

[tododo]

Hi all

About to get new house extension built soonish and want to run more cat 6 or 6a cable

Put in Cat6 about 10 years ago when we moved in and realise now that I should have laid more runs so as the new extension is going in now is the time to add more

Was hoping to run about 12 more runs

Did think of cat 7 but there doesnt seem to be a requirement for it in the home really

Im upgrading to a proper patch panel too as Ive just rj45 the ends so may aswell do it properly this time

Any 24port Cat6a Patch Panel recommendations??

Not sure what cable to go for either I have been reading that Excel cable is good?? Runs are going to be fairly close to electric so was thinking of sheilded cat 6a?? I will of course try to keep away where I can

Any thoughts??
Thanks

 

[bledd]

Cat6 is already AMPLE. Cat6a will be way more expensive to install, it takes about 4-5 minutes per module instead of ~1 minute for a Cat6. So many 'layers' to the cable.

 

[Hyburnate]

Stick with Cat6 as above, how much are you going to be running with power? In a home environment, I'd cut the corner and not worry with shielding.

I like Excels stuff, their Cat6 panels are fairly cheap and are easy to use and well labelled, they do come with rear management panels but I wouldn't worry, they take much longer and in a home, it'll be a waste of time. Their Cat6 modules are standard Euro size too and will fit most faceplates on the market.

 

[tododo]

So excel Cat6 UTP cable should be ample? I cant remeber where the electric cables are and the existing cat6 - they were close and in some areas we couldnt avoid if I remember right. Will see what we can do when we take up the floor boards again. I dont particulary like drilling big holes through joists either!!! Not very longs runs I would say at most 30m. Will take a scan at those patch panels - I take the patch panels take all sorts of networking cable whether SFTP or UTP??? Not used them before - thanks again

 

[tododo]

Hi again - apologies for reviving this one....still making a decision on buying cable was just about to go for UTP Cat 6.....but still not sure. You read different things on different websites ie for 10gig spec you will have to use screened cable and what not. The excel cable has a HUGE difference in price when going from CAT6 UTP to the CAT6a standard too howeever I see 100m of CAT 7 (on website after a rainforest) for around £75. Dont mind buying Cat6 at all but just want to make sure that its not going to be substandard for the future. Definately want it to be 10Gig spec I would say (JUST IN CASE) its needed.

 

[Caged]

What do you want to use the cable for? I'd struggle to recommend going above Cat6 unless you wanted to use things like HDMI senders that seem to work a lot better over higher-spec shielded cables as the resolutions and frame rates get higher.

The TIA specs say that Cat6 can do 10GBaseT up to 37 metres, and Cat6A is required to reach 100m.

 

[tododo]

Thats potentially one application I would use yeh. Thats about it to be honest at present but just want to future proof as much as I can really and get the best cable for a reasonable price.

 

[Zefan]

For normal network use I wouldn't bother with anything more than Cat 6. If it's running adjacent to power then maybe STP, but it depends on the circumstances. Cat 6a will be more difficult to work with, more susceptible to performance degradation due to damage/bad termination, and will cost you a lot more to buy now in the name of "future proofing", when you could just run it at a later date when you can actually get 10Gbps networking equipment for an acceptable price. The major "cost" in wiring your house surely isn't the cable itself anyway, it's the time and effort of getting things run through your walls and creating neat connection points. Replacing with higher spec cable in the future should be easy compared to creating entirely new runs, and it will likely have significantly reduced in price.

 

[Caged]

The most future proof thing you can do is to install conduit so you can replace the cable in the future without ripping walls apart. There's no real future proof cable as we just don't know how things are going to develop - you could install Cat7 and never see the investment pay off.

 

[tododo]

Good point guys - decision made then - there will be a bit of trunking visible as I cant be bothered chasing out and then once its in the floor boards it will then be put in some sort of conduit to the final termination points - possibly drainpipes so yeh upgrading in future shouldnt be an issue if its needed

Cat6 UTP it is then - thanks again all - common sense prevails!