Cat6a Install project

Gimpymoo

Gimpymoo

Gimpymoo

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OK...

I know many will say "why Cat6a", "Waste of money" blaa blaa blaa but to be honest, it is my house, my money, I choose :) The cabling will only cost about £100 or so and for something which should last a LONG time, I do not see it as a bad investment.

I am ticked off with wifi being quiet frankly such a poorly implemented technology and being implemented soo badly on "domestic" grade kit and to be honest, I want to use the network for other things going forward so I want to install a wired network which I can guarantee will be rock solid.

I have a young family as well and it is inevitable that both internet and internal network usage within the home is going to increase as newer ways of using networks are implemented within the home and the children get older and I will be implementing a file/media server at some point too and likely linking the phone line/TV aerial into the network too.

All I need at the moment is 4 access points installed in 2 rooms. I will not have a need for wi-fi. If I do need wifi in the future then I will just connect a wireless access point into the cabled network in the room where I need the wifi.

What would be recommended regarding a switch? The HP ProCurve 1810G can be had for a reasonable price but is it any good? Also, any such thing as a none wifi router nowadays? I just want a simple router to handle the DHCP to share the internet connection with the switch and let the switch do the work.

Obviously, 10GE is a no go at the moment so 1GB would be fine.

My ISP = Virgin Media and will seen be getting one of the "Super Hubs" unfortunately but will be bridging it to the
 
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monkeyspank said:
Have you tried working with cat6a?
I only ask as it might put you off if you need to route it round awkward places.
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This.

Cat6 will be fine for gigabit. Seriously, I have terminated Cat6, Cat6a and fibre and there's a reason I chose Cat6 for my project; the shield on the Cat6a is so fussy, it can cause problems if done poorly. Not to mention the added cost over regular Cat6 isn't viable in my opinion.

I also have the HP ProCurve 1810-24, and it's amazing. Certainly performs well and came with glowing recommendations from the forum :)
 
He said he wants it to last a LONG time, and Cat6a is more appropriate for that as it is minimum requirement for 10 Gb/s over the full 100m.

As for the switch the ProCurve series is highly recommended, can't say that I've used one myself though.
 
monkeyspank said:
Have you tried working with cat6a?
I only ask as it might put you off if you need to route it round awkward places.
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Nothing awkward other than a right angle when going round a walls.

EVH said:
I also have the HP ProCurve 1810-24, and it's amazing. Certainly performs well and came with glowing recommendations from the forum :)
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Good to hear.

What would be recommended as a router to use with the pro-curve?

Would using keystone jacks and wall plates make it easier?
 
Aside from moving a large file over the network (very rare for me) then 10mb/s (100megabit) networking is fine. Gigabit (100mb/s) is an enourmous bandwidth.

I fail to see the need for Cat6a now, or in 2020.
 
I'd have said the only true way to make cabling last a LONG time is to run fibre. Copper standards change too much too regularly to get more than 5-8 years reliable future proofing, and 10Gbit copper in the home is a fair few years off yet, and chances are when the time comes for that you'll probably be looking at the next generation of network tech as an upgrade path.
At this point in time, Cat6 is the most economically viable option. And it will do up to 10Gbit, albeit not over the full 100m but in a house the longest run will struggle to top 35m in most cases. In which case Cat6 is fine.

Even a simple wall is awkward with Cat6 as it's minimum bend radius is over 1 inch. Which makes it difficult to run around skirting, it almost always needs to be trunked.
 
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I'd personally go with Cat6, mainly for the ease of installation and price. Cat6a is fine if you're ripping apart a house and can put in containment but I wouldn't bother unless you plan to stay in the house for the next 15 years but then again who knows what will happen in 15 years.
 
Gimpymoo said:
Nothing awkward other than a right angle when going round a walls.

Good to hear.

What would be recommended as a router to use with the pro-curve?

Would using keystone jacks and wall plates make it easier?
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You're on Virgin I see? I've just got a Billion 7800 and my first impressions are that it's really very good. It's an ADSL/FTTH modem, but it could work if you put the superhub in bridge mode and let that handle your routing, but it depends on your budget tbh.

Whichever way you go, you'll need to earth the Cat6a or you'll essentially create noise on the cable. 1 or 2 sockets is easy, but as mentioned by Skidilliplop, the only real long term bet is fibre.

There are so little devices / hardware that use the 10G connection, that I honestly believe it'll get leapfrogged when we get to that stage that we need the bandwidth (by fibre).

I'd never tell someone to NOT do something, but it depends how much you want to blow.
 
With regards to switches, I have x3 of the Gig TP-Link variarty and they are the best bit of kit I have for £13ea! Can't see why you'd need to buy anything more expensive, unless you have a pro-home setup I guess? But these do me for shifting files around x3 PC's and a NAS. :)
 
What's wrong with you guys - he's already said no to rants about cat6

For the record he's made a good choice, rather cat6 shielded than the cat5e carp that has problems around power lines.... Had it been me I would have also laid optical pity it was so expensive at the time.
 
Thanks guys, some interesting posts.

In all honesty, I dismissed fibre due to cost but regarding the practicalities, how easy is it to terminate fibre to a network connection?

EVH said:
You're on Virgin I see? I've just got a Billion 7800 and my first impressions are that it's really very good. It's an ADSL/FTTH modem, but it could work if you put the superhub in bridge mode and let that handle your routing

Whichever way you go, you'll need to earth the Cat6a or you'll essentially create noise on the cable. 1 or 2 sockets is easy, but as mentioned by Skidilliplop, the only real long term bet is fibre.

There are so little devices / hardware that use the 10G connection, that I honestly believe it'll get leapfrogged when we get to that stage that we need the bandwidth (by fibre).
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I am really apprehensive about getting the Superhub as it seems a rubbish piece of kit (Does not even bridge correctlt) but it is the only way to get the 100Mb service, if you then complain enough, they let you use the previous modem which worked for 50Mb.

Am aware of the earthing issue, was one of the first things which I kept reading about repeatedly when looking into it.


Subliminal Aura said:
ps To OP - Think of the cat6 in terms of providing not just computer network freedom but also whole home audio/visual.

Hence the reason why I emphasise using shielded cables
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I agree, do not want to skimp on the cables used as would like to utilise the network for other uses in the future. They will be outside as well so shielding is VERY important.
 
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Subliminal Aura said:
What's wrong with you guys - he's already said no to rants about cat6

For the record he's made a good choice, rather cat6 shielded than the cat5e carp that has problems around power lines.... Had it been me I would have also laid optical pity it was so expensive at the time.
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No one once mentioned Cat5e.....?

The debate was Cat6 or Cat6a. It helps if you read the thread before denouncing other people's posts :)
 
I would say enough of the cable talk and answer some of his other questions, about the harwired router and wifi :-)

Which ever you go for, I'd be looking for a decent QoS setup.
 
That Billion 7800 I mentioned is brilliant at QoS. Go read some reviews (link)

As for wi-fi, I use an Apple AirPort Extreme that's generally considered an excellent wi-fi access point.
 
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CAT6 is fine up to about 30metres for 10gbit. Apparently it can manage 40m+ but I've never seen it in the real world.

Termination of Cat6 and Cat6a is tricky due to the rather extreme requirements - 2mm or 4mm maximum untwisted, something like that.
 
Yamahahahahaha said:
CAT6 is fine up to about 30metres for 10gbit. Apparently it can manage 40m+ but I've never seen it in the real world.

Termination of Cat6 and Cat6a is tricky due to the rather extreme requirements - 2mm or 4mm maximum untwisted, something like that.
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depends what connectors you get, some of them are a lot more human friendly than others and make it pretty easy.
 
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