Network cables and Boxes for Loft installation

Twirlywoos · 7 Dec 2014 at 16:05

Access Point Advice

See Post 15 - Bought the cables, now need advice on Access Point

Hiya,

I'm having a loft made and the electrician is due in on Wednesday/Thurday. I thought I may as well use this as an opportunity to install CAT6 for future proofing to connect to PS3, TV, PC and Streaming devices.

Where is the best place to get a reel of CAT 6 cable, Keystone Jack and boxes from please? I envisage I will need atleast 100m.

Thank You

thebennyboy · 7 Dec 2014 at 16:55

The rainforest should have them at a good price. Seem to start at about £30.

randal · 7 Dec 2014 at 16:58

I got mine off the bay, 3M CAT6. £60 for 500m IIRC.

Twirlywoos · 7 Dec 2014 at 19:37

Thanks guys those places I looked at too but I'm just weary of fakes, what should I look for as cable markings can't really be trusted.

Twirlywoos · 8 Dec 2014 at 00:39

Lots of Copper Clad crap on the bay. Do I search for pure Copper cable?

ok - it's solid but what's the difference between
FTP_Cat6
CAT6A
CAT6 UTP

Thanks

bledd · 8 Dec 2014 at 08:46

Buy the right stuff, once..

http://www.netstoredirect.com/cat6-cable/66-excel-cat6-utp-cable.html

UTP is what you want here.

For reference, this is the difference.

FTP = http://www.netstoredirect.com/cat6-cable/297277-cat6-ftp-shielded-pvc-solid-core-cable.html

6A = http://www.netstoredirect.com/cat6a-cable/86-excel-cat6a-u-utp-cable-lsoh-outer-sheath.html

Basically FTP = shielding wire & shielding around the cables.
6A = shielding wire and shielding around each pair.

CAT6 is ample for your needs, the cost spirals upwards if you get into shielding.

CAT5e would be fine for your current setup, getting CAT6 is a good idea for future proofing.

--

Wouldn't bother with keystone.

Go for modules and patch panel.

http://www.netstoredirect.com/cat6-modules-outlets/286861-cat6-utp-rj45-loaded-faceplates.html
http://www.netstoredirect.com/cat6-patch-panels/224169-24-port-cat6-utp-ccs-elite-patch-panel.html

kayomani · 8 Dec 2014 at 09:04

I just installed this in mine:

http://www.kenable.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=7207

Trifid · 8 Dec 2014 at 10:24

bledd. said:
getting CAT6 is a good idea for future proofing.

CAT6 offers nothing above 5e. If you want to future proof for 10Gb then get a minimum of 6a. If you want the cheapest possible, get 5e or 6 if it is the same price.

Twirlywoos · 8 Dec 2014 at 10:27

I have a 24 port cat 6 patch panel downstairs that plugs into my HP switch. But I'll go for the UTP stuff, cheers.

Twirlywoos · 8 Dec 2014 at 10:29

Trifid said:
CAT6 offers nothing above 5e. If you want to future proof for 10Gb then get a minimum of 6a. If you want the cheapest possible, get 5e or 6 if it is the same price.

ahhh okay - I assumed cat6 and cat6a utp/ftp all would have offered 10gbp/s

will look for cat6a insttead. I guess I will need to change my patch panel too in the future

Trifid · 8 Dec 2014 at 10:38

CAT6 predates 10Gb and isn't officially rated, it can do 10Gb if it is perfectly installed with no external noise problems. But this is a big if. If you want future proof, do 6a. If you want cheap, get what ever is the cheapest quality cable and run it at 1Gb.

Twirlywoos · 9 Dec 2014 at 16:33

Went with cat6a shielded from netstore, seemed silly to go for anything less especially when the difference was £25 compared to 5e. Also it was a one stop shop and had all the other bits I need in addition to being pure copper, not alu cladded.

Paid for next day delivery as the electricians and plumbers are in tomorrow.

Cheers all.

bledd · 9 Dec 2014 at 16:53

Trifid said:
CAT6 predates 10Gb and isn't officially rated, it can do 10Gb if it is perfectly installed with no external noise problems. But this is a big if. If you want future proof, do 6a. If you want cheap, get what ever is the cheapest quality cable and run it at 1Gb.

Didn't know that, Just figured 6A was the 'very shielded' option for CAT6. Ie, for use in data cabinets that are all 10Gb

Trifid · 9 Dec 2014 at 19:59

Even a seemingly good install with reasonably short distances can cause it to fail to negotiate a 10Gb connection. New installs for 10Gb applications should be 6a.

majnu said:
Went with cat6a shielded from netstore, seemed silly to go for anything less especially when the difference was £25 compared to 5e. Also it was a one stop shop and had all the other bits I need in addition to being pure copper, not alu cladded.

That's a good price, defiantly not worth arguing over for it!

Twirlywoos · 9 Dec 2014 at 20:15

okay now for the access point, my current Asus AC66U's wireless has poor throughput to the loft. Is ubiquiti any good or are there better alternatives?

As it is a PoE device can I connect it to my patch panel into a PoE switch and then have that plugged into a spare socket on my unmanaged HP gigabit procurve?

If I can plug in non PoE devices into a PoE switch I might aswell upgrade if it doesn't cost too much.

Thanks

swinnie · 9 Dec 2014 at 21:02

Only advice that I'd give is make sure you're not buying Copper Clad Aluminium Cable; it's not as good a quality as the proper solid copper core. Generally the real cheap stuff will be CCA.