Recommendations/thoughts for Ethernet Cabling & Switch(es)

[jalyst]

Trying to decide whether I should get something like this (doesn't ship to Australia)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000JLF4FG/?tag=snbforums-20
OR....
A discrete Gbit switch which fits snugly into the 19" rack (approx. 6U) with swing door that I'll be installing.

AFAICT I'll need 6 Ethernet ports all up:
2x WAN ports (1 for our Cable MODEM & 1 for our 4G MODEM/Antenna)
3x LAN ports for 3 runs to 2 locations downstairs (1 of those runs/locations is for the household's main WiFi AP)
1x LAN port for 1 run to 1 location upstairs

With 8 ports in total, that still leaves us with 2 ports, should we decide to do some runs to other locations.
I'm not sure if one can get top-notch/quality discrete Gbit switches with as little as four ports.
I'm not even sure if four's enough, maybe it's safer to have 6 or 8, bringing the total up to 10 or 12 ports?
Then again, I'm quite sure 8 in total should suffice for the foreseeable future...

I guess it depends on if I could be using that sole PCIe slot for something that's more important?
I don't need a RAID controller, as this build won't be my primary NAS or Local-host/Server.
I'm not sure what else one might want to put in that PCIe slot, other than an Ethernet card???
I wouldn't want to put a Graphics or Sound card in there etc. etc...

Also, is 10Gbe more reasonable nowadays, or is it still way too exorbitant to justify getting a 10Gbe 4-port card or discrete switch? I know it's massive overkill, but I'll be shuttling loads of data quite regularly between my NAS in the storage room, & my HEPC/PVR/kitchen-sink at the other end of the house. I doubt Gbit-only will be an issue any time soon, especially since I'll have two Ethernet ports at that location so I can do dual Gbit if/when needed, but if 10Gbe's not exorbitant -then why not make the jump!?!

 

[Cloud200]

Do not use the NIC as a switch.
Get a switch.

If you think you need 6 ports and want rack mounted, get a 16 port switch leaving a few for expansion.
8 doesnt leave you with much and while 24 is usually the next step up, some companies make 10,12,16 port units

Something like that ought to do it.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009LEJJM6/?tag=snbforums-20

10gbe is expensive.
read this for some ideas on how to do it if you really Really REALLY want it;
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanw...sions-of-a-10-gbe-network-newbie-introduction
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tags/10GbE

 

[jalyst]

Leaving aside that it'll result in just 8 Gbit ports, what's wrong with using the SYS-5018A-FTN4 + that Gbit NIC as a switch IYO?

Cool, that discrete 16-port Gbit switch is markedly cheaper than I imagined, yet it seems to be of decent quality with some good features, plus it gives me way more ports than I'll ever need, unless:

I confirm that all of the temp probes in our house are on Ethernet with the right layer & topology, & I find a way to patch them into that switch instead of our aircon.* And do so in a way that makes it easy to patch them back into the aircon when we want to use it again, we rarely do -far too expensive!

I've done some initial prep. so as to investigate all of this more closely, but it's WAY down the priority list for now.

With regards to Gbit Vs 10Gbe, what I think I'll do, is see how I go with Gbit everywhere 1st, but:

(1)
If over time I feel I need 10Gbe (which may be possible between my HEPC & NAS but I doubt anywhere else), then I'll add a 8-port 10Gbe switch (or 4/6-port but I doubt they go that low?), link that switch to the Gbit switch, & have the NAS & HEPC run off that 10GBe switch, after I've upgraded them both to 10Gbe.

Or

(2)
I may replace the 16-port Gbit switch entirely with a 16/24-port 10Gbe switch, thereby negating the need for 2 separate switches. But that'd be far pricier, I'm more likely to go with option (1) first I think, & then this approach in several years -when/if needed.

Cheers!
*the central unit's close to where the switch will be

 

[Cloud200]

The 4 port NIC is going to require you to create a virtual switch in software.
That can drop you below wirespeed if the CPU and bus gets overloaded

If you are really gung-ho about getting 10gbe on the network between only two devices then there are some cost effective options.

1) Run them point to point. Get a 10gbe NIC for the PC and the NAS. Connect one 1gbe port to the switch, connect the 10gbe ports to each other directly and configure a static IP on a different subnet.

2) Buy a 24 or 48 port switch with 10gbe uplinks.
Look at the Cisco SG500x, Ubiquiti ES-48-500 (Not the 24), Mikrotik RS226-24G-2S+RM

 

[jalyst]

Yeah, I figured that may be why you were suggesting a discrete switch, hw-based Vs sw-based etc.

Your option (1) is an approach that I'd considered, & definitely one I may go with.

What's wrong with my option (1) approach, IYO?
At least then one won't get back to the Gbit LAN via a NIC on the HEPC/NAS, but rather a port on the 10Gbe switch.
Plus I'd have 6 10Gbe ports left, should I eventually want to add other devices.

And do okay-ish 10Gbe switches go as low as 4 or 6-ports? Doubtful -but one can live in hope

24-port 10Gbe switch I'd possibly get in a few more years, then I can ditch the 2 switches for one.
48-port 10Gbe is too rich for me, at least for the next few years, maybe prices will have dropped a lot after that.

Thanks for all of your input, tis very much appreciated, great to have someone one can bounce ones thoughts off.
Especially someone who isn't obnoxious or condescending in their tone.

GN.

 

[Cloud200]

I have never seen a 10gbe switch below 8 ports.
They may exist . . . but it economically does not make sense to manufacture.

Your option 1 approach of buying 2 switches makes sense if you get a 3rd 10gbe device. There is no benefit otherwise. You would also not route through one of the devices. Just give them both 2 NICs. Personally I don't like spending money on tech until I need it. The price will always have dropped and the feature set always expanded if I wait.

Something to look out for is the 2.5gbe and 5gbe standards that are starting to come to market in the enterprise space. They are MGbaseT and NGbaseT. My money is on NGbaseT due to the membership of Intel and Cisco. Granted it will take at least a year to trickle down to SMB market but it should have much better traction than 10gbe.

Thanks for all of your input, tis very much appreciated, great to have someone one can bounce ones thoughts off.
Especially someone who isn't obnoxious or condescending in their tone.

You are most welcome. This is quite a bit of fun for me and I thank you for the opportunity to explore this problem.

 

[jalyst]

I have never seen a 10gbe switch below 8 ports.
They may exist . . . but it economically does not make sense to manufacture.

I did some searching for 6-port, I found a tiny handful that might do the job, they look a bit dodgy though. I didn't search for 4-port 10Gbe, I suspect my options there would be just as limited -perhaps more. If they do the job sufficiently, then given their price; they're certainly a better option at this stage than any 16 & 24+ 10Gbe offerings. If they don't do the job sufficiently, then the next best option would be the "P2P" route we've discussed, or something like that 8-port switch I referenced. But 10Gbe's still a very low priority, & by the time I get round to it, I might be best-off looking at 16 & 24+ 10Gbe switches!

You would also not route through one of the devices. Just give them both 2 NICs.

Not sure I agree, I'd have to route through a sep. Gbit interface on the NAS in order to get back to the wider Gbit LAN, the NAS would effectively be the "10Gbe switch" for the NAS <--> HEPC 10Gbe P2P subnet. Ah I get you now; if both devices have a Gbit interface, then they can be part of the Gbit LAN in a "star-like" topology, whilst still being in a 10Gbe LAN/subnet in a P2P topology!

Personally I don't like spending money on tech until I need it. The price will always have dropped and the feature set always expanded if I wait. Something to look out for is the 2.5gbe and 5gbe standards that are starting to come to market in the enterprise space. They are MGbaseT and NGbaseT. My money is on NGbaseT due to the membership of Intel and Cisco. Granted it will take at least a year to trickle down to SMB market but it should have much better traction than 10gbe.

Thanks for the tip! TBH this whole 2.5Gbe/5Gbe/10Gbe talk is a bit of a distraction, I won't know if I really need it until I've been using the Gbit infra for a while, & start to find annoyances/limitations. I'll know if I need (or want) to proceed approx. 6-mth after I've finished this project*, & by then pricing for decent 16 & 24+ 10Gbe switches may have dropped markedly -hopefully.

You are most welcome. This is quite a bit of fun for me and I thank you for the opportunity to explore this problem.

It aint over yet Soon I'll be looking at exactly what sort of Eth cabling to get.
I want cabling with the greatest carrying capacity, as I only intend to run it once.
Once it's all run there's no going back, so it must be very future-proof & resilient.
It's all pretty standard stuff, I know, I've some candidates that I'll post later...

Cheers!
*This project & a closely related subsequent one are probably 6-mths from completion, though hopefully I can do it all much quicker!

 

[Cloud200]

Lets go back to the basics.
Do you have any floorplans?

For in wall wiring technically if you have money to burn and live in a datacenter . . . CAT 8.2 cable is rated for a currently proposed, but as of yet non-existing 40gb standard.

Any place you may eventually have a television, put 1 coax and 2 ethernet.

Depending on the size and construction of the residence, think about running wiring in-ceiling for speakers, access points, camera etc.

 

[jalyst]

Lets go back to the basics.
Do you have any floorplans?

No, but I already have a good idea where I want to route all the cabling (fingers-crossed), calling in my sparky soon (he originally wired the entire house) to see if we can go where I envisage. I've also read some articles on how to approach this sort of thing (useful tools/tips etc), in case I'm not happy with how much he wants to charge for everything. There's A LOT to do -more than I realised at 1st!

For in wall wiring technically if you have money to burn and live in a datacenter . . . CAT 8.2 cable is rated for a currently proposed, but as of yet non-existing 40gb standard.

Hah, sounds a bit rich, but depending on price maybe I can stomach it, it certainly would be VERY future-proof?!
What's the next step down, CAT6E? I've some candidates of my own that I'll post here later... ;-)

Any place you may eventually have a television, put 1 coax and 2 ethernet.

Two of the three locations that I intend to do cable runs already have coax for F2A & CableTV. I "think" there's one more location (entirely diff. part of the house) that has F2A coax, I doubt it has CableTV coax too. So I've lots of infra. for MoCA, which is something I'll def. be finalising later this year, after all the Eth & WiFi stuff is bedded down!

One location (downstairs where the HEPC/XBO/Other is) will have two Ethernet runs to it, another location (upstairs & almost directly above the aforementioned) I hope to pull one Ethernet run to it by using the coax. cabling that's already in place.

The 3rd and final location (downstairs but in a more central spot) is for the WiFi AP (not finalised yet), I'll have to work out how to get power cabling to it -via PoE or normal AC. So all up: three locations, four Ethernet runs, & one power run!

Depending on the size and construction of the residence, think about running wiring in-ceiling for speakers, access points, camera etc.

I have a speaker system, it really should be upgraded but I just don't have the budget for that any time soon.
Tis an old Z-680 system & IIRC, Logitech finally released something recently that comes close or surpasses it.
So I may upgrade to it, but at that point I'll be looking at other stuff too...
I won't bother with internal speaker wiring, when/if I upgrade to a more serious system I'll look into that.

I normally use my TV spkrs or cordless cans anyway, though no doubt habits will change once this project's done!
Did some epic research ~4-yrs back, there was nothing better than the Sennheiser RS-180's at the time.
I've been lightly following latest developments, AFAICT there's now ~2 better models, but in no rush to upgrade.

I do have plans longer-term for HomeAutomation/Domotics/Security & all of that shebang. But I don't want to factor any of that into this project, I'd just get way too sidetracked & never finish this "WAN/LAN/WLAN Overhaul" project! Thankfully much of that stuff uses wireless standards, &/or can be run over Eth/WiFi/MoCa/HomePlug.

So yeah, I think focus in this thread should probably remain on: "Which cabling & switch(es) to pick", & "How to install & get the most out of both".

 

[azazel1024]

Cat6e is pretty future proof. Then again, so is Cat6 and Cat5e.

2.5 and 5GbE standards are currently in the process of being finalized and they will both work out to 100 meters on Cat5e cabling. Currently 10GbE will work on lowly Cat5e to 45 meters and Cat6 to 55 meters, with increasing levels of hard environment working conditions (IE the Cat5e needs a very clean EMI environment to run 10GbE on it to 45 meters, Cat6 can be ditier and manage 55 meters). By comparison, Cat6a does 10GbE to 100 meters in a very harsh environment and also 40GbE over short distances (10 meters).

For price, generally if you have to ask, you don't want to know. My personal opinion is, unless you are running an honest to goodness business or data center out of your house where you have to worry about tons of cables in bundles or worried about being on the bleeding edge, Cat6 is the best balance of price, performance, future proofing and ease of handling. It is a bit stiffer and harder to run than Cat5e, it is a bit more expensive, but not a lot than Cat5e and it is only fractionally harder to install ends on it (either punch down jacks or RJ45 ends). It'll certainly run 10GbE over medium distances and should work great with the soon to be 2.5 and 5GbE standards. It is at least theoretically possible it might run the future 25GbE standard too, over very short distances.

From a lot of looking, Cat6 is generally going to be about 10% more for connectors and about 35% more for cabling. Cat6a is roughly double the price of Cat6 for everything.

For 1000ft I've seen good quality cabling Cat5e is generally in the $100 range. Cat 6 is about $130. Cat 6a is about $250.

Cat6a is also a LOT stiffer and harder to route. It is also a lot harder to terminate.

Just kind of depends on what you are looking at and need. Cat6a to me is just to hard to work with and too expensive to justify unless you know you need it or will need it.

The other thing you can always do is make sure that you can repull wires to locations later either to add or replace wiring.

The thing here is that it just depends so much on wants/needs. I could probably wire my entire house for a 1,000ft spool of Cat6a, plus keystones might run me $350-400 total. Which does future proof the heck out of it, but it also costs a lot more hours in hassle to do it. Cat6 was/is more like $180 for everything and shaved several hours off the process (working with Cat6 and 6a keystones, I'd throw a random number of maybe 3 minutes to punch down a Cat6 keystone and a Cat6a tends to take me closer to 6-8 minutes because of working with the shielding and what not). I've also had runs get hung up and what not with Cat6a, that wouldn't have happened with the more flexible Cat6...taking easily an hour or two extra to get it where I needed it.

My brother "demanded" cat6a in his house, so I've been running it for him. I don't mind too much, but it is a MUCH bigger hassle than Cat6. Also means bigger holes through things since the cables are thicker (doesn't seem like much with a single wire, but when you have a bunch of 4, 5, 6+ cables together it adds up. I can fit 4 Cat6 through a 1/2" hole, but 4 Cat6a needs basically an 11/16" hole).

 

[jalyst]

Thanks mate, some stuff to think about there...

Now it just comes down to the lengths I'm going to need for the ~4 runs*, then I'll know how big a spool I'll need, add to that however many heads I'll need & a crimping tool (if sparky doesn't have one for 6a etc), & I can work out the total cost for: 5e/6/6e/6a.

If 6a's not vastly more exorbitant than 5e (for my budget), & if my sparky's confident we can work with it in the areas I want to run it (maybe I'll get 6/6e/6a samples), then we'll go with it, otherwise we'll go with one of the lower offerings, I'm sure they'd all be more than good enough for a long time, especially 6 & 6e!

The other thing you can always do is make sure that you can repull wires to locations later either to add or replace wiring.

This we'll definitely try to work out, especially if we go for Cat 5e or Cat 6!
Regarding that Cat 8.2 that Cloud200 mentioned, I shudder to think how pricey it is, I won't even go there!

Thanks again & BR/GN
*I think I can devise some pretty close estimates!

 

[Cloud200]

Don't have much time today, but just a word of advice on CAT6A/6E
CAT6a is a real spec. It is an augmented version of CAT6 supporting double the frequency.
CAT6e is something a few companies made up before CAT6a was ratified and should be avoided.

When buying Patch panels, Patch cables, and Keystone inserts, make sure that everything is rated for CAT6a or you will lose the benefits the cable offers.

 

[jalyst]

Do these look okay? Being "patch leads" I'm not sure if they're right...
http://www.4cabling.com.au/10m-cat6a-ftp-lszh-patch-lead.html#.VW1eYOe5ZN0
http://www.4cabling.com.au/10m-cat-6a-ftp-patch-lead-red.html#.VW1amee5ZN0
http://www.4cabling.com.au/10m-cat-6a-ftp-patch-lead-black.html#.VW1anOe5ZN0
http://www.4cabling.com.au/10m-cat-6a-ftp-patch-lead-yellow.html#.VW1anue5ZN0
http://www.4cabling.com.au/10m-cat-6a-ftp-patch-lead-green.html#.VW1aoOe5ZN0

One of my runs would def. be short enough (approx. 7m) to use one of those, assuming they're okay.
The other three runs are too long, very roughly they're 2x 16.5m & 1x 20m.
With all measurements I've tried to be on the exaggerated side, I doubt total length would be hugely above 60m.

So I'll have to buy a roll for the other 3 runs, as they don't have any pre-made cabling longer than 10m.
That being the case, maybe I'm best-off buying a roll for the lot, plus the heads, & then crimp all 4 runs myself?

Although, their selection of 6A rolls looks pretty underwhelming...
http://www.4cabling.com.au/cable/cable-rolls-boxes.html?dir=desc&order=price
Ideally I could get a roll that's not much more than 50m, but maybe that's an unknown in the industry?

What else do I need, what are patch panels....
Is that what the cable plugs into from behind the wall, thus converting it from M2F?
Before we buy any of this stuff, we'll do some test runs using some other cabling;
To see if we can route it all the way I'm hoping....

 

[Cloud200]

Depends how you run the cables.
Lets say there is a run 20m away.
Thats usually 3m up a wall, 4m down, 20m across and 2m of slack on each end
that 20m run is now 31m in total cable.

The patch cable you linked is a shielded cable.
The FTP in the part number stands for Foil Twisted Pair.
UTP stands for Unshielded Twisted Pair.
Unless you are running all shielded cables end to end, (which for 99% of residential applications you don't need to) getting Shielded patch cables will hurt, not help the signal.
So unless you are going to run Shielded cables end to end, look for UTP cables.
One place you can easily run Shielded is in a rack. Going direct from the switch to servers can help if the density of the equipment generates so much noise that you can no longer get 10gbe to sync reliably.

Blank Patch Panel
Cat6a Keystone Inserts
Keystones are terminated with a tool called a punchdown tool.

This video will give you a pretty good idea how to terminate them.

Below is an image of my rack at home.
The panel on the top is the patch panel.
I personally like using blank panels with keystone inserts.

The short 6" cables connecting the patch panel to my switch are patch cables.
The longer cables in my rack connecting the devices to the switch are also patch cables.

The number one difference between a patch cable and a riser cable is patch cables are made of stranded copper. This makes them more flexible and less prone to failing due to movement. Riser cables are what you run in your walls. They are almost always solid copper cores with nylon or kevlar rip chords that make them far more resilient to breakage when installing.

 

[azazel1024]

One other thing to consider on 5e/6/6a, I have only ever seen 6a as 1000ft spools (or longer), which means about $250 minimum cable order. Cat6 you CAN find in 500ft boxes and 5e you can find in 100, 250, 500, 1000, >1000ft boxes and spools. So if all you have is 60-100 meters of wiring requirement, paying for a ~320 meter spool at $250 doesn't seem to make sense when you could buy Cat6 at maybe $80-100 for a ~160 meter box.

On the riser/in-wall versus patch, don't run patch in the walls. Especially if you are looking at "higher graded" cable as it is. The standards specify a 90 meters solid core cable with a 5 meter patch cable on either end, for a total of 100 meters to meet the specifications. If you have more patch/stranded cable than that, you start reducing the length of cable you can run and still be sure you can get the speeds you want.

 

[jalyst]

I'm not sure I get this, why do I even need a patch panel, can't I just have all the runs from my end devices terminate directly into the switch? Keystone inserts; so they're the "heads or jacks" essentially that I'll need to crimp/punch onto the cabling? Is it possible to buy them in smaller packets, 25's a bit much, 16 should be the absolute max. I'd need, at least in the short to medium term. Especially if I'm already going to have a bunch of much shorter patch runs/leads that are already punched/headed.

I'm quite confident of those lengths, I did accommodate for running up & down, not just one dimensional, but I'll check them again soon. So I'll need: Cat6a UTP riser cabling for the 4 long runs*, & Cat6a FTP patch cabling for wiring "in the rack"? The former I guess I'll just buy in one big roll, is it possible to get rolls that are a 50m & not heaps more? Patch cabling I imagine I should keep much shorter; x no. at ~6" to connect the switch(es) to the PP, then a further x no. at ~1m(39.37") to connect devices in the rack to the switch? I imagine I'm best-off just getting pre-made ones, & maybe I'll buy different colours, so it's easier for cable management etc?

Maybe I've not searched well enough, but I'm not seeing everything I need at 4cabling; would prefer to buy from there unless there's somewhere overseas that ships to Oz for non-exorbitant pricing, Amazon often does, but they're one of the rare exceptions. But often even they don't ship (or pricing is a tad high), for example, they won't ship those keystone inserts you linked.

Great video by the way, doesn't look that hard to do!!!

One other thing to consider on 5e/6/6a, I have only ever seen 6a as 1000ft spools (or longer),

You absolutely sure that's the case everywhere? I might be prepared to wear 500ft, but 1000ft+ makes little sense.
Even if my 50m total is way off, & the total length is more like 100m (extremely unlikely), that's still only 328ft.

Cheers!
*one of the runs is quite short though (~7m), so maybe I should use cat6a FTP patch cabling for it?

 

[jalyst]

Update: actually I think pretty much everything I need IS there:
$297.00 = Cat 6A UTP Riser cabling 305m
$_74.80 = 8x Cat 6A 10G Shielded Keystone Jack
$_66.00 = 8x Cat 6A UTP RJ45 Keystone Jack
$135.36 = Cat 6a RJ45 24 Port Patch Panel

They don't sell the jacks in bundles, you must buy them individually, & the 305m roll is the shortest they offer apparently. Which of those 2 jacks do you reckon, unshielded one should be fine yeah?

$__7.85 = 1x 1m green FTP patch cabling
$__7.85 = 1x 1m red FTP patch cabling
$__5.83 = 1x 0.5m green FTP patch cabling
$__5.83 = 1x 0.5m red FTP patch cabling
$_11.66 = 2x 0.5m blue FTP patch cabling
$__5.83 = 1x 0.5m yellow FTP patch cabling
$__5.83 = 1x 0.5m black FTP patch cabling

AFAICT, in the rack I'll need just 2 ~1m patch leads to the PP (1 from my Fw/Gw & 1 from my NAS), given that, I'll need another 2 leads -so I can run from the PP to the switch? Apparently the shortest leads they have are .25m, the site only lists .5m, I hope they can do 0.15(6")!* Then for the 4 runs for all End_Devices/Locations not in the rack; I imagine they terminate directly into the PP? So I'll need a further 4 .5m patch leads (or .15 if they're able to do .15 for me).

I'm not paying for all the tools needed, sparky can pay for anything he doesn't already have, he should have most of it anyway -if he's "worth his salt".

So total we're looking at so far = $549.04, yikes it's certainly not cheap! One consolation is that they do free shipping for orders over $75AUD. I'm sure I could get better pricing if I searched around heaps more, some overseas retailers would probably do much better, but then there's shipping to factor-in, or they may not ship to Australia etc.

*They've now closed for the week-end, can't call them on week-end's, must wait till Monday damn it!

 

[azazel1024]

You'll want to check the jack design. All 6a is foil wrapped pairs (at least that I have seen), which means that kind of/sort of, all 6a IS shielded, even if it says UTP on it (just means it doesn't contain a ground wire specifically), so you'll need to terminate the shielding at the jack. Now, if the UTP jacks HAVE a metal termination clamp on them, golden. If not, you'll want that.

Not sure on Australia pricing, but by comparison, for the same Cat6 setup, you'd probably be looking at more like $250. Especially since you could get 500ft of Cat6 which is going to do a lot of wiring (10-50ft runs, 20-25ft runs) and even at 1000ft the cost increase is minor ($30 or so for the extra wiring).

Cat6 will support 10GbE in 55 meter runs...

Are you sure you need support for 100 meter runs and/or the increased noise resistance (IE you'll be running half a dozen cables bunched together for dozens of meters) for shorter runs?

I've seen Cat5e run 10GbE over 20 meters and it worked to spec (5e is 45 meters for 10GbE, but even lower noise resistance than Cat6). Cat6 is even better.

Cat6a is a much bigger pain to terminate, it is a PITA to put a crimp on it (like, seriously, 5x longer than trying to do a Cat6s crimp, which is maybe 2x as long as a 5e crimp) and even terminating at a punch down jack or patch panel is more of a pain. It is a serious PITA to do the runs, because of how thick and stiff it is.

Heck, I already dislike running Cat6 over 5e because of all of those reasons and Cat6 is maybe only 20% worse than 5e. 6a is easily twice as bad as 6.

On a patch panel, that is the preferred/to spec way to terminate it. Punched down on both ends and using crimped stranded cables (preferably factory made, as less odds of a defect/poor crimp) between the patch panel and switch and jack and computer. That said, I am a darned hypocrite as ALL of my in wall cables end in a crimp and go directly in to my switch, but they are also only 5e/6. My brother demanded crimped 6a direct to switch in his house, and frankly it was 8 kinds of a pain. With 6a, as horrible as crimping is, I'd spend the bit of extra money and save several hours of my time to just get some .5-1 meter 6a patch cables in bulk as well as a patch panel and do it that way. More likely to meet spec, which if you are spending that much on Cat6a, you should really make absolutely sure it is being installed properly and it'll also save you a lot of time*.

*If I were to take a wild guess, I'd say it takes me 60 seconds on average to do a cat5e crimp, 90 seconds to do a cat6 crimp and 6-8 minutes to do a cat6a crimp as I OFTEN have to redo the crimp 3-4x before it is done right and it is HARD to try to fit a cable that thick in to an 8p8c connector. Punch down is maybe 2 minutes on a 5e, 2:15 on a cat6 and 3 minutes on a 6a.

 

[htismaqe]

I would definitely classify patch panels as a "nice to have" rather than a "must have" in a home network.

 

[jalyst]

You'll want to check the jack design. All 6a is foil wrapped pairs (at least that I have seen), which means that kind of/sort of, all 6a IS shielded, even if it says UTP on it (just means it doesn't contain a ground wire specifically), so you'll need to terminate the shielding at the jack. Now, if the UTP jacks HAVE a metal termination clamp on them, golden. If not, you'll want that.

Hmm okay, I'll ask them on Monday which one of those jacks has that feature.

Not sure on Australia pricing, but by comparison, for the same Cat6 setup, you'd probably be looking at more like $250.

Lets assume I'm sticking with 6A...
Does the set-up look right IYO i.e. correct no, length, & type of patch leads, jacks, & cabling?
Anything I'm missing? Can I get it all for much cheaper somewhere else IYO?

On a patch panel, that is the preferred/to spec way to terminate it. Punched down on both ends and using crimped stranded cables (preferably factory made, as less odds of a defect/poor crimp) between the patch panel and switch and jack and computer. That said, I am a darned hypocrite as ALL of my in wall cables end in a crimp and go directly in to my switch, but they are also only 5e/6. My brother demanded crimped 6a direct to switch in his house, and frankly it was 8 kinds of a pain. With 6a, as horrible as crimping is, I'd spend the bit of extra money and save several hours of my time to just get some .5-1 meter 6a patch cables in bulk as well as a patch panel and do it that way. More likely to meet spec, which if you are spending that much on Cat6a, you should really make absolutely sure it is being installed properly and it'll also save you a lot of time.

So I dont need the PP & the extra leads for it, I can ditch all of that & run everything direct to the switch? Save me quite a bit of extra $, I don't really see the point TBH, seems kinda redundant & seems to needlessly complicate things.

I don't mind that 6A will take much longer & is much harder for everything, it's not a huge set of runs, only 4, & total length shouldn't be heaps more than 50m (maybe even slightly less), & we're only talking 8 crimps -the rest of the cabling will be pre-made*. I'll have a tonne of cabling left though, LOL, can always use it in the future I guess.

Only thing that may be a concern, is when I have 3 of them bunched together & I try to get them down to the rear of the house via the ceiling (downstairs), that's the only time I might have some serious problems. I wonder if I can buy something that's much cheaper that'll help me "simulate" running that cabling, maybe some steel wire? Electrocution hazard!

*If I ditch the PP then all of the pre-made cabling needed with it will go too, but I'll still need at least 2 ~1m patch leads, so I can connect the NAS & Fw/Gw to the Switch