Solid Cat6 Cable from my local Home Depot OK? (It has no center plastic core)

[EastCoastMaster]

Well, I've been a fan of this website for a long time so I decided to join the forum - This is my first post, yay. Anyway, I'm just curious if the "Saberlink" Cat6 cable from my local home depot is any good for wiring my new house? My father's a building contractor and he is building the house I'm buying so luckily I have the opportunity to run Cat6 right after it's been framed and the electrician is running power, cable and Cat5e for phone lines - (might convince him to use Cat6 for future proofing).

Anyway the cable says it's made in the USA and it's definitely real copper, not that copper-clad shiz, and it's rated for in-wall. My main concern tho is how much does it effect the cable, not having a plastic center core like most Cat6 cable has because I know it supposed to help further prevent alien crosstalk, especially at high frequencies?

The reason I'm concerned isn't so much for my gigabit network I plan to be running off of a Netgear 16 & 5 port switch, it's for the future, say 5 years from now when a 8 port 10gbit switch off newegg costs $199 and I want to make sure the cable will be sufficient and yes I know your're limited on cable length. BTW the reason for the 5 port is because it is manageable for things like bandwidth control so I can run my Main CPU plus whichever extra pc needs the 2000mbps for backup, a 2TB WD My Book Live (a NAS technically), and an old amd athlon pc with four SATA 2 HDD's run in JBOD on windows home server or maybe freenas or possibly unraid - (still building it as of now)

 

[coxhaus]

Make sure you use solid core for in the walls and twisted pair for patch cables and you should be good to go.

PS
I would make sure the phone cat5e cable wire abides by the same data standards of not more than 100 meters in length and are home run to one patch panel with RJ45s. This would allow you to use VOIP phones or PCs in the future.

 

[EastCoastMaster]

Ya that definitely seems like a good idea, I totally forgot about VoIP phones. They definitely are the future in home phone setups. I have comcast home phones right now which technically are VoIP but they're not like the real deal, its just a regular phone line system run by a telephony cable modem.

But does anyone know if that Saberlink Cat6 cable from my local home depot is any good since it doesn't have a plastic center core? I mean does the plastic center spline really make a huge difference in cable performance as far as alien crosstalk is concerned or is it no biggie?

 

[thiggins]

Why worry about the future? Don't you know everything will be wireless then?

The center core is not required by the CAT6 standard. Is there any frequency rating printed in the jacket?

South wire (http://www.southwire.com) doesn't say that they test their data cables.

You need CAT6a or CAT7 to support 10GBaseT anyway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10-gigabit_Ethernet#10GBASE-T

 

[CaptainSTX]

Cabling Opinion

Once the walls are closed up there will be no do over on any of the cabling.

If it were my house I would go to a electrical supply house that specializes in communications cabling and buy good cabling from Belden, etc.

I would install RG6 with Quad Shielding for all coaxial runs. It needs to be certified to 3000 Mhz in case you want to install satellite television equipment. CATV doesn't need more than 950 Mhz based on today's technology

For Ethernet I would use Cat 6.

If you are going to terminate the cables yourself be sure to purchase the correct fittings and termination tools.

If you are running the cable through your walls and drilling through wooden studs be sure to install nail protectors on both sides of interior walls on the edges of the stud so that when the drywall hangers install your sheet rock they don't drive screws through your cables. It will also make it less likely you will damage a cable in the future when you hang pictures, etc.

Check with your electrician to see what height above the sill he is going to run his rough in wiring so you don't interfere with his installation.

Good luck!

 

[EastCoastMaster]

Why worry about the future? Don't you know everything will be wireless then?

The center core is not required by the CAT6 standard. Is there any frequency rating printed in the jacket?

South wire (http://www.southwire.com) doesn't say that they test their data cables.

You need CAT6a or CAT7 to support 10GBaseT anyway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10-gigabit_Ethernet#10GBASE-T

Cat6 will run 10GBaseT, your're just pretty limited on the cable length whereas Cat6a will transmit the full 100 Meters just like Cat6 on Gigabit networks.

From Wikipedia:
When used for 10GBASE-T, Cat 6 cable's maximum length is 55 meters (180 ft) in a favourable alien crosstalk environment, but only 37 meters (121 ft) in a hostile alien crosstalk environment, such as when many cables are bundled together. However, because the effects of alien crosstalk environments on cables are difficult to determine prior to installation, it is highly recommended that all Cat6 cables being used for 10GBASE-T are electrically tested once installed. With its improved specifications, Cat6A does not have this limitation and can run 10GBASE-T at 100 meters (330 ft) without electronic testing.

 

[coxhaus]

I assume you know not to lay your CAT6 parallel to florescence lights and power cables.

I would try to get my DMARC installed where my phone patch panel is that way you can create pig tails from the RJ45 patch panel to the DMARC and tie the wires all together. IF the DMARC needs to be outside then run one CAT5e from the DMARC to a punch down block by the phone patch panel to tie all the phones together.

If the cost between CAT5e and CAT6 is not much, I might just use CAT6 for everything that way you can plug anything in. If the cost difference is high, CAT5e is going to be good for a long time.

 

[tipstir]

CAT5E 350MHz used here. I wasn't convince to use CAT6 or higher as of yet. While all the network gear supports up to CAT5E unless stated otherwise.

 

[sm00thpapa]

It's 2013 and TP-Link still ships all of there products with Cat 5 cables. Time to wake up TP-Link.

 

[Daybreak]

Howdy,
Not to put down Home Depot, but.....

You are smart enough to be here on the forums. If your able to do the wiring while the house is still stick, then you will want to purchase in bulk. That means buying it from a real networking supplier. Buy yourself a 1000ft spool or 2. The price you will pay will be half of what Home Depot will charge. You might as well run all lines cat6. Phone, network, access point locations, router locations, and having a central location to then have a port panel connecting it all.

For me, Monoprice does a good job. Monoprice bulk cat6 spools

 

[Dreamslacker]

Cat6 will run 10GBaseT, your're just pretty limited on the cable length whereas Cat6a will transmit the full 100 Meters just like Cat6 on Gigabit networks.

From Wikipedia:
When used for 10GBASE-T, Cat 6 cable's maximum length is 55 meters (180 ft) in a favourable alien crosstalk environment, but only 37 meters (121 ft) in a hostile alien crosstalk environment, such as when many cables are bundled together. However, because the effects of alien crosstalk environments on cables are difficult to determine prior to installation, it is highly recommended that all Cat6 cables being used for 10GBASE-T are electrically tested once installed. With its improved specifications, Cat6A does not have this limitation and can run 10GBASE-T at 100 meters (330 ft) without electronic testing.

Do not forget that the length limitations include your patch cords (the termination of both the patch cords and the keystones will also play a part).
I normally cater for at least 10m for patch cord cabling when I do structured installs for my customers. Usually limit it to 75m per cable run to play safe.

If you really think you will be going 10G over copper and will have the equipment to push those rates, pony up for quality Cat6a bulk reels. Make sure the electrician runs them properly (spaced away from electrical lines, no hard bends etc).

If need be, engage a cabling specialist to separately perform the termination (tell your electrician to leave 2ft to 3ft of slack sticking out at each end for termination by the specialists). Do make sure the specialists can do a proper test and certify run especially if you really want 10G.

 

[stevech]

Get pull cords left in many walls

 

[kacper]

A CAT6 cable without a plastic center to separate the pairs sounds like cheap copy. That's not to say I won't work at CAT6's rated frequency of 250 MHz but it raises an important question. If CAT6 can be made without the plastic center why isn't every other CAT6 cable like that?

 

[Motofixxer]

Another good idea wiring a home before sheetrock goes up is to use some sort of conduit runs through inaccessible areas. Examples are the plastic conduit or the Smurf Tube aka blue flexible stuff that snaps right into the low voltage boxes. If you ever have to rewire stuff...you will be very happy.

I even worked with a friend and convinced him to add 2 3" pvc pipe from basement to attic for future wiring needs...be sure to cap them when unused and sealed up when in use. If you ever wanted to add ceiling or wall speakers etc...you will be very thankful.

Be sure to add plenty of extra data ports. You always need more.