To shield or not to shield?

[ruimarto]

Hi. I'm thinking about recabling my whole house with new sat cable and Cat6 cable. Is it worth it using shielded (ftp/sstp?!) cable? I ask because it has been extremely difficult to find cable other than basic UTP Cat6. And it's sold by people that make an awkward face when I ask for shielded cable.

About possible interference, the coax cable and network cable run trough the same pipes. Is that a problem?
I never noticed, but my network is slow (never got GbE speeds) and is currently using a mix of UTP Cat5, UTP Cat5e and FTP Cat6 with the same mix of plugs and wall sockets that don't always match the cable used. I.e. there is a Cat 6 FTP cable ending in a Cat5e wall socket.

Note: Everything is GbE ready except for the printer (not sure about this one, but in case of not being GbE and that interfering with other devices, it can connect trough WiFi as well).

 

[claykin]

No problem running RG6 and Cat5e/6 UTP in same pipe. Most structured cable contains multiple RG6 and Cat5e/6 UTP in a single plastic jacket.

If you use Cat6, just make sure you follow the spec for bends, termination, etc...Otherwise the advantages of Cat6 are sort of wasted.

Rule of thumb, keep low voltage cabling away from high voltage where possible. Also keep away from transformers, ballasts where possible.

 

[ruimarto]

So probably there is no real need for shielded cable, right?

About terminations, I've bought Cat6 RJ45 connectors and I'm going to use only direct connections, no wall sockets. About bends I can't see into the wall to know, but I've read that since it's for short distances (less than 30ft each) stranded cable would be a better and less affected by bends.

I've found these cables in a store:
- Cat6 UTP Stranded AWG24/7 CCA - $36
- Cat6 S/FTP PIMF Stranded AWG27/7 CCA - $61

Both prices are for 100m/305ft which is actually the twice the cable I need, but they don't sell less. Which one should I pick? And what's the AWG?

 

[claykin]

I wouldn't use stranded cable in wall. Stranded is good for patch cords that are continuously bent back and forth. Plus stranded is more difficult to terminate.

Personally, I would terminate all in wall cables to a Cat6 jack (and use solid cable). Use a patch cord from the jack to your equipment. For me terminating Cat6 plugs is more troublesome than jacks.

 

[Cloud200]

Three things.

1 - If you want your cables to last a long time terminate them with a female connecter. Plugging and unplugging cables and moving them around will eventually wear them out and its much easier to just replace a patch cord than to recrimp and recertify the cable each time the connection is spotty.

2 - Use Solid cables for structured and Stranded for patches.

3 - The cables you listed are CCA (copper coated aluminum) aka. cheap and nasty. Try and get 100% oxygen free copper. It will last longer and give you more reliable speeds.


edit: AWG stands for American Wire Guage. It just denotes the physical thickness of the actual wire inside the cable.

edit2:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10234#1023401
That is a fairly simple example of what you need (the first 9), the only difference between them is the color of the jacket.

edit3:
taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_6_cable#Installation_caveats
The cable must not be kinked or bent too tightly (the bend radius should be at least four times the outer diameter of the cable). The wire pairs must not be untwisted and the outer jacket must not be stripped back more than 1/2 inch (1.27 cm).

 

[ruimarto]

I see...... On this side of the atlantic 1000ft of solid Cat6 Cu cable costs more than twice as much. 300Ft costs more than 100 bucks. And no one sells 150ft which is more than enough for me. This puts shielded cable way above my budget, so UTP it is.
I'll google around to see if I can find reasonable cable prices in Europe.

Is it really that advisable to terminate with in wall female? I don't have a punch tool... And the plugs would terminate on a switch that's about 4" above the wall socket.

Thanks for the tips.

Edit...> Found this: http://www.kenable.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=22_122_123&products_id=5794
It says it's Cat6 FTP solid copper wire. At 70 bucks, is it too good to be true?