Help A Noob With Networking Cables!

[Bazzy]

Hi All,

 

I know this is a wireless forum but I did not know where else to post so I apologise in advance! I am doing some wiring for home cinema and would like to integrate a network facility but know nothing about such topics - trying to learn has left me more confused as there seems to be so much conflict of opinions for my query!

I will be chasing cables behind walls & under floors with wall plate connections for home networking but wish to ask which should I use - CAT5e or CAT6 Cable - I know there is not much cost difference between the two but nothing that I can understand about any other possible issues. Obviously I wish to future proof as best I can at this stage as once everything is plastered up It will not be an option to ever change it but wish to keep things as simple as possible.

At the moment, I have an aol thompson speedtouch router with 4 ports on the back and will be running cables from one end of the room to the other, though I wish to also lay additional cables (which will be run & left in the loft) for other rooms which I plan to do at a later date. Are there definite advantages of CAT6 over CAT5e with transferring data, HD stuff etc? Which one should I go for?

Many Thanks,

Bazzy! 

 

[John Duncan]

Article here may be helpful. I personally didn't even know Cat6 existed, and if I were wiring my home would use Cat5e.

 

[Ravey Gravey Davy]

Have a look here

 

[John Duncan]

hang on though - if your router is wireless, it's irrelevant, since your network is going to be 54meg (most likely), and Cat5e can handle gigabit ethernet.........

 

[Anonymous]

I think that the speedtouch is limited to 100BaseT speeds. i.e 100Mb/s therefore even Cat 5e is overkill unless you willbe upgrading the router to a gigabit version then Cat 5 is all you need.

The question to ask is what are you going to be doing with this LAN. 100Mb/s should be sufficient for video streaming unless you are going to be transferring large data files between nodes on the network at thesame time.

Downloading from the Web is limited to your ADSL speed and not many get anywhere near advertised speeds of 8mb/s.

 

[Bazzy]

Hi All,

Thank you kindly for the help - from reading those articles and due to my ignorance of the subject, I think I will be entering a pit of danger if I go for CAT6 as in my case, I have no idea what the consequences will be - I think I will just stick to CAT5e - at least I can get help with that as it is used more commonly than this newer CAT6 stuff! Many Thanks to all!

Bazzy!ÿ

 

[fatboyslimfast]

Hi Bazzy - basically Cat6 is designed for 10-Gigabit ethernet (10000Mbps) - it's more expensive than Cat5e (which is good for up to Gigabit (1000Mbps) anyway), so 5e should more than suffice. Good choice!

 

[Anonymous]

The best piece of advice i can offer if you are cabling up the house is to put two cables in each run rather than one. Occasionally network cables fail (if only because you've banged a nail through them etc), and if you have only one cable in the run, then that means digging it out and re-plastering.

I used to have a "normal" speedtouch, and it wasnt wireless, but that sounds like quite an old model, and you may well be thinking of upgrading to a router with wireless. Even so, the cabling is worthwhile, because wireless degrades quite quickly through concrete and bricks. In my house, i've used the cabling to provide a wireless access point upstairs, and i get a much better throughput from it rather than connecting only to the main router.

 

[PJPro]

I disagree with everyone else. I'd go for Cat 6 (I have). A little research will show that the speed of the cable isn't the only distinguishing factor. And the price is much the same.

Incidently, if your modem/router is the limiting factor (in terms of network speed), consider geting a gigabit switch. They are as cheap as chips nowadays. I had to do this to put in place my gigabit network.

Of course, you will also need a gigabit network adapter for your PC.