Ethernet wiring information needed, Please

[pappas44]

I have a gigabit router and gigabit LAN cards in two of our computers on our home network which is hardwired with Cat 5e to a few rooms in the house. Well as I knew would happen down the road I now need to grow the network to a few more rooms and I want to get as much speed as possible. I have read the specs for cat 6 which is in the area of 250 mhz and cat 7 which is up to 600 mhz but i'm not sure whether they use the same style RJ 45 and are backward compatible. I'm also not sure whether my hardware is compatible with cat 7, I have checked all of it and I do no for sure it is compatible with cat6 but like I said I'm trying to get as much speed as possible. I am going to do the majority of the rooms in the house this time including the rooms that were previously done with cat5e as I can buy in bulk rolls at cost. I Thank You all in advance for your advice and help.

Just to let you know, this is my first time posting here thoguh I stop by and check out the site all the time now!

 

[Merlin]

Cat 5, 5e, 6 and 7 use the RJ45 connectors.
The different cables are for different speeds.
Cat 5 is a standard cable for general use, Cat 5e has the same wiring but they are twisted for stablizing the signal better than 5......in each step up Cat 6 and Cat 7 just have faster speeds with better shielding for areas that may interfere with each other,
For your basic home network, probably Cat5e would be all you need for your speeds.
That's what I use for my home and some installations in businesses.

:techgage::techgage: Merlin :techgage::techgage:

 

[pappas44]

Thanks Merlin! I was just trying to eek out as much speed as possible. I think I'll end up probably going to the cat 6 as all my hardware can support it and it wont cost much more for a 1000' of it than 5e. Just come to mind though I have to go out to my brothers place and do some wiring for phones and internet, I wonder if cat 6 will be ok for phones? I'm pretty sure it will be but I had better check that out.

 

[Kougar]

Not to sure... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_6_cable says some types of Cat6 still lack shielding, so really you are going to need to research the actual cable before you buy a large spool of it.

Cat6a would appear to be what you wish to use, it is supposed to be the future specification for 10Gbit ethernet which is a step above Gbit ethernet.

Regarding phone lines... I don't believe they are compatible, or if they are the line noise a phone signal would make might be a problem? I'm only guessing though, you should go find a local networking shop and ask their service techs if you are going to be wiring up a house with this stuff!

 

[Merlin]

Thanks Merlin! I was just trying to eek out as much speed as possible. I think I'll end up probably going to the cat 6 as all my hardware can support it and it wont cost much more for a 1000' of it than 5e. Just come to mind though I have to go out to my brothers place and do some wiring for phones and internet, I wonder if cat 6 will be ok for phones? I'm pretty sure it will be but I had better check that out.

Yup, phone lines are okay, in fact they are a cleaner signal than ethernet ..... the actual ethernet uses 4 wires, the other two are for phone...... I set these up just about everyday....
Sounds like a good job to me...Good Luck

:techgage::techgage: Merlin :techgage::techgage:

 

[pappas44]

Thanks Merlin,Kougar!
I installed top end alarm systems, cable, whole house networking, built in speakers and home automation for about 12 yrs. We did a lot of high end stuff mixed in with middle of the road and even just basic alarm systems with better than 90% of our work coming from word of mouth. I have been out of it now for about 4 yrs. which is a lot in that industry. I really loved it and the new stuff that was coming available(more affordable) in the last few years was amazing, running house automation with cat5e for house sound was a innovation that made it very versatile and affordable when constructing a new house, besides that having complete controls in a room switch that was digital including an IR eye was just cool to see and lol scary to install the first couple of times. I wish I was still doing that with my buddy I really enjoyed them days. I definitely will check on the type of cat 6 I should use though Thanks for pointing that out. Hey! have you seen the new nylon coated style staples you can use with ethernet cable now, it looks pretty cool and definitely would be a lot quicker to do when running cat wire as opposed to using screw on wire ties every couple feet or less the way we used to have to do it.