Bought a house, want to run cat6 cable..

[Russ]

Hi folks, long time no post..

I've recently bought a house, it requires what most people would classify as 'some work' (also known as complete refurbishment). Part of what i will be doing is a complete rewire, so i thought, what better time to just run cat6 everywhere i 'think' i will need it. I have some questions though, and i think they've been caused by google rather than answered by it..

The plan is for Virgin Broadband > 24 port unmanaged switch > faceplates > patch cable to device

Now the question that google has raised is the wiring standard, do i use 586A or 586B? does it depend on the switch? does it make no difference what i use aslong as its the same at the switch and faceplace end?

thanks in advance

[peterb]

586B seems to be the most common especially in Europe- but it doesn't really matter as long as you are consistent. IIRC 568A was to retain some compatibility (in the US) with telephone cabling (using 2 of the 8 pairs) but I can't remember the details. Most installations I have come across us the B variant, so I would use that.

[Russ]

586B seems to be the most common especially in Europe- but it doesn't really matter as long as you are consistent. IIRC 568A was to retain some compatibility (in the US) with telephone cabling (using 2 of the 8 pairs) but I cant remember the details. Most installations I have come across us the B variant, so I would use that.

thanks Peter.

[virtuo]

Second nod to 568B - I recall some router company (Belkin or Linksys or someone like that) a while ago said that some of their models had an issue with 568A causing intermittent dropouts.

As long as you are consistent though, I have a huge "B" drawn in the top of my toolbox as a reminder.

If you are doing your electrics at the same time, remember to leave a good gap between the power and data runs, and cross them at right angles if you have to.

[Biscuit]

Another nod to 586B. I used to install miles upon miles of this stuff in one of my old jobs as a broadcast systems integrator and we always used 586B.

Couple of other pointers:
Get decent quality keystones and a punchdown tool
When ordering cable, make sure its not CCA (copper clad aluminium)
Buy as many boxes/reels as runs you want to each location, e.g. if you want to run 2 cables to each location, buy 2 boxes/reels of cable and then pull them straight from the reel/box

[peterb]

Buy as many boxes/reels as runs you want to each location, e.g. if you want to run 2 cables to each location, buy 2 boxes/reels of cable and then pull them straight from the reel/box

Within reason! That might hold good for commercial installation where you can:

a. determine how much cable there is left in the box (using a TDR tool)
b. be able to use part boxrs on other installations

and the (costed) time saved is a significant.

But in a self install domestic installation you don't want two or three part boxes of unknown length left over so the hassles and extra (uncosted) time outweighs the expenditure.

But as a rule of thumb, I'd run at least two cables to each location. If you have somewhere where you might have several devices needing a network connection, you can either run cable per device (and a couple spare) or have a local switch to distribute one feed to several devices.

For example my TV, Apple TV, BlueRay and Sat decoder all need an internet connection, but mostly for software updates. Only one device at a time will be doing anything bandwidth intensive so I have a small switch near them - they all go to the switch and one feed goes back to the router.

[ik9000]

isn't there a min bend radius with cat6 to worry about? (he says finding a way to log-on the thread since he's got a roll of cat6 in the loft he still hasn't installed yet)

[peterb]

Yes. Mfrs spec sheet gives details, but typically 50 mm during installation and 25mm when installed. Cat 5e tends to be more forgiving, typically 20mm. So unless you are running very long lengths, in a domestic installation Cat5e will usually be much easier to install and give comparable performance.

[Biscuit]

Within reason! That might hold good for commercial installation where you can:

a. determine how much cable there is left in the box (using a TDR tool)
b. be able to use part boxrs on other installations

and the (costed) time saved is a significant.

But in a self install domestic installation you don't want two or three part boxes of unknown length left over so the hassles and extra (uncosted) time outweighs the expenditure.

But as a rule of thumb, I'd run at least two cables to each location. If you have somewhere where you might have several devices needing a network connection, you can either run cable per device (and a couple spare) or have a local switch to distribute one feed to several devices.

For example my TV, Apple TV, BlueRay and Sat decoder all need an internet connection, but mostly for software updates. Only one device at a time will be doing anything bandwidth intensive so I have a small switch near them - they all go to the switch and one feed goes back to the router.

You can get different sized boxes/reels

[ik9000]

If you are doing your electrics at the same time, remember to leave a good gap between the power and data runs, and cross them at right angles if you have to.

How important is this - I mean if you're space limited...

Is there anything special you should do if it's going beneath a suspended timber ground floor? (rodent guard linings etc?)

[Zak33]

Russ

Welcome back my friend

[Zak33]

Yes. Mfrs spec sheet gives details, but typically 50 mm during installation and 25mm when installed. Cat 5e tends to be more forgiving, typically 20mm. So unless you are running very long lengths, in a domestic installation Cat5e will usually be much easier to install and give comparable performance.

I've been working on this and the long bend radius is a royal pain in the ....bottom

Stick with CAT5E if it's going round skirting, under tight spots etc. A long turn radius is impossible!

[peterb]

How important is this - I mean if you're space limited...

Is there anything special you should do if it's going beneath a suspended timber ground floor? (rodent guard linings etc?)

Depending on the age of the building, but there should be rodent guards over ventilation bricks etc. If its really a problem, you could put the cable in plastic conduit, if its a significany problem use steel conduit or SWA cable - or better still, get a pest control company in and eliminate the problem completely!

Crossing at right angles is good practice, but unless the mains cable is carrying a large current >100A, and/or powering heavy duty electric motors, the risk of interference is minimal. You should not run data cables in the same duct space as mains cable though - you can get multi part ducting, one section for power cables, one for data. This is as much to avoid confusion rather than for interference reduction and isn't likely to be necessary domestically. There is an example here:

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Product...waAlFkEALw_wcB

This is an example of three part ducting - mains goes in the centre section, data goes in the top and/or bottom. This sort of installation is quite common in industrial/office situations (I'm not suggesting you use it at home!) but the separation distance is only a few inches, and so I don't think interference is a significant problem in domestic environments.

[Zak33]

peterb comes up with the good again

[mikerr]

I did my house with cat5 a decade ago, but if I was doing it today I would put some fiber in as well (at least alongside long runs )

[peterb]

I did my house with cat5 a decade ago, but if I was doing it today I would put some fiber in as well (at least alongside long runs )

Fibre has its place, but unless you are looking at very long runs, it probably isn't worth it domestically - cat 6 will do 10 Gb/s over (IIRC) 44 metres or so (provided it is installed and terminated correctly) so can be used for aggregated feeds. Fibre might be a bit easier to install than cat 6a (still sensitive to bend radius) but terminating can be difficult, as can fault finding if it isn't performing as expected. Fibre is good at lower data rates over long runs (> 250m).

The other advantage is that a fibre cable may have multiple pairs so with suitable (expensive) terminating equipment, you could have a 10,20, or 30 GB/s link - or split the traffic between two or more pairs (or ove a single fibre using multiplexing) but that is overkill for 99.99% of domestic environment.

If you need that sort of bandwidth, you will have fibre already!

(But if you want fibre - PM me )