What cable, connectors, tools for home LAN cable install?

[ik9000]

Hi folks, can I mine the collective experience on installing network cables? This whole lockdown has seen a massive push on DIY in the 9000 house and we're now ready to order and start the install of the network cable!

from previous threads the general wisdom is to use cat6 and not bother with 6a or higher- which is fine. Will standard UTP be ok or should I look at FTP S/FTP for anything? Is the FTP stuff the same as 6a or does it sit between the two?

And I'm really struggling with what kit to buy?

Cables - I've been looking at this: https://www.cablemonkey.co.uk/cat6-c...utp-cable.html

Should I get a fancy pass-through crimper and cutter? They seem to be £35-50 but is it really worth it as a time-saver as the adverts claim?

Any good brands of connectors, face plates and wall plate for 1-24+ ports?

What do people use for conduit and bends? I've been looking at this from screwfix: https://www.screwfix.com/p/tower-ins...ack-of-1/98408 and https://www.screwfix.com/p/tower-con...th-black/70541. Bit annoying that it's PVC though as defeats the point of getting LSOH cabling. I can't find anything else with decent looking bend radii though.

Will post some photos shortly of where we're trying to create a switch cupboard so people can see better what I'm trying to achieve in case it makes a difference.

[Jonatron]

Cat5e is easier to work with than cat6, doesn't kink as easily.
Cable - You'll be OK as long as you order from reputable sites such as comms-express or cablemonkey. Not Amazon or eBay.
Don't crimp cables. Buy premade patch cables and a punch down tool.

[IAmATeaf]

I’ve only ever used external grade cable, even when cabling inside. I used 5e cable throughout, did recently put in cabling for CCTV last year but again stuck with 5e as I didn’t see the point or need for anything better.

For cabling make sure you get proper solid copper core cable rather than the cheaper CCA copper clad aluminium type.

For connectors, I’ve got a basic crimp tool but what does really make things easier are connectors where the cable strands pass through the end, makes it easier to see that they are correctly aligned etc.

[BobF64]

For cabling make sure you get proper solid copper core cable rather than the cheaper CCA copper clad aluminium type.

What's most annoying about the CCA is that people keep peddling it as CAT5e cable, it's not, and often they don't even mention it's CCA.

[ik9000]

I'm going cat 6 because for short lengths in a home it should be good for 10Gb and I really really do not want to have to redo this in the future. Plus I was given a spare roll of it a few years back so I'm kind of committed. I don't want to have part one thing part another. My query was more looking for reassurance that cat6 UTP is enough and cat6a is not necessary with all its shielding and grounding etc.

With you on the CCA stuff. I got lucky reading amazon reviews and it made me realise I needed to get some proper advice on this than just order the first thing that looked ok (and turns out it really really wasn't! - bullet dodged )

Don't crimp cables. Buy premade patch cables and a punch down tool.

I don't understand - can you elaborate? I won't be able to feed cable through with the connectors already on it and I do want to have wall sockets in the rooms rather than loose cables dangling out the wall?

[Jonatron]

I don't understand - can you elaborate? I won't be able to feed cable through with the connectors already on it and I do want to have wall sockets in the rooms rather than loose cables dangling out the wall?

I mean run bare cable around, then add terminate with modules aka keystone (female) or a patch panel, rather than crimping (male ends). Sorry can't advise about 10Gb. But I wouldn't recommend shielded cables in any case, they're hard to get right, and I read somewhere it can be worse than no shielding if you do it wrong.

[ik9000]

I mean run bare cable around, then add terminate with modules aka keystone (female) or a patch panel, rather than crimping (male ends). Sorry can't advise about 10Gb. But I wouldn't recommend shielded cables in any case, they're hard to get right, and I read somewhere it can be worse than no shielding if you do it wrong.

I'd read the same thing! Won't I have to make my own patch cables though to get from the patch plate into the switch? Give me a few mins and I'll work out how to upload the pics so you can see what I'm on about

edit:






So this is the first part. This is over the stairs and below the airing cupboard in the middle of the house. I'm planning to insall a shelf to sit the 24 port switch and the wifi router. We'll bring the LAN cable up from the modem which needs to stay downstairs where the net cable comes into the house. Everything will distribute from this central hub. I'm hoping moving the wifi router will also bring benefits in more even signal across the house and eliminate some current dead spots.

The blue box I'm envisaging being a 24 port panel from which I'll need a set of very short patch cables to connect into the sockets on the switch. The red will be a 4-socket panel with their leads going through the wall into the room behind which is currently our study/office/guest room with their cables getting chased in on the other side of the wall as shown in the other pictures. These runs will need female sockets each end - same as those arriving at the blue panel, but again won't they need some custom patch cables to get from the panel to the switch itself?

Also what female connectors do I need and what tool to fit them? (Sorry it's my first time doing this!)

I was envisaging a couple of rows of either these:
https://www.cablemonkey.co.uk/10-pat...tch-panel.html
or these:
https://www.cablemonkey.co.uk/10-pat...tch-panel.html
in the wall.

I could use one of these but forming that long a slot in the wall doesn't seem sensible to me. https://www.cablemonkey.co.uk/cat6-p...045700370.html

[jimbouk]

Some previous discussions here: https://forums.hexus.net/networking-...ing-house.html

Physical layout. Seems like you've got that sussed. Single central location everything runs to/from.

End points - you're going to want sockets at the periphery and a patch panel in the middle. These are all female RJ45 sockets which you need a punchdown tool for (e.g. http://www.broadbandbuyer.com/produc...er-tool-punch/ linked from the other thread):


I ended up buying a 'kit' from who knows where and it's actually reasonable - got a basic tester which tells you if you've bodged a connection. e.g. but not a recommendation: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Network-Pro...dp/B087P64TZ6/

The little punchdown/wire stripper is super useful for when it gets tight:


For the wall sockets 'euromodule' size sockets and faceplaces are the norm: https://www.cablemonkey.co.uk/28-modules-outlets - I've mix and matched with some network, some speaker terminals, a TV aerial and even a normal mains socket!

Buy big pile o' short patch cables so go from the patch panel to the switch, so cheap it's not worth trying to fiddle around crimping (something I haven't done for years!).

I handmade a rack-mount for the patch panel by screwing some 2 by 4 to the bottom of my switch shelf, works well enough. If you're super keen you could get a little rack-mount box and wall mount it, e.g. https://www.cablemonkey.co.uk/391-wa...-data-cabinets