Real Estate
Sponsored by

Home wiring - Do I need CAT6?

1,680 Views | 9 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by UmustBKidding
NWE
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Working with HomePros and they said CAT5 is standard.

If I'm working from home and have multiple devices, is it necessary to have CAT6? It's $895 for CAT6

Thanks
TX AG 88
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
very good article on the difference. maybe offer to supply the cable yourself?

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-pick-the-right-cables-for-your-home-network/
Diggity
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
is it critical? Probably not. I would get it anyway.

No reason not to future proof. Many devices are going wireless now but if you want gigabit speeds, you'll need a hardwired solution. Cat 6 will be able to handle future speed increases.
Aggie@state.gov
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
I bought 1000' of cat 6 on amazon for less than 150. yes it was real and not from china.

best buy guys showed up with Cat 5e.

i said use this

they did.

or ask Nerd Board. they know stuff
Picard
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Do they throw in lube for $895?

You don't want CAT5. You do want CAT5e or better. Five years ago when we built our house i demanded CAT6 and the builder's low voltage wiring company upgraded me from CAT5e to CAT6 at no charge. Their cost was virtually the same.
UmustBKidding
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Hardly any difference in price of cable there is some bump for price of keystones and patch panels. The price bump could be justified if they are going to certify and report every drop meets tia568 b1 cat 6 standard requires a expensive piece of equipment and training. Typical certification class is two days, the guys likely doing the work likely have less than that experience before doing your job. My simple certification set cost north of $3000 on ebay refurbished. Is cat 6 worth the bump. Sure if its done by professional and certified. By joe bob cable monkey not so much. We budgeted $85 per drop for cat5e and $100 cor cat 6 certified drops in the data center.
AndesAg92
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Yeah. 220... 221 whatever it takes.
agnerd
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Cat5 does gigabit some of the time, Cat5e does gigabit most of the time, Cat6 does gigabit all the time, assuming you have a gigabit router. Are you IT needs local (on your own network) or are you accessing remote resources through your internet connection? Cat5 is adequate for just about everything except an actual office building.

A full HD stream is 5 megabits per second. Are you streaming 200 HDTV shows at the same time (or the equivalent)? Is 8 seconds too long to wait for a gigabyte of data to download? Sounds to me like the installer is trying to screw over people that don't know that cat5 is perfectly fine for almost everyone and almost every application. Most people don't even have gigabit internet to take advantage of the network speeds available.
The Fife
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Diggity said:

is it critical? Probably not. I would get it anyway.

No reason not to future proof. Many devices are going wireless now but if you want gigabit speeds, you'll need a hardwired solution. Cat 6 will be able to handle future speed increases.

Pretty much this. If given the option I'll hard wire something. I see it as taking away a failure mode and keeping the wireless network a little less crowded.
Diggity
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
my assumption from the OP is that the installer was referencing Cat5e. I don't know that anyone is still dropping Cat 5 are they?
UmustBKidding
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Not so much. While there was 100MHz Cat5E cable its very uncommon, almost all today is rated at 350Mhz today. 1000BT signaling rate is 125Mhz and Cat5E cable was brought out to support 802.3ab (Gig Ethernet). Unless 5E is improperly installed or damaged during installation its is completely sufficient for Gig Ethernet. Cat 6 was standardized to support 10G Ethernet. Its has bonded pairs and pair separators and 23ga wire to reduce cross talk (both near and far end) necessary to support technologies with signaling rates above that in 1000BaseT like 10GE and in high noise environments where matched lengths, twists and other parameters are useful to suppress the noise using differential signaling.
To say you need Cat6 for 1000BaseT is not true, of course cat 6a and 6 will support gig because its backward compatible but not required.
Refresh
Page 1 of 1
 
×
subscribe Verify your student status
See Subscription Benefits
Trial only available to users who have never subscribed or participated in a previous trial.