I think this is the right forum section. I'm about to start building a new house and I want to make sure that the Ethernet wiring is done right. I'm hiring my own home theater/low voltage contractor to do that work along with installing in-ceiling speakers and running speaker wires everywhere that is needed. The subcontractor I've hired has agreed to let me supply whatever cables/equipment I want to use (if I accept responsibility for them of course) and they are going to install them. I'm planning on buying 4 spools of Belden CAT6 of one of the two kinds below:
Shielded 2412F (about $0.60/ft):
http://www.belden.com/products/connectivity/copper/datatwist-2400-shielded-cable.cfm
Unshielded Bonded Pair 3632 (about $0.45/ft)
http://www.belden.com/products/connectivity/copper/datatwist-3600-utp-cable.cfm
My installer wanted to use Audioquest CAT6 cable that is like $0.78/ft for unshielded and $0.98/ft for shielded, which is why I wanted to supply the cable myself. I believe the Belden cable should be of very high quality, which is what I'm looking for. The difference in cost in those two Belden cables themselves isn't that big of deal, but I know with shielded cables they also need to use shielded terminations and they have to be grounded at one end, right?
The house is slightly under 4000 sq. ft. and I'll have Ethernet running throughout the house (at least 2 terminations per room). There will be a large equipment rack in the basement mechanical room where everything will terminate together at the router/switch. So my questions are, first, will the shielded cable, if installed correctly, really provide any tangible benefit in a residential construction like this? Should I bother with the shielded cable or just use the unshielded cable? Most of that concern for me would probably be where all of the cables bunch up near the equipment rack, but I don't know how concerning that really is or where shielded cable is really required except for commercial/industrial installations with big equipment (high EMI).
My second question is, if I do use the shielded cable, what exactly should I look for to ensure that the shielding terminations and grounding are done correctly? What type of terminations should I specify (or procure myself) to ensure that the shielding/grounding is done correctly?
I know just enough about Ethernet wiring to be dangerous, but not enough to really know what I'm doing. That is why I've hired someone else to install it, but I want to make sure it's done right. I've heard bad termination work can degrade the quality of the signal traveling through the cable, so what can I do to help ensure that the installer does a good job terminating the cables correctly? I'm not sure what testing equipment they have on-hand, if any. They are a dedicated home theater/structured wiring installer, but that can mean a lot of different things in terms of their quality of work of course.
Shielded 2412F (about $0.60/ft):
http://www.belden.com/products/connectivity/copper/datatwist-2400-shielded-cable.cfm
Unshielded Bonded Pair 3632 (about $0.45/ft)
http://www.belden.com/products/connectivity/copper/datatwist-3600-utp-cable.cfm
My installer wanted to use Audioquest CAT6 cable that is like $0.78/ft for unshielded and $0.98/ft for shielded, which is why I wanted to supply the cable myself. I believe the Belden cable should be of very high quality, which is what I'm looking for. The difference in cost in those two Belden cables themselves isn't that big of deal, but I know with shielded cables they also need to use shielded terminations and they have to be grounded at one end, right?
The house is slightly under 4000 sq. ft. and I'll have Ethernet running throughout the house (at least 2 terminations per room). There will be a large equipment rack in the basement mechanical room where everything will terminate together at the router/switch. So my questions are, first, will the shielded cable, if installed correctly, really provide any tangible benefit in a residential construction like this? Should I bother with the shielded cable or just use the unshielded cable? Most of that concern for me would probably be where all of the cables bunch up near the equipment rack, but I don't know how concerning that really is or where shielded cable is really required except for commercial/industrial installations with big equipment (high EMI).
My second question is, if I do use the shielded cable, what exactly should I look for to ensure that the shielding terminations and grounding are done correctly? What type of terminations should I specify (or procure myself) to ensure that the shielding/grounding is done correctly?
I know just enough about Ethernet wiring to be dangerous, but not enough to really know what I'm doing. That is why I've hired someone else to install it, but I want to make sure it's done right. I've heard bad termination work can degrade the quality of the signal traveling through the cable, so what can I do to help ensure that the installer does a good job terminating the cables correctly? I'm not sure what testing equipment they have on-hand, if any. They are a dedicated home theater/structured wiring installer, but that can mean a lot of different things in terms of their quality of work of course.