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Ethernet Wiring in New Build

4K views 66 replies 18 participants last post by  SMHarman 
#1 · (Edited)
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.
 
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#3 · (Edited)
I wired my house in 2013 for shielded cat 6a.
I'm not an expert on these things, but I opted for shielded since these cables will be there for a long, long time and for the relatively small price difference it made more sense to me to be cautious and somewhat forward looking.
Don't bother with shielded.
You're probably right on that, it's probably not worth it.
I mostly went with it because I tend to go with overkill, especially since I was suspecting an issue with the previous CAT 5 cabling that was there and my router. It turns out that I actually did have two routers that went bad in the exact same way with the same symptoms.

Currently, I don't have 10G network cards or switches, only 1G so I could have went with CAT 5, but I'm assuming there will be a time when 10G is more affordable and prevalent, so I opted for CAT 6A.

I personally don't think there is all that much to this, it should be relatively simple.
Things to look out for are:

  • Don't mix A and B termination, I think I wired for A.
  • Make sure the wires are in the correct termination order (according to A/B termination).
  • Make sure the wires are punched through sufficiently.
  • Cut the shielding as close to the connection point as possible.
    At the patch panel side that means cutting the shielding at different lengths for each wire pair.
  • Test each outlet and cable with a tester.
    If you really want to be sure you can hire someone to do more advanced testing or certify, but that is very costly and complete overkill in my opinion.
  • Keep the cable runs at less that 100m in length if possible, but I'd imagine it probably is going to function just fine if it is a bit longer.
  • Make sure your patch panel is grounded to your houses' ground point.
  • I think you need to ensure that you're not grounding at multiple points (for example at the patch panel and at the outlet).
    I don't remember clearly, but I think I watched a Youtube video about this, and it indicated it was dangerous to do so.
  • Use solid wire between the patch panel and the outlets, and use stranded between the outlets and devices and between the patch panel and switch.

I think I used this when I wired my house:
You'd also need a crimping tool, but I already had that.

http://www.cablematters.com/pc-445-62-cable-matters-cat6a-shielded-110-type-patch-panel-24-port.aspx

http://www.cablematters.com/pc-387-80-cable-matters-cat6a-metal-shielded-rj45-keystone-jack.aspx

http://www.cablematters.com/pc-396-80-cable-matters-rj-11-and-rj-45-modular-plug-tester.aspx

http://www.cablematters.com/pc-400-...ic-network-wire-strippercutter-in-yellow.aspx

http://www.cablematters.com/pc-166-...cm-shielded-sstpsftp-ethernet-bulk-cable.aspx
 
#10 ·
Skip the shielded stuff, and you don't need to go crazy and buy expensive belden either. You can go to monoprice http://www.monoprice.com/Category?c_id=105&cp_id=10234 and pick up 1000ft boxes of cat6 for around $100 that are 500mhz. It's more than capable wiring.. I have a couple thousand feet of it in my house
 
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#21 · (Edited)
Skip the shielded stuff, and you don't need to go crazy and buy expensive belden either. You can go to monoprice http://www.monoprice.com/Category?c_id=105&cp_id=10234 and pick up 1000ft boxes of cat6 for around $100 that are 500mhz. It's more than capable wiring.. I have a couple thousand feet of it in my house
This is basically the same thing I did, although I bought solid STP and missed the fact that my installer didn't bother with the grounding. So it's essentially non-shielded. But it works fine for distributing HDMI over dual CAT6 via Monoprice's 8151. Don't know if it would hold up to HDBaseT, though.


I bought two different colors. That allowed them to pull them together AND I could keep track of which ones was which. I also had them terminate to plug ends instead of jacks, and I used keystone pass-through jacks. Not really necessary, but it makes it very flexible if there's something that needs to go end-to-end without a jack.

For what it's worth, I also bought UTP stranded for my audio wallplates; saved a little money on what amounts to a less critical application.
 
#12 ·
Thanks for everyone's input in the shielded vs. nonshielded cable. It's been very helpful. I'll go with nonshielded.
 
#13 ·
Yeah, Belden cable may cost a little more, but when it comes to putting stuff in your walls, don't skimp on price.

I have Belden Cat 5e Media Twist in my home. Bonded pairs. I'll be willing to bet it's better than the Monoprice Cat 6. I have no doubts that this cable will never have to be replaced in my lifetime and beyond.
 
#14 ·
If you are running any of the Cat6 for video then I would highly recommend shielded and to wire it like the link below. I have seen tons of jobs where issues come up and they think it is because of the transmitters and receivers when it is actually the wiring and or connector. HDBaseT doesn't seem to be as finicky however you don't want to kink the cable, have huge coils, or any electrical interference. Any of those conditions can mess with an HDBaseT signal. They make HDBaseT cable but I haven't had a need for it as of yet.

http://www.kramerelectronics.com/downloads/white-papers/dgkat_category_cable_whitepaper_1.pdf
 
#15 ·
HarveyAV, I read your link about shielded cat cable. Since I never used shielded, I was curious if there was another way to attach the shield drain without soldering. I wonder if the heat from the iron may melt the conductors insulation.
 
#16 ·
I haven't had any issues with soldering as of yet, but it is a huge pain. Just to clarify how finicky twisted pair is I had a Kramer PT-571 and PT-572+ that worked flawlessly on all machines until an old Mac was plugged into it. I was using the customers existing wiring for the install, I sent Kramer's pre-assembled special cable to the customer and it fixed the issue. It was an out of town job that I did't want to make the drive and the customer was cool installing himself. I try to do all HDBaseT now when I can.

https://www.conferenceroomav.com/Cables-c/Ethernet_Cables/Twisted_Pair_Transmitter_Cables
 
#18 · (Edited)
If you're building the house now, I would just focus on getting a great internal electrical wiring for the plug sockets and just purchase the wall mounted Ethernet or wifi hubs to any room in the house that needs it.

rather than spending the time and money to run cables and installing additional ports right next to exiting ones that you'll already have installed and can do the same tasks
 
#19 ·
The one thing I would definitely not do is listen to eival on this one.

Good choice to wire your home and provide quality Belden cable.

At this point I think there is one thing you have learned: CAT6STP is nothing like Cat6 wire. It takes much longer to terminate, and if people aren't familiar with terminating STP cabling then you could have significant issues. I work for a 40 million dollar company and it took our techs the better part of a year to really get STP cabling terminations taken care of. We use quality CAT6STP cabling on all of our installations, and as long as things are terminated properly, they work great. My point being that ANY company that does low voltage for a living will charge more for STP terminations, and should, and they still may not know what the heck they are doing.

I would stick with the TIA 568B termination standard as this is often what is the first choice recommendation for products, including HDBT.

For your wiring runs: Count the number of runs you have in your home, and expect about 100 feet per run. So, if you have 30 runs total, then expect no less than 3,000 feet of cable.

Color code your drops if you can. If you have two runs going to each room, then buy your cable in two colors if it's available that way. Blue and green for example.

The STP connectors are something like 10 bucks each. Include that in your math.

PLAN IT ALL! PLAN FOR THE FUTURE!

Read up on distributed A/V systems. Pick a good head end location (not your family room!). Plan for how to replace wires. Plan for retro access. Not sure of your home, but I have a 3-story home. Since the basement is unfinished, I can hit everything on my first floor from below. But, I have a pathway to the attic to hit my second floor. I keep my gear in racks in the basement.
Don't NOT get cat-5.

A cat-5e cable pulled to the same spot as the other cables can really help out if you need just one more wire. Cat-5e is cheap, and works phenomenally well.

You may consider running only a single CAT6STP wire to each room, then run CAT5e to each room (or two of them) and leaving them unterminated at this point. Just terminate one wire for now, and save the rest for later. It will save you money overall and give you a good connection in each room.

I ran my entire home with CAT5e wire, then pulled one CAT6 wire to each TV location for 'future' use. Even with a full HDBT system in my home I haven't had need for the CAT6 wire at all yet.
 
#22 ·
Thanks for all of the responses. I just placed the order for 4000 feet of Belden 7851 UTP cable:
https://www.anixter.com/en_mx/product-detail.7851A-006A1000-BELDEN.PS-Voice%2Band%2BData%2BCable.CM-00424BEL-7ERB-06.html


It wasn't cheap, but I didn't want to skimp on things I'm sticking in the walls. Should be better than what most installers use typically I would think.


These are the jacks that Belden uses:
https://www.anixter.com/content/ani...l.AX101320-BELDEN.PS-Copper+Jacks.262105.html


They are a little more than $7 each it seems. That seems quite expensive, especially when I'll probably have 40 runs of cable (80 terminations!). Based on the installation videos I watched from Belden , it seems like those jacks will work well. However, are there other good wall jack terminations that work well?


I'll probably have some of that Belden cable left over when we're done (hopefully). I know it's better to use stranded patch cables instead of solid wire cables, but do you think I'll be able to make usable patch cables out of that Belden 7851 cable or is that not a good idea? They would mostly be used for permanent equipment (desktop computer, other local A/V equipment like TV's and blu-ray players, etc.) as well as in the equipment rack from the patch panel to the router/switch.


I thought about buying multiple colors of the cable, but my installer said they preferred all the same color for some reason as long as it was a light color.


My basement will be finished, but I created space for two full size equipment racks (19" x 73" or whatever they are) in the mechanical room. I don't plan on doing video distribution.
 
#23 ·
Patch cables are always stranded conductors, unless you make them from solid. Solid conductors are prone to breaking, with repeated motion. In-wall, solid conductors are motionless.

Also, home-made male terminations are usually not as reliable as factory made.

I buy factory made patch cables.
 
#24 ·
Bluecow003, you bought some serious cable. Your the first person I seen here that bought something from Anixter. I am retired now and I used to deal with them exclusively. My home is wired with their products. That cable ought to be good to the next century.

I have bonded pair cat5e. Your cat6 is bonded. It's kind of a pain to install because of the bonding. Anixter sells a splitter to help separate the pairs. They also have a handy device called a puck. Saves on your hand when punching down keystones.

I would talk your installer into colors. As far as using leftover cable to make patch cords, I don't think that would work. That cable has a spline in it.
 
#26 ·
Bluecow003, you bought some serious cable. Your the first person I seen here that bought something from Anixter. I am retired now and I used to deal with them exclusively. My home is wired with their products. That cable ought to be good to the next century.

I have bonded pair cat5e. Your cat6 is bonded. It's kind of a pain to install because of the bonding. Anixter sells a splitter to help separate the pairs. They also have a handy device called a puck. Saves on your hand when punching down keystones.

I would talk your installer into colors. As far as using leftover cable to make patch cords, I don't think that would work. That cable has a spline in it.

Anixter seems to be good so far in my limited exposure to them. I picked out the cable I wanted first after researching Belden's offerings and then had to hunt for suppliers. Anixter seemed to be the most professional looking seller and their prices were comparable to other places. I just placed the order for cables today. It will probably be shipped by morning. I probably should have used multiple colors, but at this point it's the installer's problem.


Good to know about the patch cables. I'll just plan on buying pre-terminated patch cables then. This appears to be Belden's CAT6 patch cable:
https://www.anixter.com/content/ani...Assemblies.371914.html?searchTerms=C601104004


I don't want to spend the money for good in-wall cable only to have it hindered by mediocre patch cables. Those are solid wire though. Or should I just get patch cables from Blue Jean Cables (they use Belden anyway):
http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/data-cables/index.htm


I wonder if that's the same cable.


Any good recommendations on the in-wall termination jacks or should I use those $7 Belden ones? I mean if they are worth $7 I'll use them to make sure I get a good jack, but I wasn't sure how obscene that price was for a good non-shielded termination jack.
 
#25 ·
After watching the video, that puck I recommended would not work on that connector. Also I don't think he is using bonded pairs, it does not show him separating them. The white tool he was using to score the cable has a splitter built into it. Another thing is the wall plates. Stay with the same brand as your connectors. Sometimes they are hard to click in if you mix brands.
 
#30 ·
I don't know why Belden makes patch cables with solid conductors.

I use stranded, exclusively, and I've never heard of anyone else choosing solid, for patch cables.
 
#31 ·
My installer wanted to use Audioquest CAT6 cable that is like $0.78/ft for unshielded and $0.98/ft for shielded:
http://www.audiostream.com/content/audioquest-ethernet-cables



I know just enough about Ethernet wiring to be dangerous, but not enough to really know what I'm doing.
:eek:

Please let your installer do his thing. He likely has done this a million times and tested numerous cables. Read the review on the Audioquest and I would recommend to go with it. The reviews are for the higher end line but you get the idea:)
 
#33 ·
Please let your installer do his thing. He likely has done this a million times and tested numerous cables. Read the review on the Audioquest and I would recommend to go with it. The reviews are for the higher end line but you get the idea:)
"Higher end line" of Audioquest cables throws the red flag.

Belden is the gold standard for high quality IT cabling. Anything priced above equivalent Belden wire falls into the "not worth it" camp, and anything significantly more expensive is snake oil.
 
#36 ·
Bluecow003, cost does not seem to matter to you. You already bought top notch Belden cable. You mind as well buy the Belden Cat6 connectors. You will have the best of the best and will never have to worry.

As far as the patch cables, why not try solid Belden bonded pair solid cables? Keep it solid all the way. I know many will say to use stranded patch cables because they are more flexible. But once you plug a cable in, why does it have to be flexible?

Also I agree with jautor, there is no reason to go higher than Belden.

Your on your way to a professional installation.
 
#37 ·
A little side note. If I was in business installing networks in people's homes, I probably would use Monoprice to keep the costs down and keep my customers happy. But when it comes to my home, I want the best.
 
#38 ·
I agree 100% about wanting the best for my home and avoiding the low end stuff like Monoprice. I wonder how that Audioquest compares to the Belden. I have never done a comparison of ethernet cable and am curious. I would ask the installer why he didn't recommend the Belden, maybe he will let you compare how they both sound before purchasing. If he does a good job for you and you tell 10 people better for him. If he messes up and you tell 10 people OUCH!
 
#40 ·
Audioquest for homewide networking? Wow. I guess if you're loaded and absolutely don't care about money, then go for it, but personally the Monoprice bulk cable has always done me well. Done plenty of runs and they've always tested and worked great. As long as the installer knows what he's doing with the terminations and nothing gets accidentally nailed through them during construction, then you'll be just fine with the cheap stuff.
 
#41 ·
Hey I never recommended anything (except to heed the installer), don't jump to conclusions here. I have not compared the Belden and Audioquest cables and am curious. If the installer would let the OP compare and he posts about his impression it would be great. He doesn't risk any $$$ by comparing right?
You are welcome to recommend Monoprice, this is for the OP anyway.
 
#45 ·
I 2nd the claim that Belden makes top-notch bulk cables.

I believe Belden owns several cable brands, but the ones marked Belden are their best.

And I agree, no snake oil involved in their marketing.

The installer I'm using currently to retrofit cables in my FR wanted to install the 'budget line' Audioquest HDMI cables - I politely refused. They installed empty conduit, I'll use that for my HDMI cables. I understand the installer's need to make a margin, but I have to draw the line somewhere.
 
#51 ·
Never heard of Belden being difficult to pull. One thing they won't like is separating those bonded pairs.
 
#54 ·
Yeah, I did think about that. I'll talk to them about that before they start. However, they charge a pretty expensive labor rate already for each pull, so I'm not going to have a ton of pity about the extra effort required to separate the bonded pairs. Is there a tool that helps separate them? I thought there was, but I wasn't sure.
 
#55 ·
The fact that BJC is willing to do that test for you should tell you that you don't need to bother doing it...

What do you mean by that, jautor?
 
#59 ·
Cable manufacturer is willing to do a test of another vendor's cable, so a potential customer can compare the results to make a buying decision. Unless BJC was confident that the results would show their product in a positive light (or at least, show that they're functionally equivalent), they wouldn't volunteer to do such things...

Besides, BJC doesn't make the raw cable, they assemble it. So I'm very certain they know exactly the characteristics of the different raw cable stocks...

(and if I came across as doubting BJC's integrity, that was NOT my intent. )
 
#56 ·
Yes there is a tool for separating the pairs. It is shown in the video you posted. It's a combination scoring and slitting tool. But you can use a utility knife to separate the pairs at the ends then pull them apart. I have the tool. Used it quite a bit when I was working.
 
#63 ·
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