Cat5e or Cat6 in my new home?
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If it's not really that much more, go with CAT6. Before you do that, though, check pricing on the other hardware that goes into a network. How much more expensive are jacks and patch panels?
CAT5e will already allow Gig speeds, so I don't know that there's really much advantage to cable a house with 6 vs. 5e.
Don't forget to pull in a couple of Series 6 coax cables to each outlet while you're at it.
CAT5e will already allow Gig speeds, so I don't know that there's really much advantage to cable a house with 6 vs. 5e.
Don't forget to pull in a couple of Series 6 coax cables to each outlet while you're at it.
Got it, thanks!
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Install 2 inch conduit to make it easy to pull new cable in the future if you intend to keep the house. And if you think UHD is in your future price BlackBox cat 6a to be 10 gig ready.
Cat6 is a no brainer... to each display I bring 2 Cat6 and 2 RG-6 in a cable by SCP called HNC8. Postmoderndesign is right about the conduit.. I usually put in conduit to every accessible area of the house, like from mechanical room to attic, or mechanical room to mechanical room to give the best access to pull wires in the future.
Good luck!
Good luck!
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Sometimes I wonder if cat 6's capabilities will ever be needed in most homes.
Depending on which version of CAT6 used you may want to check out its turn radius. Being larger in diameter and stiffer than CAT5 it requires more room to turn angles. I believe the spec is 4", but not sure. We had a run-in with several spools of bad CAT6A. It's cover was very stiff making it even more difficult to use around turns and the insulation would split occasionally. Check it out before buying.
Certainly not most... For the short runs we have, and since most Cat5e can probably meet higher specs, it's probably good enough for >1Gbs stuff in practice. I haven't tried a 10Gbs link here at home, but it wouldn't surprise me if it worked.
And because 99% of homes have cat5e AT BEST, I can't believe manufacturers would push (or be successful) anything that would require cat6 for the home. Much more likely that all the heavy decoding will move to the display, as most folks will really need WiFi solutions for AV distribution. And even a 4K Ultra BD would only need ~200Mbs worst case...
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I think for the price difference cat6 is the way to go. Its better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. Technology is evolving at an exponential rate. Who knows what we could have in 5- 10 years.
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Admittedly there are a lot of unknowns in Ethernet LAN over distances including the quality of cable, the turns in the cable, the length of the cable and many other factors.
However, please explain how you calculated "even a 4K Ultra BD would only need ~200Mbs worst case..." There is a lot I am trying to figure out.
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Solid core CAT-6a (non-CCS and not CAT-6 ethernet patch cable), in conduit, is the only way to "future proof", if there is such a thing, your cable runs. 1.5" would be the minimum, 2" is better because you can add a couple of cables (extra CAT-6a, coax, pull-strings, etc) and you're good to go for just about anything. Solid core CAT-6a, 26AWG is fairly stiff but if you add some extra length, as well as a service loop at each end, you should be fine.
Blu-ray max bitrate is ~50Mbs. 4K Ultra is 4x the bits (plus more for color, but also using more efficient compression), so roughly 4x the bitrate would be ~200Mbs... In reality I would expect the actual bitrate to be significantly below that.
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Compression! of UHD with 10 gbs to ~200Mbs and premium uhd with 18 gbs to ?.
Now my next level of confusion: HDMI vs. HDbaseT. My understanding is that HDMI cables allow for compression but category cable used in HDbaseT does not and cat6a would need to transmit the entire UHD 10 gbs.
Where does the compression take place?
To probably not much more than 200Mbs...
HDMI is the fully uncompressed, raw pixel video. Audio is carried in either uncompressed, lossless (e.g. DTS-MA) or lossy (e.g. DD, DTS) compression. Which is why the bandwidth requirements are so high. And this is what needs to change - because our displays are now "smart" with built-in streaming, they already have all the guts needed to decode HD video from compressed formats (and the chips to do so are dirt-cheap now, too, so adding them to non-smart TVs wouldn't be a big deal).
HDBaseT is the same bitstream as HDMI. Just a pipe, with HDBaseT injecting some extra bits for IR, RS232 and even USB (IIRC that's a 2.0 feature). But unlike Ethernet - the pipe is not symmetric. A lot more data flows in one direction, so HDBaseT can send more than what a bi-directional network (Ethernet) connection would allow on the same cable type/length...
At the factory.
All of our video is compressed when it arrives at our house - either by network or by UPS/FedEx/Amazon... The last 6 feet from our set-top box or BD player to the display is the only time the video is decompressed. And its done that way for historical technology reasons which no longer apply.
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Thanks for painstakingly explaining. My confusion came in part from my imagining a matrix switch getting audio and video, (a UHD movie) from a rack mounted blu-ray player in an equipment closet and sending a movie sixty feet to a bedroom display. However, if in the future all the processing is done by the AVR or display then only the issue of carrying gigabytes of data over distances is resolved.
Or each display could have a blu-ray player next to it.
Or each display could have a blu-ray player next to it.
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Having let the concept of the display or AVR do all the movie decompressing rattle around in my brain a few days it brings some will this ever exist questions.
For those who like to have their media stored in one location and available throughout the house I have been trying to understand if there will be an computer optical drive and software that can allow a UHD movie to be stored on a drive like .mkv files. I have been designing a system based on the answer to that question being yes.
However, if the compressed movie can be stored and sent along for processing at the point of display then much less data will need to be sent though category cable or fiber. The distance problem is solved. The blu-ray player will, in my mind, be a streaming device. Is this scenario likely? Another thought is that software like MPC-HC decompresses movie and perhaps the chip in the AVR or display is not necessary.
For those who like to have their media stored in one location and available throughout the house I have been trying to understand if there will be an computer optical drive and software that can allow a UHD movie to be stored on a drive like .mkv files. I have been designing a system based on the answer to that question being yes.
However, if the compressed movie can be stored and sent along for processing at the point of display then much less data will need to be sent though category cable or fiber. The distance problem is solved. The blu-ray player will, in my mind, be a streaming device. Is this scenario likely? Another thought is that software like MPC-HC decompresses movie and perhaps the chip in the AVR or display is not necessary.
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I don't want to totally hijack, but rather than starting a similar thread I thought it would be best to ask here. I'm in the process of planning distribution for network and coax (OTA antenna signal) and I've decided on Cat6... but I'm not sure which type specifically. I'm a bit lost in "plenum rated", "in wall rated", "riser rated", "CM", "FT4", etc.
I've checked out a few similar versions, but if someone could point out which one would be right (if any) for running in wall, between rooms and floors, for a gigabit home network. I was using these 2 sources, because they both have a local pickup option:
1) http://www.cablesonsale.ca/index.ph...ernet-cables-1000ft-bulk-cable.html?limit=all
2) http://www.cablesalescanada.com/ind...3_1210&zenid=8d689fe11f7a099c851f4325ed4e4fc2
Obviously, cheaper is preferred, if possible. The plenum jacketed cables can get up to almost 4x the price, so if they aren't required, I'd much rather not go that way.
I've checked out a few similar versions, but if someone could point out which one would be right (if any) for running in wall, between rooms and floors, for a gigabit home network. I was using these 2 sources, because they both have a local pickup option:
1) http://www.cablesonsale.ca/index.ph...ernet-cables-1000ft-bulk-cable.html?limit=all
2) http://www.cablesalescanada.com/ind...3_1210&zenid=8d689fe11f7a099c851f4325ed4e4fc2
Obviously, cheaper is preferred, if possible. The plenum jacketed cables can get up to almost 4x the price, so if they aren't required, I'd much rather not go that way.
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Plenum cables are jacketed to run in heated HVAC ducts. Risers are meant to go vertical between studs.
Cable is a small expense in the network. I suggest you consider Blackbox.com cables because they were recommended to me. There are some cheap cable out there and if you are a gambler buy on price. I got Black Box shielded cat6a because I would like my cables to serve me for a decade and these seemed like a decent bet for a couple hundred dollars more.
The argument for cat6a is I may need the capacity for 10 or 18 gigabits per second. The argument for cat5 is they are ubiquitous and devices will be manufactured to use them. Select cat5 or 6 based on what will let you sleep soundly.
Cable is a small expense in the network. I suggest you consider Blackbox.com cables because they were recommended to me. There are some cheap cable out there and if you are a gambler buy on price. I got Black Box shielded cat6a because I would like my cables to serve me for a decade and these seemed like a decent bet for a couple hundred dollars more.
The argument for cat6a is I may need the capacity for 10 or 18 gigabits per second. The argument for cat5 is they are ubiquitous and devices will be manufactured to use them. Select cat5 or 6 based on what will let you sleep soundly.
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Just install solid core CAT-6 (or 6a), non-CCS cable and not CAT-6 ethernet patch cable. CL2 fire rating, use a 1.5" - 2.0" conduit for in-wall runs and you're good to go. You can use the solid core CAT-6 to easily extend an ethernet connection with simple punch down Keystone jacks or you can use it to extend and HDMI connection with some sort of active termination. Run extra cable, along with a pull-sting in your conduit for future needs.
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Thanks, PMD... so I should be fine with riser-spec cable? The Blackbox stuff looks nice, but at over $400 for the cheapest option, plus shipping to Canada (their estimator wouldn't work for me so I don't know what it would cost) it's not practical for me. I'll look around to see if anyone carries it locally, but it isn't likely to get cheaper.
Thanks Otto. So I'm looking for solid core bare copper... and I think UTP? Unless I'm mistaken, "CMR" riser rated cable is sort of equivalent to CL2?
I'd love to have conduit for easy runs and future replacement, but the rest of the house is already built, so I'll be snaking and fishing behind drywall for most of this project.
Edit: just to add to the confusion, I stumbled across this definition as well... "FT4 rated cables are suitable to be run in building risers and residential environments where the cable routes are not within general air handling plenum spaces", so it looks like FT4 is an acceptable type for what I need... "FT4 is roughly equivalent to USA CMR".
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