Network Cabling

[KevinP]

This isn't exactly a 'hot deal' but it may help you save money in the future.

Most people tend to go to their local PCWorld and buy a random network cable, which are often pricey, which in all honestly, CAT6 wiring isn't even expensive..

By purchasing something along the lines of these (you can probably find even cheaper reels)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Valueline-Network-Cable-100m/dp/B00F60S0S8/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1452561783&sr=1-6&keywords=cat+6 (£23.75)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/RJ45-Network-CAT5E-Modular-Clear/dp/B00HG9QRAU/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1452561789&sr=1-2&keywords=cat+6+heads (£1.53)

Total: £25.28 (Again, if you look on ebay or even look further on amazon you can probably find better deals)

Doing this could save you a bit of cash in the long run, just takes 5 minutes of labour to prepare and you're sorted.

Example: PCWorld - ADVENT ACAT61513 CAT6 Ethernet Cable - 15 metres
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing-accessories/computer-accessories/power-and-cables/computing-cables-and-adaptors/advent-acat61513-cat6-ethernet-cable-15-m-21249692-pdt.html

Even if you don't need a 100m or so, don't bother going for the expensive shenanigans from PCWorld, have a look at ebay - people buy this stuff in bulk and sell the cables / headers in smaller quantities already prepared.

Hope this helps you save a bit of cash!

- Kevin

 

[Neo]

Why cat6?

cat5e is made to support upto 1gbps.

 

[Vaffla]

Why cat6?

cat5e is made to support upto 1gbps.

Depends on the circumstances really. I mean for home computers, 99% of use cases 5e is perfectly fine. I recently recabled my place and made it entirely Cat6 just for a bit of future proofing and left the existing 5e in for redundancy, since it isn't often you can really do an entire rework of it. I also do Cat6 in business environments for a similar reason.

If my memory is right, I think crosstalk is also lower on cat6 when running at gigabit than when cat5e runs gigabit too, which isn't really a factor in a home environment but in offices with a lot of equipment it is usually worth the extra cost to avoid the link negotiation notching it down to 100Mbps.

On the cable itself a review is calling it out as counterfeit so I'd be careful, especially if your PC generates a lot of heat. The cable says that it is unshielded and for any environment where you have a constant application of heat it's probably best being safe getting LSZH (Low Smoke Zero Halogen) ones or arranging it so the heat exhaust isn't onto the cable itself.

Edit: Can't stress it enough guys, be very very careful about buying dodgy cables. Nobody seems to think it is a big issue, but it can be quite dangerous when running hot equipment. I've passed out once myself due to even using a good cable without the LSZH variety in a small server room at one end of the facility. Ended up in hospital for a good 12 hours on oxygen and getting a round of toxicology tests done because the cable came into contact with extremely hot pipes.

 

[Neo]

Depends on the circumstances really. I mean for home computers, 99% of use cases 5e is perfectly fine. I recently recabled my place and made it entirely Cat6 just for a bit of future proofing and left the existing 5e in for redundancy, since it isn't often you can really do an entire rework of it. I also do Cat6 in business environments for a similar reason.

If my memory is right, I think crosstalk is also lower on cat6 when running at gigabit than when cat5e runs gigabit too, which isn't really a factor in a home environment but in offices with a lot of equipment it is usually worth the extra cost to avoid the link negotiation notching it down to 100Mbps.

On the cable itself a review is calling it out as counterfeit so I'd be careful, especially if your PC generates a lot of heat. The cable says that it is unshielded and for any environment where you have a constant application of heat it's probably best being safe getting LSZH (Low Smoke Zero Halogen) ones or arranging it so the heat exhaust isn't onto the cable itself.

Edit: Can't stress it enough guys, be very very careful about buying dodgy cables. Nobody seems to think it is a big issue, but it can be quite dangerous when running hot equipment. I've passed out once myself due to even using a good cable without the LSZH variety in a small server room at one end of the facility. Ended up in hospital for a good 12 hours on oxygen and getting a round of toxicology tests done because the cable came into contact with extremely hot pipes.

the real updating is fiber based networking within the house... seeing it more and more in new-builds.

 

[Thomas Shelby]

the real updating is fiber based networking within the house... seeing it more and more in new-builds.

This. I'm recabling my house to 100% fibre sometime soon. Got all the cable ready to go just need to get round to a day-2 of various network outages.

 

[Vaffla]

Nah I wouldn't go with fibre just yet. To exceed the 10 gigabit limits of Cat6, I don't think we'll see it for a long time to be honest and copper still provides benefits like PoE that make it ideal for all the silly new IoT devices coming out, not to mention it is a wider standard whereas fibre installations have much wider varieties in place. Fibre is probably better for new builds alongside a current ethernet system, but switching entirely to it at the moment I just think is jumping the gun.