Cat5e vs. Cat 6

[Jabrwock]

So I'm buying a house, and the basement is unfinished, so I'm free to wire up everything the way I like it. :)

My question is, even though Cat6 is 3x more expensive than Cat5e right now, should I wire the house up with Cat6, or wire it up with Cat5e and PVC conduits, so I can easily replace the Cat5 with Cat6a later on?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat5e Provides performance of up to 100 MHz
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat6 Provides performance of up to 250 MHz
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat6 (Cat6a) provides performance of up to 500 MHz

http://www.broadbandutopia.com/caandcaco.html

[steelcobra]

Might as well futureproof for when a fibreline is as cheap as cable. While Cat5e can sort of do a gigabit lan connection, Cat6 is able to do it natively. And besides, wouldn't it be cheaper to run the more expensive stuff now than to buy cheap stuff now, close up all the walls, then open them again and run even more expensive stuff?

[ZippyDSMlee]

Might as well futureproof for when a fibreline is as cheap as cable. While Cat5e can sort of do a gigabit lan connection, Cat6 is able to do it natively. And besides, wouldn't it be cheaper to run the more expensive stuff now than to buy cheap stuff now, close up all the walls, then open them again and run even more expensive stuff?

Hes got a both cat5 is cheap as dirt have it there just for basics,unless you are a WI/FI networking master.

[steelcobra]

For a home installation, that is, actually running the wiring through the walls to wall jacks, etc., it's best to go with something that will be capable of handling traffic 10-15 years down the road. Just because it's cheaper to just run Cat5e now doesn't mean it's the overall cheapest solution. It just means you have to pay to run the cheap stuff now, then in 5 years pay more to run the stuff that'll support your Fiber-optic connection's bandwidth.

And Wifi isn't a working connection. It's great if you want to be out in the backyard and surf, but you still can't get an equivalent up/down rate you can with wires. Plus, with a built-in network, you can do media streaming, console hookups, etc., without resorting to either wifi or having six cables running from the computer desk.

[Thefremen]

For a home installation, that is, actually running the wiring through the walls to wall jacks, etc., it's best to go with something that will be capable of handling traffic 10-15 years down the road. Just because it's cheaper to just run Cat5e now doesn't mean it's the overall cheapest solution. It just means you have to pay to run the cheap stuff now, then in 5 years pay more to run the stuff that'll support your Fiber-optic connection's bandwidth.

Although, if you're from Hawaii you won't have to worry about that bothersome fibre-optic for another 250 years.

[steelcobra]

Jabr's from canada though, so he may get it in 10 or so.

[ZippyDSMlee]

For a home installation, that is, actually running the wiring through the walls to wall jacks, etc., it's best to go with something that will be capable of handling traffic 10-15 years down the road. Just because it's cheaper to just run Cat5e now doesn't mean it's the overall cheapest solution. It just means you have to pay to run the cheap stuff now, then in 5 years pay more to run the stuff that'll support your Fiber-optic connection's bandwidth.

And Wifi isn't a working connection. It's great if you want to be out in the backyard and surf, but you still can't get an equivalent up/down rate you can with wires. Plus, with a built-in network, you can do media streaming, console hookups, etc., without resorting to either wifi or having six cables running from the computer desk.

merely saying cat5 is a good backbone for now putting a cat6 in would be good to give you a full 10+ year run.

[steelcobra]

Ok, zip? Who's the IT pro here?

[Jabrwock]

Jabr's from canada though, so he may get it in 10 or so.Sooner than that, Sasktel just ran fiber to the junction box behind my house. So in a few years, they'll run it straight to the house itself. :D

And besides, wouldn't it be cheaper to run the more expensive stuff now than to buy cheap stuff now, close up all the walls, then open them again and run even more expensive stuff?Actually, if I put in conduits and use keystone terminators, I could rethread the entire house without putting any new holes in the walls. ;)

And I could replace the wires with either 6a, or fiber, when it becomes cheap enough.

I'm beginning to think that conduits are a good idea anyway, no matter what kind of cable I put in...

[Korrd]

I'm beginning to think that conduits are a good idea anyway, no matter what kind of cable I put in...Highly recommended, even if you were to go with Cat6, which I personally would.

[steelcobra]

It would keep the lines mostly clean and protect them from damage.

[Jabrwock]

I finished inspecting the house, and it has a lot of little repairs all over the place that need doing. My reno budget is going to be tight for a while, at least until next year's tax return. ;)

So it looks like the cheapest option wins, for now... Cat5e, but with conduits so I can easily rethread everything in a few years, or add lines if I want to expand a junction box's connections.

Although, at least I can do it in stages. Like use Cat6 for my office initially, and recycle the TV Cat5e lines for the living room connection, and then replace them with Cat6 later.

Eventually I want 2 outlets in the living room, each with 4 ports. One RJ11 (using 5e wire, so I get the goodness of twisted pair...), 2 RJ45 (one network, one for TV), and one coax (for TV). The dining room and all 3 bedrooms would get a two port (phone & net), with the kitchen just getting a phone port. All the ports would be those modular inserts for single-gang faceplates, so that I can add/reconfigure the outlet as I add cables later on... :)

The trickiest two will be the living room, because everything else will be on interior walls, but the living room has no interior walls that are anywhere near where I would want the TV to go.

Now I just need to plan out my wiring layout...

And figure out where to get all the parts. My local tech store has SOME of what I need, but I don't really want to pay $10 shipping every time I buy a few parts online...

[Jabrwock]

Quick question:

My buddy says that conduits are bad, because he fears the cables will twist and kink as they're pulled through. Because I'm using 110 punchdown, there's no ends on the cable to catch on anything, and I plan on using 1inch diameter pvc piping, and gentle curves (using a couple of 45 degree elbows instead of a 90), and I'm buying the bulk cable, which uncoils as it comes out of the box, there should be minimal risk of twisting/kinking, right?

Between the floorboards in the basement, I'm considering using wider size, but half-pipe, so it acts as a cable support, but without the wire being fully enclosed, so it's easier to fix if something happens. There will only be full-pipe going through the walls going down to the basement.

I did the math for conduit fill, and if I want it at National Electric Code, a 1 inch pipe will be more than enough for a max 40% fill with 4 cables (3 Cat5, 1 coax). Plus I think anything smaller than 1 inch will be just too hard to work with. ;)