DIY Running Cat 6 Cables on a new house

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3 posts

Wannabe Geek
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#1067152 16-Jun-2014 22:58

I have had a quick read through the posts and see no mention of minimum bend radius.

This was not such of an issue back in the days of CAT5 but it is important with CAT6/A.

If you want to achieve maximum speed/bandwidth you must observe the minimum bend radius spec. For your cable it might be something like 300mm. So that means no right angles. If you accidentally kink a section of cable it would be best to pull that section back and toss it away.

It may sound like I'm making this stuff up but it really does matter. Another thing, if you decide to make up your own patch cables be aware that they cannot be any old length, it must be cut to suit the wavelength. Yes a patch cable of any random length will work, but you will not always achieve full rate through it.

isis

49 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#1074693 25-Jun-2014 22:44

Hi,
Update - have picked up a nice cabinet for an awesome price.
Now sourcing cables - does anyone know if i should be using solid or stranded cat 6? online research is a mix!

cheers

mcraenz

1140 posts

Uber Geek
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#1074708 25-Jun-2014 23:00

Solid!! And mind kinks and bend radius.

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jnimmo

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#1074753 26-Jun-2014 07:23

I have to agree with PDL in a new build especially if everything else is PDL. Nothing screams cheap like a Dynamix faceplate next to a nice clean PDL

Jaxson

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#1074758 26-Jun-2014 07:34

isis: Hi,
Update - have picked up a nice cabinet for an awesome price.

What did you get, and where from please?

Thanks.

isis

49 posts

Geek
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#1075518 27-Jun-2014 13:41

Jaxson:
isis: Hi,
Update - have picked up a nice cabinet for an awesome price.

What did you get, and where from please?

Thanks.

TM :)

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reven

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#1075524 27-Jun-2014 13:54

i did this myself 1.5 years ago on my new house.

I used 2 boxes of 300m cat6 cable. first box i got from a sparky friend for about $400, second one I got from trademe at $180ish. In the long run I should of got another $400 box (quality was far better).

2 24 port patch panels cant recall how much these cost, maybe $100 each? , 40 cat6 ends (whatever they are called) at around $4 each. 20ish wall plates at around $1 each.

so material cost was around
$600 + $200 + $160 + $20, so around $1000.

plus I bought a half height cabinet (second hand off trademe, was a demo or something, so good condition) around $250 i think.

i laid all the cables before the pink batts went up, then connected all the faceplates up after paint was on the walls, and then finally the patch panels and cabinet after the house was finished and I moved in. so 3 days to do it. not 3 full days, but probably close.

so $3000 for the job IMO sounds fair.

but its not a hard job to do, just time consuming.

I didnt need 40 connections in my house, but i put them every where I thought I might want them. stupidly though i put some of them on a different stud to the power instead of the opposite side of the stud, so power + network ports have about 1m gap. mostly this isnt an issue, but a couple do look ugly (ill fix this if i ever repaint the walls, luckily I got my son a kitten who is kinda forcing my hand to repaint...).

isis

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Geek
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#1075526 27-Jun-2014 13:58

that's some serious runs!
i thought i'll start with 1x Box of 300M and see how i go...i'm going to go for Dynamix UTP Solid for about ~$200

mcraenz

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#1075528 27-Jun-2014 14:07

reven:
.....I used 2 boxes of 300m cat6 cable. first box i got from a sparky friend for about $400, second one I got from trademe at $180ish. In the long run I should of got another $400 box (quality was far better)..

ditto. I did my Workshop with cheap cable from trademe. Quality is obviously lower. Sometime I have issues doing 1Gbps over it. Although I'm not yet sure if that's related to the cheap RJ45 modules I used or the cable. Morel of the story is obvious!

Check out:
http://www.cablesdirect.co.nz/

The DYNAMIX cable should be pretty good.

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reven

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#1075531 27-Jun-2014 14:09

mcraenz:
reven:
.....I used 2 boxes of 300m cat6 cable. first box i got from a sparky friend for about $400, second one I got from trademe at $180ish. In the long run I should of got another $400 box (quality was far better)..

ditto. I did my Workshop with cheap cable from trademe. Quality is obviously lower. Sometime I have issues doing 1Gbps over it. Although I'm not yet sure if that's related to the cheap RJ45 modules I used or the cable. Morel of the story is obvious!

Check out:
http://www.cablesdirect.co.nz/

The DYNAMIX cable should be pretty good.

my speeds are all fine, the cable just felt cheaper, made it more flexible, but would be more prone to getting damaged.

i used good quality connectors though (dynamix ones + dynamix patch panel)

RossS

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1075533 27-Jun-2014 14:11

Have had a bad experience with Dynamix cable getting tangled inside the box many times when pulling cable. Makes the job very tedious when you have to keep going back to the box, open it up, and untangle it.

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mdooher

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#1075536 27-Jun-2014 14:14

isis: that's some serious runs!
i thought i'll start with 1x Box of 300M and see how i go...i'm going to go for Dynamix UTP Solid for about ~$200

When you do these runs you will want 2 outlets in each position. ie double faceplates.
Take my advice and get two boxes of cable. You then tape both ends together and pull the double run in one go.

I know this potentially doubles the price but it is far easier and you wont be tempted to skimp on the number of runs you do.

If you do it one at a time you will find the cable catches against its neighbour and kinks. If cat 6 kinks you need to re-run it

I do a lot of this work for high end houses and commercial installs. (my own house was 6 boxes of cat 6 and 2x48 outlet patch panels)

Matthew

isis

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Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#1075550 27-Jun-2014 14:40

mdooher:
isis: that's some serious runs!
i thought i'll start with 1x Box of 300M and see how i go...i'm going to go for Dynamix UTP Solid for about ~$200

When you do these runs you will want 2 outlets in each position. ie double faceplates.
Take my advice and get two boxes of cable. You then tape both ends together and pull the double run in one go.

I know this potentially doubles the price but it is far easier and you wont be tempted to skimp on the number of runs you do.

If you do it one at a time you will find the cable catches against its neighbour and kinks. If cat 6 kinks you need to re-run it

I do a lot of this work for high end houses and commercial installs. (my own house was 6 boxes of cat 6 and 2x48 outlet patch panels)

Jeepers!

I thought i better go with a known brand rather than some dubious ones that seem cheaper. Do it once & do it right!

Jaxson

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#1075554 27-Jun-2014 14:46

Plus you can often sell the remainder of what you've got left on trademe anyway.
I did this with speaker wire on a large roll and I honestly nearly got all the cable I'd used in my install for free once the left overs sold.

mdooher

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#1075555 27-Jun-2014 14:48

isis:
mdooher:
isis: that's some serious runs!
i thought i'll start with 1x Box of 300M and see how i go...i'm going to go for Dynamix UTP Solid for about ~$200

When you do these runs you will want 2 outlets in each position. ie double faceplates.
Take my advice and get two boxes of cable. You then tape both ends together and pull the double run in one go.

I know this potentially doubles the price but it is far easier and you wont be tempted to skimp on the number of runs you do.

If you do it one at a time you will find the cable catches against its neighbour and kinks. If cat 6 kinks you need to re-run it

I do a lot of this work for high end houses and commercial installs. (my own house was 6 boxes of cat 6 and 2x48 outlet patch panels)

Jeepers!

I thought i better go with a known brand rather than some dubious ones that seem cheaper. Do it once & do it right!

If you go to your local electrical wholesaler you can usually convince them to give you a discount, If they are not interested try another one. generally the brands they have are fairly good (I normally end up with "General Cable" brand) I watched it getting made in CHCH a few years ago...very interesting

Matthew

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