Solid or stranded wire - In wall Ethernet run

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Starscream122

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#225844 7-Dec-2017 14:43

Hi Team

I have wired up a couple of rooms for Ethernet using the ethernet packs you can buy from PB Tech Cat 6 with the ends on them

so I brought 1 30 meter cat 6 cable and 1 20 meter cable and I just cut the ends off and ran them in the walls then terminated them to a keystone jack Tested

with Lan tester all ok also getting gigabit connection speeds.

But... Should I have used solid core cable? the reason I didn't is I didn't want 300 odd meters of Ethernet cable (solid cable is sold by the box)

This is for residential non business use

Thanks.

LennonNZ

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#1914654 7-Dec-2017 14:56

Stranded Cables are normally used for Patch Cords as they get moved a lot
Solid Cables are normally used for Structured Cables which are not moved.

For your use it makes no difference but punching down stranded cable is not recommended as it can become loose very easily.

xpd

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#1914655 7-Dec-2017 14:57

Not necessarily, Im running twisted under the house, outside for a few meters (will be getting put into some conduit to help protect against the elements.) before heading into the garage.

XPD / Gavin

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RunningMan

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#1914680 7-Dec-2017 15:35

xpd:

Not necessarily, Im running twisted under the house,

Twisted is different to stranded. All cable should be twisted pairs - that's what helps with interference rejection. Stranded means the individual conductors are made up of several fine strands, rather than a solid core. Stranded is more flexible, so used for patch cables, but because the individual strands move and deform against each other, they have a tendency to come loose, or cause intermittent connections when punched into IDC type connectors.

robcreid

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#1914700 7-Dec-2017 15:59

If it is working I wouldn't worry about.

If you do more cable runs in future PBTech do have 50M boxes of solid UTP.

I got a couple of these as it let me pull two cables at once.

Starscream122

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#1914786 7-Dec-2017 17:31

Thanks @robcreid

I thought they only sold 305 meters!

I have pretty much over the last couple of days been learning how to make ethernet cables and make wall plates (Keystones)

So I have decided I will buy that one as it's actually pretty cheap and it's the amount I want and I'll just re-pull and terminate the cables it wont take me long. and I'll just use the stranded one's I bought for something else (put the plugs back on them back on them)

Starscream122

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#1915493 8-Dec-2017 23:08

If Solid Core cat 6 gets a kink in it while your feeding it though the wall would that ruin the cable? or would you have to bend it back and forth it multiple times to damage the it?

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RunningMan

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#1915532 9-Dec-2017 07:46

It's not very likely to break the conductors, but what it does is deform the twisted pair, so the twist and spacing is no longer uniform. The problem is that this affects the interference rejection which is required for the higher frequencies that cat6 is rated to. You'll probably find it will work with GigE, but at higher frequencies will give intermittent errors.

richms

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#1915534 9-Dec-2017 07:55

Stranded will not work properly in punchdown blocks. It may look ok initially but things move over time, it gets erratic, links fail occasionally etc.

Saw a whole house done with it that way, ended up crimping plugs on the end and using pass-thru keystones to make it look somewhat ok as it wasnt able to be replaced since decorating happened after they went in the walls. Worked OK on gig ethernet but the HDMI one was no good.

Richard rich.ms

robfish

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#1915536 9-Dec-2017 08:01

The other consideration to make is the type of terminations.
The RJ45 "mechs" in your wall plates are usually made for solid core cables.
The RJ45 plugs come in two types - for stranded or for solid. The stranded cores are pierced when crimped and the solid cores are usually straddled (like they are in the wall sockets).

The new RJ45 plugs are way easier to terminate - they have a little plastic insert which the cores are threaded through first. The old type required painstaking alignment.

Rob

Starscream122

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#1915627 9-Dec-2017 12:08

RunningMan:

It's not very likely to break the conductors, but what it does is deform the twisted pair, so the twist and spacing is no longer uniform. The problem is that this affects the interference rejection which is required for the higher frequencies that cat6 is rated to. You'll probably find it will work with GigE, but at higher frequencies will give intermittent errors.

When I was installing my Solid Core Cat 6 It kinked and it was a tight kink..when I saw it I quickly unkinked it..

Do you think my cable will be ok or is it probably damaged?

RunningMan

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#1915631 9-Dec-2017 12:15

A tight kink will have probably caused some damage - how much is hard to say without testing it at high frequency. If you're able to redo that run it's probably not a bad idea, then re-use that cable for 2 short runs instead. It'll be harder to replace once wall linings are on etc.

Any damage is only likely to affect high frequencies, so it also depends what signal is going down that cable. If it's being used for HDMI, it's very sensitive to problems, up to Gig ethernet, not so problematic.

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Starscream122

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#1915633 9-Dec-2017 12:18

It's too much effort to replace again.. it's a short run no more then 17 meters and wont be used for HDMI.. also it's being run though a wardrobe so wall linings aren't an issue.

sbiddle

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#1915898 10-Dec-2017 09:12

robfish:

The new RJ45 plugs are way easier to terminate - they have a little plastic insert which the cores are threaded through first. The old type required painstaking alignment.

This is standard for a cat6 connector but not for a cat5 connector so it depends on what cable you're using.

As somebody who does a lot of wiring work I find dealing with cat5 a million times easier than cat6 both for termination to frames and crimping.

As for the OP - any good electrical store will let you take cable away and return the box and just pay for what you use.