Smart Cabling vs Wireless

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grantmc

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Wannabe Geek

#87068 19-Jul-2011 08:51

I'm new to Geekzone and so hi everyone.
I'm an old mainframe hack and have been in IT since the late seventies.

Here's a question that I have been pondering and you are all far more competent to answer.

Am renovating a house and so have the opportunity to wire out with smart cabling. What advantages are there in doing this (and spending at least $2,000) over just using using wireless?

Regards to all,
Grant Mc

freitasm

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#495118 19-Jul-2011 08:53

First you get reliability. And speed. And by using structured cabling you can then extend your network to cover telephones as well.

Wireless is too prone to interference from other wireless devices, keyboard sets, microwave ovens, walls, glass, etc. Also if you ever want to stream HD content from one computer to another, wireless won't do it reliably.

nbroad

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#495121 19-Jul-2011 09:05

$2000 might be at the high end of the scale or does that include labour?

I did mine myself on the cheap... a box of CAT5E, wall plates, CAT5E modules and a hinged wall bracket with a top shelf from Cables Direct plus a second hand 24 port CAT5E patch panel from trademe.

Much better performance and reliability than wireless. CAT5E will support 1 Gbps.
Cheers.

cyril7

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#495134 19-Jul-2011 09:22

Hi, there is no doubt that wireless is an important part of any solution in light of the proliferation of portable computing devices in recent times. Wireless is great for casual browsing/email and even audio streaming, but beyond that anything serious its lacking.

I strongly recommend that you implement a wired solution to all the key areas, where you know both computers will verly likely be sited and TVs and AV areas to feed streaming to your TV and media players, even the most modest TVs are fitted with DLNA clients these days.

Also depending on the size of your house and number of floors, put in place cat5e runs to feed extra APs from high locations (ie top of closets, pantry etc) so that you can get good wireless coverage, by placing APs up high they see over the clutter (furniture/people).

As for Cat5e or 6, for domestic use Cat5e is fine in my opinion, however the cost of cat6 these days is not much more than Cat5e. Whilst both easily do GigE cat6 is a more robust cable mechanically and in its overall performance such that there is a greater level of headroom. That said, in domestic situations with cable runs rarely over 25m the need for that extra headroom is questionable, hence Cat5e is fine for 90% of domestic installs.

Cyril

wreck90

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#495143 19-Jul-2011 09:47

Smart cabling is great. Best way to have a home media server and stream to your tv's etc.

Put a couple of ports/power into cupboards so you can hide wireless routers .

I got my electrician to do this, it was expensive but I have a big house.

I reckon I could have easily done it myself--just follow the guide telecom put out a while ago.

timmmay

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#495183 19-Jul-2011 11:05

I wish my house had it, i'd have a lot more smart devices around the place. Wireless is fine for light web browsing on portable devices, but reliability and speed isn't near good enough for high bandwidth video. Even standard def video struggles over some wireless connections.

grantmc

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#495185 19-Jul-2011 11:12

Very much appreciate your responses. I also figured reliability, speed, and security would all be advantages of fixed wiring. I have a box of of cat5 cable in the garage and so will have a go at doing it myself.
Thanks heaps Grant Mc

cyril7

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#495189 19-Jul-2011 11:19

Hi, if that box has been there for few years check its cat5e not cat5, there is a difference, original cat5 is not suited to GigE out to the full channel 100m, Cat5e is rated for GigE right out to a full 100m channel.

That said the original Cat5 (as opposed to Cat5e) has not been sold for some 10yrs or more, just not too sure how old old is wrt to your box of cable.

Cyril

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grantmc

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#495202 19-Jul-2011 11:58

Wow you guys are thorough. I have just checked and am not sure. The cable was produced by Belden with CAT5 UTP and JVJD06AA004BEDA printed on the box. It has following written on the cable itself: Tested by Underwriters Laboratories in accordance with CAT 5 ISO/IECII180T and TIA/EIA 568A ONLY 0015049 M. the cable itself is blue.

I did a Belden and Google search but nothing comes up. Is it OK to use? I would really like to use the existing cable as I have at least 200 mtrs. It is only a small 1950ish ex State 3 bedroom house in Naenae being renovated.

Thanks again,
Grant Mc

cyril7

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#495206 19-Jul-2011 12:01

Hi, it must say cat5e othewise its cat5, I recommend you get a new box, only $130 odd bucks

http://www.cablesdirect.co.nz/catalog/entry?entry=314

In typical short runs it may not be an issue, but personally I would not risk it. The primary difference is that Cat5 had much lower twist rate, therefore poorer crosstalk performance, end result is poor or unstable GigE operation.

Cyril

grantmc

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#495211 19-Jul-2011 12:12

thanks for advice. Awesome link.
I was quoted $1p/m for cat5e and $1.20 p/m for cat 6 (yes p/m represents per metre). Hence using the old cable (which I think has been in my garage since Feb 2004) seemed a very economical option.

timmmay

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#495215 19-Jul-2011 12:18

It might not seem economical later if you need to replace it - the labour and materials would be a lot more expensive than buying more cable now.

cyril7

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#495217 19-Jul-2011 12:21

no worries, whatever you get just use Cat6 or Cat5e solid UTP (as I linked), dont get stranded or shielded etc, just UTP solid for permanant inwall installation.

Cyril

nakedmolerat

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#495432 19-Jul-2011 20:24

Personally, I would go for cat6

webwat

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#495869 20-Jul-2011 18:43

Do you mean Structured Cabling? Its not smart as such, but does allow a smart user to re-assign any link as needed. Cat6 gives you more headroom for upgrading to more demanding gear in future, although you will probably be happy with gigabit for several years yet. Remember to plan for odd locations where you might decide to install a wall-mount TV, wireless router, intercom, server closet, or IP security cameras later on. Some homes get the in-wall/ceiling sound networks over the structured cabling as well, although wired straight to the room controller devices -- i really like that idea.

Time to find a new industry!