Crisp Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Does CAT6E cable exist? I thought it hasn't been finalised yet but it seems companies still sell it as being advertised as CAT6E. I only ask because I purchased some CAT6 cable online, when it came under inspection it has CAT6E printed on the outter jacket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|Rapture| Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 There is a CAT6a, but not e... Either way there isn't a compelling reason to buy anything other than CAT-5e for most installations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc302 Veteran Posted March 21, 2012 Veteran Share Posted March 21, 2012 that depends on the install. riser cable it isn't that much more expensive to go cat6 vs 5e (roughly $25), plenum it is significantly different between 6 and 5e. If the local standards can get away with riser, I see no reason not go to 6. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|Rapture| Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 If you want to spend more money then go for it :) Just don't expect any to see any quantifiable difference in the majority of circumstances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPressland Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I've just finished networking up my entire house in CAT5E, I don't see any reason to get CAT6 or CAT6A currently, 10GBase-T LAN Connections cost a small fortune at the moment. Unless you're running Eth anywhere near overhead power cables, forget CAT6. I'm sure Crisps will have something to say on this matter... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc302 Veteran Posted March 22, 2012 Veteran Share Posted March 22, 2012 Yes while 10Gb is expensive right now, it will come down in price. May take 5-10+ years though, once the public has the need for it. But for now it is just datacenter needs. By then there will probably be a new wireless standard that gives us 1Gb+ speeds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejohnnyq Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 There is even Cat 7. Our data center at my former job was wired with it. I used Cat 6 for my home, and have been surprised at how many place i have been that are running cat 5 for GB connection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gate1975mlm Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 A few years ago I has cable run though my house. And I went with Cat 6 becasue the installer said it would only be like 25 cents more per cable. Almost no price difference at all so it made sense to go with the Cat 6 over Cat 5e. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neufuse Veteran Posted March 22, 2012 Veteran Share Posted March 22, 2012 A few years ago I has cable run though my house. And I went with Cat 6 becasue the installer said it would only be like 25 cents more per cable. Almost no price difference at all so it made sense to go with the Cat 6 over Cat 5e. I just did our new house last year and it was a lot more then 25 cents per cable! cat6 came in at 11 cents per foot cat5e came in at 5.9 cents per foor, so it was almost twice the cost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc302 Veteran Posted March 22, 2012 Veteran Share Posted March 22, 2012 I just did our new house last year and it was a lot more then 25 cents per cable! cat6 came in at 11 cents per foot cat5e came in at 5.9 cents per foor, so it was almost twice the cost where are you buying your cat 6 cable from, cables to go? check monoprice and deepsurplus, cat 5e is 80 per box of 1000' (.08 per foot) and cat 6 is 105 per box of 1000' (.11 per foot).. It certainly isn't double the cost. But like I said plenum is much more expensive than riser, that isn't quite double but it is quite a bit more which is 170 (cat 5e) to 267 (cat 6) per 1000'....going from .17 per foot to .27 per foot isn't exactly double either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stereopixels Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Last year I installed ethernet cable throughout my home and I opted for Cat 6; it was slightly more expensive than Cat5e but the benefit is future-proofing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neufuse Veteran Posted March 22, 2012 Veteran Share Posted March 22, 2012 where are you buying your cat 6 cable from, cables to go? check monoprice and deepsurplus, cat 5e is 80 per box of 1000' and cat 6 is 105 per box of 1000'.. It certainly isn't double the cost. But like I said plenum is much more expensive than riser, that isn't quite double but it is quite a bit more which is 170 (cat 5e) to 267 (cat 6) per 1000', double would be 340. our local code required plenum when it was ran through a drop ceiling, or perpendicular to joists when it was passing through them... so the whole house was basically required to be plenum... house was wired by blackbox, they aren't cheap either, but they use top quality products... most data centers use their stuff, not some cheap chinese cat6 cable that monoprice sells you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc302 Veteran Posted March 22, 2012 Veteran Share Posted March 22, 2012 PA has no requirement for plenum (as of 3 years ago), NJ has a requirement for plenum. Let me ask this, what is the difference between one cat 6 cable to another cat 6 cable in bulk...they both have to meet the same minimum requirements to be qualified as cat 6 cable. Copper is copper at that point, the guage size is the gauge size at that point, resistance is within cat 6 spec. Don't think that just because you are buying quality cable from wholesaler A means that they aren't also buying it from the same wholesaler and relabeling it. I have compared the quality of cable from graybar stock (I am sure you have heard of them), the quality of monoprice, and the quality of deep surplus and I can tell you that the quality of cable is the same or better. I have some stock from deep surplus right next to me if you want to inspect. I am in Southampton. Sure the cardboard boxing isn't as nice as the other brands, but once it is out of the box you can't tell the difference and if you can certify it what difference does it make? edit: I also have some cable that I took from the data center at my desk, the monoprice cable has heavier shielding....it also is UTP this came from a datacenter in PA. WTF do I know, I just work here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neufuse Veteran Posted March 22, 2012 Veteran Share Posted March 22, 2012 PA has no requirement for plenum (as of 3 years ago), NJ has a requirement for plenum. Let me ask this, what is the difference between one cat 6 cable to another cat 6 cable in bulk...they both have to meet the same minimum requirements to be qualified as cat 6 cable. Copper is copper at that point, the guage size is the gauge size at that point, resistance is within cat 6 spec. Don't think that just because you are buying quality cable from wholesaler A means that they aren't also buying it from the same wholesaler and relabeling it. I have compared the quality of cable from graybar stock (I am sure you have heard of them), the quality of monoprice, and the quality of deep surplus and I can tell you that the quality of cable is the same or better. I have some stock from deep surplus right next to me if you want to inspect. I am in Southampton. Sure the cardboard boxing isn't as nice as the other brands, but once it is out of the box you can't tell the difference and if you can certify it what difference does it make? edit: I also have some cable that I took from the data center at my desk, the monoprice cable has heavier shielding....it also is UTP this came from a datacenter in PA. WTF do I know, I just work here. state and local code can varry, our local code requires it in certain situations, so since they where dealing with that a few places they ran the whole house as it just to get passed by the inspector.. we've done some fequency sweep tests at work on "cheaper" cable and it was just in spec, and the cable black box sells was above spec, I'd rather be above spec then just within spec.. and at least blackbox guarantees their cables are above spec, a lot of the bulk cable providers dont Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPressland Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Last year I installed ethernet cable throughout my home and I opted for Cat 6; it was slightly more expensive than Cat5e but the benefit is future-proofing. How do you see this as Future-Proofing? CAT6 and CAT5E run at the same speeds - so unless you're going to run a 10,000 Volt power cable next to these cables I don't see it making any real difference surely?! CAT6A would count as Future-Proofing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc302 Veteran Posted March 22, 2012 Veteran Share Posted March 22, 2012 I did notice also between the cable that I have from the data center, that the center separator is a thin strechy plasticy type substance that looks like | where the cable from monoprice is a solid plastic that looks like +....everything about the monoprice cable feels better. have to run tests, but I don't have a certifier anymore at my disposal. And I am not spending over 1000+ for it either to have in my bag of tools. edit: Also just for clarification, being certified above cat 6 specs does nothing. you are going to get the same speed regardless. It is kind of like getting high honors then getting a sticker for doing a great job for being an over achiever from your mom, when it comes down to it that sticker wont get you the job or any other merit, but you will be a star in your moms eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neufuse Veteran Posted March 22, 2012 Veteran Share Posted March 22, 2012 I did notice also between the cable that I have from the data center, that the center separator is a thin strechy plasticy type substance that looks like | where the cable from monoprice is a solid plastic that looks like +....everything about the monoprice cable feels better. have to run tests, but I don't have a certifier anymore at my disposal. And I am not spending over 1000+ for it either to have in my bag of tools. all of our blackbox cat6a cable has the X shaped seperator, the cat6a spec doesn't require it, but a lot of the mfgs use it to meet the MHz spec's set for cat6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stereopixels Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 How do you see this as Future-Proofing? CAT6 and CAT5E run at the same speeds - so unless you're going to run a 10,000 Volt power cable next to these cables I don't see it making any real difference surely?! CAT6A would count as Future-Proofing. Cat5e can handle 1000Base-T but that is pretty much the limit, Cat6 allows for higher bandwidth which over short distances theoretically could support 10GBase-T in future... depending on how well it's installed of course and as long as it's on short runs. Cat6 cost me pennies more per metre than Cat5e, Cat6a cost over double the price of Cat6 when I did my installation... whilst I'm interested in future-proofing as much as possible, there is a price point where it's just too expensive when weighed against the possible future returns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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