Topic: CAT5e vs CAT6

[speed_kills]

I'm going to do a whole house LAN but I'm a bit confused.

Some people say that CAT6 is better since it's "slightly" more expensive and good for future proofing. But it is harder to crimp daw and there are hardly any consumer devices that does 10kGB speeds.

But some say CAT5e is more practical as apart from being cheaper, the next trend will be in gigabit WIFI instead of 10kGB LAN.

I checked pricing and CAT6 costs around 35% more than CAT5e per box.

For a new install, which would you go for? What type of LAN wires are you using now and which year did you do the install?  For CAT6 users, are you getting any benefit at the moment?

[rochie]

http://www.broadbandutopia.com/caandcaco.html
http://www.cableorganizer.com/articles/cat5-cat5e-cat6.htm

check those link if your intended application can benefit the higher bandwidth of cat6.
do you just wanna connect the appliance/device to the internet? or are you running some local streaming of hi-def video from 1 device to another via LAN?

[Philander]

CAT6 is you have switches, router that support CAT6 and your connected devices (to utilise Gigabit speed) must support it as well. Otherwise, Cat5e should suffice.

If you have a requirement to support GIgabit transfer, then CAT6 is a better option. Note that Cat5e supports Gigabit speed as well.

CAT6 will give you headroom for improvement. That's where your 35% goes.

[paolorenzo]

Yes, I noticed that CAT5e can actually support 10/100/1000 speeds, but CAT6 was the certified standard for Gigabit ethernet.  CAT5e are normally 24/8 (24AWG/8 conductor), while CAT6 are usually 23/8 (but I've seen 24/8 for CAT6).  CAT6 will have the cross section in the cable, separating the 4 twisted pairs, preventing cross talk/noise.

RJ45 connectors for CAT6 are different, but backward compatible for CAT5e cables.  CAT5e RJ45 is not appropriate for CAT6 use (you can force it, but may compromise the higher speeds).

[oReOsHaKe]

I'm going to do a whole house LAN but I'm a bit confused.

Some people say that CAT6 is better since it's "slightly" more expensive and good for future proofing. But it is harder to crimp daw and there are hardly any consumer devices that does 10kGB speeds.

But some say CAT5e is more practical as apart from being cheaper, the next trend will be in gigabit WIFI instead of 10kGB LAN.

I checked pricing and CAT6 costs around 35% more than CAT5e per box.

For a new install, which would you go for? What type of LAN wires are you using now and which year did you do the install?  For CAT6 users, are you getting any benefit at the moment?

Good move sir.  If I have to rebuild my house, I would have gone with wired connections rather than wireless connections.

[et414]

I wired my house 6 years ago with cat5e hangga ngayon ok pa naman. I have a gigabit network. Imho cat5e to cat6 marginal improvement lang. Cat6a yung full support sa 10gb ethernet. Masyado pa mahal yung cat6a tsaka hindi pa widely available kaya sa tingin ko mas ok pa din yun cat5e for now. Kung gusto mo futureproof, siguraduhin mo na lang na madali magrun ng cable sa conduit para pwede mo palitan in the future.


Fyi you can also use cat5e for cctvs, phone lines, and pldt/cgnal tv distribution.

[esr101]

I just finished my lan wiring on my house last month. I used Cat6 since my router and switch are gigabit and to utilize faster transfer speeds from and to my NAS on other wired devices (i.e laptop to nas vice versa). I did it for all my devices to have wired access to my NAS.

I used the generic brand cable (forgot the brand) so i can't say that it was expensive for me but it gets the job done. When we tested it we are getting 1.0Gb speed on it. The transfer speed of files on my laptop are definitely much faster compared to a 100Mbps lan speed connection so it was all worth it.

As for streaming videos I can't really tell the benefits with the devices I have.  I have three media players and one smart TV connected to my NAS via gigabit lan. Two media players are gigabit and smart TV is just 10/100 speed. I tried to simultaneously stream the same movie file on all to see if it will be able to do the job. Happy to say that it does the job perfectly. Tried to fast forward the scenes to see if it will have a large buffering time but did not encounter one.

Bottom line go with Cat6. Future proof your network.

[andre]

Go with Cat 6, minimal price  difference,  I don't think you can used up more than 1 roll for the whole house.
Just beware of cheap China Brands. They can give you data loss. 
Buy Belden,  Nexans,  Panduit,  etc. however beware also of fake ones,  especially Belden. 

[yygoob]

diba kahit naman 5e eh pwede mag gigabit (1000)

[JoeyGS]

Paulorenzo is correct.  If you are particular in sound quality output, cross talk prevention is the benefit you will get out of CAT6.

Yes, I noticed that CAT5e can actually support 10/100/1000 speeds, but CAT6 was the certified standard for Gigabit ethernet.  CAT5e are normally 24/8 (24AWG/8 conductor), while CAT6 are usually 23/8 (but I've seen 24/8 for CAT6).  CAT6 will have the cross section in the cable, separating the 4 twisted pairs, preventing cross talk/noise.

RJ45 connectors for CAT6 are different, but backward compatible for CAT5e cables.  CAT5e RJ45 is not appropriate for CAT6 use (you can force it, but may compromise the higher speeds).

[speed_kills]

Main wiring purpose is for home NAS setup especially media and data file sharing.

It's for a new house that's under construction and I was curious to hear from a local perspective since I see conflicting answers especially when researching online.

So far I'm leaning towards CAT6 since it seems there's no real downside apart from the higher cost. I'm looking at 3-4 boxes for whole house install.

Some people suggest to prepare at least 2 or even 3 wires per outlet. Did you set up this way also?

Thanks for the replies!

[paolorenzo]

If you plan to use Ethernet cables for video as well, the HDMI extender needs 2 lines of LAN cables. When wiring the HT area, put extra ports. For smart TV, NMT, game console, etc. Or just put a 4 port switch. My Soho needs 3 posts, 2 for PC-laptop, and 1 for network printer. Just add matter of planning.

[andre]

Just home run all your cat 6 to a single location.  Then put a cat6 patch panel.  That way you can choose what you want for the i/o to be,  a data,  telephone,  etc. Have a professional installer do this. Also buy a good brand cat 6 i/o wall outlet.

[esr101]

Some people suggest to prepare at least 2 or even 3 wires per outlet. Did you set up this way also?

Thanks for the replies!

You can consider a switch if that will be the case. What I did was I have an area where all the drop/start point of wires will happen. It is where my Modem, Nas and Router are located. From there I ran/distributed lan cables to my living room and to every room in the house. You'll need to know where you'll likely be having lan ports. A network diagram would really be helpful in your case. Think of a main network then in every room you have a mini network.

A good cat6 wall outlet will costs you around 700 +- pesos each

[nallasartal]

Just recently, I bought Cat6 LAN wire about 25 feet in length and have it divided into 4. Since I am not familiar with how to crimp RJ45 connectors, I had it done at a computer shop in SM...The connection is fine - internet, and my 2 WD My Book Live...My computer has a Gigabit LAN port, the 2 WD My Book Live are also Gigabit capable, and I have a CISCO Gigabit switch...My computer and the 2 WD My Book Live are connected to the CISCO Gigabit switch and for internet connection, the switch is connected to an Asus Router (10/100 fast ethernet),....my concern is the transfer rate from my PC to the WD My Book Live which I do not feel any improvement prior to install the Gigabit switch....

Then recently, I read in the net that the "CAT5e RJ45 is not appropriate for CAT6 use (you can force it, but may compromise the higher speeds)." I now suspect that I am in this situation as I am sure the RJ45 connector used was for CAT5e and not for CAT 6....

Where can I buy or ask someone to crimp the appreciate RJ45 for my CAT6 LAN cable? Or is it really true that there are RJ45 for CAT6 different from the RJ45 for CAT5e?

[ramonvinzon]

Sir Nallasartal, it is indeed true that CAT5e and CAT6 have different RJ45 heads.

Best to have your cables re-crimped to maximize the capability of your CAT6 cables - sayang naman.

I suggest you find a decent Network / Structured Cabling shop (there is one in Gilmore - iGlobe Tech) that can re-crimp it for you with the appropriate heads.