Deep Singh

Hi.

I'm looking at running some of this with a hdmi extender to fire my projector. As quick search on the net seems to show that there are different types of cat5e cable. Is that correct and what are the differences?

Thanks

Leslie

Probably depends on the plugs as much as anything. I am pretty certain thats it the screening etc which denotes the cabling, ie the cat 5e bit.

Les

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Any more details?

IIRC there is:

cat 5 (up to 100mb )
cat 5e (ok for over 100mb up to 1gb)
cat 6 (1gb)

And all of these can be had in either UTP (unshielded twisted pair) or STP (shielded twisted pair) or FTP (foil twisted pair)

hodgy0_2

for "structured" cabling i.e. stuff that will be internal to the building I would use STP

Dedrater

Do you mean when you have seen it referred to as '5e Patch' and '5e Crossover' ?

Use a patch cable when connecting a computer to a router, switch etc and use a crossover cable when connecting two computers directly together.

Edit:

and if you are going to any real effort to plum the cabling in, under floor boards etc, then use Cat6a

Scoobydiid

There are two sheath types, LSZH (Low Smoke Zero Halogen) and PVC
You then have shielded and Unshielded versions STP and UTP.
Patch lead cable and building cables are different, the patch lead is made up os stranded cable whereas the building cables cores are solid. I wouldnt run the patch lead for more than 10m which unless you live in a palace. or keep your DVD player in the garage would be more than enough. Assuming you dont run the cable adjacent to power you wont need STP. STP is more of a pain to terminate.
You can terminate onto plates at each end, or direct terminate in plugs (you will need a tool for this)

If you are anywhere near Winchester, give me a shout. You can have an offcut.

Cheers
Andy

alistair

How far away is your projector ?

It's easier & cheaper to use a long HDMI cable unless it's a really long way....

MJW

Just use HDMI cable, it can be obtained cheap enough. I have 10m of it connecting the second video output on my PC to one of the TVs. I'll post a link for it when I get home

Deep Singh

Sorry I should have been more specific.

Its cat5e I'm talking about.


I did buy a 15m hdmi cable which works fine, but now I've come to actually try and run it, it is very inflexible and thick. I need to run it around loads of 90 degree bends. Its so stiff it feels like it would get damaged by bending it so much. That's why I had the idea to run the much thinner and flexible cat5e instead.
Its all the variants that Scoobydiid has mentioned that is confusing me.

Scoobydiid, it will run in a plastic conduit with a power cable in a run of about 12m and will carry a 1080p signal. Could you please tell me which type I need? Many thanks for your kind offer mate
but I'm not near Winchester

MJW

I ran mine through a ceiling void so the cable thickness didn't really matter. You can however buy flat HDMI cable which would probably be better and a bit easier to manipulate round corners

Dedrater

HDMI right angled adaptor - usb firewire scart av audio cables and accessories

Scoobydiid

Hi DS

If you are going to put it in plastic conduit you may as well just stick with PVC sheathed cable (its the cheaper of the two sheath types) I wouldn't like to guarantee that you won't get interference even running a shielded cable over that distance with power. We would usually use a two compartment trunking as a minimum. If you do use the shielded cable you should ground it at one end only.

Leslie

The fewer plugs you use also, the better the the overall efficiency.

Les

Dedrater

What plugs?

Deep Singh

Dedrater, the right angle connectors won't work as they will be too bulky to hide in conduit? Unless the conduit is very wide and that would look unsightly in the room.

scoobydiid, interference is unacceptable. I'm all HD'ed up, which would all have been a waste of time if I get a bad picture.

If that is a real risk (however small) then I will run the Cat cable around one side of the room and run the power cable around the other, so they will never be close.

Even though the cat cable run is 12m, the powercable would have only joined it for about 3.5 m of that, but I can't take the risk.

Now that we've got that sorted can you tell me the exact type of cable I need. Also somebody suggested I use Cat6 cable, what do you think?

Many thanks for your help

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

Cat 6 is a fine choice, but cat 5e will be sufficient. I cannot see the need for cat 6 within the next 10 yrs. Eventually though, cat 6 will most likely replace cat 5e as the norm.

You should not have too much issue from running a power cable near a twisted pair cat 5e. The wires are twisted to minimise interference anyway. Cat 5e is dirt cheap (stay away from PC World), just get a run and try it. If you have issues (I doubt it) then you can look into something that is more interference resistant.

You don't have to worry about conduits etc for a test run. Just run the cable over your power sockets and anything else in the room that you may think will cause an issue and see where you stand (I think you will be fine).

As for the type of cable, normal UTP (unshielded twisted pair) in a PVC sheath should be fine. Price should be less than 50p per metre. Its for that reason I suggest you try it, as all other solutions mentioned are at a greater expense.

mykp

What he said

Deep Singh

Thanks mate. I'll do exactly that

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

No worries, please post back with your findings

Let's just hope it works out well, and you don't have to go the whole hog to optic fibre before you are happy

Dedrater

I still say use Cat6e, for the minimal price difference and extra shielding, by that I mean the 6e spec for Alien Crosstalk (AXT), backwards compatibility and massive amounts of extra bandwidth.

Cat6e Network Cables : Network Cables, audio cables, usb cables, at trade prices

Dedrater

Check out most Universities, research labs etc across Britain, in fact we are phasing it out where I work

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

Oh yes, in workplaces new installs are going to be cat 6, anything else is a waste. Those installs tend to last ages, and may actually use the extra bandwidth. I know i did not go into detail with my comment, but most places still don't fully utilise cat 5e. You can only go at the speed of your slowest link, and so many end devices in real networks are 100Mbps (yes nearly all new stuff is finally 1Gbps). I am just imagining the number of years that will need to pass for all the kit you use to actually have 10Gbps NICs to actually warrant Cat 6.

If the price diff is small may as well get cat 6. Its just most places that sell stuff in smaller amounts tend to charge silly amounts more for the cat 6 label (well they do around here anyway, £2+ per metre). For 12m its hard to justify online postage charges too

EDIT: the link you posted is nice, 15m Cat 6e, not sure on postage charges but if they are not high just go for that.

Scoobydiid

If you want you could use a Cat 7 cable but Cat 5E will be fine for what you are doing, the higher the preformance the larger the bend radius will need to be. DO keep it away from power though, Luminous is right that the pairs are twisted, but that does nothing to shield it from electricity, you would use STP to give more shielding (but still stay as far away from it as possible) The pairs are twisted at different rates within the cable to reduce crosstalk between the pairs.
Cat 6 was ratified back around 99/2000 and we are still doing more Cat 5E than 6. You can run gig on Cat 5E assuming its well installed and properly tested and a lot of people are not prepared to pay the premium for Cat 6.
When you do terminate it, make sure that you don't unravel the pairs any more than absolutely necesarry. The sheath should be as close to the termination as possible to minimise crosstalk between the pairs.

Deep Singh

£6 for 15m. I'll need two 15m runs for the hdmi extender I'll be using, so thats £12 + pp! Can't go wrong at that price, fantastic heads up, thanks

Scoobydiid

That's a good price, stating the obvious, but using a pre-terminated cable will mean you will need to drill a bigger hole in any walls, ceilings etc.

Cheers
Andy

Deep Singh

Will this stuff defo be ok? I've just realised how cheap it is, other people are selling this stuff for £60 for 15m. Is this cheap rubbish or is the more expensive stuff over priced?

Thanks

Leslie

Is the modern word "connectors" then?

Les

Scoobydiid

It is cheap, will come from the far east in a huge container. When they first started comming over quality was a big problem, but a few years on they should be ok. If in doubt ask for a Cat 6 test certificate. You might need to shop around for it, and pay a bit more, but at leat you will know what you are getting.

Andy

Deep Singh

Andy, you have mail.