what wire to buy for internet tv?

[rhurbarb]

Im currently renovating my house and now im thinking the time is right i should fit a ethernet cable system ...Just wondered what type of cable i would need and what do they call the boxes which go into the wall ?.

Thanks guys ...Rhurbarb

 

[satelliteman]

You need to consider a cat5e/6 cable infrastructure.

 

[PaulR]

If you have studded walls (plasterboard on wooden frames) the boxes that are flush are called pattress boxes. There is a different box for sinking into brick walls. Both types can take yet another type of box screwed on top if you want but it's not as neat. All the boxes will then take the same fascia plates and there are a variety to choose from (single plate, modular, multi, etc)

I've got the floorboards up to check the joists ATM so I'm taking advantage of this to wire up my house. I'm putting Cat 5e cable in, which I bought a few years ago, although I do wonder whether I should have put Cat 6 as this will be a future standard. I'm putting a telephone cable in at the same time (also previously bought) although this is less important now with cordless phones. I'm also putting in cables for satellite/TV at the same time.

 

[rhurbarb]

I have batoned the walls so ideal for wiring..Ok next stop ebay Thanks guys

 

[caley]

Be careful buying cat5 cable on ebay I brought some and it had little or no copper in it thus was dangerous, because it looked and felt cheap I tested some before installing, I ran POE on it over 5m and after half hour or so cable started to get warm goodness knows what would have happened should it have installed it was marked up with the correct european testing stamps aswell, seller did not reply to emails, CEF branch looked at it and laughed, do yourself a favour go to a electrical distributor there is alot of fake cable around.

 

[Chris76]

The dry lining box here @ttp://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-GANG-35MM-SINGLE-DRY-LINING-BOX-FAST-FIX-/280534696439?pt=UK_DIY_Material_Electrical_Fittings_MJ&hash=item41512bc1f7#ht_2413wt_1028

cat 6 face plate here @ttp://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CAT6-Single-Socket-RJ45-Wall-Face-Plate-Faceplate-Cat-6-/200259132813?pt=UK_Computing_NetworkingTools_Accessories_SM&hash=item2ea05fdd8d#ht_1151wt_1028

switch for cat 6 here @ttp://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CAT6-Single-Socket-RJ45-Wall-Face-Plate-Faceplate-Cat-6-/200259132813?pt=UK_Computing_NetworkingTools_Accessories_SM&hash=item2ea05fdd8d#ht_1151wt_1028

 

[HPsauce]

Cat6 is a waste of time in a domestic situation as it is only really relevant to extremely high speeds over long distances, so stick with Cat5e which is easier to bend and terminate.
You can actually use 4-core telephone (CW1308) cable for 100mbps Ethernet anyway at up to 100m distance, it's only gigabit that needs all 8 cores.
I use CW1308 in my house where I have to run LAN cable visibly as it goes round very sharp corners easily and is so unobtrusive (and ubiquitous) that most people don't notice it at all.

 

[PaulR]

CW1308 certainly has a CAT number but it's only CAT1!

EIA/TIA Category 1 and 2

The characteristics for these two Categories of cable are not specified by EIA/TIA, as they are deemed unsuitable for structured cabling systems because the applications supported are limited to voice or low speed data (i.e. less than 4 Mbit/s). Anixter/UL Level 1 cable is similar in performance to British Telecom CW1308 cable (standard telephone wiring) and is only suitable for analogue and digital voice applications or low speed serial communications e.g. 56Kbps.

Source _http://www.rhyshaden.com/cabstand.htm

I'd be very surprised if it was good for 100mbps at 100m

 

[HPsauce]

Well actually I don't think CW1308 has any Cat number, as your quote says it's "similar" to Cat1 cable.
Nonetheless it works fine in visible domestic situations, though obviously I wouldn't use it in a commercial environment or try to push the limits.
(and if you're hiding the cable I'd use Cat5e anyway)
You need a pretty large house to get anywhere near 100m! (and if you could afford it you could afford proper structured cabling)

I actually have a number of manufactured pre-terminated LAN patch leads that, upon inspection, have only 2 pairs in them. They obviously work fine at 100mbps and never at 1Gb.
Out of interest I dismantled one and the pair twisting was almost identical to CW1308.

 

[rolfw]

I wouldn't compromise on data cable, use CAT5E as a minimum, it isn't expensive.