Hi
I’ve got an electrician doing some work around the place and thought it might be a good idea to get some network ports installed. I live in a large two storey house and although the Tenda mw3 mesh network does an ok job and with an eye to the future in terms of broadband speeds I was wondering if it’s worthwhile going wired for some connections like work laptop, smart tv. Currently get 80Mbs.
Is 6a the best value option for cabling?
Thanks
At the moment VDSL2 but hopefully a better connection in the future.
Do you live in any of these locations?
Banks, Campbell, Conder, Dickson, Gordon, Hume, Lyneham, O’Connor, Reid, Turner.
Yep
@shertiger: Next year or 2023 you will be able to get FTTP. nbn need to update the address checker. Link
Best practice is to hard wire as much as possible
I don't know if that's true any more. Fewer and Fewer devices are even coming with a network port these days.
What devices are you actually going to hard wire? OP mentioned a smart TV and work laptop …
Currently get 80Mbs
OP didn't really mention whether these devices actually need faster speed. I'd spend money on a better wifi setup, before spending money on hard-wiring stuff.
Wi-Fi interference can still happen and Wi-Fi speeds are not guaranteed. None of those problems with ethernet. OP can hard wire the TV and laptop. Other things to hard wire are game consoles, desktop computers, NAS, servers and security cameras.
I would upgrade both the router and wiring when OP has access to FTTP. Tenda Nova MW3 needs to be upgraded to get speeds of 250/25 or faster.
Fewer and Fewer devices are even coming with a network port these days.
There are plenty of USB plugin gadgets that will give you a gigabit ethernet output. I carry one in my laptop bag and for any serious work it is the preferred option even though I can get high wifi speeds.
Power-over-ethernet security systems (including cameras) would benefit from hardwiring.
Yeah have to seriously disagree with that advice. Been doing networking since the old 10BaseT was around but currently no domestic delivery method can surpass Cat6x hard wired.
Increasingly we're seeing Gig or even 2.5Gig ethernet on devices such as NAS and with SSD coming down in price being able to transfer data fast over your own network pretty much requires wired.
Future proof while you can do it cheaply OP - run a couple of ports into each room or where most needed. As others have mentioned TV, consoles, NAS…just do it.
For wireless, maybe install a couple of Ubiquiti WiFi 6 APs as well?
If all you are worried about is internet speeds then cat6a is pointless. Even cat5e would be good enough for the foreseeable future for just internet speeds. Cat6 is probably the sweet-spot for price/perf but you aren't gunna be going anywhere near the max bandwidth with internet any time soon
Thanks good to know
Not sure why the comment got so many negs
I wasn't one of them but maybe suggesting that cat6a was "pointless" instead of "overkill"? cat6a would definitely do the job, even if not the best value.
Personally I think CAT6a is overkill in a house. CAT6 will happily run 10Gb for 50M and if longer you can now use 5Gb or 2.5Gb with N-BaseT/802.11bz gear. I think CAT6 is a good happy medium for home. I deal with CAT6a at work and it can be a pain as those cables are much thicker and don't bend as well. I was for those reasons I didn't go CAT6a at my house.
6a can do 10Gb up to about 100m
6 can do 10Gb up to about 50m
So it really depends on how long the runs are in your house, and whether you value 10Gb hard wiring or not for the future.
Ask the sparky for the cost increase of 6a vs 6 vs 5e. But most of the cost is in the sparky labour to do the install, not the cable materials.
If it were me, i'd probably just go 6a, but then I'm a nerd and want to play around with 10Gb networking :P
If your house is over 50m long then you're probably not in the financial situation where you have to worry about the difference in price between cat6 and cat6a
My house is 49m long. Should I be worried?
You’ll need to patch in some high flux capacitors 👍
Cabling isn't run in taut straight lines. You'll be surprised how much you use avoiding sharp bends, sources of possible interference and allowing for drops and rises. My general rule of thumb is allow a minimum of 1.5x the straight line distance and it's often more like 2x.
It was a joke…
Not sure why you were down voted when you're correct. The price difference between 5 and 6 is negligable so little reason not to go with 6a, most of the cost will be labour. That said, make sure they're actually qualified with data cabling, most sparkys aren't.
OzB is fickle. :)
Qualified with data cabling? I'm not a sparky, but wouldn't that just be how to put a plug on the end and not to run the cable by power cables / power outlets?
At the moment 1GB network equipment is cheap and you only need CAT 5E for this.
10GB network equipment is still expensive and this is where CAT 6 is required, but I would not expect it to drop allot and become mainstream for the home in the next 5 years.
The cost of CAT 6 is more than 5e to install and terminate, so just put CAT 5E in.
Why not Cat 7?
There is not much difference between Cat5E and cat6 in order for current transmission speed technology. If you really do want to upgrade, Cat7 wired to all house. It is difficult to do when you already lived in the house. But at lease you do cable wiring to one wall socket on ground floor and one in second floor at center position of the house. It would give you good ability to use wifi covering every corner of the house. In terms of the wifi router capability, Tenda ac1200 is a really bad one, I had used this one before. It claimed it has 2.4GHz and 5GHz band channels for transmission. Actually not, it only do 2.4GHz and the fastest downloading rate is under 100MBps, so it is ok if you want to stay on 80Mbps, but if you want to use 5GHz for 500Mbps or higher, you must replace this mesh.
I had thought about to upgrade my Cat5E cable to Cat7 wired into the wall… can’t do it not because the higher cost of labor, technically viable. in reality all cables in the wall are tangled and all corners strained, no way to pulling it through without damaging the house internal wall. The best option maybe is fibre wiring, though I can’t find any tradesman could do it or know how to do it. I would be pleased if someone recommend professional tradesman could do the job in Sydney.
Why not just get CAT6a? CAT7 is proprietary and is it really worth it for the negligible difference?
You can't run new twisted pair due to cost but you want to look at using fibre? Labour cost is going to be the same or higher, material and equipment costs are going to be higher. Not sure why you'd think fibre would be a cheaper option.
Nothing wrong with Cat5e. Not sure why you’d bother upgrading cabling that’s already there. Cat5e can do gigabit.
And why would you bother with fibre in your premises? It just increases the cost of everything and the cost of installation would be prohibitive. Hardly any businesses run fibre internally at the endpoint level because it’s costly, other than in the data centre or as trunks between floors/buildings.
Hardly any businesses run fibre internally at the endpoint level because it’s costly,
That's not so true anymore. It's very cheap to run. The network equipment is what costs.
So my point is correct. I stated that it is costly to run fibre to the endpoint and it is. What exactly are you saying is “not so true anymore”?
Any more compared to when? The cable itself isn’t the issue. Ever tried equipping 1000 endpoints with fibre NICs?
@Bob Svargis: Running fibre cable isn't expensive. You don't need to have fibre NICs on every endpoint to take advantage of it.
I want to upgrade the cable5e, cause the current cable run into the wall on ground floor is not working at all due to the faulty work of builder, so there is no network RJ45 socket in the living room area. I need to build up a networking hub with cable connection to the wall socket. Cable runs outside through all rooms to the living room from fiber modem in the garage does not look good and impossible. So run fiber cable is tiny and unnoticeable with transparent line through each room is viable.
I am running Synology NAS with 10GB port for transmission reach that speed internally and external I hope.
Maybe if you're running it with SSDs, but with HDDs you won't flood that 10GB connection in fact I doubt you'd flood a 1Gb one.
I have two 1Gb connections to my QNAP NAS (WD Reds - Pro versions), at most I can pull about 120Mbps off that device, but generally averages about 90.
I have got all hardware ready for my 10GMpbs download speed internally, just caught up and have not had chance to running a test. The QNAP 2x -10GB ports router with 1 GB port on Synology and a thounderbolt 3 Ethernet adapter with Cat7 cables. I think you did not get the speed higher because the home internet plan you are on. to use ssd is not recommend by NAS, reliable and cost are concerns, Seagate iron wolf is good. I should be pulling 1.2GMbps for at lease.
In 10 years time, you might want to copy massive 16K video files around from PC to Plex server to laptop etc. Go with 6a cabling and a 1GB network switch. You can always upgrade to a 10GB switch when they are cheaper or when you really need it. Upgrading cables is a lot harder and more expensive ;-)
In 10 years time, you might want to copy massive 16K video files around from PC to Plex server to laptop etc.
Who's to say wifi speeds wont be good enough for that in 10 years? Heck, you might find that sort of operation is quicker with some sort of flash device anyway.
Cables will be as popular as dial ☎️ in 10Y.
It is reported that the theoretical maximum transmission rate of WiFi 7 can reach 30Gbps, which is three times the maximum rate of 9.6Gbps for WiFi 6.
https://www.gizchina.com/2020/04/26/wifi-7-coming-it-can-rea…
LoL. You're funny.
I can already see a high density data centre running on WiFi 7. NOT.
If we're glancing into the future we can install twin axial ethernet (400Gbps) or Optical Fibre (10.16 Pbps - yes that's Petabytes).
A agree that WiFi is increasing in speed and will be more than enough for the average Jo's internet but your statement that Cables will be as popular as dial up in 10 years time is laughable.
If I do a cable run of 100M through a double story house, multiple rooms, multiple walls, mirrors, fish tanks, whatever it will be received as fast as it is sent.
If I try to run a WiFi 6 (or 7) through 100M of floors, multiple rooms, mutiple walls, mirrors, fish tanks, microwave ovens, whatever do you really think you'll get anywhere close to theoretical speeds? Even glass affects the signal badly. In fact there's probably going to be no signal at all on the other end.
WiFi is great - and it will be fast - but it will not make cable dial-up mate cut it out.
I'm not interested in any of those things that you said.
I just buy a Wifi router and it's done.
@rektrading: Mate I don't have a problem with that - I agree for some people that wil be enough.
I took offense as a network designer that you seem to say cables will be like dial up in 10 years time.
That's just crap.
Just because you have a working WiFi router good for you. For people with long houses, multi floor, and various other factors it may not be and nothing beats wires for reliability. Or at least wired Acces Points.
Run fiber in the walls if you really want future proof.
if your electrician actually does data cabling on regular basis and knows how to install it, go for it, in CAT6a only.
If your electrician does not really do data cabling, get cabler to do the job. Seeing data cables and electrical cables installed without any separation by electricians on new builds all the time.
This ^^…as well as electricians can be a bit rough when pulling cable and Cat6 is far more resilient to twists and kinks than 5e.
The cost is in the labour, not the materials.
If going to this hassle, go with 6A.
Get a cable run between the floors and to the location where your router sits. You can then use switches, like small 4 or 8 port ones, to link the infrastructure devices.
I ran cat 5E all through my house and it’s great, but that was 14 years ago before 802.11AC came about. It’s not as critical these days because mesh wifi is now so good.
I went with a Ubiquiti system as my house is narrow but long, with 3 AP’s. All of my wireless access points are cabled back to the front of the house where the router sits. Flawless performance.
This ^^ is a great solution.
I have hard wired to critical speed points and 2 Ubiquiti APS handle the rest. Best of both worlds.
The wifi is putting retail cablers out of business. Go with 📶.
first question is can installer provide test results to the standard they are installing, most installers dont have the test equipment to test to spec due to cost if this is the case dont get caught up in cat 6A spec as most installers dont meet the spec on their installations anyway, as others have stated above a average cat5e install will easily run a gig and if you think nbn is rolling out better than a gig connection any time soon, good luck
I work as a network engineer so I always treat Wi-Fi as a complimentary technology to wired Ethernet rather than a replacement. And I manage large outdoor meshes as part of my job. Personally I still wouldn't go Wi-Fi only but I also stream full Blu-ray rips from my NAS to TV's through out our house and I wouldn't want to do that over Wi-Fi. So what your doing will dictate what you need. I'd get a few ethernet cables run to where I'm going to have fixed equipment that needs internet access like Smart TV's or streaming boxes etc as most of those still have ethernet ports. Also anyway that you want to use for a wireless access point. We are relying more on the 5Ghz band for newer Wi-Fi speeds and that doesn't cover as large a area as 2.4Ghz or penetrate as well. Run a small switch at those locations where you've fixed gear, to cut down on cable runs. I've got 6 wired ethernet devices in my family room entertainment unit alone. I'm using CAT6, you can put in CAT6a but it's a bit more of a pain as the cable doesn't bend as well because it's thicker and generally it's more difficult to work with and terminate. The important thing though is to make sure that you get a good cabler who has the right test equipment to make sure that everything is terminated properly. The highest level of testing will be "certified", the next level down "qualification" will be good enough. Qualification will test that the cable run can support the required speeds. Over the years I've seen far too many electricians just use a basic LED pair tester to check the cabling and that's not good enough. I've seen cables pass the LED tester but won't carry a network connection and using a qualification tester it was found the termination wasn't done properly or terminator was faulty.
Good advice
Network 2-3 points in your house where you want to install your Mesh AP. Connect your mesh wired backhaul, Qualcomm chipsets does this elegantly. That's all you need in terms of wiring. With a central where you place your network router, NBN box, and NAS whatever. Upgrade mesh ap as wifi tech progress.
Add more points for POE if you want wired CCTV cameras.
Im running a wifi6 capable mesh system with qualcomm chipset, wired backhaul it works beautiful for me an IT tech. Previously require 3 mesh nodes, now down to 2 nodes.
Cat6.
I just finished building a new house. (I'm a network engineer)
cat6a is overkill as others have mentioned. It needs an earth and special cables and terminators and isn't worth it for a home network.
Run cables everywhere (not just network cables), even if you don't use/terminate (leave them hidden behind the walls).
Think about cables for
Doors/door alarms / cameras /smart locks.
Video security system (POE)
Alarm system
TV's/NAS/sound systems / gaming consoles
Kids bedrooms.
WIFI AP's ( i have a cable in the roof on 1st floor and behind fridge overhead cupboard)
Solar system
Garage door.
As @Rockets84 said, you can put a small switch in place to cut down on cable runs, but if you are installing cables, it is better to have extra cables rather than extra switches imho.
Yes. Door Bell Alarm, Solar Panel Control Hub etc are only supported in 2.4GHz channel and all rest of devices you want to be as fast as possible by using 5GHz channel, wifi connection could be a help to reach the places that cable can’t get to. You really need to wire up and down in full capacity of the new house before you moving in. Current cost of cable and labor are nothing compare to a few years later when you want to upgrade and already stuck in the house.
Best practice is to hard wire as much as possible. Cat 6a is suitable. Do you have FTTN, FTTB, FTTC, FTTP, HFC, fixed wireless?