subject: Choosing Cat 6for Home Network Cabling [print this page] Structured networks are a necessity for homes these days, thanks to the home entertainment, and surround sound home theater installations, that are in demand. For setting up a home network, Cat 6 cable is the best choice for future proofing your home, as you will cover it all- home networking, AV set up as well as high speed internet access.
Cat 6 is the best choice for setting up your home network. In case you are unsure, and wondering what's lacking in your tried and tested Cat 5e, then here is a small tech update for you. The main difference between Cat 5e and Cat 6 is in the transmission performance. While Cat 5e can support gigabit speeds, where as Cat 6 is known to handle gigabit Ethernet. Another thing that makes Cat 6 a smart choice is that Cat 6 specification is better suited in places that have interference from power lines, lights, and manufacturing equipment etc. So, if you have all the components on your network as gigabit rated, and need to transfer a lot of data, then Cat 6 is the right cable for you.
Now, you must understand that installing CAT 6 for your home networking needs can be really beneficial. To begin with, Cat 6 cable is backwards compatible, this means you can easily fit in with a CAT 5e structured wiring system. In other words, you get to save the costs on the purchase of new materials. You also save on any labour cost that you might have incurred in the future for replacing the obsolete cable. But if you incorporate Cat 6 cable in your Cat 5e network, then it will still be a Cat 5e rated channel as the rating of a channel is decided by the lowest performing component in the channel.
Another benefit is that if you network your home with a complete Cat 6 system, then you will get the highest bandwidths support for home networking. This means you have the ability to network your home with data for multi-user computers, printers, scanners, and cable modem or DSL internet access! The fact that the Cat 6 cables also support voice applications is also an additional benefit. This will allow you to distribute voice to any room in your house for multiple telephones, fax and dial-up internet access (broadband too).
If you have got a brand new home entertainment and surround sound home theater system for your home, then you can use Cat 6 cables to install them in your home. You do not have to spend money on buying various types of cables for the same! A Cat 6 cable can be used with audio and video components quite easily, and much to your convenience. For smooth connection, you can choose RCA female-to-IDC and S-Video-to-IDC modular connectors. These allow signal transfer over CAT 6 UTP cable and come in different colored housings and different colored inserts, that make it quite easy for you to identify 'which cable goes where' in your circuit. If you want these to match your home's interiors and dcor, then they can be custom configured from a large selection of configurable face plates.
When it comes to running these cables, then the choice depends on your aesthetics. You can take the easy way out and run cables along the floors or pin them in the corners of the ceiling and wall. But this sort of set up will look like a blotch on your home's look, you must hire a professional network cable termination engineer and he will run them through the walls, keeping your cables safe, as well as your home's exterior and interior wire free.
Give your home network a new boost and choose Cat 6 cables.
