Cat6e, Cat6a, Cat7

tRoN

tRoN

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What's the difference?

Is there industry standards for these or companies just making things up and not much difference to cat6

I want to run cable for video streaming and home automation but want to future proof.

Which one to get?
Where is the best pricing?
 
I bought a drum of cable, cat 5 , and the coloring is such that one struggle to see the color's apart. I hate that cable.
 
tRoN said:
What's the difference?

Is there industry standards for these or companies just making things up and not much difference to cat6

I want to run cable for video streaming and home automation but want to future proof.

Which one to get?
Where is the best pricing?
Click to expand...

CAT5E shielded will be more than sufficient. CAT6 will be overkill.

How long cable runs?

We use LinkBasic (brand) from Miro without problems and we run through a few km's a month
 
tRoN said:
What's the difference?

Is there industry standards for these or companies just making things up and not much difference to cat6
Click to expand...
That is exactly what it is.
It is an industry standard relating to the frequency loss of a given copper pair

CAT5e is rated for up to 1GbE at up to 100m
CAT6 is rated for 10GbE at up to 30m (IIRC)
CAT7 is rated to support 10/40GbE at up to 100m

CAT7 is also screened at an individual copper wire level.

tRoN said:
I want to run cable for video streaming and home automation but want to future proof.

Which one to get?
Where is the best pricing?
Click to expand...

It depends on what you need.
Also if you are installing permanently (eg. inside a wall), the effort is far higher than the cost of the cable.
I would generally get the best I can afford for cases like that.

eg. When I chased cables I installed CAT7 simply because the cost of the cable is a small factor.

FYI: Companies like Esquire sell fake cables. They'll sell cable as "CAT5e/CAT6" and say you need to upgrade to the next cable to get Gigabit ethernet etc.
Since the specifications I linked above CLEARLY show what speeds these cables support, they are selling cables that do not comply.
Get your cables from a reputable company.
Basically one that sells network supplies.
 
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breacher said:
CAT5E shielded will be more than sufficient. CAT6 will be overkill.

How long cable runs?

We use LinkBasic (brand) from Miro without problems and we run through a few km's a month
Click to expand...

Thanks.
50 meter runs each
 
Gnome said:
That is exactly what it is.
It is an industry standard relating to the frequency loss of a given copper pair

CAT5e is rated for up to 1GbE at up to 100m
CAT6 is rated for 10GbE at up to 30m (IIRC)
CAT7 is rated to support 10/40GbE at up to 100m

CAT7 is also screened at an individual copper wire level.



It depends on what you need.
Also if you are installing permanently (eg. inside a wall), the effort is far higher than the cost of the cable.
I would generally get the best I can afford for cases like that.

eg. When I chased cables I installed CAT7 simply because the cost of the cable is a small factor.

FYI: Companies like Esquire sell fake cables. They'll sell cable as "CAT5e/CAT6" and say you need to upgrade to the next cable to get Gigabit ethernet etc.
Since the specifications I linked above CLEARLY show what speeds these cables support, they are selling cables that do not comply.
Get your cables from a reputable company.
Basically one that sells network supplies.
Click to expand...

Thanks
Please PM me where you bought your cat7 from?
 
tRoN said:
Thanks
Please PM me where you bought your cat7 from?
Click to expand...

I just got it from a local place in Cpt.
I don't even know their name (just the location, I happened to see them while buying other things...)

But this site does seem to sell it per meter or roll:
Per meter: http://www.hdcabling.co.za/price-pe...e-with-braiding-up-to-10gbits-gray-p-330.html
100m roll: http://www.hdcabling.co.za/100m-rol...e-with-braiding-up-to-10gbits-gray-p-824.html

They don't sell CAT7 wall boxes, only the end connectors: http://www.hdcabling.co.za/cat6-cat...nsert-for-connector-22-24awg-cable-p-327.html

I personally bought CAT7 keystone jacks. I've wired my ethernet, fibre and telephone into my place (Chased into the walls) and used Keystone for all of it.
I bought it on Ali Express and eBay (keystone stuff)

Keystone is pretty much a standard and way better than the local BS companies like CBI are peddling.
 
Gnome said:
I just got it from a local place in Cpt.
I don't even know their name (just the location, I happened to see them while buying other things...)

But this site does seem to sell it per meter or roll:
Per meter: http://www.hdcabling.co.za/price-pe...e-with-braiding-up-to-10gbits-gray-p-330.html
100m roll: http://www.hdcabling.co.za/100m-rol...e-with-braiding-up-to-10gbits-gray-p-824.html

They don't sell CAT7 wall boxes, only the end connectors: http://www.hdcabling.co.za/cat6-cat...nsert-for-connector-22-24awg-cable-p-327.html

I personally bought CAT7 keystone jacks. I've wired my ethernet, fibre and telephone into my place (Chased into the walls) and used Keystone for all of it.
I bought it on Ali Express and eBay (keystone stuff)

Keystone is pretty much a standard and way better than the local BS companies like CBI are peddling.
Click to expand...

You think this cable is genuine?

Thanks. Strange that the network companies like Scoop or MIRO does not stock cat7
 
I really cant see the point of cat7 for a home install not only is it not necessary but its thicker, is suposed to have a 100mm bend radius and the terminations are suposed to follow really stringent rules. The network equipment will also not be affordable for a long time.

Just get some good CAT 6 or 6a cable imo.
 
Beachless said:
I really cant see the point of cat7 for a home install not only is it not necessary but its thicker, is suposed to have a 100mm bend radius and the terminations are suposed to follow really stringent rules. The network equipment will also not be affordable for a long time.
Click to expand...
IMO the shielding alone makes it worth it. But to each their own.
 
Beachless said:
I really cant see the point of cat7 for a home install not only is it not necessary but its thicker, is suposed to have a 100mm bend radius and the terminations are suposed to follow really stringent rules. The network equipment will also not be affordable for a long time.

Just get some good CAT 6 or 6a cable imo.
Click to expand...

Just want to future proof.

I guess cat6a is ok but just can't seem to find this
 
tRoN said:
Just want to future proof.

I guess cat6a is ok but just can't seem to find this
Click to expand...

I would just go with good quality cat6 if you stay under 55m and do a good install you can get up to 10 Gigabit. Thats good for your lifetime at least.
 
Gnome said:
IMO the shielding alone makes it worth it. But to each their own.
Click to expand...

There are other ways to shield lan cables in high emf areas. Why make your life much harder just in case you may need better shielding in that one cable run? Im also willing to bet that a lot of the cat7 cable you may be able to buy in SA will not be true to spec.
 
Beachless said:
Give them a call and ask Miro is a reputable company. The hdcabling cat7 one says up to 10Gigabit so I guess they are up front about what you can expect and im guessing that its likely cat6a not cat7.
Click to expand...

So which would YOU get between the two?
 
tRoN said:
So which would YOU get between the two?
Click to expand...

If the pictures are real then the Miro one but its hard to tell by just looking at a picture. Just confirm with them that it will support 10Gigabit.
 
tRoN said:
You think this cable is genuine?

Thanks. Strange that the network companies like Scoop or MIRO does not stock cat7
Click to expand...

Same thought now, been looking for CAT7 for a while to connect two buildings ZACK speed that they do not get hold of reliable CAT7 cable so I ended up using Ubiquity AirFiber
 
I bought 1000m of cat6 FTP (Shielded) to run through my house for HDMI over CAT from https://www.cables.co.za/products/structured-cabling/utp-cable.html . They are the only guys after trying 4 different suppliers that didn't try sell me CCA and actually has solid copper CAT6. They are reasonably priced and their quality is good. Its a branded cable that they sell (VCOM). You can generally rely on a Chinese company that puts a brand to their cable as they have a reputation to look after. Everyone else tried to sell copper clad aluminium as pure copper.

Cat6a is very good however it is difficult to pull through conduit as it is so thick. It is also very hard to terminate - the wires don't fit nicely into standard CAT6 RJ45's
 
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