Shielded or Non-shield Was needing to run this in walls. I've read I need shielding. Will this be suitable for the job? What are the perks with choosing cat6 over cat5e?

Question

AdrienL · Accepted Answer

These are two great questions and the exact same questions I had before making my purchasing decision. So I did some research and here's what I found:

Shielding is really only necessary if you are around heavy electromagnetic interference, like power generators, magnetic resonance imaging scanners (MRI machines), and maybe a lot of high tension power lines. The disadvantage to shielded cable is that you're probably not going to be able to run them through your walls without removing some drywall. The shielding is not really flexible enough to run through a fire break and then do the 90 degree bend to come out of a small hole at the base of the wall.

CAT5 vs CAT6 is almost a no-brainer. CAT5 is probably fine for all current applications but as technology improves, applications are requiring more and more bandwidth. If you want your cable to keep up with the increased demands of technology, you will want to go with the highest bandwidth supported, which means CAT6. If your bandwidth needs are limited and you're just trying to wire up a device because it doesn't support WiFi, CAT5 is fine. The reason I say it's a no-brainer, however, is that Best Buy sells the Insignia 50' CAT6 cable for $34.99 and the CAT5 cable for $29.99. Five bucks is a small price to pay to future proof your Ethernet.

Mike · Answer

Bandwidth precedes data rates just as highways come before traffic. The cat 6 cable doubles the transmission rate. Doubling the bandwidth is like adding twice the number of lanes on a highway. The trends of the past and the predictions for the future indicate that data rates have been doubling every 18 months. Current applications running at 1 Gb/s are really pushing the limits of category 5e cabling. As streaming media applications such as video and multi-media become commonplace, the demands for faster data rates will increase and spawn new applications that will benefit from the higher bandwidth offered by category 6. This is exactly what happened in the early 90’s when the higher bandwidth of category 5 cabling compared to category 3 caused most LAN applications to choose the better media to allow simpler, cost effective, higher speed LAN applications, such as 100BASE-TX. Note: Bandwidth is defined as the highest frequency up to which positive power sum ACR (Attenuation to Crosstalk Ratio) is greater than zero.

Answered by Mike 7 years ago

chrisl4 · Answer

Insignia does not rate this as In Wall cable - see the specs. I am sure that has to due with the coating not being fire rated; so could case a fire if by some freak event it should overheat.

CAT6 has a longer distance rating for 10GbE 55M (180ft) vs 45M (148ft). Larger homes may need that additional length if running Ethernet throughout. Remember this is End-to-End; so add the length from router to device unless there is an extender somewhere in the line. Longer and you will need CAT6e (CAT6 enhanced goes up to 100M or 330ft.) There are other differences, which make CAT6 better in some circumstances. They can be found at many sites with an Internet search on "CAT5e vs CAT6". Most will tell you CAT5e will work fine today.

These specs where defined in 2006 or prior. Eight years is a long time in computers ; so expect changes in the near future which may cause you to want a different high-bandwidth cable.

Geebus · Answer

Cable is shielded. Cat6A is the newest iteration and utilizes an exceptionally thick plastic casing that helps further reduce crosstalk. The biggest distinguishing difference between Cat6 and Cat6A cables is that Cat6A can maintain 10 Gigabit speeds for the full 328 feet of Ethernet cable. More is better!

Answered by Geebus 4 years ago

Verified Purchase

Linda · Answer

We were told cat6 is faster and we haven't had any issues with ours in the wall

Pauk · Answer

It seems to be just your generic coating on the wire. 
I am unsure exactly what type of shielding you need if it's to make the cord more resistant to damage like the metal casing used on rocket fish cords or a type of fire resistant shielding. The difference between cat 5 and cat 6, is 6 is a newer product and gives a faster speed. They are interchagable but 6 is the better product

Auracom · Answer

Cat6 is different because it can support gigabit network lines. Your hardware needs to support this speed In order for it to work. Cat5 looks identical, except it can support the increased data speeds.

Answered by Auracom 7 years ago

nitag · Answer

mainly lower noise in the signal. With 50' lenght is not an issue. You can use this in walls.

AnonyMoose · Answer

I am not sure about running it through the walls, the rubber cable coating seems pretty strong, but I'm probably not the person to ask. However, for Cat 5e vs. Cat 6, the Cat 6 is ultimately better, considering it is the latest form of network cables. So, a Cat 6 is the best cable you can get at the moment.

Answered by AnonyMoose 7 years ago

shyguy1980 · Answer

cat6 runs faster for what I heard from the person that I asked at Best Buy. I was wondering that myself also. Other then that, there really isn't much of a difference between cat5e and cat6

“Shielded or Non-shield Was needing to run this in walls. I've read I need shielding. Will this be suitable for the job? What are the perks with choosing cat6 over cat5e?”

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