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need help choosing between cat 5 and where

T

Tsaico

Platinum Member
I want to buy a box of cat 5 (1000 ft) but have found there to be different types. Stranded, Plenium, and solid. I thought twisted pair was what I needed and was standard, but now I am not so sure... What is the difference between them and what should I get for a basic home lan? ALso where to buy would be helpful, I found the cheapest for a box of 1000' of solid cat 5 at 79.99. And the stranded at 118. Any input would be nice.
 
Plenium(plenum? whatever): when it burns, it won't let off poison gas (PVC will). Usually only need to to avoid building/fire code violations.

Stranded: used for tight corners, stranded copper, can bend easlily w/o breaking.. but from what i understand, not quite as good as solid in data transfer

Solid: solid copper wires. generally what everyone uses.

cat5e (enhanced for gigabit networks) at 1000ft is ~$50 + tax at home depot

hope that helps some.
 
Just bought 1000ft this weekend at Home Depot for $54 but the connectors are steep. I got 25 for $10. You can get 100 for $10 at pccables.com or 100 plus a decent crimper for ~$13. I bought the same crimpers at Fry's for $15 a couple weeks ago.
 
25 ends for $10.00. Cheap is not always better. I stick with ICC. I believe they are about $2.00 each. Quality not quantity. Network is only as good as your weakes link. Termination needs to be as good as the cable it is on or your results will show it. Not all cpus are created equal..and either are RJ45s.
 
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