Where to get CAT6a shielded plenum rated cable?

[Fallen Kell]

I am in the process of looking at houses, and will probably be buying one soon. That said, none of these are new construction as the prices are just astronomically high compared to what existing homes are going for in the area (as in, I can get homes with 2 more bedrooms, an in-ground pool, a finished basement, and 1-2 more rooms on the first floor for the same price as new construction).

I will probably just hire someone to add the networking, but I was at least considering doing it myself. But the only sources I have been able to find for CAT6a shielded plenum rated cable cost ~$800 for a 1000' spool. The other thing would be CAT6a shielded connectors for wall plates.

Again, it might be that I simply pay for someone to do this in which they will probably provide the materials, and would warranty the wiring.... Just don't know how expensive it would be.

 

[imagoon]

You don't need or want shielded. You only need plenum if you are running the cable in HVAC air spaces. Do you really need that?

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Only do shielded if you really need it, its easy to install wrong and end up with a large antenna that only adds to your problems

 

[kevnich2]

As others have said, you don't need shielded and you don't need plenum. The type of cable does matter. Shielded cables are shielded with metal - only used in industrial environments where there is a lot of electrical noise that can interfere with the cable. Plenum cable is only used in air spaces where they may potentially be a fire - the plenum doesn't create toxic gas if the cable burns.

 

[Lorne]

Shielded would be the priority as X-talk is the biggest culprit (power lines, transformers, Motors, Florecent lights, Ham radio and radio/tv stations).
Plenum is only for fire insurrance issues and extreme long conduit pulls as the plenum slides easyer untill it kinks.
Plenum is part of the prevention, If your business or home is on fire you have bigger problems then worring about the toxic fumes from PVC or PE.

 

[Fallen Kell]

I understand the plenum cable, but the fact is, that most space between walls can be classified plenum, especially if the house has a basement, and most definitely, if the basement has drop ceiling tiles. While air isn't typically moving in there, all it takes is for one loose tile, or a air duct to be loose or unsealed, and you have instant airflow, thus plenum space. And actually, for those saying that you have bigger problems with a fire than toxic fumes, I will counter that with the fact that most deaths from fires in a home are exactly from toxic fumes. Case in point, 4 people died this weekend in Philadelphia from a small contained fire in the basement/crawlspace of a house because of toxic fumes, where there was minimal damage to the house itself.

The shield requirement was because as an existing house, I don't know the exact path that the high power lines are using, and I might find that some of the runs may parallel existing electrical runs. I can see the cons in that approach, as you said with it becoming an antenna if not properly terminated or with poor termination on one end of the cable.

 

[imagoon]

I understand the plenum cable, but the fact is, that most space between walls can be classified plenum, especially if the house has a basement, and most definitely, if the basement has drop ceiling tiles. While air isn't typically moving in there, all it takes is for one loose tile, or a air duct to be loose or unsealed, and you have instant airflow, thus plenum space.

The shield requirement was because as an existing house, I don't know the exact path that the high power lines are using, and I might find that some of the runs may parallel existing electrical runs. I can see the cons in that approach, as you said with it becoming an antenna if not properly terminated or with poor termination on one end of the cable.

From your description, you don't need shielded plenum.

Shielded is really only needed in industrial, IE 480V hundreds of amps etc. Your 120V is not "high voltage" in the sense of shielded cable.

Plenum only matters in actual HVAC air flow and further more only in a fire condition (IE your house is burning down.) This only matters in larger buildings because during a fire someone needs more time to egress the building and the hvac system may still be pushing the smoke around multiple floors / thousands of sq/ft.

 

[ScottMac]

As others have said, you don't need shielded and you don't need plenum. The type of cable does matter. Shielded cables are shielded with metal - only used in industrial environments where there is a lot of electrical noise that can interfere with the cable. Plenum cable is only used in air spaces where they may potentially be a fire - the plenum doesn't create toxic gas if the cable burns.

Plenum cable DOES produce toxic gasses when it burns, it just burns at a higher temperature.

The least toxic is LSZH rated cabling (Low-Smoke, Zero Halogen).

The need for shielded and / or plenum (or LSZH) in the home or SOHO environment is rarer than an honest politician.

 

[ScottMac]

Shielded would be the priority as X-talk is the biggest culprit (power lines, transformers, Motors, Florecent lights, Ham radio and radio/tv stations).
Plenum is only for fire insurrance issues and extreme long conduit pulls as the plenum slides easyer untill it kinks.
Plenum is part of the prevention, If your business or home is on fire you have bigger problems then worring about the toxic fumes from PVC or PE.

"as X-talk is the biggest culprit (power lines, transformers, Motors, Florecent lights, Ham radio and radio/tv stations)"

None of those are crosstalk, they are all interferers.

Crosstalk comes from adjacent pair. Alien crosstalk comes from adjacent cabling/ cable groups.

Plenum is useless in a SOHO environment. It's also a major pain to terminate (properly) because of the stiffness of the insulation on each wire, and the sheath).

 

[ScottMac]

I understand the plenum cable, but the fact is, that most space between walls can be classified plenum, especially if the house has a basement, and most definitely, if the basement has drop ceiling tiles. While air isn't typically moving in there, all it takes is for one loose tile, or a air duct to be loose or unsealed, and you have instant airflow, thus plenum space. And actually, for those saying that you have bigger problems with a fire than toxic fumes, I will counter that with the fact that most deaths from fires in a home are exactly from toxic fumes. Case in point, 4 people died this weekend in Philadelphia from a small contained fire in the basement/crawlspace of a house because of toxic fumes, where there was minimal damage to the house itself.

The shield requirement was because as an existing house, I don't know the exact path that the high power lines are using, and I might find that some of the runs may parallel existing electrical runs. I can see the cons in that approach, as you said with it becoming an antenna if not properly terminated or with poor termination on one end of the cable.

There are far more toxic items, that burn sooner, at lower temps, in much greater quantities, than cabling (any cabling, all cabling combined.. it's trivial compared to carpeting, couches, chairs, wall building materials, insulation, bedding, etc etc etc)

Modern Ethernet transceivers are more than capable of ignoring common mode noise from adjacent power cabling. There is no need for shielded cabling in the SOHO environment. Chances are it'll be improperly terminated; making it more of a problem than a solution.

 

[Brutus04]

http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10234
http://www.firefold.com/Networking-and-Bulk-Cable-C761.aspx

r/ Brutus

 

[cmetz]

Fallen Kell, for an existing home, a GOOD retrofit-focused installation company is expensive, but worth it. They have the tools, and they have the tricks. I've seen the kind of work good professional retrofit guys can do, and it's really amazing. Don't do it yourself if there's any question about your ability to do so, it will be either or both of not working well and not looking good.

Shielded cable is worse for noise unless it's installed right. That includes but is not limited to proper grounding on one-end. A good professional installer will know when it's needed and how to do it. The short answer is that it is almost never needed, and usually will make things worse, not better. The entire point of a twisted pair is to reject common-mode noise.

Plenum rated cable should be used if you run it in an actual plenum. So, for example, if you're running it inside your heating ducts, or right next to them, it's probably a good thing. It helps with having a higher ignition temperature, and it helps by retarding fire spread (usually by having a limited self-extinguishing property). Once it's burning, though, it's worse than PVC, and PVC releases chlorine gas, so worse than that is seriously bad.

My understanding is that, in most jurisdictions, there is no fire code requirement for plenum in any residential construction setting. The Romex wire carrying your electricity and the phone and CATV cable already installed by the builder's electrician will not be plenum rated.

In any relatively modern home, if it's on fire, you have MUCH bigger worries in a fire than the fumes from cable combustion.

If you do buy cable yourself, check Anixter and Greybar. Belden and Berk-Tek are the name brands in cable.

 

[wirednuts]

i work in the voice-data-video part of the IBEW, and also did the residential electrical program for 10 years.

i agree with most everything said. key points-

-plenum cable is virtually useless in residential houses. and it is used in commercial settings mainly for bullshit business/political/NFPA reasons (imo).

-shielded cat6a will not assure fewer problems.


and as it is, you are talking about cable that is already designed to run at 500mhz, which is double that of regular cat6 and five times that of cat5. cat7 is starting up already, at 1000mhz, but look at it this way- a 1Gb windows network runs at about 90mhz. thats why it just barely works on cat5, but the cat6a you are installing will support networks speeds that we wont see in our homes for decades.

monoprice is a good place to buy cable. you can even get it at home depot and others on sale sometimes.

 

[imagoon]

i work in the voice-data-video part of the IBEW, and also did the residential electrical program for 10 years.

i agree with most everything said. key points-

-plenum cable is virtually useless in residential houses. and it is used in commercial settings mainly for bullshit business/political/NFPA reasons (imo).

-shielded cat6a will not assure fewer problems.


and as it is, you are talking about cable that is already designed to run at 500mhz, which is double that of regular cat6 and five times that of cat5. cat7 is starting up already, at 1000mhz, but look at it this way- a 1Gb windows network runs at about 90mhz. thats why it just barely works on cat5, but the cat6a you are installing will support networks speeds that we wont see in our homes for decades.

monoprice is a good place to buy cable. you can even get it at home depot and others on sale sometimes.

Ahem...
The "mhz" doesnt change except on the ethernet speed grades...
10: 10mhz
100m: 125mhz
1gig: 125mhz
10g: 250mhz

all the time. At least in the xBASE-T names

 

[wlee]

As someone else here pointed out to me, if you NEED shielded cable, then you NEED fiber. That's what we ended up doing here for one of our long runs that had to pass over an area with a 4KWatt laser cutter. No probs since we replaced the copper with that.

 

[Modelworks]

One other concern with in wall cabling is that it not continue to burn once ignited. You don't want a long cable inside a wall between two floors to catch fire on the first floor and spread the fire along the cable up to the second floor and beyond. To avoid that you should read up on fire stops . Easy to install and can help with spreading of fires from cabling. You can buy it in caulk sized tubes .

I am not a fan of monoprice for permanent installs because they buy from who is cheapest and do not provide information on who made the cable, what it is composed of, etc. If you are going to wire an entire home with cables that will be sealed inside the walls then $500 -$1000 for the cable is worth it knowing you have a quality product that isn't going to let you down and fail requiring you to rip out sheet rock and spend time hunting down the problem.

The cable I prefer a is belden datatwist. It comes in indoor , outdoor, plenum, gel filled, and any format you need for the job. It is UL listed and you can pull up the reports on the quality of it.
$420 for 1000ft .
Bonded pairs (not just twisted), good to 600Mhz +, center spline that keeps pairs spaced properly, 23AWG for POE which is something to consider should HDBaseT become popular.

http://www.newark.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?SKU=05R6444&CMP=AFC-GB100000001

 

[Eug]

Plenum rated cable should be used if you run it in an actual plenum. So, for example, if you're running it inside your heating ducts, or right next to them, it's probably a good thing. It helps with having a higher ignition temperature, and it helps by retarding fire spread (usually by having a limited self-extinguishing property). Once it's burning, though, it's worse than PVC, and PVC releases chlorine gas, so worse than that is seriously bad.

My understanding is that, in most jurisdictions, there is no fire code requirement for plenum in any residential construction setting. The Romex wire carrying your electricity and the phone and CATV cable already installed by the builder's electrician will not be plenum rated.

Yeah, I called my city building dept. and asked them. In Toronto there is no requirement for plenum-rated wiring at all in residential construction, and indeed, all my existing CAT3 isn't plenum rated either.

I did run some of it close to heating ducts, but separated it with Safe'n'Sound wherever it came close to or crossed heating ducts. All the stud spaces are also filled with Safe'n'Sound too.

 

[bobdole369]

The shield requirement was because as an existing house, I don't know the exact path that the high power lines are using, and I might find that some of the runs may parallel existing electrical runs.

I install CAT5e usually onboard large luxury mega and superyachts. Typically those 80-180 feet in length. The monitoring network aboard that I install sometimes ends up parallelling giant power cables through watertight bulkheads or multi KW transmitting coaxial cable. Batteries on these vessels can supply multiple hundreds of amps.

Typically i don't install shielded cable unless there is a specific reason to do so. Usually I move up to fiber in that instance. Onboard a yacht is probably the most hostile environment you can imagine. The biggest issue is that it is difficult to get right. You need to have all your grounds come together as close as possible to an actual earth ground (i.e. multiple ground rods driven 8 feet or more into conductive earth). On a boat its often the hull or antenna groundplane (which is capacitively coupled to ground.) You only connect a single side to ground. Typically installers get it all wrong.

You don't need shielded plenum cable.

 

[bobdole369]

But the only sources I have been able to find for CAT6a shielded plenum rated cable cost ~$800 for a 1000' spool. The other thing would be CAT6a shielded connectors for wall plates.

That price is about right, and shielded connectors are not necessary. I would only ground at the switch end.

 

[imagoon]

One other concern with in wall cabling is that it not continue to burn once ignited. You don't want a long cable inside a wall between two floors to catch fire on the first floor and spread the fire along the cable up to the second floor and beyond. To avoid that you should read up on fire stops . Easy to install and can help with spreading of fires from cabling. You can buy it in caulk sized tubes .

I am not a fan of monoprice for permanent installs because they buy from who is cheapest and do not provide information on who made the cable, what it is composed of, etc. If you are going to wire an entire home with cables that will be sealed inside the walls then $500 -$1000 for the cable is worth it knowing you have a quality product that isn't going to let you down and fail requiring you to rip out sheet rock and spend time hunting down the problem.

The cable I prefer a is belden datatwist. It comes in indoor , outdoor, plenum, gel filled, and any format you need for the job. It is UL listed and you can pull up the reports on the quality of it.
$420 for 1000ft .
Bonded pairs (not just twisted), good to 600Mhz +, center spline that keeps pairs spaced properly, 23AWG for POE which is something to consider should HDBaseT become popular.

http://www.newark.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?SKU=05R6444&CMP=AFC-GB100000001

Your referring to "riser cable." It is not the same as plenum. You can have riser and riser/plenum etc.

Belden tends to be a decent cable. Stay away from Mohawk.

 

[cmetz]

+1 to using fiber wherever you think you want shielded.