Wondering about stranded utp and solid/shielded

[Dorkenstein]

Right now I use 100ft of strand (stranded?) utp cable to get from my router on the floor below to my gigabit switch upstairs. I also use 6 ft of the same kind of cable to go from the switch to my pc.

Would a move to solid or shielded twisted pair cable net me some kind of speed increase? I didn't know much about the cable when I bought it, and I don't think it would be faster to switch, but I wanted to be sure. Thanks.

 

[skyking]

It probably won't give you an increase, but installing a solid cable with keystone jacks would meet the standards. A 100 foot patch cable does not.

 

[Dorkenstein]

Probably true. However, I live in a 200+ year old house. If I wanted to start meeting standards, there's a WHOLE lot more that I'd have to start with besides ethernet cabling. I'll just keep what I have, I guess. Thanks.

 

[imagoon]

Right now I use 100ft of strand (stranded?) utp cable to get from my router on the floor below to my gigabit switch upstairs. I also use 6 ft of the same kind of cable to go from the switch to my pc.

Would a move to solid or shielded twisted pair cable net me some kind of speed increase? I didn't know much about the cable when I bought it, and I don't think it would be faster to switch, but I wanted to be sure. Thanks.

Solid twisted pair with keystones and patch cords on either end is standard. You never will need shielded, don't ever use it. As for performance increase, increase how? Internet, Network to server? If your computer is not showing framing errors, switching it all out will unlikely show any improvement.

 

[Fallen Kell]

You never will need shielded, don't ever use it.

I wouldn't say that... If you look at cat7 cable, it does use shielded. Now, for the next 10 years as a consumer grade network, you are probably correct that you don't need that kind of cable, yet. But if you look at how fast network speeds have come in the last 10-20 years and extrapolate those same kinds of performance gains for the next 10-20 years, you will see quickly that we will be laughing at 1GbE speeds in the future and wonder how we ever survived before 1TbE... (really think about it, 20 years ago, we were amazed with 9600 bps, now we have 1GbE for the consumer, let alone the 10GbE at business grade, and 40GbE+ in custom/prototype networks).

 

[imagoon]

I wouldn't say that... If you look at cat7 cable, it does use shielded. Now, for the next 10 years as a consumer grade network, you are probably correct that you don't need that kind of cable, yet. But if you look at how fast network speeds have come in the last 10-20 years and extrapolate those same kinds of performance gains for the next 10-20 years, you will see quickly that we will be laughing at 1GbE speeds in the future and wonder how we ever survived before 1TbE... (really think about it, 20 years ago, we were amazed with 9600 bps, now we have 1GbE for the consumer, let alone the 10GbE at business grade, and 40GbE+ in custom/prototype networks).

When we get there I will recommend it, for professional install. Until then if miss installed it becomes a huge antenna and a potential fire hazard, so... Don't use it.

Also when we get there we never know what we will have. We used to need huge null gauge shielded coax to do more than a couple megabits. Now that works on unshielded wire. Used to need fiber to do 1gig etc

 

[kevnich2]

In 10 years when we need 10, 100gbE, we most likely won't be using copper for the infrastructure anyway, it will all be fiber. Businesses aren't using copper for backbone speeds and alot are beginning to install fiber alongside copper for future expandability so no re-wiring is needed for the future. Residential usually follows a few years behind it. Just my .02

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Dont use shielded unless you know what you are doing and have a need to do so, otherwise you end up with a large antenna for noise. Also, unless you know there are issues with leakage in or out of the cable, it serves no purpose.

 

[deimos3428]

In 10 years when we need 10, 100gbE, we most likely won't be using copper for the infrastructure anyway, it will all be fiber.

The problem with residential fiber is that consumers know nothing about installing fiber properly and handling lasers safely. (For that matter, most network or system administrators don't either.) They also lack the knowledge and tools to diagnose a fiber problem.

 

[spidey07]

I wouldn't say that... If you look at cat7 cable, it does use shielded. Now, for the next 10 years as a consumer grade network, you are probably correct that you don't need that kind of cable, yet. But if you look at how fast network speeds have come in the last 10-20 years and extrapolate those same kinds of performance gains for the next 10-20 years, you will see quickly that we will be laughing at 1GbE speeds in the future and wonder how we ever survived before 1TbE... (really think about it, 20 years ago, we were amazed with 9600 bps, now we have 1GbE for the consumer, let alone the 10GbE at business grade, and 40GbE+ in custom/prototype networks).

It's always going to be UTP. 10 gig on UTP at 100 meters is basically done and we never thought that would be possible.

Yeah, I was one of the guys preaching running MM fiber to every drop in the late 90s/early 2000s. I was wrong as the technology of 62.5 MM fiber seemed like a good idea.

Now 62.5 is done, it's over, it's never installed. All high bandwidth 50 micron. And even then MM fiber is essentially done. The progress is in the silicon/chips/DSP to handle UTP. That's why cat7 has failed, the shileding requirements.

We dumped that idea in the mid 90s, it was called type-1 cabling and token ring. You aren't going to see a shielded application in structured cabling.

 

[spidey07]

The problem with residential fiber is that consumers know nothing about installing fiber properly and handling lasers safely. (For that matter, most network or system administrators don't either.) They also lack the knowledge and tools to diagnose a fiber problem.

PSA - DO NOT LOOK INTO THE FIBER!

I've got a nice little pinpoint scar on my retina from doing it.

 

[imagoon]

PSA - DO NOT LOOK INTO THE FIBER!

I've got a nice little pinpoint scar on my retina from doing it.

Hey I thought that was the defacto test to see if it was working!

 

[Fallen Kell]

PSA - DO NOT LOOK INTO THE FIBER!

I've got a nice little pinpoint scar on my retina from doing it.

Ouch... I guess that depends on what kind of optical device you have connected to the other end of the fiber. In many cases you will find that it is simply a LED, in which case, it is perfectly safe... But unless you know the equipment, you might have a ILD, and you will perform some laser surgery on yourself...