House Wiring CAT6A Wiring Questions (roughly 20 runs)

[elite-fusion]

Hello All,

I am in the process of purchasing CAT6A cable for the house and getting overwhelmed with all the different types.

I need a 1000' spool of CAT6A
My house is a split level so the main cabinet will be in the highest point of the house. All wiring will be routed through to the cabinet via attic. In the summer, the attic gets fairly hot and we have the main central AC unit set up in the attic as well.

I currently have Plenum CAT6 throughout the house, but I recently found out that it is CCA which is no good so I now need to invest in purchasing CAT6A which is solid copper.

From what I've found online, It is either CMR or CMP. Clearly CMP is more expensive, but wondering if I can get away with CMR?
The wiring will be going from the cabinet to the attic and down the walls to each room of the house. It will also be going down the cabinet into the closet which is underneath the cabinet, and further down to the crawl space to the basement.

Furthermore, from what I've found, the majority of the cabling being sold in 1000' spools for a decent price is all unshielded twisted pair. Clearly I would love foiled/shielded twisted pairs, but the prices are up there. So since I will have multiple runs to multiple areas of each room, would you recommend UTP or would F/UTP or FTP as they refer to it on some websites?

I know that Monoprice has an FTP 1000' CAT6A for 179.99 but I've also found a GenSpeed 1000' F/UTP cable for cheaper, or to go unshielded altogether would be even cheaper probably.

Please let me know your thoughts. Any suggestions/recommendations would be helpful and appreciated.

 

[jfreggie2]

Unless your data runs are running long distance in parallel with electrical runs, you don't need STP - UTP works just fine. For the cable itself, find the cheapest UTP that is not CCA. And as long as you're not running cables in your heating/cooling ducts, no need for plenum cable either.

 

[elite-fusion]

Not running them in any ducts, just through the wall and into the attic and into the cabinet.
There will be at least 2-3 cables going down the same hole in the beam, but not with other electrical wires. The electrical wire to the outlets on that wall are run through a different hole in the beam which is past a vertical beam. There are electrical wires in the attic through which are exposed since they run to a few light fixtures up there.

 

[kanewolf]

You only need plenum (CMP) if the fire codes for your location require it. Riser (CMR) which is a PVC jacket should be fine, but you need to check with your building inspector.
Shielded is just a waste for residential installation.
Besides pure copper, you want to be sure that cable is listed as TIA certified. I always go with name brand cable. Belden is one of the best.
I would get 2 or 4 spools/boxes. Why? Because the labor/time to pull can be greatly lowered when you can pull two or four cables at once. Since you are pulling cables, you should also pull cables to the ceilings for "smoke detector" type WIIF access point(s). Put boxes and ethernet on the exterior (even if covered by siding). That way if you want to add a camera or outdoor WIFI source you can.

 

[elite-fusion]

I dont mind the time to pull a single spool, though I do agree with you about 2-4 spool boxes, but it would mean i'd have to get 250ft spools instead of 1 x 1000ft spool.

Pulling cables to ceiling isn't an issue since all ceilings are accessible via attic under the plywood base. I already have 2 Unifi AP Pros in the house but not mounted on ceilings (at least not yet).

With regards to boxes and ethernet on the exterior, any recommendations for that? I currently already have a PoE wire running to a camera in the backyard but i drilled a hole in the soffit and routed it through the attic to the cabinet. Though I would like to have some sort of box perhaps which I can have on a corner and install 2 cams perhaps, but not sure.

 

[kanewolf]

I dont mind the time to pull a single spool, though I do agree with you about 2-4 spool boxes, but it would mean i'd have to get 250ft spools instead of 1 x 1000ft spool.

Pulling cables to ceiling isn't an issue since all ceilings are accessible via attic under the plywood base. I already have 2 Unifi AP Pros in the house but not mounted on ceilings (at least not yet).

With regards to boxes and ethernet on the exterior, any recommendations for that? I currently already have a PoE wire running to a camera in the backyard but i drilled a hole in the soffit and routed it through the attic to the cabinet. Though I would like to have some sort of box perhaps which I can have on a corner and install 2 cams perhaps, but not sure.

Just resell the leftovers on Craigs list or similar. You can not pull too much wire while the walls are open. Compared to the cost of a house, a few hundred $$$ is bug spit. Don't cheap out.

You could put boxes in the eves. If you are going to have a pool think about having an outdoor WIFI access point also.

 

[elite-fusion]

All the walls are already closed. I ran all the wiring while it was open but that was the CAT6 CCD which is not good. So now i need to pull all of it out and re-run.

Not cheaping out when it comes to money. Thats why I want to get good cable but need recommendations so I can buy good. But having multiple spools wont make anything smart or safer, just less time consuming, which I do not mind a project if it takes me a day or two. What I'm going to end up doing is run one wire, then pull it out and measure 3 like lengths of wires and then pull all 4 at the same time afterwards. Dont mind cheaping out time, but safety i want to make sure I cover.

So it is a safe bet to go with 1000' UTP CMR Solid or 1000' F/UTP CMR Solid, either choice should be fine just depends if I want to spend a little extra on the foiling under the jacket, right?

 

[failboat]

STP is very complicated to ground properly. It's only needed for long runs in buildings that can afford EE's to plan it out and test it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_loop_(electricity)

 

[elite-fusion]

So pretty much either FOILED or UNSHEILDED altogether and call it a day, but CMR is recommended.

Has anyone heard of GenSPEED for F/UTP or CommScope for UTP? Are they any good? Better than MonoPrice?

 

[failboat]

So pretty much either FOILED or UNSHEILDED altogether and call it a day, but CMR is recommended.

Has anyone heard of GenSPEED for F/UTP or CommScope for UTP? Are they any good? Better than MonoPrice?

Not sure if the F/UTP is worth it or not, but CMR over something like CCA is for sure.

 

[jfreggie2]

I bought this one from monoprice a few years ago:

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=18600

haven't had any issues with it. Used most of the box doing my entire house.

 

[elite-fusion]

I found this one for cheaper and F/UTP...
Yes it's pink, but for being run through walls, I can care less lol

https://www.anixter.com/en_us/products/7133857-17F/GENERAL-CABLE/Voice-and-Data-Cable/p/CM-00423GENF-6A-12

 

[kanewolf]

I found this one for cheaper and F/UTP...
Yes it's pink, but for being run through walls, I can care less lol

https://www.anixter.com/en_us/products/7133857-17F/GENERAL-CABLE/Voice-and-Data-Cable/p/CM-00423GENF-6A-12

I wouldn't mess with foil. That will just make it more difficult to terminate.

 

[failboat]

It's worth paying a little more for something certified UL or another company approved byOSHA.
It may also be code in your county.

If the wires not built to spec then it doesn't matter how many features it has.

 

[elite-fusion]

Recommendations?
Is the MonoPrice one certified or no?

 

[failboat]

Recommendations?
Is the MonoPrice one certified or no?

The one linked up a little bit is listed. It's not marked.
It's going to advertise it if it is, as it's a large selling point.

 

[elite-fusion]

How about this one? Though it is foiled, but I think this one is certified by TIA
https://www.anixter.com/en_us/products/7133857-17F/GENERAL-CABLE/Voice-and-Data-Cable/p/CM-00423GENF-6A-12

 

[failboat]

It has UL 444 which means it's been tested for the one test. UL listed means it meets a comprehensive standard.

idk all the intimate details. I just bought a UL listed one to play it safe. I have some POE WAPs and I didn't want to risk anything.

 

[elite-fusion]

So is that one better or the Monoprice one is better? or is any other recommendations? Those are the only links I found in this thread. I'd like to stay within the 200-250 range, but cheaper would be better but I want quality too

 

[failboat]

I like the monoprice stuff. Their keystones and patch panels are nice. I would recommend getting those. cat5e has like a 0.5'' untwisting tolerance for 1Gbs, but it's even smaller for 10Gbs on cat6a. The keystones and patch panels with the pairs next to each other make it much easier to have a very small amount of untwist. Don't even try to make your own patch cables with the CMR. Just use some cat5e 100% copper for 1Gbs or buy them. The CMR cat6a is hard to crimp, because the jacket is huge, and it probably won't make 10Gbs dyi.

 

[nigelivey]

I would question your choice of Cat6a, just use Cat 5e!