"Pandora" wrote in message
ups.com...
The floorboards are up at home and I am ready to buy a truckload of
cable for domestic structured wiring.

But which cable? In 15 years time, will a Dixons shop assistant laugh
at me when I tell him that I want to run his megabandwidth HDTV over a
CAT5e cable?

I'm leaning towards CAT6 but terminating it with standard RJ45 wall
plates as an interim solution. Might pull in a few optic fibres too if
I feel lucky.

Will I be able to connect phones into the CAT6 cable without a problem?
(I know CAT5e is OK for PSTN.)

Also what distance should the CAT6 be separated from CT100 cable?


The category of cabling is not determined just by the quality of the
components used.. You can use a Cat6 system from end to end, but if its not
laid and tested correctly, then it wont meet the category standard..

Having said that, in a home situation, I cant really see it making that much
of a diference..

Go for Cat 6, as the cost of the cable is only a bit more expensive than cat
5... Cat 6 can handle higher frequencies (and thuis higher bitrates) than
cat 5, but AFAIK there arent any applications that require this as yet..

I quite happily connect gigabit kit up with cat5e systems with no problems
at all..

And yes, telephones will work quite happily over cat 6 cable, as long as
youve got the right adapters..