Talk to me about CAT 6 in wall cable

CAT6 vs CAT6a

@daveyf I wouldn’t tax myself too hard.

The price per 1000 ft reel difference is in the couple of hundred bucks region. The performance is also primarily to do with speed over distance, not absolute speed.

• CAT5e = 100 MHz signal 1Gbps over 100 metres / 320 ft;
• CAT6 = 250 MHz signal 10Gbps up to 55 metres / 180 ft;
• CAT6a = 500 MHz signal 10Gbps up to 100 metres / 320 ft.

For me, this makes CAT6 a worthwhile leap, with 6a worth it if I am using runs approaching the 3/4 of the limit for CAT6. 

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Should you plump for CAT6a anyway because the cost differential is small... well perhaps, but higher frequency signals are more susceptible to EMI... but then the cable construction is better... but, but, but... It’s another hifi rabbit hole that you can drive yourself crazy in whilst pursuing tiny improvements. 

I am a horrible pragmatist. If I had a known EMI problem I would work with CAT6. If my cable runs were long I would use CAT6a. Otherwise whatever reel I could get my hands on most conveniently would probably dictate my choice. Others will likely be more professional about this decision.

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What you can be sure about is that CAT7 and higher cables are not worth pursuing yet.

CAT7 cable is fast, but it requires a proprietary connector. The problem is that the whole world is still using RJ45 sockets on almost everything. Predictably, sellers attach RJ45 plugs or sockets to these fast cables, but they are not 600Mhz compatible, so the plug / socket throttles the cable. 

There’s a lot of marketing BS in networking... bit like HiFi :) Very often, less is more.

Cat6 works just fine. My whole house is wired with that, and I get mine from Blue Jeans Cable. It's Belden cable, properly terminated. The only place I have Cat6a is in-wall running from the first to second floor of my house. I had electricians install that when they were doing a considerable amount of other work.

Decent quality Cat6/6a or above will be fine. Especially for in-wall long runs (I have a km or so in my house) I’d strongly recommend S/FTP rather than UTP. I’m about do do a new build and will be using Cat7 S/FTP LZSH.

Those cables are the future of audio, mark my words.

That said, go with Cat6a, not Cat6.

Why is it that with anything involving audio, for many only the most extreme overkill available will barely suffice? I bought and remodeled my house in 2003. I had the house ethernet wired with Cat 5. I think Cat 6 was just coming out but less available. The difference didn't seem important at the time. Twenty three years later I can say that for sure the difference wasn't important. I have several audio systems and computers around the house, all using the network and have never experienced an issue. There is WiFi too but the wire network is more solid and reliable. There were originally two switches used in rooms that had several devices and not enough wall connections. I still use those switches. They have always worked fine. They are invisible in the network. The network has handled all the audio and video data I've ever sent through it from any point to any point with zero problems. It had more than enough capacity for that purpose when it was set up and still does.