Home and SOHO Networking FAQs

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Increasingly we are being asked at Black Box for advice and products for installing home networks and small or home office networks.

The following FAQs will help you find what you need so that you can place your order quickly and easily via our web site.

Should I use shielded or unshielded cable for my home network?
We would advise using Unshielded Twisted Pair Cable (UTP). Even where it is necessary to run the network cables in parallel with mains wiring the distances are short and levels of interference found within homes are not normally sufficient to necessitate the use of STP. Importantly, unless the shield is correctly installed and grounded it can cause a lot more problems than the correctly installed cable would solve. The vast majority of all networks in the UK and USA employ unshielded cable, and the good news is that unshielded cable is less expensive too.

Should I use CAT6 or Cat5e?
Both cable standards are fully capable of supporting Gigabit Ethernet to the maximum span distance of 100 metres. The quality of the workmanship will also affect the performance and compliance to the standards and Cat6 cable is more difficult to install correctly than Cat5e. As most users will have limited experience in installing structured cabling, we suggest you stick to CAT5e components and save on costs.

What about CAT6a and CAT7 – will I need these?
As the “e” in CAT5e stands for enhanced, so the “a” in CAT6a is for augmented. It is an improved specification from CAT6. It is designed to provide a copper infrastructure capable of carrying 10Gigabit Ethernet over copper. To meet the specifications required the system is complex to put together. The cable is stiffer because each twisted pair is separated from the next by a cross shaped moulding built into the cable. It uses all shielded construction and in many cases, special high performance connectors. Unless there is a specific need to run 10Gigabit Ethernet in a domestic environment it is not an appropriate solution for home installation.

Ironically, the CAT7 standard was developed with the intent of being a solution for multimedia transmission in a domestic environment. It has a shorter range than Ethernet and is a fully shielded construction and uses special connectors. It took a long time for a final standard to be ratified by which time the performance of other network types had improved. As a consequence CAT7 has little commercial support and is expensive. In our view it offers no significant benefits over CAT5e or 6 for a normal home installation.

What is the difference between solid and stranded Cat5e and Cat6 cable?
Each Cat5e or Cat6 cable is made up of four twisted pairs of copper wires (8 wires). Solid core cable has 8 solid wires while with stranded cable, each of the 8 wires are made up of many thin strands of copper. Stranded cable is more flexible and so is ideal for making up short patch leads that will be bent and moved often. Solid cable is less flexible, but the solid wires within the cable are better for transmitting signals so solid cable should be used for the long runs between outlets and your patch panel. Solid cable is also less expensive and more suited for use with patch panels and wall outlets.

The Black Box Cables are certified at 330MHz for the CAT5e GigaBase and 550MHz for the GigaTrue Cat 6 cable. What does this mean and is it important to me?
These figures show that not only will these cables meet the performance standards of today but that they will also provide headroom for future applications. Gigabit Ethernet will run on CAT5e cable which is defined as a minimum bandwidth of 100MHz. This means that Black Box cables have up to 5 times the headroom for multimedia applications compared to the minimum requirements for Ethernet. Note that to achieve this performance requires that the whole installation is of high quality and workmanship.

What do I need at the wall outlets?
You will need a CAT5e (or CAT6) module for each CAT5e (or 6 ) cable being connected. You need a faceplate to mount them in and a back box on which to mount the faceplate. The Black Box faceplates employ the same screws and screw spacing as UK mains wiring, so any standard electrical back box may be used if the Black Box versions are not suitable. The depth is required is 28mm minimum. Mounting screws are included with the faceplates. The faceplates are available in two sizes. The Faceplate Double takes two modules and is the same size (86mm x 86mm) as a single gang UK mains outlet faceplate. The Faceplate Quad takes up to four modules and is the same size (86mm x 146mm) as a UK double gang or twin outlet mains faceplate. If mounting fewer modules than the faceplate can hold then use the quarter blanks to fill the remaining space. Two quarter blanks are needed to fill the space of one module. Use the single gang back box with faceplate double and the quad gang back box with the faceplate quad.

What are the part codes for the module, faceplates and boxes and can I see them?
Yes they are shown on the web site. The part codes are as follows.

Description	Part Code
CAT5e Module	MODC5E
CAT6 Module	MODC6
Faceplate Double	FPLASD
Faceplate Quad	FPLADQ
Quarter Blank	QUARB
Back Box single gang	BACKBS
Back Box double gang	BACKBD

What wires connect where on the modules?
The wires are punched down into V shaped sockets on the modules. These are called IDC connectors (Insulation Displacement Connector). No soldering is required. Each connection point is colour coded to match the cable and uses a standard called T568B. It is vital to follow this scheme all the way through the installation otherwise the system simply will not work. If you have point to point continuity but the correct pairs according to this scheme are not followed the system will fail to work at high speeds.