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I'm doing a network rewiring project, and I'm planning on using CAT6 cable for the wiring, but I have the choice between STP, FTP or UTP cable.

Some of those cables, if not most, will run close to 220V power cables, but let's assume the worst case: CAT6 cables running alongside (touching) the 220V cables (on 16A circuit breakers if that has to be taken in account)

Is using CAT6 UTP a bad choice and should I go for some shielded CAT6? Will the choice of cable make a noticeable difference in connectivity in my small case scenario?

Two other things that might help in answering:

  1. no cable will be more that 10m away from switch panel
  2. I doubt that there will ever be more than 4A running through any power cable.
HopelessN00b
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BlakBat
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1 Answers1

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I would advise against using unshielded CAT6. So, not UTP cable.

It's more expensive, but a cabling project is not really something to cheap out on, because it's difficult to troubleshoot when your problem is interference in the wire, and if you do have to replace the cabling, it's usually a huge pain (and expensive to boot). As you say, at least some of your cables will run close to 220 volt power cables, which offers the possibility of noticeable performance degradation on unshielded cables.

Better to do it right the first time so you don't have to worry about doing it again.

Regarding STP or FTP, I'm not sure if there's a functional difference between the two - FTP shields the whole cable, STP shields each pair, so in both cases, the wires carrying your data are shielded. Given that I'm not sure there's a meaningful difference between the two for practical purposes, in choosing between the two I'd decide on price or brand, and go with the cheaper price or the brand I like better.

HopelessN00b
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  • I totally agree with the "Better to do it right the first time", so I'm taking your advice and going along with it. – BlakBat Jan 22 '14 at 10:32