Which is the best Buy: Shielded and Unshielded Ethernet Cables?

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antoniocrocombe

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Aug 28, 2017
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We are planning to wire for home or office with ethernet networking cables to set up internet network, Which is the suggestions and guidelines keep in mind for Ethernet networking cable.
 
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You would only use shielded cable when you know you have interference that shielding would stop. Kinda like you buy snow tires only when you live in a area that gets snow. It is very rare to need shielding even in office installations, mostly it would be used in a industrial factory installations where there is a lot of high power electrical fields being generated.

Shielded cable is very hard to install properly. The shielding must be connected to a ground on both ends. It can not be the electrical ground it needs a independent ground both for safety and to avoid getting interference from electrical equipment plugged in. This means you must run a independent copper wire to every location in addition to the ethernet. If you do...
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bill001g

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Aug 9, 2012
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You would only use shielded cable when you know you have interference that shielding would stop. Kinda like you buy snow tires only when you live in a area that gets snow. It is very rare to need shielding even in office installations, mostly it would be used in a industrial factory installations where there is a lot of high power electrical fields being generated.

Shielded cable is very hard to install properly. The shielding must be connected to a ground on both ends. It can not be the electrical ground it needs a independent ground both for safety and to avoid getting interference from electrical equipment plugged in. This means you must run a independent copper wire to every location in addition to the ethernet. If you do not ground shielded cable it can actually act as a antenna and increase the interference.

Still the normal twists in ethernet work so well even interference from improperly installed shielding still does not cause issues Most people who are using shielded cable have it installed improperly and its only purpose is bragging rights not a technical one.

Pretty much shielded cable is a waste of money.
 
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Mousemonkey

Mousemonkey

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Sep 3, 2006
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Unless you are running 4K video and/or using a Crestron Video Matrix, if you use unshielded cables and have ANY issues Creston won't help. Other manufacturers also sometimes state that shielded cabling must be used and if it isn't then they won't honour any warranty claims.
 
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boosted1g

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Jun 12, 2013
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Agreed with above.

If you are in an environment with lots of EMI, or are obligated to by vendor requirements then use shileded.
Otherwise the extra cost and extra time to install shielded is grossly not worth it.
Shielded cable is a complete pain to work with, bad enough with rj45 female jacks, 5x worse with male plugs
 
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