Q: Cat5 v WiFi

Lost User

Better to have cable points and not need them than not have them and your wifi causing a problem.

Every man can tell how many goats or sheep he possesses, but not how many friends.

Lost User

No, I would use cat6, or cat5e at the very least. Cat5 isn't great at medium distance gigabit ethernet (you may get away with short distances), and 802.11n is even worse (especially if you plan to have floors and walls).

Nish Nishant

harold aptroot wrote:

Cat5 isn't great at medium distance gigabit ethernet (you may get away with short distances),

He's talking about a standard suburban home, not buckingham palace. :rolleyes:

Regards, Nish

My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com You've gotta read this : Using lambdas - C++ vs. C# vs. C++/CX vs. C++/CLI

Maximilien

He's not Sir Losinger ??! :-\

Watched code never compiles.

Nish Nishant

Maximilien wrote:

He's not Sir Losinger ??! :->

He was de-knighted for using goto once.

Regards, Nish

My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com You've gotta read this : Using lambdas - C++ vs. C# vs. C++/CX vs. C++/CLI

Chris Losinger

everything is a goto, at some level.

image processing toolkits | batch image processing

Nish Nishant

Well, you should have tried saying that when they de-knighted you. :-D

Regards, Nish

My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com You've gotta read this : Using lambdas - C++ vs. C# vs. C++/CX vs. C++/CLI

Lost User

The maximum recommended length for cat5+gigabit is only 10 meters, you'd "need" 5 signal boosters just to get from one side of buckingham palace to the other. Or accept the potentially reduced performance.

Paul M Watt

I would put the network cable in given the opportunity, that way I would have a choice. Consider just limited the network cable to the room designated as the office, possibly add a network closet, and run a few other cables to key far reaching end-points in the house. Otherwise, the majority of devices (Other than computers) support wifi, so you can always upgrade your wireless network to suite your needs as technology changes.

Henry Minute

Wired every time. It doesn't prevent your using WiFi but is there just in case. Especially, as others have said, considering the relatively minimal cost at construction time rather than retro fitting. It can also depend on the materials being used in the construction[^].

Henry Minute Do not read medical books! You could die of a misprint. - Mark Twain Girl: (staring) "Why do you need an icy cucumber?" “I want to report a fraud. The government is lying to us all.” I wouldn't let CG touch my Abacus! When you're wrestling a gorilla, you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is.

Ravi Bhavnani

CAT5 for sure. IMHO, WiFi is a nice-to-have. /ravi

My new year resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | My .NET bits | Freeware ravib(at)ravib(dot)com

Ravi Bhavnani

Except an assignment statement. :) /ravi

My new year resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | My .NET bits | Freeware ravib(at)ravib(dot)com

MehdiNaseri

I prefer Wi-Fi. You can use it everywhere you want.

H Brydon

Others have specified cable vs wireless, with which I concur... except that I would recommend running conduit between some major sections of the house. CAT-5, CAT-6 or CAT-47 will not be 'current' standards forever, and if you plan on being in the house for a decade or more, you will wish you had a way to add the latest cable standard without tearing out walls.

-- Harvey

Albert Holguin

Having the house wired doesn't mean you can't use WiFi concurrently...

Albert Holguin

yep... plus WiFi routers aren't that expensive nowadays... so you can always add that...

PIEBALDconsult

Definitely wired. I also have wireless. I wanted to make it secured, but my kid has a Nintendo DS that can use wireless, but won't use the latest security. If you have any devices that won't use security, or have guests to whom you don't want to have to give a password, you may find that wired is more convenient (provided it's in every room).

Ravi Bhavnani

Very true. /ravi

My new year resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | My .NET bits | Freeware ravib(at)ravib(dot)com

Dalek Dave

Is wifi security up to the job? I do nothing that requires security, WPA is usually enough.

------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave CCC Link[^] Trolls[^]

Dan Neely

As slowly as new wired platforms are deployed running conduit only makes sense if you're planning several decades into the future. Cat6 will give you 37m in a hostile cross talk environment for 10gb, which should be plenty for almost all residential installs (if not, 6a is rated for a full 100m) and cover you for at least a decade. Longer term I'd probably pull cat7, and gamble that 100GB ethernet will be made to work on it eventaully (simulations from a few years ago indicate it might need cat7a, which doesn't appear to be readily available). At the same time, unless you're doing wierd routing for some reason, I think conduit is probably overkill. Just run all of your cables vertically from the jack to the basement, and then horizontal in the basement to the router (popping up there if your networking gear is on the 1st floor). When I helped my dad rewire most of the electrical in the house doing strait vertical runs for new installs wasn't a problem, nor was replacement since the old wire could be used to pull the new one. Installing conduit in the walls OTOH would require significantly more effort, and based on my experiance probably isn't needed.

Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt