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  3. Q: Cat5 v WiFi

Q: Cat5 v WiFi

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  • N 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

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    Lost User
    wrote on last edited by
    #13

    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.

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    • C Chris Losinger

      hypothetically... if you were building a new house, would you install cat5 in all the rooms, or would you just use WiFi ?

      image processing toolkits | batch image processing

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      Paul M Watt
      wrote on last edited by
      #14

      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.

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      • C Chris Losinger

        hypothetically... if you were building a new house, would you install cat5 in all the rooms, or would you just use WiFi ?

        image processing toolkits | batch image processing

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        Henry Minute
        wrote on last edited by
        #15

        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.

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        • C Chris Losinger

          hypothetically... if you were building a new house, would you install cat5 in all the rooms, or would you just use WiFi ?

          image processing toolkits | batch image processing

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          Ravi Bhavnani
          wrote on last edited by
          #16

          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

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          • C Chris Losinger

            everything is a goto, at some level.

            image processing toolkits | batch image processing

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            Ravi Bhavnani
            wrote on last edited by
            #17

            Except an assignment statement.  :) /ravi

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

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            • C Chris Losinger

              hypothetically... if you were building a new house, would you install cat5 in all the rooms, or would you just use WiFi ?

              image processing toolkits | batch image processing

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              MehdiNaseri
              wrote on last edited by
              #18

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

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              • C Chris Losinger

                hypothetically... if you were building a new house, would you install cat5 in all the rooms, or would you just use WiFi ?

                image processing toolkits | batch image processing

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                H Brydon
                wrote on last edited by
                #19

                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

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                • M MehdiNaseri

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

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                  Albert Holguin
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #20

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

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                  • R 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

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                    Albert Holguin
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #21

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

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                    • C Chris Losinger

                      hypothetically... if you were building a new house, would you install cat5 in all the rooms, or would you just use WiFi ?

                      image processing toolkits | batch image processing

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                      PIEBALDconsult
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #22

                      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).

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                      • A Albert Holguin

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

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                        Ravi Bhavnani
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #23

                        Very true. /ravi

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

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                        • A Albert Holguin

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

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                          Dalek Dave
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #24

                          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[^]

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                          • H 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

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                            Dan Neely
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #25

                            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

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                            • D 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[^]

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                              Albert Holguin
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #26

                              It's not the worst thing in the world, as long as u have decent security settings. Heart of the problem is most applications aren't built for any type of application layer security, so once in the air, hackers only have one layer to get through to get to data. Plus people hardly ever take the time to choose safe settings.

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                              • C Chris Losinger

                                hypothetically... if you were building a new house, would you install cat5 in all the rooms, or would you just use WiFi ?

                                image processing toolkits | batch image processing

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                                Chris Maunder
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #27

                                You can always add WiFi later. Cable? That gets tricky and messy if you haven't laid it out to begin with. And there's the obvious point: Wifi is still nowhere near as fast as Cat5/6. If you have a file server and deal with large files, wired will still make your life so much nicer for your tethered computers

                                cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project | Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP

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                                • C Chris Losinger

                                  hypothetically... if you were building a new house, would you install cat5 in all the rooms, or would you just use WiFi ?

                                  image processing toolkits | batch image processing

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                                  Roger Wright
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #28

                                  I would install, without hesitation, both Cat5e and multimode optical fiber. Copper connections have reached and surpassed their theoretical maximum throughput; that deserves kudos to the engineers who managed somehow to push past the theory, but their excellent luck won't last forever. The next level of interconnection will have to be optical, simply because the Nyquist Theorem has never been proven wrong. In order to propagate information at rates that are ever increasing, we'll have to make use of carrier frequencies which are far higher along the electromagnetic spectrum. We've run out of radio frequencies, so we have to move on to optical frequencies.

                                  Will Rogers never met me.

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                                  • C Chris Losinger

                                    hypothetically... if you were building a new house, would you install cat5 in all the rooms, or would you just use WiFi ?

                                    image processing toolkits | batch image processing

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                                    Brady Kelly
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #29

                                    Wifi, with maybe cable for one or two key points, like adsl and media centre.

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                                    • C Chris Losinger

                                      hypothetically... if you were building a new house, would you install cat5 in all the rooms, or would you just use WiFi ?

                                      image processing toolkits | batch image processing

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                                      OriginalGriff
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #30

                                      Cat5E or Cat6 every time. Wifi is ok, but it is hideously slow compared to a gigabit network. It's a bit of a drag having to connect, but most of my stuff is in fixed locations anyway: Media player, NAS, printer, PC's - only the occasional use stuff connects via wifi.

                                      Ideological Purity is no substitute for being able to stick your thumb down a pipe to stop the water

                                      "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
                                      "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

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                                      • R Roger Wright

                                        I would install, without hesitation, both Cat5e and multimode optical fiber. Copper connections have reached and surpassed their theoretical maximum throughput; that deserves kudos to the engineers who managed somehow to push past the theory, but their excellent luck won't last forever. The next level of interconnection will have to be optical, simply because the Nyquist Theorem has never been proven wrong. In order to propagate information at rates that are ever increasing, we'll have to make use of carrier frequencies which are far higher along the electromagnetic spectrum. We've run out of radio frequencies, so we have to move on to optical frequencies.

                                        Will Rogers never met me.

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                                        Jorgen Andersson
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #31

                                        Roger Wright wrote:

                                        Copper connections have reached and surpassed their theoretical maximum throughput; that deserves kudos to the engineers who managed somehow to push past the theory

                                        No, it never surpassed any theoretical maximum, they just used a new method with a different theory behind it.

                                        Light moves faster than sound. That is why some people appear bright, until you hear them speak. List of common misconceptions

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                                        • C Chris Losinger

                                          hypothetically... if you were building a new house, would you install cat5 in all the rooms, or would you just use WiFi ?

                                          image processing toolkits | batch image processing

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                                          Jorgen Andersson
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #32

                                          I would atleast make sure I have all the necessary pipes in the walls to pull the cables through. That way you can upgrade anytime at will.

                                          Light moves faster than sound. That is why some people appear bright, until you hear them speak. List of common misconceptions

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