Shielded vs. unshielded and plenum vs. nonplenum

[ben127127]

I will be running a 15 feet ethernet cable through a wall (which has a few other cables in there, both router cables and house wiring) to my router, where I will plug it in. I've heard a few people preaching plenum for fire safety, and because I'm running the ethernet cable through a wall with wiring I've also had shielded suggested. However, these both raise the price. What do people think? Do I need shielded/plenum, one or the other, or neither? Thanks!

[LogicWeasel]

Shielded - if the cables are anywhere near house wiring, this seems like a no-brainer.  If the cable goes anywhere near any fans/machinery or HVAC ducts it also makes sense.  Especially as the cable is going into a wall and you don't want to have to touch it for a long time.  Ethernet and live power cables (especially high voltage) do not mix, shield away from that.

 

Plenum - Building codes as I recall will require this if the cable is going near any heat source or air circulation channel.  It's always safer to use plenum cable because PVC can release deadly gas when burned.  Here's a summary source on that: https://computersnationwide.com/when-is-plenum-cable-required/  If your HVAC is ducted, you may be ok without it legally speaking.  It's important to consider however, that in the event of a house fire you'll be glad you chose plenum for the safety of house occupants and fire-fighters.

[ben127127]

Just now, LogicWeasel said:

Shielded - if the cables are anywhere near house wiring, this seems like a no-brainer.  If the cable goes anywhere near any fans/machinery or HVAC ducts it also makes sense.  Especially as the cable is going into a wall and you don't want to have to touch it for a long time.  Ethernet and live power cables (especially high voltage) do not mix, shield away from that.

 

Plenum - Building codes as I recall will require this if the cable is going near any major heat source or fire risk.  It's always safer to use plenum cable because PVC can release deadly gas when burned.  Here's a summary source on that: https://computersnationwide.com/when-is-plenum-cable-required/  If your HVAC is ducted, you may be ok without it legally speaking.  It's important to consider however, that in the event of a house fire you'll be glad you chose plenum for the safety of house occupants and fire-fighters.

I'm inclined to go shielded and plenum, then, but I haven't been able to find any cables that meet those requirements under like 100ft. 

[beavo451]

Just get plain old riser cable. There's not going to be enough interference. Shielded cables need proper termination and correct grounding.

 

Plenum cable is used when cable is run through air ways/channels/ducts.

 

If your house is on fire, you have bigger things to worry about. There is plenty of other stuff already present that is bad when burned.

[Beowulff83]

Plenum or non plenum does not matter with a single cable in a short distance.  This matters when large bundles of cable are grouped together for long distances in air return ceilings.  Most building codes allow for around a 50' span of non-plenum to be run inside the building anyways before transitioning to plenum cable.  un-shielded as long as  you are not running it across power supplies or fluorescent lights, anything that causes emf.  You could have issues next to the house electric wires but not likely as it is such a short span.

[Alex Atkin UK]

Shielded will actually make interference worse unless its connected to a grounded switch.