Running Ethernet Through Attic- Not Sure What To Buy

[PCFlegling]

Hey guys! I recently took up the task of wiring a ethernet connection from the router on the other end of the house to my room. I want to get 100 ft of Cat 6 cable and i'm facing a little bit of a dilemma on where to buy this from. Whenever I look up DIY videos of people wiring their house they tend to use wiring with no connectors on each side and then they attach the wiring to keystone jacks at the end. I found one cable on the lows website that is exactly that but some of the reviews say it easily kinks and I don't know whether or not I should get a thicker cord to protect against this when I am using the  Polyethylene Staples to secure the cables. So I went to the other sites to try and find a thicker wire and they only have patch cables with the connectors on both ends. I don't really understand what a patch cable is and how it differs from the other cord, but I was thinking if I got that thicker patch cable I could run it down the wall and then use a female to female adapter for the ethernet outlet. However I read somewhere that this provides slower speeds than using a keystone jack. Is that true? The dude on the other forem said that keystones only accept solid core cables and that if it is a patch cable it is most likely stranded and slower. This one I found just so happens to be stranded. Is there a difference in speeds between stranded and solid core? If I have to, can I just cut the connector ends of the patch cables and then just use the keystone with the patch cable ends? This is my first time doing this so I kind of worried i'll bend or crimp a cord and render the cord useless. Here are the two websites I found below... If you guys find better websites please send them in the discussion. Thanks!

 

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Southwire-100-ft-23-AWG-4-Cat-6-Ethernet-Riser-Blue-Data-Cable-Pull-Box/50101614?cm_mmc=inf-_-c-_-prd-_-tol-_-hdy-_-evan-_-yt-_-dre-_-how-_-cut050319

https://www.cablewholesale.com/cgi-bin/searchppc.cgi?text=cat6+100ft&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4ef7-dSD6wIVBY-GCh3HVwUhEAAYASAAEgJn9PD_BwE

[BobVonBob]

"Easy crimping" means it's easy to attach connectors to the ends, not that it gets crushed by PE staples. Crimping isn't a bad thing, you crimp the connectors to secure them to the cable.

 

Using a female to female won't hurt your speeds, but it's way easier to fish a cable through a wall without connectors on it already and keystone jacks aren't difficult to use.

 

"Patch cable" usually means it has connectors already attached on each end, but you can just snip those off.

[Biomecanoid]

Just get any CAT5e or Cat6 cable, connectors and Crimp tool

[scottyseng]

If you can afford it, bulk cable without ends, a crimping tool, and jacks will be easier on you. Or if you don't want the crimping tool, just get punch down keystone jacks. Trying to feed a patch cable with ends on it already will be pretty hard.

 

Also, you'll need a drill, fishing tape, low voltage wall brackets, and keystone plates for the wall. I would recommend using C metal clips that have space rather than staples because you do not want to crush ethernet cable. It is not like romex electrical cable. Also gives you space if you want to feed more in the future.

 

I personally prefer female to female coupler keystone jacks over punchdowns, but that's just because my luck with punchdowns hasn't been the best. On my server rack, some of the punch downs I did failed to have one or two wires connect correctly regardless of how many times I repunched it. I have had zero issues with crimping jacks and using couplers (not so great for tight spaces if you have a thin wall though, the whole female to female coupler + jack on the back is quite big)

[PCFlegling]

9 hours ago, scottyseng said:

If you can afford it, bulk cable without ends, a crimping tool, and jacks will be easier on you. Or if you don't want the crimping tool, just get punch down keystone jacks. Trying to feed a patch cable with ends on it already will be pretty hard.

 

Also, you'll need a drill, fishing tape, low voltage wall brackets, and keystone plates for the wall. I would recommend using C metal clips that have space rather than staples because you do not want to crush ethernet cable. It is not like romex electrical cable. Also gives you space if you want to feed more in the future.

 

I personally prefer female to female coupler keystone jacks over punchdowns, but that's just because my luck with punchdowns hasn't been the best. On my server rack, some of the punch downs I did failed to have one or two wires connect correctly regardless of how many times I repunched it. I have had zero issues with crimping jacks and using couplers (not so great for tight spaces if you have a thin wall though, the whole female to female coupler + jack on the back is quite big)

Thank you for the advice! I will go with c metal clips now instead. Will it matter if the cable is stranded vs. solid core? There was a man on another forem that said it will matter but I don't see what the difference is

https://networkengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/29456/is-there-a-difference-between-using-a-cat-6-wall-jack-vs-using-a-female-to-femal

his name is Peter Green

[BobVonBob]

19 minutes ago, PCFlegling said:

Thank you for the advice! I will go with c metal clips now instead. Will it matter if the cable is stranded vs. solid core? There was a man on another forem that said it will matter but I don't see what the difference is

https://networkengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/29456/is-there-a-difference-between-using-a-cat-6-wall-jack-vs-using-a-female-to-femal

his name is Peter Green

Go with solid core for running in the walls, stranded wires are an absolute nightmare to punch into keystone jacks since the strands can shift and form a poor connection. For wires with a connector on both ends this isn't an issue so stranded is fine for running from a wall jack to a device. I'd also suggest pass through RJ45 connectors. You need a crimping tool made for them and they're slightly more expensive per connector, but they're so much easier to use it's not even funny.

[PCFlegling]

Thanks Bob! I'll look more into passive connectors and try to stick to solid core cabling as well 

[scottyseng]

On 8/5/2020 at 2:08 PM, PCFlegling said:

Thank you for the advice! I will go with c metal clips now instead. Will it matter if the cable is stranded vs. solid core? There was a man on another forem that said it will matter but I don't see what the difference is

https://networkengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/29456/is-there-a-difference-between-using-a-cat-6-wall-jack-vs-using-a-female-to-femal

his name is Peter Green

Yep, go with solid wire. It is far easier to crimp / punch. Also, avoid CCA (Copper Clad Aluminum) ethernet cable. It is inferior to solid copper.

[PCFlegling]

3 minutes ago, scottyseng said:

Yep, go with solid wire. It is far easier to crimp / punch. Also, avoid CCA (Copper Clad Aluminum) ethernet cable. It is inferior to solid copper.

Sounds good! Thank you!