CAT 6 Wiring

[jijo_robert]

I am using CAT 6 wire for data transfer in a new home. How much wire should I leave at the termination?( is 2 mts a standard length)

 

[aehusted]

I am using CAT 6 wire for data transfer in a new home. How much wire should I leave at the termination?( is 2 mts a standard length)

It is always good to have slack at both ends, but you have to be careful about bending the wire too far. Sharp folds or bends in CAT 6 will supposedly diminish data performance. For instance, when I opened up one of the phone jacks in my house to convert it from phone to ethernet, there was about 2 feet of CAT 5e folded back and forth into the single gang box. This is something to avoid and to check for in pre-existing installations.

 

[jijo_robert]

In that case, should I leave less than 1 mtrs?

 

[aehusted]

In that case, should I leave less than 1 mtrs?

The answer is: it depends. If the particular segment of wire that you are pulling is never going to be moved or changed (like the one from the Elk to the keypad in my house) then you can safely leave less than a meter. If the run is more "experimental" in nature then you may want to leave more slack. In my case, I leave more slack when I am running CAT5e for LAN, IR, or audio because the location of those might change if the furniture location changes. This came in handy when my office in the old house was turned into the baby room.
Copper is not getting any cheaper, but that is no reason to waste it IMO.