Elk Installation

[drvnbysound]

Just to clarify Cat6 isn't required for Gigabit Ethernet.  Cat5e will run GigE.   Cat6 is more for moving up to 10Gb, when it becomes more widely available....

I saw that too and wanted to make the same comment... but I just left it alone :unsure:
 
Over the past year, I ran quite a bit of Cat5E throughout my home... I really don't even need Gigabit speeds (yet), since the main use (so far) is mainly for Sage extenders, which are 10/100 devices.

 

[tmbrown97]

Just to clarify Cat6 isn't required for Gigabit Ethernet.  Cat5e will run GigE.   Cat6 is more for moving up to 10Gb, when it becomes more widely available....

Going a step further, Cat5 (vs. 5e)  from 10 years ago still runs GigE up to about 100' which is sufficient for most homes.  People are so obsessed with having the latest/greatest but there's really nothing on the market today even that demands Cat6 for most residential applications.  The market will figure out how to deliver everything over Cat5/6 before requiring us to move to Cat9.  As processors get cheaper/faster they're just doing more to compress our data to squeeze it over the same wires.

 

[drvnbysound]

I've yet to use/terminate Cat6... that said, I've read a decent amount about people having issues properly terminating Cat6. Stating, that if you do some minor things wrong (e.g. wire separation), you won't be able to see the benefits of using Cat6 vs. Cat5E. I believe part of that is also ensuring that all terminations are done using connectors for Cat6... just because it's an RJ-45 connector, doesn't mean it's suitable for Cat6 - which are also a bit more expensive.

 

[wuench]

I just worry that people are putting in draft wire, at a greater expense, that may not live up to the promises.  Most of it will really result in a lower distance than spec, so if someone puts in cat6 (not drafta) and/or aren't doing it with the proper terminations/components and tools, they will not get much benefit over cat5e even for 10Gbit.   So it is kind of a guess thowing cat6 in at this point...
 
But if you feel it is worth the added expense it is ok to do.   I still think by the time 10Gbit becomes widespread in residential equipment, everything will be wireless.  But that is an educated guess of my own

 

[Travis4710]

What is required for the Elk M1TWSF two way speaker, mic combo?  Will standard 18/4 in wall speaker cable from Monoprice work?

 

[Del91574]

ideally you'd want 18/2 for the speaker and a separate 22/2 (or larger) STP for the mic.

 

[FloridaMike]

I didn't realize that cat5 will run gigabit, oh well I guess I am somewhat future proofed. I have wireless B/G and Wireless N in the home and I really love the speed/latency of wired ethernet vs. wireless.

 

[apostolakisl]

I didn't realize that cat5 will run gigabit, oh well I guess I am somewhat future proofed. I have wireless B/G and Wireless N in the home and I really love the speed/latency of wired ethernet vs. wireless.

 
It will, but the distances are much shorter than for 100mb.  I have found that gigabit only works up to about 75 feet, maybe 100.

 

[drvnbysound]

I believe you can get Gigabit from Cat5E all the way up to ~328ft.