Looking for recommendations on cables

[pablito]

Hi:

I've been doing some reading and planning on what I will be putting into our new house (just starting construction). The "Wiring your New House 101" guide is pure gold!!

I've been wondering which brands of cable to use and haven't been feeling confident in selecting a particular brand over another. I called a few local distributors to start.

For CAT5e & CAT6 (looking to handle Gigabit), I've found some cable by: General Cable, Nordx and Omega. For RG6, I've only found something by Omega and Belden so far. I've not managed to find anything Quad Shielded yet (well, one place quoted $850 CAD for 1000' ... that didn't sound right). I've not done much checking on in-wall speaker cable yet. For the Canadians out there, any recommendations on where to purchase/order?

I'm just looking for a friendly nudge in the right direction so I don't end up pre-wiring with crap.

Paul

 

[AceCannon]

I've been planning on getting my cat5e from monoprice.com. The price looks good, and I haven't heard anything bad (yet).

They have quite a few other types of wire / cable, as well.

 

[felixrosbergen]

I thought a descent Cat5e-350 would do Gigabit just as well as cat6...thats what i've been told...

No hardware out there yet to take advantage of cat6.

 

[pablito]

ace: Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm hoping to try and order from somewhere within Canada to avoid the possible hassle and delay with Canada customs.

I came across Black Box recently that have a Canadian site, but not sure if the cable ships from here or not... need to check. Anyway, they have 23 AWG CAT6 (most is 24 AWG) and claim that it can do 550MHz (standard CAT6 at 200MHz right?)... and it is cheaper than other cable I've seen. Sounds too good to be true... so is it? Anyone have any horror stories with their cables?

mavric: Yeah, I've also been having the 5e vs. 6 debate. Apparently the CAT6 is more rigid and so a bit more difficult to work with. It is also more expensive. I'm seeing roughly 70-90% more... so almost double. Of course, in the $200 (CAD) range for a 1000' doesn't rule it out and am still tempted in the interest of future proofing as much as I can afford. Maybe a hybrid CAT5e CAT6 is the ticket.

 

[Brightan]

If you can set up an account with an electrical wholesaler, or find somebody that has an account that you can use, you might find their prices are as good as anywhere and you might find somebody locally. I use Eecol Electric in Alberta but they only go as far east as Ontario. Over the years I have bought different brands and some are slightly nicer to work with but I haven't ever had any serious issues with any of them. Currently I have boxes of Commscope for RG6QS and General and Beldon for Cat5/6
I was in Eecol the other day and was surprised to see a whole line of other parts like video baluns, component to cat-5 and audio to cat-5 adapters.

 

[sic0048]

Coleman is another well respected name. Check to see if any local suppliers carry it. I'd try to stay with a name brand like Coleman or Belden. Some of the "off brand" cable comes from China and doesn't actually test to the specs they advertise it at. Just something to be aware of.

 

[aehusted]

+1 for Monoprice.
I found out about them from this board and now I get everything there. Most of the prices are in the too-good-to-be-true range, but everything that I have ordered from them is top notch so far. The list includes HDMI cables, toslink, speaker wire, all varieties of keystone jacks, banana plugs and the wall mount for my new 52" LCD. All this for less than 1/3 of what I planned on spending.

I am sure they have someone who can help you out with shipping to Canada.

I've been planning on getting my cat5e from monoprice.com. The price looks good, and I haven't heard anything bad (yet).

They have quite a few other types of wire / cable, as well.