Posted 03/23/2009 at 12:44:06pm

I've been working in the telecommunications industry for close to 2 years now (I'm an apprentice) and I've done some massive wiring jobs (casinos, hotels, etc) and some retrofits.  One thing you forgot to talk about is terminating the ends of the cables. 

 There is a big difference between terminating Cat5e and Cat6 cable (if you go to test them).  Even so the best thing to do is only have about .5 inches of cable exposed from where you stripped the jacket.  Also, keeping as much twist as possible is key to avoid cross talk.  Another tip is to avoid over twisting.  Too much twist can actually impact the performance of the cable.

I can't wait til I buy my own house and wire it up to the max.  If you are looking to save money Cat5e is more than enough, but if you can find a box of Cat6 go for it.  The thing to remember though is if you are running Cat6 cable, use Cat6 patch cords.  There is no point in running Ca6 if you are going to use less than Cat6 patch cords.  You also need to make sure the connectors you use are rated for the cable.  The easiest way to see if a RJ-45 is compatiable with Cat6 is by looking at the fingers where the conductor makes contact.  There should be 3 of them instead of 2 (Cat5 and under).  The same goes for jacks.  I've worked with Leviton jacks that are Cat5e rated and just put a cat6 to see how it would test and it would fail because how you split the blue and green pairs.

 Lastly, when running cable make sure you don't go over 90m.  It is the standard for horizontal cabling.  Most people won't ever exceed that, but if you have a big house, you never know.  One other thing, it is a good idea to make a 5-10ft service loop at each end of a cable run.  

 If any of you have questions, let me know.

Posted 03/23/2009 at 12:42:38pm

For crimping RJ-45's I just bought a crimper from Newegg (Trendnet).  I've never had a problem with it.  For terminating jacks, I use a Fluke punch down tool, but you can go to Lowes and pick up an Ideal one.  When it comes to stripping the jacket, I recommend buying a pair of Klein scisscors (electrician ones).