I've got a rather serious question.. If I've already run cat 7a cables that are SF/Ftp overall screen and foil.. With individual foiled screen twisted pairs.. Terminated with arj-45 connectors... Then why couldn't the cable function exactly the same as a cat 8. I means it's got the same gauge.. Same amount of twisting.. Shielding.. Foiling.. Made out of pure copper.. I really don't see a difference.. Its rather mystifying Since that's exactly what the category 8.1 standard seems to be calling for on the cable...
If they can make it more economical than copper sure until then you never will have it replace copper.. haha sorry plus here's something you can't do with fiber.. Transmit electricity like power over ethernet which by the way I've seen as quite prevent in the industry now.. I see it at schools and businesses too
Ah, that's bullshit. They could figure out a way, just like we could all have electric cars by now. They don't want us to have fiber for some reason. Businesses have had fiber for decades. Yeah, OK, it would've been overkill with the kind of bandwidth consumers used back then, but fiber cabling doesn't require the maintenance that TP does, and now, no one wants to dig up the streets to put the new stuff in.
This is true PoE is a very convenient feature, so TP will be around for a long time in one application or another.
Ah, frak me, I missed that frickin' A when you mentioned ARJ45 connectors on your cables. Well, at least I learned something while writing my lengthy response.
Don't ask me, I'm an assassin droid, not an engineer. According to my findings, cat8 is still not yet finalized. If we go by previous iterations, most likely, the final standard will have more twists than cat7 and 6 and possiblly contain other improvements.
[quote]**This changed with the advent of the Category 7 standards in ISO/IEC.** Still unrecognized by TIA, a full decade after standardization in ISO, the Category 7 standards officially recognize two different connector types; none of which are the RJ-45. The preferred Cat 7 connector is the IEC 60603-7-71and it has 12 contacts: eight on the top and four at the bottom with the key down. The alternative connector is the IEC 61076-3-104 and it is non-RJ-45 with eight contacts.Category 7A followed suit with the same recognized connector types. The industry came out with a printed wiring board (PWB) version of the Cat 7A connector, which is the IEC 61076-3-110 with 8 contacts--four on the top and four at the bottom with the key down.[/quote]
You can see a diagram of the contacts on the IEC 60603-7-71 (AKA SRJ45, center) and the IEC 61076-3-104 (AKA ARJ45, right) connectors compared to the RJ-45 on page 6 of this document. It's self-explanatory why it was never approved by the TIA.
Clarification: cat7 cables require a different connector, as the specification is engineered that way. Opinion: it's stupid the cable's standard would require a different connector than the ubiquitous RJ45. They shot themselves in the foot with that one. Humiliating Truth: If a cat7 cable is terminated with an RJ45 connector it cannot support the 600 MHz bandwidth that the cat7 standard defines. You've downgraded the cable's capabilities and in essence, presuming cat7 is more expensive than cat6, paid for a cat7 cable that performs the same as a cat7cable. Comfort: You will still benefit from the shielding and number of twists in the minimization of crosstalk, but cat6a probably has sufficient protection against that for the average person.
Advise: Like I said before, anyone looking at cat7 is better off using cat6a or waiting for cat8 to become readily and cheaply available.
Fiber costs roughly the same as cat6, even cheaper with greater distance. The expense comes from the transceivers but even then gigabit ones aren't too expensive. So there's nothing stopping your from wiring up your house with fiber. Termination is a bit harder and requires more expensive tools and you can't use PoE. Although there are some applications which do use power over fiber (MRI machines and scientific equipment) but only for very low wattage. So it's possible but you won't be powering an access point off it any time soon.
Coper utp cable is just a lot easier and more practical than fiber for small cable runs, fiber's real advantage is distance.
I've run fiber in my house between a couple of switches and for a 10gb link, it's a lot easier to work with than cat 6 as it's smaller, lighter and more flexible. But you have to be careful about not bending it to sharply or kinking it. Of course in terms of bandwidth it makes no difference between fiber and cat 6, I just did it for the fun of it.
It depends. If he wants to stream uncompressed 8k video from a home server at some point in the future, whever that becomes possible, then maybe it's worth it to him so he doesn't have to rip out the walls for the upgrade.
1 Like
That's what I suspected. Hey im no network engineer just an Electrical engineer.... I don't really work with this stuff.
Actually you will be surprised to know that the cat 7a cables with arj45 connectors was the same price as the cat6a.. I presume it only has extra shielding and equivalent If not greater number of Twists. I really would not know how to test it for say 10gbe. Maybe I can try running and 10gbe and discuss my results?
Yeah I know its a bitch huh. I feel like a lot of the Internet issues that cable companies deal with (load balancing and signal repeating.. Line power etc over coaxial) I mean sure they can reach 1.4gbps on coaxial with 24 channel bonding but why spend so much money pushing the limits of an antiquated technology. Is there going to be a point symmetric 1gbps fiber is cheaper to role out than coaxial connections. I mean in order for 1024 qam 24 channel bonding to occur the cable must be shielded well and in perfect condition... (No corrosion of the copper at any point)
That's the first time I have heard that. Ive heard it frequently said that terms acting your own fiber requires a lot of tools and polishing it is a bitch?
I used pre-terminated cable. I saw a video on terminating and I can say I don't want to do that any time soon. I mean it's easier to work with in the sense that it's lighter and doesn't stay coiled up when you try to lay it out flat.
You have no idea how much that pisses me off hahah
1 Like
then why bother with copper... just have him install fibre.
I've been wanting to fiber but that would hinder the play station and depending on the media converter you get.. It can add some latency
Honestly not worth doing other than doing it because it's cool. Unless you need a cable run more than 100m there's really no advantage to fiber.
This is a long discussion about the best type of CAT7. (aka anything that actually meets the standard)
I would personally for wiring up a house, get a large 300m spool of quality Cat6a and call it a day as it will do 10Gb fine for future headroom.
1 Like
Not to mention you don't want to be having loose glass fibers blowing around. That crap's a health hazard.
1 Like
well In that case Cat7 will make a bit more sense since it lacks the plastic core so bending it would be a little bit easier.
No one will need more that cat6 :)
I would disagree.
Cat7 uses a much heavier gauge of copper.
(Purple Cat6a UTP, White Cat7 SF/STP)
Which inherently makes the cable much stiffer.
Bending the two together, the cat6 is much easier to bend (and I am being kind to the Cat7 going with its natural curvature from where it was on the spool)
Any further and I can feel the Cat7 conductors starting to break. There is actual maximum bend radius written on the boxes of these cables, passing them risks the cable being damaged.
TL:DR, just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
1 Like