[holtyuk]

Hi,

I'm putting CAT5 cable in my ceiling along with standard HDMI to my pj, mainly for future-proofing as I intend to use the HDMI initially.

However, I had a look at buying some online and was a bit confused by the amount of different types available. which of these should I be buying to run an HDMI signal and possibly a universal remote signal?

Cat5E UTP Unbooted
Cat5E UTP Booted
Cat5E FTP Shielded
Cat5E UTP Crossover

Thanks
Simon

[Tolly]

All the cables are the same except the crossover, I would go for the shielded one

[digimansam]

make sure you put two cables in for future proofing as bluray needs them now

[kfalls]

I agree. All are Cat5e so should be good up to 1GPS. Sheilding will provide better RF/EMI noise rejection and better xtalk parms. The crossover cable will have pins 1&3, 2&6 swapped for use when going from one computer to another (receive and transmit are reversed). Good idea to run multiple cables. Something you only want to do once.

[holtyuk]

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies, It seems more straightforward than I first thought from looking at all the different options.

Cheers!
Simon

[fr0do007]

Simon,

If you have not purchased the cable yet is there a reason why you are not considering Cat6. Cat6 is higher spec than Cat5e although both are capable of 1Gbps. Even though extenders are generally titled 'HDMI/Cat5 extender' most companies recommend Cat6 be used.

There may be a slight price difference but in the scheme of things and bearing in mind how long these cables tend to be in place this is insignificant. Cat6 is a newer cable design than Cat5/5e so you could argue it increases your 'future proofing'.

Shielded cable is always recommended over unshielded but shielded is more expensive. When I purchased my Cat6 about 9 months ago shielded was not widely available in the UK (or atleast I could not find it without paying a significant premium) but it may be more widely available now.

Also I would recomend running three Cat6 cables especially to your main TV, 2 for HDMI signals and 1 for network as more and more of the new models of TV are coming with Network Cards builtin to display content from the internet or streaming content over your internal network.

Regards
Dave