Building Networks: When to run Fiber, Cat 6 or 6A, DAC Cables, and Cat 8

SFP+ DAC VS Fiber Latency: Copper Is Faster Than Fiber
• SFP+ DAC VS Fiber Late...
Comparing SFP+ 10 Gigabit Connectors: LC Multi-Mode Fiber, 10GBASE-T, and DAC Cables.
• Comparing SFP+ 10 Giga...
MikroTik CRS305-1G-4S+IN 10G Switch Setup Review With VLANS
• MikroTik CRS305-1G-4S+...
Breaking the 100M limit and Going 200 Meter / 656 feet With Gamechanger Cat6 Cable
• Breaking the 100M limi...
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⏱️ Timestamps ⏱️
00:00 SFP VS Cat 6 VS 6A VS Cat 8
02:12 DAC SFP Direct Attach Copper
04:14 Fiber Bettween Switches
07:45 Using Cat 6 or 6A Twisted pair
11:27 Cat 7 and Cat 8
#DAC #Fiber #10gbe

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

SFP+ DAC VS Fiber Latency: Copper Is Faster Than Fiber kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJ-nYYKHh7trgq8 Comparing SFP+ 10 Gigabit Connectors: LC Multi-Mode Fiber, 10GBASE-T, and DAC Cables. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iIm3ZauHeK2Wgas MikroTik CRS305-1G-4S+IN 10G Switch Setup Review With VLANS kzbin.info/www/bejne/p6O8c5t8fqpgp6M Breaking the 100M limit and Going 200 Meter / 656 feet With Gamechanger Cat6 Cable kzbin.info/www/bejne/kIqXaX6Ldr9-nq8 ⏱ Timestamps ⏱ 00:00 SFP VS Cat 6 VS 6A VS Cat 8 02:12 DAC SFP Direct Attach Copper 04:14 Fiber Bettween Switches 07:45 Using Cat 6 or 6A Twisted pair 11:27 Cat 7 and Cat 8

[@psycl0ptic]

speed and latency are different things.

[@Phoenix_Core]

you didn't specify how to mix fiber with rj45 systems , there is no way you are running only fiber... you know that. so go through that

[@jonathanbuzzard1376]

Cat6a does not need to have shielding that would be shielded Cat6a just like shielded Cat5e. I still have some left in the loft from when I wired my house in Cat6a some 15 years ago. Admittedly the cable was free, the networking contractors at work would dump the boxes in the network rooms when they got down to under 30m left. The networking guy let me have the lot because he was sick of it and they didn't take it away. In a domestic setting 30m covers most cable runs. When it comes to Cat7 and up unless you are using CG45 or Tera connectors on the end then you are making the situation worse than Cat6a. Basically you go from balanced pairs in everything up to Cat6a to miniature twinax cables in Cat7+ and unless you are using the right connectors then you are going to have reflections off the end that will cause problems. Further Cat7 is not required by any IEEE 802 standard and Cat8 is only used in an 802 standard for 40Gbps network at point to point links up to 30m. However there is absolutely no equipment on the market that uses Cat8 cable, 40Gbps is exclusively DAC or fibre.

[@Nicoleise]

1) You mentioned EMI in relation to fiber, which is absolutely correct. Another, very relevant and often overlooked, point about fiber is, that it's galvanically separated. In other words, no component of the fiber cable conducts electricity. This is valuable in building to building links, because the actual earthing potential (the voltage of the earth line) can vary between buildings. This used to only be a problem if you could somehow touch both earth potentials at once (for example if you rolled some metallic machinery out between buildings and connected one of the machines to one building and the other to the other building, and then touched both machines at once - not a very common scenario). However, the issue with data connections between buildings is, that the data cable, if it conducts electricity (for example if the cable is shielded), then this tiny network cable becomes the equalizer for the two earth potentials, which often leads to weird and sudden damages in the event of power surges, equipment failure, etc. Furthermore, a different earth potential can lead to problems with interpreting data signals (as seen for example with RS485 if the GND/reference is not used or sized inadequately). It's not often an issue in practice, since earth potentials are usually near identical through out a site, but in those cases, where it turns out to be an issue, the results can be pretty dramatic. So it's an important factor when considering long (especially building to building) runs, and often speaks for using fiber. 2) It's not at all uncommon for Cat6A cables to have per-pair shielding along with cable shielding. I've installed a cat6A network, where the cable (just as cheap as cat6 and cat5e, btw) is double shielded, and the cat6A STP connector (Brand Rex) instruction manual specifically mentioned the termination of each pairs shielding.

[@davebing11]

When talking about DAC, the compatibility issues comes up because each connector has an eeprom identifier built in that was originally intended to identify what type of cable it was (including manufacturer). Several manufacturers use that identifier to block out the 'lower' grades of cables by ONLY working with 'their' brand of cables (often in the name of reliability) but it also helps out the bottom line as DAC cables are very profitable when you are locked into the 'big boys' brands. $150 'retail' cables typically are sourced for

[@Jrok338]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I always enjoy your content and the way you explain things makes sense.

[@MichaelWade-hv6gu]

Great video, I appreciate that you mentioned the support system for the cabling. I used to pull cable and many other trades and customers did not understand the limitations that cabling can pose.

[@DanielPerez-mb7wm]

Thank you for your videos. I’m learning a lot, I set up a camera system for my uncles shops and his network 10 years ago. I know my way around tech, but it’s been awhile since I took part computer in the 5 years. Things are changing fast, I’m catching up on updated network terms and tech.

[@markchambers7147]

Yes new car park at the front of our building took out both the main fibre and the 50 core copper phone line …. Not one but on 2 occasions….: Muppets …..

[@wstheone]

thanks for all your hard work i just got 10 Gigabit set up with a few intel X520 SFP+ cards and some DAC cables it was so ez thanks to your info. i was really stuck on what you buy tell i watch your DAC video i went with the 10 gtek cable for a netgear switch witch i have and bam it just worked. fyi i love it.

[@davidhyman4541]

Great information about cables, Thanks!

[@amahashadow]

A note with SFP DAC/Fibers is that some manufacturers IntelCisco, will sometimes not work with SFP modules from other brands, and your perfectly fine DAC will be rejected by one, or the other side. I found that in those situations, I'll just pop-in brand-compatible SFP+ modules (from FS, never had an issue with them), so Intel-compat SFP+ in Intel Netw Card, and Cisco-compat SFP+ in Cisco SW, and fiber in-between. Works everytime.

[@ivosarak959]

For that reason one need to get confirmation if the module you are after is indeed supported with your device.

[@kenrq63]

That Cat8 cable looks like a smaller version of the STP Type-1 Token Ring cable I used to use back in the day (about 30 years ago) of 4Mbps Token Ring networking ;-) Cool video, Tom, thank you.

[@jonathanbuzzard1376]

Cat7/8 moves from balanced pair to twinax and is only used by clueless idiots who think higher numbers is better. Without the right connectors CG45/Terra it is electrically worse than Cat6a.

[@Legendary_UA]

Another great video. Thanks Tom.

[@F14Mavrick]

I just rebuilt my home network. I went with Cat6a S/FTP cable. Very happy with performance ;D

[@wakes_inc]

For retrofit/rebuild cat 6a s/ftp is absolutely the way to go

[@Christos9]

Great video! Thanks 🙏🏼 I didn’t know cat6e was that big.

[@James_Knott]

Yep, and requires appropriate connectors to handle the larger wire size.

[@gustersongusterson4120]

I just hit like when the video starts so I don't forget. It's all good!

[@StephenPreston]

Also, keep in Mind MTP cables you can use a 12 fiber or higher to run 6 or more connections over a small cable and break out cassettes to break it out into LC connections.

[@FlowoftheFlood]

I think the cat6 poe confusion comes from the old school idea of how cat5 poe (for the technical, 10base t and 100basetx) worked. Just two years ago I was taking a course for the a plus and a instructor was trying to telling me that only four of eight cables are used for data (1,2,3,6) and four are strictly used for power (4,5,7,8) and I remember telling them that's not true, well at least not any more. Some people don't realize that all four pairs can be used for data and power but anyone who trained for the 900 series A+ probably didn't have a focus on the new standards since it wasn't a priority for that Exam.... So this confusion should take care of it's self as test now have to be repeatable taken with new content.

[@spookyyoutubes]

This is such an important note that many ppl don't know. I can get you 10/100 internet on 1/2 3/6 but for PoE you need Cat5e or above and you need the 4/5 7/8 pairs to act as power/ground for PoE to work. Depending on the device, you can now see voltage on all 4 pairs in order for the device to work properly.

[@ewenchan1239]

Thank you for this video.

[@TomAtkinson]

That was actually really good dude! Very pragmatic! Curious now to learn about Token Ring.

[@lancerudy9934]

Great video 😊

[@Heizenberg32]

I was excited to watch this. But after running 3,000 ft of Cat6 this week... I have had my fill. It's going into my 'watch later' until after I have cooled off on the topic some :)

[@ethanedwards8296]

I ran 600ft of Cat6 through my house this month with the longest run being about 150ft.. at least I know my whole house supports 10GIG now :)

[@Heizenberg32]

@@ethanedwards8296 I don't know residential, but I bet that's twice the amount of effort-per-foot compared to commercial

[@James_Knott]

That's nothing. On one job I had several years ago, we ran over 100 Km (yes, 63 miles) of Comscope 0222 coax cable. This was in a major telecom office with 1024 runs of cable. The reason for that cable type was it's small diameter, needed to get all those cables through the hole in the floor at the bottom of cabinets. It was for DS3 (45 Mb) signals. The techs wore out several of the cable stripping tools.

[@James_Knott]

@@ethanedwards8296 My condo has 2, count 'em, 2 runs of CAT5 running the length of the unit. They were installed by my cable TV company, back in the late 90s, when I first got a cable modem for my Internet connection. They sent 2 guys to install the coax from one end, where the TV cable came in, to the other end, where my "office" is located. I asked them to also pull in 2 runs of CAT5, which I provided. They went up the inside of the wall, along side air ducts, over my bedroom closet & bathroom, over my laundry room, down the wall and through the wall into the closet in my office. It was only visible where it crossed the laundry room ceiling & down the wall behind my furnace/water heater and also in the closet. They even patched the drywall, where they cut it. After they were done, I put keystone connectors on the Ethernet cables.

[@James_Knott]

@@Heizenberg32 That depends on when you do it. If during construction, no. If after built and occupied, yes.

[@FireBean8504]

GIVE ME THE REVIEW OF THAT AGG-SWITCH ASAP! About to be rebuilding our network/data room.

[@BansheeBunny]

Great video, I learned a lot from it. One small note for people that are migrating from 1Gb to 10Gb and start the upgrade process with the NICs is, some SFP+ 1/10Gb cards only operate at 1Gb with fiber cables.

[@GregInHouston2]

Great video! You nailed it with the portion on the physical size of the cables. I had the devil of a time with an office wired with CAT 6A cables. I had data paths that were designed for Cat 5 and these new cables did not physically fit. I would also suggest the you talk about terminating the cables. 1) Don't use CAT 5 RJ45 end points on a CAT 6 cable; you can't fit the cable into them for a proper crimp. Personally, I hate putting a RJ 45 on a CAT 6 cable! I want something where I can punch them down. So much more reliable.

[@joansparky4439]

aren't there field install-able connectors with such features? Naturally bigger because of all the punch down mechanic..

[@GregInHouston2]

@@joansparky4439 I'm not sure what you are talking about. I do not have a lot of experience with different CAT 6 connectors. One thing I do not like is that there is no ready way of differentiating CAT 5 and CAT 6 connectors.

[@lancerudy9934]

Great video

[@davebing11]

One point to consider in the fiber vs 'copper' discussion is RF inteference and electrically noisy environments. Fiber is essentially immune to electrical inference and electrical noise unless you are talking about very strong light (such as from a nuclear event). Even though ethernet is transformer isolated there is still a lot of electrical energy coupled and passed via the cable, even if its shielded like the higher cat standards. When you are going from building to building, fiber is the way to go

[@QuikTechSolutions]

Great explanations Tom! I’m building a home and I ran CAT 6 throughout. None of my runs come even close to 55m, so I am OK with that. The new home builders in my area are still running CAT 5E by default for residential installs. it really does come down to budget and cost. Have a great one Tom!

[@James_Knott]

Unless you're running 10Gb, CAT6 won't get you anything.

[@QuikTechSolutions]

@@James_Knott correct. I am planning to add a 10 Gb switch, a NAS w/10Gb and upgrade my computer.

[@jorrit_o]

Here in Germany almost any new building uses CAT 7... you can't even really get CAT 6 anymore... so I'm quite curious that CAT 5E is still the default in your area

[@James_Knott]

@@jorrit_o Given that Gb was designed to work over plain CAT5, not even 5e, what does CAT7 get you other than greater expense? If you're running 10 Gb, then CAT6 should be good enough.

[@jorrit_o]

@@James_Knott Other than better shielding nothing… but like i said you can’t really get CAT 6 from a reputable manufacturer here and CAT 7 actually costs the same as CAT 6a so i take CAT 7 (also they‘re the standard here in Germany)

[@1205matthew]

YES! was looking for a video like this.

[@tomwalshaw1881]

I networked my house in 2021. I did it all myself, I went with cat 6 and 3 fibre runs. 20 drops, 8 cameras, 4 access points and 8 redundancy lines. I’m glad I went with cat 6 not cat 6A, terminating all that took ages.

[@dingledodger5323]

So what about proper cables for long outdoor runs, ground bury, and high lightning risk?

[@alonzosmith6189]

Yes, FS for for SFPs, Fiber cables

[@gregoryp203]

A company I worked for in 2001 wired all their drops with CAT 6 . This was before people knew you could do 1Gbps over CAT5e. CAT6 patch panels, jacks , patch cables all had to come from the same manufacture because the CAT6 standard wasn't fully complete . It was very expensive . That business has changed offices long before the benefits of CAT6 were even utilized . 1Gbps is ubiquitous now but it is still over kill in most office computer situations

[@jeffm2787]

Good video, it's amazing how much bad info is floating around both in the industry and of course KZbin. Get idiots that say well you have to run CAT 7 for Gigabit or it'll be slow 🙄 I ask them, what's your link speed and how many errors are you seeing? 'Gigabit and zero'.

[@Lukeyduke953]

I'm like, crap what's wrong with my network I'm watching this at 360p

[@ilik3pie]

Smh, probably need to upgrade to full cat8

[@Lukeyduke953]

@@ilik3pie Might have to get my hands on a SD-WAN Turbo Cloud Encabulator

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

I waited until KZbin said it was done processing, but clearly it is not yet ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The KZbin datacenters need an upgrade!

[@psycl0ptic]

Not just you. I feel like it's 1998 again.

[@psycl0ptic]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS the YouToobs are still running CAT4.

[@Rudurk]

Why I went with fibre for my home. I live in the UK and it's fair to say we don't really expect really bad weather. It rains all the time and some thunderstorms here and there. I had a full ubiquiti setup Dream Machine Pro USWPRO24POE Flex Mini ( in all the rooms) Access Points I went with ethernet cables running from the USW to all the rooms from the attic. PoE was great because it allowed me to power the mini's and access points over PoE We had a thunderstorms and a lightning strike go over my home I have no idea where it landed. Ethernet cable caught the charge ( loudest bang I have ever heard my dog ran scared... It's a rottie 😭 ) went down to the USW and spread from there to everything connected to ethernet. USW all the connected ports dead All the flex mini's dead All the access points dead 3 TV's dead 3 NVidia Shield's dead Home theatre dead Sound bar dead Printer dead Pi dead What survived? Dream Machine Pro ( It was connect via fibre to the USW ) Modem ( Connected to Dream Machine Pro ) All things connected to WiFi (Google home, Echo, other smart home stuff) Desktop Survived probably because it was off that is the only explanation I have for it to not be dead. I am still recovering from the loss... Replacing them steadily. I am no longer using USW switch. I am using the aggregation switch and have run fibre to all the rooms from it. I don't normally comment on videos. This showed up on my feed today and thought maybe I should reply and maybe someone else will be saved 😔

[@belfalas40]

Was any of the copper cabling shielded?

[@Rudurk]

@@belfalas40 Yes, they were all shielded.

[@belfalas40]

@@Rudurk Thanks. I'm in the UK also, with shielded (and well-grounded) cabling running between house, outbuildings, cctv. I've got type 2 surge protection on the power DB, but from the sound of things that's worth bugger all in the event of a nearby strike. Probably time for an upgrade...

[@Ighty.Support]

👍Good information on ethernet cables.

[@GrassDaddy]

I'll be honest I used the SPF+ DAC copper cable because my UDMP and USW-24-PoE have the ports and I wanted to play with it 🤣 for my use gigabit internet is still overkill lol

[@CoreyThompson73]

MMF has speed limits depending on if it's OM2, OM3, OM4 .... Speed limit of SMF (OS2) has not been found yet, every time they can modulate the laser faster, OS2 fiber can handle it. Also if you do WDM, OS2 fiber is about the only choice..

[@ivosarak959]

The picture is more complex here. The WDM and others are to be deployed on SM as well. Multi channel variants of both fiber types as well. MPO and MTP...

[@dsmcraig]

Why is smf called OS2? What is OS1 singlemode?

[@jonathanbuzzard1376]

@@dsmcraig OS1 is an older single mode standard where the glass is less pure so does not sustain longer distances. It is otherwise completely interchangeable with OS2 cable. If you are under say 10km it makes no practical difference, but nobody has made OS1 cable in a long time now and there is not a great deal of it out there.

[@ivermec-tin666]

If you are building a new house, just install cabling conduit (the corrugated orange stuff) in the walls with pull strings in them. This will permit you to run cable in future with ease.

[@damor4665]

We have bought an old house (in concrete/bricks) without LAN plugs in the rooms, we'll deploy fibers cable from the central switch to the different rooms on top of the existing power line pipes as copper is not allowed because risk of fire / risk of short circuit. This will be the cheaper option, otherwise we have to drill down half house to put in place new cable pipes long the walls

[@just-a-waffle]

An argument against using DAC cables, especially in racks where the NICs are vendor locked, each end needs to be programmed to work with the device it's plugged into. If a cable got broken or damaged, you're going to be ordering a replacement and waiting. We prefer to use the vender coded optics (and keep individual spare optics) and standard LC single mode fiber. If we ever need a new cable, we can run to microcenter, or we normally just have a pile of them from FS, and they can be used in any connection.

[@sheldonfrey1]

I'm not trying to endorse a particular product and connectors certainly make a difference. I am installing Cat6 UTP Riser in a new project. The longest run I have is 97.6m or 320' and is running at 10G. Cat6 is certainly capable of going 10G well over the 55m limit. At this point I don't see the point of using 6a or higher. By the time this speed becomes irrelevant it will either be Cat15 or a new type of cable completely.

[@douglasg14b]

I'd totally get that CAT6 shirt, if it didn't have the lawrence systems brand spelled out on it. The logo would be fine.

[@twitchyarby]

Same

[@AndrewCislak]

Yea, even if the cost was a few dollars extra

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

We can do that

[@badpants]

A lot of what will drive people to make decisions is whether it's a new install or an upgrade. I have a fairly new home, 6 years old, that I had custom built. I had the latest, Cat6 at the time, installed everywhere. I actually insisted on it in the contract, and the electrician tried to install Cat5 causing a big argument. Installing fiber back then would have been ridiculously expensive, if even feasible at all. Hell, most media streaming boxes and smart TVs are still running 100 Mbps ethernet! I'm currently upgrading to 10Gbe, and it's a mess out there. I don't want SFP+ connectors for the most part because too many devices don't have SFP+ connections. Looking at a new QNAP and Synology 10Gbe NAS equipment and they have 10Gbe and 2.5Gbe RJ45 connectors, not SFP+. Yet the QNAP switches favor SFP+ connections??? I have desktops that support 1Gbe, 2.5Gbe, and 10Gbe as well, and SFP+ ports generally only support a single link speed. So my 10Gbe switch has to have a majority of 10 Base-T/RJ45 connections. My opinion is SFP+ for servers in the server room, 10Base-T/RJ45 everywhere else.

[@jonathanbuzzard1376]

The reason for favouring SFP+ connections is that 99% of all 10Gbps ports in existence are SFP+ If you can use a DAC cable do so it's lower power and lower latency. If not use fibre and only use twisted pair as a last resort.

[@ledoynier3694]

Loads of SFP+ 10GbT modules support multi-gig connections. The catch is the SFP module itself is connected to the computer at 10gig, but the downstream connection is internally connected at 1 or 2,5 for example. Also, 10Gbase-T cards run stupid hot and still have to deal with electrical noise in the cables. You often see transer speeds ramping up at the beginning of file transfers with copper, while it's instant max speed on fiber.

[@craxity]

We chose CAT 7A (rated at 1500 MHz) combined with CAT Keystones for out new house. That was an affordable solution and should be good enough for 25GBase-T if it should ever exist.

[@jaimemunoz5920]

Isnt cat 8 only for short runs of like 30 or 36 meters and meant more for data centers?

[@jeffmeyers3837]

@Lawrence Systems Is there a problem if the cable runs in an office are Cat 6A, but the short cable from wall plate into the computers are Cat 6? (reason being they're must less bulky for users). Will that create any problems, or still run at the full 10Gbps?

[@timchambers8947]

Running UTP (aka unshielded) between 2 buildings with under a driveway/carpark & up the side of a building. We've noticed damaged ports or devices with suspicious lightning or surges probably doing the damage. Fibre between the buildings would be better protection from voltage differences carried through the copper cable. If the cable is more expensive, the termination & components are more expensive. Thicker cables require wider conduits, larger arc radius, larger holes, larger cable management space.

[@24kJames]

Your ports are frying due to improper grounding. Each building has a different ground potential that will attempt to equalize over the link between the buildings. You can find appropriate grounding strategies with a little research.

[@PE4Doers]

Lawrence, my experience with DAC cables has been Very shaky. They do not work with a large number of 'Mixed Speed' switches, probably since they do not have much of a line driver built into the 'non-transceiver ' ends. In most cases I had to use 1 to 3-foot fiber cables to go between my switches. Don't get me wrong, I really liked this video and applaud you for the great work :)

[@ledoynier3694]

if the switches have different speeds (like connecting a SFP+ to SFP, the DAC won't work. it has to be the same speed on both ends. they are "dumb" cables.

[@EarsBeEazy]

Cat 6 can do up to 10gbs over shorter distances cat6a can do 10gbs over longer distances so if you're on the fence about what to install in your house get cat6 right now the industry is still on cat5e. cat6 will be good for a minimum of 10-15 years before the industry moves to faster speeds. And getting cat 6 over 6a will also save you some money without having to compromise on performance.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Cat6 is good for home

[@Ivansgarage]

I have noticed lately fiber is about the same price as cat6, am I wrong?

[@bentheguru4986]

A very simple rule for Copper Vs Fibre regardless of inside the rack or rack to rack, copper is conductive, fibre is not. Blown ports from induction, conduction or faults is a PIA. Multimode is for tight-asses, use SM.

[@sheldonfrey1]

Only problem is when you use single mode on a short run you burn out your ends because the light doesn't attenuate enough. Multi-mode and single mode have their application usages and it's good to use appropriately.

[@ivosarak959]

If one is going out and future proofing a network then the SM is the way to go as the MM has length limits set by the possible speeds as well. I went full SM for building-to-building, with copper runs within a house.

[@CoreyThompson73]

Agree with you on SM, but especially for runs under 1000ft, check the signal level spec on your SFPs, you may need to add attenuators to stay in spec.

[@CoreyThompson73]

Yep, fiber is good for electrical isolation. Rehabbing the control system in a electric utility substation recently, I replaced all the comm and network lines with fiber (also reduced the control cabling by 75%) internally. All devices were ordered with fiber interfaces on them.... Fiber also gives resistance to lightning, many people who send stuff up towers will use fiber isolation, even if it's copper going up the tower, it will go fiber from equipment rack to tower base and media converter there.

[@andyjackson9614]

Fiber SFPs will allow your switch/router to detect a failure quicker than copper RJ45. Yes it is milliseconds in differences, but in the carrier game we are trying to get failover to happen in 300-500ms so fiber is a much better option in those cases.

[@CoreyThompson73]

Depending on the SFP module used, they many times have diagnostics in them, so you can proactively learn if signal levels are deteriorating and some will even estimate distance to fault using TDR like functions.

[@andyjackson9614]

@@CoreyThompson73 Yes if they have DOM support. My comment was more about the port going down not the SFP failing. If you have to do fast reroute and keep things up fiber is quicker as the switch can detect a port going down quicker using fiber than using copper RJ45.

[@ReinoutSchotman]

Question: with rising energy cost, is energy consumption of components ever an issue? I pulled all my legacy network junk (ap’s, switches and even a hub) at home 2 years ago and replaced it with UniFi PoE APs. I believe I cut about 50-100W. While that seems insignificant, continuous 100W consumes about 1000kWh a year. Electricity prices are going up to €0,60 per kWh, so I save €600 every year!

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Yes, energy costs are a concern.

[@graywolf2600]

@Lawrence systems which standard video are you referring to at 8:57?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/oX_EkHyam86pgdU

[@devilboykillz]

lol not really what i needed. I wanna know what kinda ethernet cord i use for connecting the router to the modem. Does it matter. would a regular cat 8 work or is their a special kind for that. Also what is the diff in in one that says Bifale sstp -cat 8 L s z h jacket-and cat 8 lan network or one that says furui 26 awg - heavy duty pe jacket - and has s/ftp.

[@zapman2100]

i wonder if cat8 would be good for emp resistance in a systems that connects between faraday cages?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

If you are going between faraday cages then you should use fiber.

[@omerwahed]

If I run Fiber optic , from Ethernet router to a distance 200 feet ,what tools and material do I need.I have a long range router but .cat 6a did not work and small booster did not help.I have conduit to to fish.

[@cade8986]

8:05 what was that unit you were holding?

[@mikeneill6400]

I’m having a new house built, and am having ethernet hardwired throughout. What cable would you recommend? I am budget conscious but also want to have availability of faster throughput as technology advances. Not sure if CAT6A or CAT8 is the better idea.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Cat8 would not make sense, go cat 6a

[@brianarmstrong234]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS On the other hand when I got cable run inside an existing home. I measured my longest run at 80 feet and figured that for wiring an existing home, Cat6 was much easier to work with. The Cat6 I used was rated 550Mhz. While I know that number is higher than that standard 250Mhz does that matter much?

[@mastermoarman]

For cat6a and cat8 donyou have to ground the shielding when making the cable?

[@wyattarich]

Unshielded cable doesn't get grounded

[@ivosarak959]

AOC to the mix?

[@369special6]

would you advise for a house with no network cables to use and install/ wire up house all with CAT7 SFTP or CAT6a SFTP? or just stick to usual CAT6 UTP?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

CAT6 should be fine

[@livejellybeanforestcameras1200]

So I have fiber running from the road and fiber company into my home. But I have a barn I want to get reliable internet service to. I plan on running 4k smart cameras out there to keep an eye on things. Right now fiber comes into home, connects to its fiber modem that translates the data to ethernet compatible data, then to my router for my main network. How do I retranslate the data to a fiber optic line so I can run a 550 ft line of fiber optic cable to my barn?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Just use a SFP fiber adapter

[@kanekibakaa]

Will fiber optic work in booster to booster

[@hamhumtube]

I admire projects here. Ps did you say network insulting?

[@irtibatkisileri222]

consulting he says

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

We do offer network consulting, but if you want to have me do some network insulting I can do that to.

[@hamhumtube]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS lol sometimes I do insult my network when it causes problems :)

[@Stinosko]

Hey, i got still a question left: If you go with fiber, does fiber ethernet cables have max speed limits or is the limit mostly affected by the switch port? I know multimode is for 550m and single mode is for large distances but if you are choosing mutlimode fiber to connect different rooms of devices together with 10gbase would it be future proof when higher speed switches are more affordable? Use case would be: running fiber to each room of computer and in the room connect all devices with cat6 to a switch in that room were the fiber connection comes in

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

This should help community.fs.com/blog/10gigabit-om3-and-om4-fiber-optic-cables.html

[@Stinosko]

Thank you!

[@ivosarak959]

SM is more future proof than MM. Note: there is a trend to use multiple fibers in a bundle and the fiber type itself may become less problematic here (if to ignore length limits), but a means to attach connectors - MPO/MTP anyone?

[@James_Knott]

You haven't got a hope of reaching the maximum a fibre can handle. That's around 1.5 petabit/s, IIRC. Carriers often do 100 Gb and some 200 Gb.

[@Stinosko]

@@James_Knott maybe but to reach such speeds the optic cable need extra clean of dust, so it could be that some fiber cables his specs are more suited for higher transfers in the future. That was the point of my questions: are some fiber cable more superior for future proofing for higher speeds or is it really the connector and single/mutltimode that matters in the buying process 🙂

[@kencee9213]

For running cat 6a through my home should use shielded or unshielded cable. Want to future proof so I won't have to run new cabling down the Road for a while.

[@clblanchard08]

Depends on what you can afford.

[@kencee9213]

@@clblanchard08 thanx. Will price it out. I heard diff things to terminate shielded cables. Didn't know which would be better. Thanx for the info

[@berndeckenfels]

Unless you have Strange neighbors doing welding, HAM or particle accelerators or have overhead power lines shielding is optional. Budget and Weight are factors against shields. Fs.com has a quite good article on shield types. community.fs.com/blog/shielded-or-unshielded-which-to-choose-for-cat-6a-cabling.html mixing is not recommended, so best to not even start it ,)

[@kencee9213]

@@berndeckenfels great will check that out and don't have that around here just was confused on the info with crosstalk and running cables next to each other. It all gets confusing. Thanx

[@berndeckenfels]

@@kencee9213 I guess what makes it hard to give a definite answer is that you never can know, especially not for future encodings. So if you have the room and money some shielding gets you on the safe side. But pobably newer protocols will never or always work independent of the shielding n a non-nay vironment.. However a cheap and future proof alternative would be cable channels / tubes instead or in addition. I also think that sometimes the F/UTP are not much more expensive, especially not if you need rugged/outdoor/plenum/in-Wall cables anyway

[@MikeOxlong-]

Starting at the beginning, that blue fibre cable looks so much like Cisco serial management cables from the early 2000’s... That ugly colour is identical!

[@zoomzabba452]

I especially remember the rainbow of 8 different (com spec?) colors coming into the RJ45 end

[@boudewijndejong9134]

For my new house I’m looking for a Sfp28 solution that can cover approximately 10 meters. Reason, both the switch in my office as the one in my server room have a sfp28 port, so I thought I might as well use them. When searching I cannot find DAC cables longer than 3m. What to do here? I hope for a plug and play solution.

[@ivosarak959]

Look for the AOC cables for your equipment.

[@romanteterin3101]

SFP28 has a limit how far it can go, about 3m is close to the max before you run into too much signal degradation. That’s true for qsfp28 DACs as well. Like Ivo said, you would need to look for AOC cables for longer distances.

[@jonneymendoza]

So basically the only downside to going for cat7 or cat 8 is bulk of the wire itself and the labour it takes to run it through your house and cut the ends off to install it on a patch device etc?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

And that it costs more.

[@jonneymendoza]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS yes and that too. I thought there was something actually wrong with cat 8 such as poor performance or something.

[@DrDingus]

What makes fiber a bad choice for running throughout the home? If I want 10GB you recommend against 10GB-baseT because of high energy/heat, so how do I get 10GB SFP+ across my home without fiber? Am I missing something?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

It's harder to work with and requires more SFP+ adapters.

[@DrDingus]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS Most of my devices are 1gbe, but I want a 10Gb connection between my NAS which is in my network closet to my main workstation in my office room. Would I just want to get one main switch with some 10GBE ports and run that to the office directly to my workstation or fiber it to the office? In this case, you would just recommend going with the 10G-baseT for a longer run and eat the heat/power?

[@littl3spy]

Umm those prices are high, i got 305M (1000ft) of cat5e outdoor cable (additional shielding agains water and UV, no grounding) for 45USD.

[@davidwilliss5555]

Way can't I find DAC cables shorter than 1 meter? I want to connect two switches that are 3 inches apart. I don't need one meter. You can get 6 inch CAT-6 cables, but not DAC.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

FS.com does sell them www.fs.com/products/40109.html?attribute=1291&id=222988

[@UntouchedWagons]

I have two poweredge servers in my rack with 10G SFP+ NICs. For the first one I used a DAC cable and it works fine I just wish there was a way to integrate it into my patch panel.

[@solverz4078]

Apologies if I read this wrong but there is no benefit in running a server to a patch panel as it should be in the same rack or a near rack to the switches. The only real reason you use patch panels to so you can map sockets around your house to the server room in the form of a patch panel. I don't understand and have never encountered a scenario where you would be plugging a server into a patch panel.

[@BearMeat4Dinner]

The last place I worked in Chicago was the biggest orthopedic practice in Chicago. The owners son bought the last CEOs house of Motorola. The whole house had fiber run through it. Good times! ❤️😈⛓🔪

[@ColtonBlumhagen]

Man, I just wanted to know what to run in my 800 square foot apt. I think I'll go with CAT8 because I'm really only gonna spend a couple 100 bucks for the entire network anyways.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

cat6 would be fine in an apartment

[@tempritus]

Tom, maybe you didn't wait for youtube to finish processing this video in HD before publishing...

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

I did wait, it said it was done, but clearly it is not yet ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@tempritus]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS sorry man, but it'll probably stay in SD... I have just watched this video about the KZbin upload process the other day and the girl explained that you'll need to take down and upload again if this happens kzbin.info/www/bejne/pJPYc5hqjqlrlZY btw love your content!

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Thanks, but she is incorrect. I have had this happen quite a few times over the years. It will process.

[@tempritus]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS sure it did process! nice

[@backupplan6058]

Am I going crazy or is the audio ever so slightly out of sync.

[@psycl0ptic]

you are going crazy....full stop.

[@UntouchedWagons]

Yeah it is slightly out of sync. You could still be going crazy, but I'm not a psychiatrist.

[@anylastwordspod]

there is no audio at all and the video is slightly in sync.

[@James_Knott]

Yes.

[@fanshaw]

Additional note: QSFP+ cables are expensive, even if the NICs are not.

[@k2par]

Why are frequencies important?

[@mifen5023]

A lesson I learned recently about the 10GBASE-T gbics is that they all are limited to 30m distance. I shouldn't have assumed 100m.. lesson learned.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

They do have ones that go further kzbin.info/www/bejne/mn2WdZyBe5mnj5I

[@be-kind00]

What about cat 6e?

[@psycl0ptic]

How about best cables for POE; POE+; POE++ ?

[@estusflask982]

There is no such thing. All ethernet cables are compatible with all POE

[@davidbuddy]

You can't run POE over fibre obviously, so some sort of Twisted Pair like Cat 6/6A would probably be best

[@psycl0ptic]

@@davidbuddy yes, this is obvious...there is no conductors in glass. You could potentially run power over DAC...but it's not spec/built to do so. Trying to start the conversation about solid vs twisted and conductor size to prevent heat buildup and or melted cables. Everyone like these slim run cables, but they are NOT ideal for POE. FS POE blog: community.fs.com/blog/how-to-choose-cables-for-power-over-ethernet.html

[@psycl0ptic]

@@estusflask982 Ethernet cables don't get to magically defy the laws of physics. As an example, FS.com specifically doesn't recommend using their slim line cables with POE, especially POE+ and ++ with those cables since the conductors are very thin/can overheat and melt and or short out. Monoprice specifically has a line of "POE" patch cables that are solid rather than stranded patch cables, and also have shielding that helps dissipate heat.

[@estusflask982]

@@psycl0ptic I've been using stranded cable for years with POE, never had a problem

[@cookster455]

Am building a house atm and the builder refused to run anything except cat6, might in future replace it with cat6a but at least initially that's all I've got. Good thing I put my server room in the middle of the house right next to my home office

[@clblanchard08]

I feel like the builder should do what they're getting paid to do. If you pay them to run gold plated spider silk then that's what they should run, especially on new construction.

[@cookster455]

@@clblanchard08 I agree with you, unfortunately they do cat 6 only and if you want anything else gotta get them to do cat6 then use the cat6 as a drawstring to pull through other stuff yourself after handover

[@sheldonfrey1]

@@cookster455 that builder stinks. No other way to say it. But don't get too hard on it without due diligence. I am running Cat6 in a new project, and I'm get 10G at 320'. Cat6 can sometimes do a lot more than it's rated. Just depends on the cable and connectors used.

[@lifesoftserv]

I would tell them here is the cable, run it or I will find someone who will.

[@cookster455]

@@sheldonfrey1 agreed cat6 is fine for most things, would have preferred cat6a just for a bit of extra guarantee since I'm running 10G everywhere but I can always rerun the drops later if i run into specific issues

[@dennywong2408]

I feel like RJ45 will be obsolete before CAT8 can realise its full potential; my SFP+ to Base-T Transceivers constantly run into 80ºC without active cooling (e.g. CRS305). If 10Gbps/40Gbps is ever going mainstream for end users, we probably will need to go fibre to reduce heat/power on consumer hardware; which voids the whole "futureproofing" argument of CAT8.

[@mrfrenzy.]

Use switches with built in copper ports. They run much cooler than SFP+.

[@gabiold]

@@mrfrenzy. SM fiber is still more futureproof though. Replace the endpoint devices and you'll get the new speed, whatever will it be. Let's hope that the connectors don't go out of fashion. But there is a saying that an electrical installation in a building has a lifetime of 30 years. Not because it goes stale, but because in that timeframe technology and user requirements change that much that it is inpractical to keep. I assume that this time is even lower today, and even lower for network-related installations. For example, for home/office/plant use: you had your endpoints at the same locations 10 years before? For my use cases, not quite... So probably it is not worth to install "too good" cabling just because, if we absolutely don't need it now or in the foreseeable future.

[@mrfrenzy.]

Part of the success for RJ45 is that it can be reliably installed with cheap and simple tools by most electricians. I don't see that happening for fiber anytime soon, nor common need for more than 10Gbps. In my country we run all network cables in conduit anyways. In many places I have replaced phone cables or coax with CAT5e/CAT6/CAT6a with minimal effort. If the need arises in the future fiber or CAT99 can easily be installed.

[@jackidu69]

i prefer bluetooth

[@MrFloRolf]

I think NFC is superior.

[@walterbkeen]

Failing to understand why you wouldn't want a combination of cat6a and om3/om4 mm with new home construction. Cat6a is up to 10gb whereas om4 will easily handle 40 and up. Don't even terminate the om4 until it's needed.

[@CoreyThompson73]

"run cat 8 everywhere".. unless the device is doing something like video editing directly to a SAN, you really don't need 10GB to each drop. Typical desktop usage, printers, etc. never come close to using that. Even watching security camera ports on network monitoring, they never go over 10Mbps...The only place it makes sense is to servers, NVRs, trunks between switches, wireless access points and other places where you have a concentration of traffic. ... If you're worried about "future proofing", you're better off putting in conduit and cable trays the make the "next thing" easier to install...

[@jonathanbuzzard6648]

Cat8 (or for that matter Cat7) NEVER makes sense. There is zero equipment you can actually buy that needs it. More specifically there is nothing with CG45 sockets, so you are actually making things worse that Cat6a by using it.

[@ausnetting]

Only need 1Gbps? Use Cat5E Need 10Gbps? Install Cat6a - you don’t want to have to figure out which of your runs later are > 55m. Need fiber? Don’t bother with Multimode - 550m is for 1Gbps - you’ll only get 400m using OM4 for 10Gbps, and only 300m on OM3. Those distances get even smaller for 25Gbps (100m). If you need fiber, use Single-mode - you can even use CWDM or DWDM transceivers to send multiple 10, 25, or even 100Gbps signals across a single SMF pair.

[@JonDisnard]

There is no such thing as cat-7. The standards body governing Ethernet cables, TIA, does not recognize cat-7. To make an analogy, it's like the metric system standards body trying to create new imperial units, say for example a kilo-yard.... It's not a legitimate unit under the recognize standards body.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Yes and no. Cat7 was ratified by ISO/IEC (International Organization for Standardization / International Electrotechnical Commission). TIA (Telecommunications Industry Association) I have an interview here with Dan that breaks that down in more detail: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oX_EkHyam86pgdU

[@JonDisnard]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS ISO is a standards body, but not the one for Category cable. That is why cat8 is the next recognized category.

[@thuering6229]

Even only mentioning "Cat 8" makes me wanna barf and gets me very angry. :-)

[@samuelhulme8347]

Just burn the money by running the most expensive fibre cable to every computer in the office. Surely it should be fine! If you have the money.

[@max9111]

I only like video about 🐈, not 🐈 cables!!

[@samo9288]

360p gang

[@keithd5181]

FIBRE

[@webluke]

Mikrotik is not MEkrotik listen to how the guys from the country who speak the language say the company name in their videos, stop pushing the fake pronunciation.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

meecroteek forum.mikrotik.com/viewtopic.php?t=87582

[@bneyens]

Took you 2:20 to actually get into your subject. Lots of blabbering.

[@ig_foobar]

There is no such thing as "cat cable". It is called Unshielded Twisted Pair.