Cat 6 STP cable....

[Stephen H]

As part of refurbishing the house, I'm putting in cat6 shielded twisted pair cable.

I've gone for Cat 6 STP able as there will be co-axial and mains cables nearby in the plastered walls, and also for future proofing.

I have had problems in the past with computers causing interference on my Sky boxes which was only cured by moving the network cables and co-axial cables further apart.

I currently have a Netgear GS748 48 port gigabit switch.

This Cat6 STP cable has a foil covering and there is a ninth bare wire and is helpfully called the drain wire....

Now my question is what is this drain wire typically connected to at both ends?

At the socket end, Is it the metal back boxes or do I have to buy STP cat 6 rated euro modules that will have a ninth punch down terminal for the drain wire?

At the patch panel end, Do I connect it to the chassis of the patch panel or do I have to use STP Cat 6 sockets that have a ninth terminal for this drain wire?

Stephen

[Andy Burns]

in general with shielded cables, to the metal shell of the connector, except most 'RJ45' connectors use UTP, so will have no shield.

I'd say just common them and connect to the chassis at the patch panel end, leave it coiled up at the socket end.

[Peter Parry]

Using shielded cable can often introduce interference rather than reducing it. For home use the most reliable way of grounding is to use shielded RJ45 plugs (and also shielded patch cables) and on the patch panel a single point earth for all the drain wires. The patch panel is also connected to mains earth. This way you earth throughout but as the house has a single earth point the chances of significant ground loops is small. For best performance you would earth everything at one single point, and have separate safety and data earths but this usually isn't practical.

If you intend to use long wires with plug terminations (rather than RJ

45 sockets at each end and shielded patch cables then

how to terminate the cable. Before looking at the price of the crimping tool make sure you are sitting down and have some Brandy to hand.

Although multipoint earthling doesn't give the best EMC protection it is more practical for home use and least likely to make matters worse. You would, however, probably be better off using UTP.