[TAG] Wiring a house with ethernet

[Jay R. Ashworth]

On Wed, Oct 19, 2005 at 08:22:30PM -0500, John Karns wrote:
> AFAIK, the reason is that the physical design of the plug (by way of the
> crimped connection, I believe) is susceptible to higher signal loss than a
> punched connection on a panel (or a single jack connector).  As I write 
> this, the question occurs to me whether either type of cable - stranded 
> or solid - gives better spec for signal loss vs length, otherwise known as 
> attenuation.  At any rate, I would guess that solid wire would be 
> significantly more economical.

In general, solid wire should be used whenever possible; stranded wire
is only preferred for drop cords and jumpers.

> Another very practical reason to use stranded for patch cable, is that
> it's more flexible.  Whereas cables in the wall will not be flexing
> (barring earthquakes, at least), patch cables generally will be subject to
> handling and being moved around.  Solid core wire would eventually break,
> yielding connection problems, and would also be vulnerable to crimping
> (not like the tool, but acute angle bends) which cause signal loss at high
> frequencies.

Yep; that's why.

> [1] As Ben mentioned in a reply, high freq signal characteristics are vastly
> different than DC.  So although the cable may pass a (DC) continuity
> test, it can fail to perform adequately at high frequencies.

Skin effect is your enemy.

Cheers,
-- jra
-- 
Jay R. Ashworth                                                jra at baylink.com
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