If you plan on running cable through walls or between floors, choose rise-rated (CMR) or plenum-rated (CMP) cable. Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) — The twisted pairs are covered in a braided shield inside the cable jacket. This technique of wire transposition was the first use of twisting, albeit with a very loose twist rate of about six turns per mile. As you now know, that means you can create different variations on the theme of an Ethernet channel. T568A pin-outs are the most commonly used but either will work so long as both ends of the cable are similarly wired.

Shielding is essential, as it protects the copper wires against electromagnetic interference caused by other cables, fluorescent lights, appliances, motors, and so on.The diameter or gauge of a cable's conductor is referred to using American Wire Gauge (AWG) standard sizes.

A CAT 5 cable is best for 100Mbps or slower plans, while CAT 5a cables and newer are ideal for 200Mbps and faster. The most general solution to EMI (electromagnetic interference) is to use twisted conductors (four pairs) and it has been proven to work over the years. Instead of risking damaging the hard-to-replace port on your device, the extension lead could take the brunt of it, leaving you with a much cheaper replacement to worry about.A riser is a vertical shaft between floors for electrical wiring, water pipes, and voice or data cabling. This is assuming your ambient temperature is 68 degrees F or below, and you are using solid copper Ethernet cable with a conductor gauge of 22 to 24 AWG. If you don’t want to use wireless but aren’t sold on traditional Ethernet, there are a few different variations of Ethernet you can use.