CAT5 STP cabling

Soldato
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I've just bought some of this in pre-assembled form (Belkin). Unfortunately I need to route it through a wall so one of the very nice looking plugs will need to be cut off.

Obviously when I recrimp it there will be the 'tin foil wrap' that surrounds each pair.

What should I do with this? I've never crimped STP before :o

Will it matter (in terms of shielding efficiency) that one end of the cable is not going to be earthed?


PS: It's being used with a HDMI->Cat5/6->HDMI adapter boxes hence why I opted for STP to improve the chances of getting full 1080p!
 
Man of Honour
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I'm far from an expert myself but my understanding (from by tame expert) is that most people don't understand how to use STP cabling and it's apparently fairly useless unless the entire run is shielded.

Given that, I'm not sure how much it'll matter whether you crimp the shielding properly or not.

That said, this is second hand info and I can't (be bothered to) verify it, so I could be wrong. Just thought I'd say it as the guy did a lot of datacenter cabling for me and seemed to know his stuff.
 
Soldato
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The whole run will be shielded except for one plug end. So about an inch.

I just looked and it turns out you can buy shielded RJ45 plugs anyway. Didn't know this :o So if there is a problem I can always recrimp using a shielded plug.
 
Man of Honour
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The whole run will be shielded except for one plug end. So about an inch.

I just looked and it turns out you can buy shielded RJ45 plugs anyway. Didn't know this :o So if there is a problem I can always recrimp using a shielded plug.

I imagine it'll make sod all difference if your HDMI to CAT5 converter isn't shielded too. Like I say though, I'm no expert. I have been told that it doesn't matter if you're entire cabling system is shielded if you use a unshielded 50cm patch lead in a patch rack somewhere. How true this is I've no means of knowing.

Either way, I really don't think it'll actually make much difference no matter what you do, unless you're running it next to a high voltage cable...
 
Soldato
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It will go close to a 240v cable that powers an outdoor light - but only for a short distance and I'll try to keep it as far away as possible.

The HDMI boxes are made of metal so presumably this will shield them slightly?

It sounds like I've gone STP crazy but I haven't. I just bought it as it was only a couple quid more expensive and I thought it might be worth it if it makes the difference between a stuttering 1080p image and a crystal clear 1080p image :)
 
Man of Honour
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End of the day I reckon you'll be fine. For a couple of quid STP cable is probably worth it for the hell of it, an outdoor light shouldn't be any kind of problem, it's more appliances with motors which generate interference (washing machines are a favourite). So yeah, I wouldn't worry - I'd be far more concerned about having a hand terminated cable come to think of it! (not to question your cable terminating prowess but they're never as good as pre-made!)
 
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