What you should normally buy is either Category 5 Enhanced (???Cat 5E???)
or Category 6 (???Cat 6???) cable. Either of these cable types will handle both Fast
Ethernet (100 Mbps) and Gigabit Ethernet (up to 1 Gbps) speeds??”plenty even
for streaming video. Cat 5E is fine for Gigabit Ethernet networks, but having Cat 6
cable may allow faster data rates with other technologies in the future.
note
caution
Project 9: Build a Wired Network in Your Home 93
Wall Plates
When you bring a cable into another room, you can simply crimp an Ethernet connector
onto the end, and then plug that connector into your PC. But what??™s neater and
more flexible is to use a wall plate, a plate or box that attaches to the wall and contains
one or more Ethernet sockets. You then plug an Ethernet cable into the wall plate and
into your PC. Because you can use different lengths of Ethernet cable, you can place
the PC wherever you need it in the room.
You can buy wall plates with a single socket, two sockets, four sockets, and so on.
Figure 9-3 shows a four-socket wall plate with cables plugged into two sockets. Each
socket requires its own cable running to the wall plate and back to the switch??”you
can??™t share cables among the sockets. You can leave surplus sockets unconnected if you
don??™t need them for the time being, but given the effort you??™re probably putting into cabling
the network, connecting them all at the same time normally makes most sense.
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