I am looking to get a home ethernet network installed in my 2 story townhouse. Essentially it would include network connections in each of the 3 bedrooms bedroom (2 in the master and study) and several connections downstairs with the new gigabit switch (see my thread from earlier in the week) located in the garage (which backs onto the loungeroom).

Should I go for Cat 5e or Cat 6?
Has anyone else done something similar and has a ballpark cost of a professional installation?
Would I be better to install most of it myself and get a professional to sign it off?
Are professional installers likely to do a sign off?
Any other tips?

I did my perants house a few years back. there were 7 connection points all together. 6 in different rooms all leading to one big node in the main study which lead to a switch and then went to a file server. For this house it was fairly painless because we had wooden floor boards and excellent access to under the house, lots of crawling around getting dirty(but thats where the fun is ). worked really well. We used Cat 5e. Id hate to do my current city house though, its on a concrete slab. You might be in the same boat as me. some info about your house would be good. you might have to start from the roof and work your way down the walls

read this out and make up your won mind:
Compare the Cat5e vs Cat6 Cabling Standard

I ran cat5e cable from my office to my lounge about 18 months ago (about 30 metres away) and recently completed the connection and it works wonderfully. If i was doing it today I'd go with cat6 though...

Might sound slightly weird, but do Macs support Cat6?

professional installers will charge approximately $75 per termination. Cat 5 endorsed cabling license required to guarantee work.

Clipsal wall plate $9each, RJ45 insert $10 each Cat 5e cable about $2m (charged) + labour.

Prepare to be flamed...

stupid comment.

Here is the answer.

[Q] What is the difference between CAT 6 and CAT 5e cable?

[A] Currently there is a great deal of confusion among Ethernet cable buyers concerning whether to purchase Cat5e, or to use Cat6. Most of this confusion comes from a misunderstanding by the buyer that buying Cat6 cable will give them an "all gigabit" network. This is not the case. Unless every single component in the network is gigabit rated, then you will never have a gigabit network, because your network will always run at the speed of your slowest device. Cat5e cable of good quality can run near or at gigabit speeds, it just cannot be "certified" for this use. By comparison, Cat6 is designed especially for gigabit use, and is certified to operate at said speed. It becomes a matter of whether or not you want to pay all that extra money, for little or no noticeable improvement in the performance of you network. In most cases, it makes more sense to go with Cat5e. It is for this reason that most of your new installations in the private sector are going with Cat5e. It is more economical, performs well, and is readily available in many colors. Many IT professionals when asked about why they specified Cat6 for a specific job, often responded stated that they "wanted the best they could get." This is the line of thought behind many purchases of cable. The average consumer often times is not aware that there is no real benefit to them to use Cat6, so they let someone talk them in to buying it. CAT 5 Cable Company is committed to helping people make good decisions about cable purchases and we are always standing by to help you.

Okay so I asked the question slightly oddly. I guess it should have been "Will my current collection of iMac c2d, iMac cd, Macbook c2d, Cube, and PS3 gain anything from going to CAT6?"

I'm pretty sure I'd get next to no advantage from using it.

The townhouse is brick veneer and does not have a concrete slab. I have access to both the ceiling and underfloor so wiring downstairs/garage is not a problem.
With a gigabit switch I suggest you would be limited to the speed of your hard disks. Cat 5e will allow gigabit speeds. Cat 6 is designed for 10GB speeds. From the replies in this thread I am struggling to find a reason to install Cat 6 in the home.

That is good information to know. I think for most of us Cat5 would suffice , but if I was building my own home , I'd install Cat6 and buy everything including computers etc brand new.
I remember comparing the cost of the cable about two years ago and Cat6 was nearly three times the amount per lineal metre. Anyone have a recent cost comparison?

Stewie

Sorry to eaves-drop into this conversation, but I have similar questions too

So, if all my devices were gigabit rated, then I'd get the best speeds via Cat6, or will Cat5e still do for my needs?

Needs: I plan to add a LAN point in the lounge room and either plug in a Mac Mini (wish-ware) or a wireless extender for video streaming to the tv and/or laptop).

Ang

CAT5e and CAT6 will get around the same speeds. However, if you were chucking cables in a wall, I'd go CAT6 for any type of futureproofing.

CAT6 cable is only $1.50/m CAT5e is $1/m down at Jaycar

I had my folks house cabled with Cat5 probably about 10 years ago now. At that stage wireless didnt exist in affordable measure so it wasnt an option. I think all in all we paid around $400. That was for two ports running to my bedroom, two to my brothers, and two to the living room. They all ran back to my dads study. In there we had Telstra Cable (which was truely unlimited back then, no limits at all), the a mate of mine who organised the person to do the cabling setup an old PC running Linux to act as a router/web server/file storage.
Was a pretty impressive setup to have at home a good 10 years ago.

It's about 20c/m if you buy in bulk. I bought 700metres of 5e about 6 years ago for less than $250. I've lost 300 metres of it somewhere but still have one box

Where'd ya buy it from?