Abitana over cat 7 cable?

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  • zerozero
    Automated Home Lurker
    • Jan 2012
    • 2

    Abitana over cat 7 cable?

    Hi guys, am looking at wiring my house and have come across the Abitana system. Trouble is that I want to ensure I properly future proof it and understand that the current abitana proprietary cabling is mostly cat 5e and then one pair of cat7(ish) spec.

    Is there any good reason why I can't install current cat7 cable? I'm sure Abitana will tell me that I can't (it won't be guaranteed) but is there really any practical reasons why I can't?

    Here are a couple of the cat 7 / 7a cables that I'm considering for comparison





    and the abitana spec's are



    unfortunately I don't really understand enough about the tech depths of cabling to understand the difference.

    abitana cable appears to be £130 p/100m and I can get even the cat 7a for 70 p/100m and I think it will be more future proof (although I have to buy a km of that one!! )

    Appreciate any guidance!
  • toscal
    Moderator
    • Oct 2005
    • 2061

    #2
    The only thing I can think of that would prevent it, is the way the shielding is done. The Abitana RJ45 sockets are designed to use the omni-media cable, so you may not get as good a connection for the shielding. Also some of the modules may not work as planned. Best way to find out is to see if you can get a sample of the Abitana cable and an RJ45 connector and some cat 7 cable.
    Looking on the Minitran (Abitana's main distributer in the UK) the cable is the KP1003 rather than the KP1004. The main difference is that the 1003 only has 1 pair that can take the higher frequencies rather than the 1004 which can take the higher frequencies on all pairs it seems.
    Personally the Omnimedia cable is OK and the way technology is moving, I don't think fitting CAT7 instead of the omnimedia cable will make you any more future proof. Mind you I am a bit biased as I am a certified Abitana installer
    After all CAT5e will do gigabit ethernet.

    The next leap in ethernet speed will probably mean fibre optic cabling. But the average home pc probably wouldn't be able to handle the data rate anyway, well not for the foreseeable future at least and at a reasonable cost.
    IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
    Renovation Spain Blog

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    • pocky
      Automated Home Jr Member
      • Oct 2007
      • 19

      #3
      You can use the Cat7 or Cat7A cable with the abitana sockets and cabinets. I personally would rather use the Dätwyler cables (personal experience!)
      The abitana RJ45 sockets should fit the cable and if you follow the instructions shielding will connect.

      Advantages are, as you stated, that you have the higher performance on all four pairs and not just one pair (And the TIA and ISO/IEC and or BS Category standards do state that the lowest specifications applies, so the "one pair Cat7" claim is b.... as the cable is effectively only an expensive Cat5)

      The advantage of any twisted pair cabling with a higher spec than Cat5 in a domestic environment is not the data rate it can transport but the bandwidth it can carry. So being able to carry UHF/TV signals of 862MHz on four instead of one pair is an advantage.

      You could also have a look at the BKS HomeNet system as alternative to abitana.

      Comment

      • zerozero
        Automated Home Lurker
        • Jan 2012
        • 2

        #4
        Thanks guys,
        Pocky, is the shielding equivalent on the cat7? I notice that the abitana cable is double shielded with foil where cat7a is a braid. I don't understand the figures in the graph and not sure if that is the whole picture either. Of course I want to ensure that I get something that will work well now and in the future and testing it as suggested by toscal will only test it for now. If the shielding is actually more effective on the abitana than the cat7a then perhaps I should go that way anyway (as I believe tv signals are more susceptible to loss)

        I hadn't seen the BKS homenet system, thanks for calling it out. However I couldn't find a great deal of clear information and examples as I could on the abitana site. And also I couldn't find anywhere to buy it in English (the bks online site is not in English). What are the main pro's / con's between abitana and the bks homenet - does anyone have a comparison review or first hand experience?

        Thanks again!

        Comment

        • pocky
          Automated Home Jr Member
          • Oct 2007
          • 19

          #5
          Shielding of the Dätwyler is equal to Cat7 (I think even Cat7A). Any Cat7 or Cat7A cable has a foil pair shielding and overall braid shielding. If it doesn't it isn't Cat7 or Cat7A So having all four pairs individually shielded as compared to abitana one pair has to be more effective.

          As to BKS HomeNet, have a look at www.UKHomeNet.co.uk for more details.

          As to BKS HomeNet versus abitana.
          pro HomeNet: One can use more than one pair per cable for TV. It carries native Satellite signal which abitana can't. So you could put your SKY+ box inside a room or at the central hub. You can mix and match the services yourself. So if you want to use two phones and one PC you just need the appropriate connection cables. HomeNet does not use its own active devices such as TV splitter. It will connect to any 3rd party product. That means greater flexibility and (price) competition on the "gadget front"
          con HomeNet: Proprietor connector but on the market since 1996 with more than 5 million connectors sold. And in the very worst case you can always cut the connector of and put others on it, but you would still have a high class (<Cat7A) cable.

          Hope that helps. You can also PM me

          Comment

          • TimH
            Automated Home Legend
            • Feb 2004
            • 509

            #6
            I've not got experience of the Abitana or other systems so have no axe to grind either way, however my observations are these:
            # satellite-grade coax cable is cheap-as-chips if you install it at the same time as your other cabling; it's certainly cheaper than "fancy" twisted pair cable
            # while you may be very happy to have adaptors between your "fancy" twisted pair cable and satellite box, it may well blow the mind of the next owner of your house, and their Sky (etc.) installer. While in reality it is not complicated to explain, to a complete technophobe you might as well be speaking Klingon...

            So, putting in coax now, even if you don't connect it up, keeps your own options open and allows you to tell future buyers that you also have the "standard" cables installed as well, if they don't like/want the "unusual" twisted pair, multiservice cable option.

            Terminating coax is easy, terminating cat5/5e is still DIY-able.
            Can you reliably terminate Abitana and/or Cat7x cables in a home environment without expensive tooling? (I genuinely don't know the answer to that one)

            HTH,
            Tim.
            My Flickr Photos

            Comment

            • toscal
              Moderator
              • Oct 2005
              • 2061

              #7
              Abitana cable is easy to terminate as the RJ45 sockets require no special tools other than a decent pair of side cutters. You just match the relevant colour of wire to the coloured slot insert then once all are done, snip off the excess and screw cover on, this presses the wires into their homes and thats it. I find I can do about 15 Abitana sockets in the same time it takes me to do 10 normal. And when you are doing 50 plus this is quite a time saver, plus no expensive tools required. Mind you the side cutters I have cost 35 pounds, but they are now 6 years old.
              IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
              Renovation Spain Blog

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