# STP or UTP, in regards to Home Theater, Home Networking and HDMI over Ethernet ?



## ahmadka (Nov 27, 2010)

Hi guys, so I have another confusion to settle .... I need to know if I should use STP or UTP cables for connectivity in my home. Done significant reading on this already, and it seems that STP cables are generally recommendable for outdoor or industrial use, or where "there's a lot of RF interference". Problem is, I don't know if the 3rd clause applies to me or not. I say this because in my HT room, I have a 4" tall skirting running all around the room which will be used for cabling placement. Inside this space, I will have a bunch of cables running, which includes HDMI cables (2 or 3), Ethernet (4 or 5), USB cables (2 or 3) and Power cables (2 or 3). The Power cables I'll use will be shielded, however I don't know if that will be enough or not. Would this close proximity to a shielded power cable warrant the use STP over UTP ?

Within my HT room, I'll also be running Ethernet cables for HDMI over Ethernet use in the future, so I need to know if STP is really needed for this or not.

Additionally, I also want to network internet connectivity for all floors in my home (4 floors), and will be passing the cable through conduits inside walls. The conduits may or may not come close to any power cables.

So given all this info, should I use STP or UTP ?

STP cables also seem to require grounding for effective use. I honestly don't know if I'll be able to ground them or not.


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

Generally there’s no need for shielded cable in a residential setting. “A lot of RE interference” means if you live next door to radio or TV broadcast towers, or something like that. 

Power cables generate EMI, not RFI, so the latter is not a concern. AFAIK Ethernet is a balanced-signal protocol (similar to balanced audio signals) and as such is pretty robust and resistant to external interference. If interference from power cables was an issue, I expect that STP would be pretty much universal in commercial or residential settings, where network cabling often runs in close proximity to Romex.

As far as using Ethernet cable for HDMI, just follow the manufacturer’s recommendations. If they don’t specifically mention STP, it means they don’t think it’s a concern.

Regards, 
Wayne


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## ahmadka (Nov 27, 2010)

Thanks for that. Given that info, I think it would be better if I just went with UTP after all ..

What about factory made short STP patch cables (various lengths between 3 ft ~ 15 ft which I've already purchased from Monoprice) ? Is it okay to run them in parallel alongside long UTP cables and a few power cables within the same 4" tall skirting running around the HT room? Or should I use UTP cables in their place too ? I ask because I read somewhere that STP cables can 'attract' interference and possibly cause problems in nearby cables too. I just don't know if this occurs in the presence of factory made STP cables or not.

Also, do factory made STP cables also require grounding ? I don't see any ground wire coming out of them which you'd connect to ground.


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

There isn’t going to be any problem running the two different cable types parallel with each other, or with power cables either. Can’t comment on the attracting interference concern; I’d suggest going to the site you saw that for clarity. As far as grounding, I assume all that is only relevant to the industrial environments these cables were originally designed for and as such has no relevance to a residential application.

Regards,
Wayne


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