# Shielded vs Unshielded Cat 5e cable



## Bgarrett74 (Feb 3, 2016)

Hello, 
I purchased some Tecnec cat 5e cable for use with a Gefen DVI extender. Here is the link to the Tecnec cable:

https://www.markertek.com/product/t...proshell-for-long-life-field-deployment-200ft

The cat 5e cable is made with the DataTuff Belden 7923a Twisted pair cable. I didn't realize that the cables were unshielded when I purchased them. They say that they are "stage ready" and "road worthy" so I assumed that they would be protected from EMI. The DVI extender is a Gefen EXT-DVI-CAT5-ELR. The manual says that unshielded cat 5e is fine to use but they prefer shielded cat 5e. I don't have a lot of experience the different types of ethernet cables. My question is has anyone used these cables and what was the results? Do you think I will have bad results with the unshielded cable? I will be using these cables in a theater show. So there will be plenty of lighting gear and electricity in the area. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Bg


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## NickVon (Feb 22, 2016)

It was my understanding that all Cat5e is "shielded" to some extent based on the twisting of the pairs. I Believe Cat6, in addition to doing a similar thing also shields all the way to the connector and wraps all the pairs in a foil jacket. Genfen boxes I've rented in the past did indicate that Cat6 is whats' supported for the "maximum" run distance they advertise for their products.


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## themuzicman (Feb 22, 2016)

NickVon said:


> It was my understanding that all Cat5e is "shielded" to some extent based on the twisting of the pairs.



Twisted Pair and Shielded Cable are two different things. Cat5 by definition is a twisted pair cable. The twists help cancel out external EMI and also reduce crosstalk in neighboring pairs. Shielded Cat5 has a foil wrapper around the core and at both ends terminates into a part of the connector to ground the connection. Shielded is a little more expensive in both the cable and the connector. If a piece of gear states it needs shielded cable, it's best to listen to the box - most of the time I see this for bandwidth intensive things that needs to eliminate as much interference to maintain reliability. If it says "recommended" it'll work without, but if you are having reliability issues and suspect there is a source of interference, shielded cable will make things a little more reliable.


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