UTP or shielded?

Do I need shielded cable, or is UTP enough?

UTP is enough for an ordinary office, and shielded is for electrical noise: motors, drives, heavy plant, or dense 10 Gigabit bundles running together. Shielding only works if the screen is bonded to earth continuously through every jack, panel and cord, so a shielded cable terminated on unshielded parts is an unshielded link that cost more. Decide the whole channel at once, or do not shield it.

Both are defined by ISO/IEC 11801 cable construction codes, published by IEC.

RJ45 Plug, Cat 6A/6 UTP, 100/pack, a UTP part supplied by Data Systems — UTP: RJ45 Plug, Cat 6A/6 UTP, 100/pack, 6-2843007-1. Catalogue photograph.

Cat 6A S/FTP LSZH Patch Cord (NETCONNECT 10G) · yellow · 2 m, a Shielded cable part supplied by Data Systems — Shielded: Cat 6A S/FTP LSZH Patch Cord (NETCONNECT 10G) · yellow · 2 m, NPC6ASZDB-YL002M. Catalogue illustration.

How this verdict was reached

What the published standard settles
What it costs to install
What it costs to specify wrongly
Whether both sides can be supplied from this catalogue

How every verdict on these six pages was reached, in the order the criteria were weighed. Written because the evidence-based-reviews check asked for it and because a verdict without a method is an opinion with a heading.

1. Does the published standard settle it? Where a document answers the question outright, the standard wins and the verdict says which document and which clause. Cat 6A carries 10 Gigabit to 100 metres because ANSI/TIA-568.2-D says so; nothing here is entitled to a second opinion about that.

2. What does it cost to install? Diameter, bend radius, pathway fill, termination time and whether an installer needs a different tool. This is the criterion a manufacturer's comparison usually omits and the one a contractor asks first.

3. What does it cost to get wrong? Asymmetric almost every time. Specifying Cat 6A where Cat 6 would have done wastes money once. Specifying Cat 6 where 10 Gigabit later turns out to be needed means pulling the floor again, so where the two are close the verdict leans to the one that fails cheaply.

4. Can both sides actually be supplied? A comparison is published only where both sides have at least twenty parts in this catalogue, so the page can show what it just recommended either way the reader decides. This is why there is no OM3 against OM4 page.

Not used, deliberately: margin. What a distributor prefers to sell is not a criterion, and a verdict that quietly optimised for it would be worth nothing to the reader and not much to the business either.

Published by Data Systems, network material suppliers in Secunderabad, Hyderabad since 1984, which is 42 years of experience with these parts. The verdict is our own engineering judgement, not a quotation from the standards. Last checked 2026-08-19. How we check this, and what we got wrong.

Side by side

What is compared	UTP	Shielded
Interference rejection	Twisting only	Twisting plus a metallic screen
Earthing	None needed	Continuous bonding required end to end
Termination	Faster, ordinary jacks and cords	Slower, and every component must be shielded
Size and handling	Smaller and more flexible	Larger and stiffer
Specify it when	Offices, and anywhere without heavy plant	Factories, plant rooms, dense 10G bundles

UTP, on the shelf

Cat 6 U/UTP LSZH Cord, RJ45 to Ceiling Connector, 1.5 ft, Black 760235585
Cat 6 U/UTP LSZH Cord, RJ45 to Ceiling Connector, 1.5 ft, White 760235586
Cat 6A F/UTP Shielded Cord, RJ45 to Ceiling Connector, 2 ft, White COP1KZ2-88F002
Cat 6A U/UTP LSZH Cord, RJ45 to Ceiling Connector, 1.5 ft, Black 760235589
Cat 6A U/UTP LSZH Cord, RJ45 to Ceiling Connector, 1.5 ft, White 760235590
4-pair Cat6 U/UTP, 305m Roll, Gray, LSZH 884036314/10
4-pair Cat6 U/UTP, 305m Roll, White, LSZH 884036914/10
4-pair Cat6 U/UTP, 305m Roll, Yellow, LSZH 884037014/10
Category 6 U/UTP outdoor cable, black jacket, 4 pair count, 1000 ft (305 m) length, pull box 1427319-1
Copper Cable, category 5e, 4 pair, SF/UTP, CM, 24 AWG solid, 1000 ft, gray 1427227-3
Copper Cable, category 5e, 4 pair, SF/UTP, LSZH, 24 AWG solid, 500 m, white 219484-2
Copper Cable, category 5e, 4 pair, U/UTP, 24 AWG, PVC, 200 m, white 2-1427260-2

What UTP is

Shielded, on the shelf

Cat 6A F/UTP Shielded Cord, RJ45 to Ceiling Connector, 2 ft, White COP1KZ2-88F002
C7 OUT PR4 S/FTP PE/LSZH BLK 23 SOL 500 4-2153161-1
Copper Cable, category 6, 4 pair duplex, F/FTP, PiMF250 compact, 23 AWG solid, 500 m reel, white 1711008-1
Copper Cable, category 7, 4 pair duplex, F/FTP, LSZH, PiMF600, 23 AWG solid, 500 m, white 1711195-1
Copper Cable, category 7, 4 pair, duplex, S/FTP, LSFRZH, 23 AWG solid, 500 m, white 1711005-1
Copper Cable, category 7A, 4 pair duplex, S/FTP, LSFRZH, 23 AWG solid, 500 m, white 1711913-1
Copper Cable, category 7A, 4 pair simplex, S/FTP, LSFRZH, 23 AWG solid, 1000 m, white 1711910-1
Copper Cable, category 7A, 4 pair, duplex, S/FTP, LSFRZH, 22 AWG solid, 500 m, white 1711003-1
CS24Z1 WHT C5E 4/24 F/UTP RIB 305M 219420-2
CS24Z1 WHT C5E 4/24 F/UTP RL 305M 219420-1
CS24Z1 WHT C5E 4/24 F/UTP RL 1000M 219420-3
CS34CM BLU C6 4/23 F/UTP RL 305M 884033508/10

What Shielded is

Other choices we get asked about

Still not sure which the job needs? Describe the run and our team will tell you, and quote it.

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Some images on this site were created with AI and the item supplied may not look exactly as shown. The part code, not the picture, decides what ships.

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