Twisted Pair networking cable
Depending on the building configuration and the cable’s traject you will need to use UTP or STP.
STP stands for Shielded Twisted Pair and is mostly used outdoors or when running the cable near electromagnetic sources. The shield helps remove the unwanted interference. It has to be properly grounded otherwise it will make you communication worse. If you decide to go with STP, you need to use shielded RJ45 connectors and properly ground your switch. Using STP is not a do it yourself network installation.
UTP, Unshielded Twisted Pairs, is the most common networking cable and it produced in various grades/categories, (Cat 3, Cat 5, Cat 5e, Cat 6, and Cat 7) . The higher the grade the better the properties of the cable, hence the higher the speed that can be obtained on that cable. UTP cable can be purchased in large spindles at stores that specialize in cabling. The most common type is Cat 5 that supports networks up to 100Mb. Note that for a Gigabit network is not enough to use Cat 6 cable, you also need to use the right connectors and jacks, which is very often overlooked.
Networking UTP cable is a media that consists of eight wires twisted in pairs to reduce interference. The wires inside the UTP cable can be solid or stranded and they have different applications. The stranded wire cable is used for patch cables, which require flexibility and does not put mechanical stress on the jack or the equipment connectors and are able to withstand frequent plugging/unplugging from connections. The solid wire cable is used for long distances and connects in solid terminations such as patch panels, or the wall-mounted jack. The solid wire is cheaper, connects better and easier in patch panels and is a better match for long distances were flexibility of the cable is not an issue.
Never use flat cable for Ethernet cabling and avoid cheap UTP cable as you will run into various problems such as: wire is too thin and cannot be properly inserted, solid cable is too rigid and it breaks easily, very poor quality overall.
