CAT5e or CAT6?

[lunadesign]

I'm building a new house and have a great opportunity to wire it up before the walls are finished. I'm hoping to live in this house for 20-30 years so I'd like to make sure whatever I put in is as future-proof as reasonably possible. I plan to use Gigabit over copper since I'm moving large files around (5-15GB) a fair amount and want to do VOIP and whole house media. So, should I go with CAT5e or CAT6 cabling?

Many thanks in advance...

[Greenstead]

cat5E is sufficient. But use shielded cable for long runs especially where you might come close to power cables. Also note the need for all four twisted pairs to be connected.
There is a good guide here to gigabit cabling issues:
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/Sections-article41-page4.php

But note, technology is moving so fast you can't see >5 years ahead. IMO I fully expect we will need terabit networks 5+ years from now. So most important is to make provision for re-cabling (probably with fibre) without disrupting the house too much. Also, high speed wireless will probably make your cable redundent in the short term, but it will never reach fibre speeds.

[oldtimerbob]

I would suggest having 'flex' or conduit 'home runs' installed to your break out box for each connection type, voice or data and use the highest grade cable you can afford.
The flex should be large enough to allow for other media types also to run into the same outlet ( I would recommed at 1 1/2 inch).....This would also allow for up grades and changes later on....good luck