What are your recommendations for LAN cabling

Technical Assessment:

Lan cables have four conductor pairs (8 wires) arranged in twisted pairs. Refer the nomenclature below for cables:

In the local market you would get 2 types of cables readily viz. cat 5e and cat6 and two cable types on demand viz. cat6a anbd cat7. Also two types of cables based on how they handle crosstalk between pairs and EMI between cables viz. shielded or unshielded. Plus you may see some non-standard grades like cat 6e/6+ etc. So which one to use ?

1. First of all avoid shielded cables (F/UTP, S/UTP, SF/UTP, F/FTP, S?FTP, ertc) of any grade. They are required in High EM environments like Hospitals, industrial environments, data centers, etc where their are lot of densly packed equipment d that *constantly* emits EM radiations. They are absolutely not required in most offices and almost all homes, unless ofcourse you are running a diagnostic lab from your home. cat7 is shielded by default and that strikes it of the list. In general only U/UTP cable (un-shielded twisted pair) should be used as they satisfy residential need completely
2. Cat 5e can do 100 mbps Ethernet till 100m and 1000 mbps (gigabit) Ethernet till 33m. Most cables  in apartment are less than this length but a few in 4 BHK/Penthouse may exceed this. this cable type cannot support the upcoming 10 gigabit Ethernet. So its better to avoid this also with an eye on future though it is just good enough as of today.
3. That leaves cat 6 UTP, 6e/6+ and cat6a.  Cat6 UTP can do gigabit Ethernet till 100m and 10GbE till 33m safely and often upto 55m based on cable quality. For 3 BHK it is probably future safe as each cable will most likely not exceed 33m.  Cat 6e/6+ (an enhancement over cat6 with 30-40% more headroom in performance parameters over cat6 UTP) can do 10 GbE upto 55m safely (perhaps slightly more). So is safer for large 4 BHks and penthouses. The price difference of cat6 compared to cat 5e is no more than 20-30%., while cat 6e/6+ will cost you 20% extra over regular Cat6 UTP
4. Cat 6a UTP cable is rare in market and is considerably thicker (i.5 times the diameter & and more stiffer) than Cat 6 UTP. This posses significant challenges in laying the cables as thgicker conduits are required with better bend radius. In US the costs are 20-35% more than cat 6 UTP, but in india, its more than 2 times costly (possibly a consequence of no local manufacturing and only import). As of 2016 beginning, it makes  little sense to invest (that too for 4 BHK/PH), but this may change in future. It also seems as little overkill as cat 6a jacks and connectors are required which are almost 10 times more expensive 

The telecom committee therefore recommends cat 6e/6+ cabling for 4BHK/PH and at-least cat 6 UTP for 1/2/3 BHK  homes (better if you can go for cat 6a).  4BHK/PH can use cat 6 UTP if the wiring electrician recommends that length are lesser than 33m.

Price and Availability:

Cat 6 UTP is readily available off the counter for Rs 4500-5500 for a 305m box (based on brand) and Rs. 1700-800 for 100m box (only Dlink sells 100m box). You may but shorter lengths by paying 10-15% extra per meter from local electrical and computer shops or you can buy a box and sell remaining to others or few of owners can get together and share if lesser lengths are required. 

Cat6e/6+ retails for Rs. 6500/- to Rs. 8000/- for a 305m bundle. Its only on order, may not come in shorter lengths (less than a 305m box) and you may need to wait 1-2 weeks for delivery. Cat 6A costs 12500/- to 14500/- plus tax. It maybe available in some shops, but mostly its on order like cat 6e/6+.

Note: There are not many home applications today that demand 10 GbE (its not mass market technology for home but common in data center) and therefore prices are insane. 10 GbE port costs upto $200 per port and upwards of $1500 for switches. At-least for next 5 years their seems to be little use case of having a 10GbE LAN in residential environment. Even 4K or 8K video encoded with H.264 may not be able to stress a link more than 100 mbps. 3D does not exceed 2 times of 2D digital video (often 1.4 times only).

- Suman Kumar Luthra @ APRC-P3 Telecom Sub-Committee