Teach me about LAN hubs

Makes sense... I just wasn't sure how much of the noise cancellation was due to the fact that the third conductor was a shield.

I also hope to be able to do the boxes with Ethercon instead of RJ.  For the hardwiring and getting the runs done from the switch, of course RJs are fine, but given the abuse that the connections will see in a theater setting, I'd rather have the connections not rely on a tiny piece of brittle plastic.  Let's just say I have a large collection of cat5 cables with gaff tape on the end to hold them in the plug.  Hopefully Ethercon doesn't break the bank.

Curtis said:

I also hope to be able to do the boxes with Ethercon instead of RJ.  For the hardwiring and getting the runs done from the switch, of course RJs are fine, but given the abuse that the connections will see in a theater setting, I'd rather have the connections not rely on a tiny piece of brittle plastic.  Let's just say I have a large collection of cat5 cables with gaff tape on the end to hold them in the plug.  Hopefully Ethercon doesn't break the bank.

RJ jacks are fairly robust and unlikely to get hurt, and RJ plugs are on patch cables. Patch cables are a consumable, once the end gets buggered up, throw the patch cable away and move on with life. It'll also mean either buying really expensive ethercon-terminated patch cables, or making your own. RJ-terminated patch cables are so cheap they're practically giving them away.

You'll spend $20 per jack to have ethercon jacks, compared to $1.50 per keystone RJ45. Figure 36-48 jacks in the theater room, and you're at $800 more expensive to have the nice jacks. Your call on whether there's better places to spend that $800.

If you are really adverse to navigating the crawlspace, you might want to consider running many more cable runs than you think you need.  Essentially, you are creating a network room.  After a few times of having to revisit cabling to install another piece of equipment, I usually installed several additional cable runs - not terminated, just run and secured.  If I was installing conduit for cabling, I ran the largest conduit I could fit and left pull strings.

Cable is cheap.  Your time is not.  Over install your cable runs, it won't hurt and might make a huge difference later. 

I actually found Ethercon connectors for $2.31 each for quantities over 50.  They are Neutrik brand sold by Full Compass.  Not sure if they're any good.  That's more like $125 which I wouldn't mind at all.  The real cost is in the panel side.  Punch-down Ethercon panel mounts are about $10 a piece for the Neutrik brand.

Cable is cheap.  Your time is not.  Over install your cable runs, it won't hurt and might make a huge difference later. 

You make a very wise point.  Although (joking), I do work for a non-profit theater, so according to my paychecks my time IS pretty cheap 

Well, you 'learned' me... I'd never heard of Ethercon before. That said, I agree that patch cables are a consumable. Monoprice ones cost the same as your Ethercon connector... for the whole thing. 

I'm still available if you want to bounce any ideas over the phone. 

I'm sure I'll call a couple of you some day out of the blue.  Things are a bit nuts here at the theater.  Show opening next week, then a big tour needs to be built for April.  Hopefully I'll get time in April to tackle this.

I really appreciate the amazing help and offers from all of you.  I'll have to put your names in our program.

"Special thanks to TenToeTurbo, Greg the Halfdork, CJ, the_machina, dculberson, Mr Bent Wrench, esq, et al"