Quote Originally Posted by jasonrudolph View Post
my guess would be shielded is better than non shielded. You mentioned cat6 instead of cat5 earlier, this probably wont matter, as these systems dont actually use ethernet, they are just using the cabling to get the signal from place to place, however the shielded cable will help with noise reduction over the run most likely.
The only problem with shielded cable is that it acts more like a grounding shield than an RF shield. This is great if you need to avoid voltage differentials between points but for this scenario it doesn't apply. In fact, if you use shielded cable you are more likely to create a ground loop which will introduce or attract more noise than it eliminates.

As for Cat6 vs. Cat5.... Technically the KVM or Video over ethernet solutions do not use TCP/IP. They use a different differential communication all together which is not even related to standard ethernet packets. In any case. The specific choice is Cat5e (look for the 'e') because Cat5e has a higher rating than regular Cat5 and is less subject to noise and has a greater longevity for distance.

I only know this because I happen to be a lighting/video guy who also has CCIE certifications.