Grounding is done on one end only - at the patch panel. The patch panel is grounded to the rack, and the rack needs to be grounded through a ground lug to the ground point provided by the rack manufacturer to building ground. Here are the reasons why Cat6 shielded patch panels need to be grounded and the potential issues caused by improper grounding: Effective Shielding Performance: Static Discharge: Signal Integrity:. Choose an unshielded patch panel when your environment is “normal” (office, IDF/MDF, clean data hall), your cable routes are sane, and you want fast installs with fewer grounding variables. I'll also have a couple Ubiquiti APs powered by the switch through the patch panel. My question is, do I need to worry about grounding the patch panel? I will only be using Cat6 cable along with some of the cat5e. A Cat6 shielded patch panel is a modular component that connects and organizes multiple Ethernet cables in a central location. Unlike unshielded panels, shielded patch panels feature a conductive metal body and a grounding terminal to block EMI and maintain network integrity. I would presume that the ground in the cable is connected to the ground in the connector when the cable is built, and that the grounding in the connector contacts the metal frame of the switch. The cable is shielded, the keystones are shielded, and the patch panel is shielded.