At my last house I wired everything Cat6 and it was so nice to have a wired network everywhere all going to a central location. Since I moved to the new house a few months ago, I've been stuck on wireless and while wireless mostly works, I really want to get back to having everything wired.

 

I have been debating on whether to go with Cat6 or Cat6a. Is there a compelling reason to get Cat6a over Cat6 when my longest run is around 55ft? Most runs are actually between 25ft and 40ft. For those distances, 10Gb should be possible with Cat6, right? Not that I am planning on 10Gb now, but I suppose it's possible in the future.

You will have no issue getting 10GB at that distance.  In a home environment you won't notice any difference if it is quality cable.

You will have no issue getting 10GB at that distance.  In a home environment you won't notice any difference if it is quality cable.

 

Thanks. That's what I was thinking, but I've read some opinions where people were saying that it absolutely should be Cat6a. Just made me a little nervous and once I get these ran, I'd rather not have to do it again.

For whatever it is worth I actually do this for a living.  I do large corporate buildouts for every large/gigantic tech company you can think of.  Even in those environments Cat6A is rare.  We have done multiple data centers that required 10G speed between switches and servers and used Cat6 without issue. You should be good.  More important is the actual cable you buy.  Any of the major brands will be good.  Stay away from off brand stuff.  Belden, Panduit, Commscope, etc... are safe bets.

I am in the same boat. I just picked up a new, 1000ft spool of CAT6A by General Cable on eBay for roughly $150. Local companies wanted nearly $800 for the same spool and Amazon, etc. wanted about $200 for CAT6.

 

Troll eBay a bit and see if you can find a good deal.

If you can get 6A for $150 it's a no brainer.  That is 5e pricing.