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The only time I've heard the term "converters" is in fibre networks so, no, you don't want any of those.

Ian.

Being new to this board, I just came across this thread, but if it's not too old I'd like to add my thoughts here from the perspective of a retired network engineer.

First for data cabling, the two choices are cat 5 and cat 6, cat 6 will give you reliable GB speeds, but is quite a bit costlier than cat 5. My preference is to stick with cat 5, but that is a matter of personal taste. Most importantly though is a home run from each room to a central patch panel to an area that you can dedicate as a "comm closet".

On the hardware side I'm personally partial to Linksys, but have also had good luck with TP-Link and Buffalo brands. Of course, if money is no object there's Cisco.

For the video cabling, be sure to use RG6, it's much lower loss than the RG59 that is commonly used and not that much more expensive. Equally important as the grade of coax is the termination, there are 3 man types of F connectors, the non crimp screw on type, traditional crimp, and compression. If at all possible, use only the compression type, they are quite common and available at most home centers in my area (Minnesota). The do not use type however is the non crimp or screw on type, using these will only require replacing the connector a few months down the line.

Hope this is of help!