Ethernet Cables Quick Crash Course!

[speakerman39]

I am getting ready to place my order for all new cabling. For starters, I have to order several 4K HDMI cables as soon as possible. Been told to get at least 18 gbps just to be safe, no? But, I plan to use a direct ethernet connection for my new 4K Sony TV, 4k Sony BR player, new Denon X3300 AVR, and Roku Premiere Plus. Still yet, I will also use a direct ethernet connection for my new Dell desktop and my Ooma (phone).

So, that is (6) total ethernet connections. The problem is, however, my modem only has 4-inputs. As such, I will also buy an ethernet port switch box of some sorts. Probably an (8) port box.

So, which category ethernet cables will work for my needs? I assume that Category 7 is the best way to go, no? Are they backwards compatible? Is that important? Or, does it really not matter? My Roku is 4K capable as is my 4K BR player. Will be streaming in 4K as much as possible. The X3300 is HDCP 2.2 compliant. Please help! Thanks!


Phil

 

[speakerman39]

Holy smokes never knew there were so many different ethernet cables..............LOL!!! Probably b/c of the need for higher bit speeds perhaps? Why can't they just make it easy for people like me.....................LOL!!!!


Phil

 

[MR.MAGOO]

Yikes, so now there are CAT 7 cables available? I'm still bewildered over CAT5e, CAT6, etc.

 

[speakerman39]

Yikes, so now there are CAT 7 cables available? I'm still bewildered over CAT5e, CAT6, etc.

I know tell me about it....LOL!!!!! But, from what I have read the category 7 cables are really overkill for my needs. The question is, however, what would work best? It looks like category 6a would work best and it is backwards compatible to both category 6/5e. Not sure if category 7 is backwards compatible at all. There is no mention of it. Therefore, just to be safe I will probably just order category 6a cables. Good Lord never knew there were so many different categories.


Phil

 

[TLS Guy]

Going forward, Cat 5 does not have the bandwidth. Cat 5e is enough currently, but I would go Cat 6 as there is little difference is cost. Make sure you use solid core cable and not braided.

I just replaced all my old Cat 5 with Cat 6. Make sure you put all cables in conduit.

The biggest mistake in cabling, is to put cables in walls not in conduit. NEVER make that grave error.

 

[speakerman39]

Going forward, Cat 5 does not have the bandwidth. Cat 5e is enough currently, but I would go Cat 6 as there is little difference is cost. Make sure you use solid core cable and not braided.

I just replaced all my old Cat 5 with Cat 6. Make sure you put all cables in conduit.

The biggest mistake in cabling, is to put cables in walls not in conduit. NEVER make that grave error.

Thanks for the info. I was going to order category 6a cables, but you recommend category 6. At least I was on the right track......LOL!!! I could easily see that category 7 was way overkill. So, category 6 it is! Thanks!


Phil

 

[jinjuku]

CAT5E = up to 2.5 GBe (~210 MB / Second or 210 24/192 concurrent streams)
CAT6 = up to 10GBe for 55 meters
CAT6a = up to 10GBe for 100 Meters
CAT 7 really never ratified
CAT 8 = 40 GBe up to 100GBe, data center centric and up to 36 meters. Not meant for use out side of data Centers.

Just get CAT6 if you are concerned. CAT5e is still more than consumers will saturate as only 1GBe interfaces are really affordable.

 

[speakerman39]

CAT5E = up to 2.5 GBe (~210 MB / Second or 210 24/192 concurrent streams)
CAT6 = up to 10GBe for 55 meters
CAT6a = up to 10GBe for 100 Meters
CAT 7 really never ratified
CAT 8 = 40 GBe up to 100GBe, data center centric and up to 36 meters. Not meant for use out side of data Centers.

Just get CAT6 if you are concerned. CAT5e is still more than consumers will saturate as only 1GBe interfaces are really affordable.

Thanks Mark for the info. TLS also recommended category 6. Will be ordering soon. Much appreciated.


Phil

 

[BMXTRIX]

Cat5e is perfectly capable of handing 10Gb systems pretty effectively and is the standard used for HDMI over cat cabling. I've seen problems beyond 100', but typically that's in the terminations. Cat-6 does better, and is a better way to go. That's 10Gb/s up to 150 feet. Think about how much bandwidth that is!

I would run a couple of cat6 cables to the wall, then drop in a gigabit network switch behind your gear and connect all your devices there. A 4K stream from the Interenet runs about 11-25Mb/s. That's about 1/400th the total bandwidth available on the cable. A gigabit switch will not run at 10Gb speeds, but will give you enough bandwidth to watch FORTY 4K streams at the same time at that location.

Of course, you would need a true gigabit Internet connection from your ISP to do so.

I use Gigabit networking in my home without any real bandwidth issues, all over cat-5e. Cat6 can handle more speed, and is a great way to do things if you are going in from scratch.

You do not need to run 5 or 10 cat-6 cables to each location. You just need one to feed the location, then a local switch to distribute that connection to all the devices. Since you likely will only be using one or two devices at the same time, and they likely can't go beyond 40Mbs, you will have a ton of headroom for growth.

People make this much harder than it is in reality.

 

[speakerman39]

Cat5e is perfectly capable of handing 10Gb systems pretty effectively and is the standard used for HDMI over cat cabling. I've seen problems beyond 100', but typically that's in the terminations. Cat-6 does better, and is a better way to go. That's 10Gb/s up to 150 feet. Think about how much bandwidth that is!

I would run a couple of cat6 cables to the wall, then drop in a gigabit network switch behind your gear and connect all your devices there. A 4K stream from the Interenet runs about 11-25Mb/s. That's about 1/400th the total bandwidth available on the cable. A gigabit switch will not run at 10Gb speeds, but will give you enough bandwidth to watch FORTY 4K streams at the same time at that location.

Of course, you would need a true gigabit Internet connection from your ISP to do so.

I use Gigabit networking in my home without any real bandwidth issues, all over cat-5e. Cat6 can handle more speed, and is a great way to do things if you are going in from scratch.

You do not need to run 5 or 10 cat-6 cables to each location. You just need one to feed the location, then a local switch to distribute that connection to all the devices. Since you likely will only be using one or two devices at the same time, and they likely can't go beyond 40Mbs, you will have a ton of headroom for growth.

People make this much harder than it is in reality.

Category 6 cables it is! Thanks for the insights!


Phil

 

[Bryce_H]

I recently ran Cat6a cable to hard wire my home network. I got sick of the wireless issues (I recently moved from a wired house).

I terminated everything in a closet with a Ethernet Patch Panel (do NOT try to terminate all the cables, use a patch panel) then ran this to a 24 port gigabyte switch, through my Asus RT-3200 router (better wifi for phones/tablets) to my fiber modem (which is a Cat5e from the box at the end of the fiber in the garage into the house).

I went Cat6a as I stream a lot of media over my home network from my server to my desktops and raspberry pi's

Just ran speedtest and get down - 758 Mbps and up - 841 Mbps

Of course that is with the VPN off

 

[95prelude]

I just upgraded to Fibre internet in my home so I took the opportunity to upgrade my CAT5e cables to Cat7. Very happy with the decision. Prices for CAT7 cables are not that much compare to CAT6a anyways. I also upgraded my AC1900 router to an AC5300 router with powerline ethernet adapters.

Like several people have alluded to that you do not need to run several cables to each room. Just run 1 single cable from your router to a switch and connect your peripherals off the switch.

 

[BMXTRIX]

...I took the opportunity to upgrade my CAT5e cables to Cat7. Very happy with the decision. Prices for CAT7 cables are not that much compare to CAT6a anyways.

Like several people have alluded to that you do not need to run several cables to each room. Just run 1 single cable from your router to a switch and connect your peripherals off the switch.

Couple of things here...

While there is nothing wrong with going to CAT7, I would think it is overkill for most people and most homes. I'm sure you are happy, but what real performance increase have you seen which is not directly attributable to your new router and Internet connection? Certainly, it is unlikely you have an Internet connection which could outperform Cat-5e cabling.

As well, while you can get away with running one Cat cable to a location to provide networking services, if it is a new home, and there is zero access after the fact, then running two cables to most locations is good for redundancy and for utilizing the category cable later on for other purposes. Like, extending USB, or powering some LED lights, or something that hasn't been thought of yet. Video over category cabling is already common and requires a dedicated point-to-point category cable. This is when having a second cable in place, behind the drywall, is a really nice feature.

 

[TLS Guy]

Couple of things here...

While there is nothing wrong with going to CAT7, I would think it is overkill for most people and most homes. I'm sure you are happy, but what real performance increase have you seen which is not directly attributable to your new router and Internet connection? Certainly, it is unlikely you have an Internet connection which could outperform Cat-5e cabling.

As well, while you can get away with running one Cat cable to a location to provide networking services, if it is a new home, and there is zero access after the fact, then running two cables to most locations is good for redundancy and for utilizing the category cable later on for other purposes. Like, extending USB, or powering some LED lights, or something that hasn't been thought of yet. Video over category cabling is already common and requires a dedicated point-to-point category cable. This is when having a second cable in place, behind the drywall, is a really nice feature.

Even better is running conduit. I'm glad I did, as it made changing cables straightforward. When you finish leave a string in the conduit, which makes adding a cable easy.

I don't like avoidable hassles.

 

[mtrycrafts]

...
Just ran speedtest and get down - 758 Mbps and up - 841 Mbps

Of course that is with the VPN off

Is that internet speed check or just to the switch or router only? If internet, who provides such speeds and at what cost?

 

[its phillip]

Is that internet speed check or just to the switch or router only? If internet, who provides such speeds and at what cost?

google fiber is only $70/mo for internet. 1000 mbps up/down.

However, it is not available in very many places

AT&T fiber is $80/mo for the same speeds. Dunno about their availability.

 

[MR.MAGOO]

my cable TV / internet provider used CAT5e wire in my apartment, to be able to see which wire goes to which device in my system I use different colors from the switch to each device: blue for blu-ray player, black to the AVR (because the Yamaha is a black case!), etc. However my gear is considered 'obsolete' by each manufacturer so they don't issue firmware updates so I only really need to keep connected to the network is the Yamaha for net radio.

 

[speakerman39]

my cable TV / internet provider used CAT5e wire in my apartment, to be able to see which wire goes to which device in my system I use different colors from the switch to each device: blue for blu-ray player, black to the AVR (because the Yamaha is a black case!), etc. However my gear is considered 'obsolete' by each manufacturer so they don't issue firmware updates so I only really need to keep connected to the network is the Yamaha for net radio.

Good idea using certain color cables for specific components. Thanks for the tip! Find it very helpful.


Cheers,

Phil

 

[Bryce_H]

I have AT&T Fiber right up to the house - 1Ggbps up/down...

 

[95prelude]

Couple of things here...

While there is nothing wrong with going to CAT7, I would think it is overkill for most people and most homes. I'm sure you are happy, but what real performance increase have you seen which is not directly attributable to your new router and Internet connection? Certainly, it is unlikely you have an Internet connection which could outperform Cat-5e cabling.

As well, while you can get away with running one Cat cable to a location to provide networking services, if it is a new home, and there is zero access after the fact, then running two cables to most locations is good for redundancy and for utilizing the category cable later on for other purposes. Like, extending USB, or powering some LED lights, or something that hasn't been thought of yet. Video over category cabling is already common and requires a dedicated point-to-point category cable. This is when having a second cable in place, behind the drywall, is a really nice feature.

Yeah I did in a way so it's easy to replace a cable. I can certainly run another cable to every locationif I wanted too. I wanted a new router because I wanted a tri-band router. I wanted my MS Surface to be on a separate 5GHz band network than my phone connects to. Again the CAT7 cables are not that expensive.

Since I rent my basement out and I needed to replace a broken router in the basement for my tenants. I used my old router for their connection. Still thinking if I should return my AC router and get an AD router instead. Basically, I pull 2 separate IPs on my network. My network is still a WIP.