Does quality matter for 10 meter ethernet cable?

Golf1.6

Golf1.6

Golf1.6

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I'm moving the wifi router from my desk in my room to the hallway.

I have a voip fone connected via ethernet and a desktop PC in my room, which I'm going to hook up using 0.5M ethernet cable onto an unmanaged switch.

Then I'm going to hook up the switch with 10M ethernet cable to the router.


Question:

1) Does quality of cable play a part in network traffic speeds at these lengths?

If so which would be a good value buy. I know that some computer enthusiasts here like to spend big bucks here. Need something reasonable.

2) What is the difference between cat5e, cat6 etc? Which would be best for my solution. there isn't going to be lots of patch cables coupled together (maybe 2-3 max). Shielding/interference shouldn't be a major issue.
 
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Cat 5 is typically unshielded and in some (read: cheapest) cases, won't support Gigabit connectivity. Cat 6 is typically shielded from radio-frequency interference and will support gigabit connectivity as standard.

There's virtually no difference in cost between a reasonable Cat5 supplier and a Cat6 supplier for the same run of cable.

Quality won't really matter on such a small cable/network, unless things are pitifully slow anyway (such as a really poor internet D/U).

For cost, just go with Cat6 - are you adept at crimping and wiring network sockets, or are you going for the pre-crimped RJ45 + Cat5/6 cables?
 
I'm going to go with pre-crimped. A crimper is a pointless purchase as I will never need it other than twice in the next 5 years if I go the uncrimped route.

There won't be much LAN data transfer. Pretty much solely for hardware to get access to fibre broadband 76mbps max download.

Do I still need cat 6?

I found that cat 6 is quite a bit more expensive than cat5.


Also which would tolerate 90 degree bends more? shouldn't need to make sharper bends than the 25mm dia minimum. But just out of curiousty because it is going to be run across lots of corners.
 
Get pre-crimped wherever you can.

If you're not installing the wiring into the walls then get Cat5e for now.

Cat5e is way more flexible than Cat6. Cat6 has a plastic divider (looks like a +) running down the middle of the cable which makes it stiff. The accepted turn radius for a cable is usually 4x the diameter so 25mm will be fine.
 
hi again, just did a bit more research.

The shielding. I take it that is internal shielding, as in the 4 wires shielded from each other through the use of the plastic insert. Rather than external shielding from interference from other electronic cables?

I will go through the Cat5 route i think.

Also I'm just going to drill holes through walls. to reach my target location. I think it would be better to make the hole as small as possible and feed the cable through and then crimp it rather than make a massive 15mm hole to feed a precrimped cable through.
 
UTP isn't shielded/screened, that's what the 'U' standard for. The pairs are twisted to help to avoid crosstalk within the cable, and from other cables that are bundled together.

Cat6 usually has a plastic insert that keeps the pairs apart. This is to help further reduce crosstalk within the cable. It doesn't offer any shielding (it is only plastic).

You can also get Cat6 that doesn't have the insert, and Cat5e that does (only seen it once).
 
I picked up 10m of cat6 SFTP (shielded, foil wrapped twisted pair) cat6 on a certain auction site for just over a fiver, and they had SFTP cat5e at the same price point too. It's decent quality and way better than the last cable I had on the cheap. I didn't find it until I searched 'SFTP cat6 10m' but of course you'll only be wanting to buy yours from OcUK for prices pre-discounted for your convenience. ;) I've not had any issues and get top speeds between my IPFire hardware firewall/router and my cable modem.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I think I have a fairly good grasp of network cabeling right now. Managed to get a crimper for £3 delivered. I thought prices start at £20 - which is why I wanted to refrain from getting them. Since it's cheap enough it might be worth having a go.
 
You almost certainly won't need, and will see no benefit from using, shielded cable. It has its place, but that isn't in a small domestic install.

Stick to decent quality Cat5e or Cat6 UTP and you'll be fine.
 
bremen1874 said:
You almost certainly won't need, and will see no benefit from using, shielded cable. It has its place, but that isn't in a small domestic install.

Stick to decent quality Cat5e or Cat6 UTP and you'll be fine.
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Yeah but when it's only a fiver for decent, metal-ended cat6 SFTP is it even worth choosing unshielded instead?
 
Depends if you want to save a few quid or not. The added expense of shielded cable is unnecessary - especially as the majority of home routers have plastic network sockets, as do the devices they are typically connected to.

It's very difficult to buy Cat5 cable now, it's all Cat5e which is more than good enough for gigabit connectivity. The differences between Cat5e and Cat6 are minimal, and the prices are very similar for this reason.
 
Rainmaker said:
Yeah but when it's only a fiver for decent, metal-ended cat6 SFTP is it even worth choosing unshielded instead?
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i think in a basic home install where wiring is going to run around the house (exposed), it's probably better to go 5e as it will bend better and be a little bit smaller and discrete.
 
Golf1.6 said:
i think in a basic home install where wiring is going to run around the house (exposed), it's probably better to go 5e as it will bend better and be a little bit smaller and discrete.
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That is a good point, if flexibility is an issue. I ran cat6 around a door OK but cat5e is slightly easier to route. :)
 
Just received a 30M patch 5e (cheapest one I can get for the length I require).

Will cut it up to 10M for downstairs and 15M for upstairs.

Few questions:

1) I know that you can buy ethernet cable testers - I don't want to spend another tenner on one - I want to check the quality of the cable by plugging it into the computer and router - is there a ping type tester for this so I can just connect it into the LAN and check for max speeds?
 
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