Cat5e or Cat6?
Cat5e or Cat6?
Hey there! What university are you studying in? I remember you used to handle a lot for ASU.
I work as a network engineer for an ISP. One of our clients requested 10Gbps, and they received it but are struggling to understand how to utilize it. I explained that the actual usage is much lower than what others assume.
It's interesting how 1000mbt seems to act as a protective shield for people. My top pick was sharing a 1gig link behind a Cisco 4321 that only supported IPSec for 50mbt—imagine the frustration we had. Speaking of, when choosing between Cat6 and Cat5, opt for Cat5 if you're working inside walls with tight bends. The middle separator in Cat5 cables makes installation smoother. For indoor use, consider Plenum cable—it's fire-resistant and burns with less smoke. It's only slightly pricier.
I've also been advised to use a shielded cable since it goes through the wall. But I'm having trouble finding 10-30ft Cat6 cables with shielding online. Is Plenum really that important? I wasn't aware of it until now; I'm only running a 20ft cable through the wall to my router. Now you're making me worried about damaging the house!
Certainly you can set up a high-speed internal network, but the original poster didn’t reference that. He specifically talked about gaming – and no, gaming wouldn’t benefit from a 10Gb LAN (perhaps only if you were running games on a network share). I believe we can assume he’s not handling much file sharing locally. If he is, he should clarify that and we can adjust our advice. This situation is both accurate and misleading at once. The “Internet” relies on both the router and the modem. The modem acts as a translation layer for the internet connection you receive – it provides your WAN IP address, but depends on external services (like DHCP or PPPoE) to function. Think back to early broadband days when you used a modem without a router, needing to install connection software to start PPPoE. The router simplifies this by managing the connection and maintaining it. Both components are essential for today’s internet setup (though technically you could use just a modem with one device). Although the situation is unclear, since most ISPs now sell modem/router bundles, it’s still worth considering. Also, @bellabichon has a point – if the speed can’t utilize 10Gb and no internal resources are used, then upgrading isn’t necessary. You should definitely look into plenum cables; they’re often required by local codes. The key issue is that a fire in the wall could spread faster if it uses a non-plenum Ethernet cable, as it would allow flames to travel quicker. Plenum cables slow or stop the spread, giving firefighters more time to respond and extinguish the blaze.
It seems like it's been roughly a decade since I last encountered a modem. We receive fibre directly from the ISP's connection points on the streets, followed by a converter to TP cabling inside homes.
It's common for folks to call a Fibre Media Converter a "modem," even though that isn't strictly accurate.
I've never received a call confirming it's an ONT instead of a modem from any other provider.