Do you want to learn about the difference between CAT5 and CAT6?
Do you want to learn about the difference between CAT5 and CAT6?
with simpler words:
The basics: We have a 300 mbps internet line from Charter cable. The signal comes into the basement in the corner where the modem sits. There is a long wire that zig-zags it to the center of the basement, which used to hold our ASUS AC1900 wireless router. This house has about 2500 sq ft on two floors plus an extra room over the garage and a back porch. I installed my CAT5 cables ten years ago and they all worked fine until now. I made my own cables then, and they had always been working well. But we are moving to ditch cable TV so I bought several ROKU TVs for our living rooms. After setting these up, I got too much lag or buffering in the video. So I checked how fast my network was going. The 300 mbps speed came to the modem but only about 45 to 55 mbps around most of the house at the edges. That made me call Charter tech and see if I could get better wireless routers. What I did: After looking up online, I bought a Netgear ORBI RBK50 with one satellite dish. This mesh system was very popular and easy to set up. I put the router in the center of the basement and the satellite on the first floor. Even though I used this new router, I still only got about 65 to 75 mbps when using my laptops. I already had an appointment with Charter for the next day so I just waited for their tech. The tech fixed my modem, took out extra switches, and basically updated the whole system. We still only got 65 to 75 mbps speed after that fix. Then I tried putting the router right by the modem's corner and using a new short patch cord. Boom... suddenly it was 275 mbps!
Question: Turns out there is nothing wrong with my old long CAT5 wire going from the modem to the center of the basement. It works fine, so I know it isn't that length problem. The speed issue isn't because of a short patch cord; I've replaced a short one with a new 40' CAT6 wire and the speed is still high. So what is different between a CAT5 cable and a CAT6 cable? My online reading says CAT5 works for up to about 100 mbps while CAT6 goes much faster. Does this speed limit only apply to the connection between my modem and the ORBI router, or do I need to replace other long CAT5 wires in the house that connect me to devices that aren't wireless? Most importantly, I have another run of home-made CAT5 cable from the ORBI router all the way to my Ubiquity wireless bridge transmitter. Should I just replace that last wire with a new one, or change the setup so the Ubiquity transmitter plugs directly into an ORBI satellite instead of going back through the center basement hub? I hope this explanation covers everything and thank you for taking your time reading through it. Thanks, BH
The only cables you should buy are cat5e or cat6a. Everything else costs extra but gives no real benefit. You probably don't even have cat5, so you likely already own cat5e. Cat5 has not been made for many years and is useless now. A normal cat6 (not the fancy cat6a) basically died out around 20 years ago when it was first sold. It was designed to send one gigabit over just two wires instead of four, which is called 1Gigabit transmission. The other plan used four wires but could run on regular cat5 cables even though they weren't truly cat5e in many cases. This method is known as 2Gigabit transmission. The makers of the equipment went with the four-wire plan, meaning cable companies spent a lot of money on technology that nobody uses. They certainly didn't want to lose their investment, so they hired marketing people to sell it to customers who think a bigger number means better things. Basically, we just stamp "Gamer" on them and that makes more sales. Cat6 does not run faster or better than cat5e at 1 gigabit. It can reach 10 gigabits over shorter distances, but this isn't in the official standards either. Recently, they updated it to support 2.5 gigabits and 5 gigabits, though copper prices have made those speeds almost meaningless. If you need more than 1 gigabit speed, buy cat6a instead, which is rated for 10 gigabits at a distance of 100 meters. Cat6a cable actually costs more to make than cat6 because the price of the metal went up, so the manufacturing costs are now only a tiny fraction of it. That means the extra cost difference isn't that big anymore. But remember, copper is expensive and there is a huge amount of fake cable on the market. The two most common fakes are CCA cables, which use wire thinner than what the standards allow (usually less than 22 or 24 AWG), and flat thin cables.
Thank you folks! Got a lot of good news. I'm going to take a closer look at new rules for cutting wires. Keep it short, let me know what you think!
This is the CAT6 cable I purchased that is giving me good results at the 40' length. I haven't strung it in the basement yet so will ask if there is any reason not to use it. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CT9XPBY?ref...tails&th=1 Thanks, BH
It says the cable has 8 solid copper conductors and is 24 AWG. That means it works fine. Cat6 cables work great too, but mostly because they are more expensive than cat5e. The only thing that matters is how much money you lose from your pocket. In some cases, you can get cat6 for less than similar cat5 cables. If so, why not save the money? Both types of cable will do exactly the same on 1gbit ports.