Network Cable

birkssam

New Member
Hi guys,

I have few questions about network cables. Can network cable affect internet speed? Are there different types(quality) of networking cables?

Thanks!
 

beers

Moderator
Staff member
Hello,

It 'depends' really. Older standards like Cat5 were rated up to 100 mbit. If your Internet speed is below that then it wouldn't matter. Otherwise Cat5e/Cat6 are rated for 1000 mbit. You would also need gigabit interfaces on each end to achieve that throughput. If you have a damaged or poorly terminated cable then it can introduce errors on the line which would cause packet loss and a decrease of 'speed'. Most off the shelf cables are pretty synonymous for how you'd be using them, though.
 

Geoff

VIP Member
Hello,

It 'depends' really. Older standards like Cat5 were rated up to 100 mbit. If your Internet speed is below that then it wouldn't matter. Otherwise Cat5e/Cat6 are rated for 1000 mbit. You would also need gigabit interfaces on each end to achieve that throughput. If you have a damaged or poorly terminated cable then it can introduce errors on the line which would cause packet loss and a decrease of 'speed'. Most off the shelf cables are pretty synonymous for how you'd be using them, though.
Are you saying there's no reason to buy gold plated Monster ethernet cables? I thought they had more GeeBees
 

Agent Smith

Well-Known Member
HAHA "gold platted." I remember that was all the rage (and maybe still today) with V/A cables for TV's back in the late 90's. Radio Shack employees sold a crap ton of those to stupid customers.

Now don't get me wrong. Gold has the least resistance regarding eletrical current and I do own a gold-plated BNC connector for my scanner (the radio type) But that's dealing with RF and not electrical signals. Even then it probably doesn't matter what type of metal the BNC connector is made of. I doubt I even increased signal strength by a dB. LOL! I bought the damn thing over 20 years ago.

I wonder if gold-platted circuit traces will get me a better FPS because the speed of light can be so much faster! :)

Has me thinking about radar detectors for cars. Once the cop hits you it's game over. But I bet most don't know that. I guess they can help knowing a cop is there, but why speed anyway? Total waist of money and some of those damn things go for like $400.
 

birkssam

New Member
Fun fact, the term 'Monster' refers to the profit margin on their products.
So you are telling that there is not much difference in quality... I saw 10 different prices for the same network cable so I wanted to ask if there is any difference.. As you say, I'll try the cheapest CAT6A UTP cable.

Thanks!
 

birkssam

New Member
Monoprice has some good rates on cables if you need a few. They have some super thin cat6a rated patch cables that work pretty well.

http://www.monoprice.com/mobile/cat...&subcategoryid=1026001&searchtype=subcategory

Wow, those are very cheap prices... Do they offer shipping anywhere and what's the cost. I couldn't find more info about that on their page. I planned to order from https://www.bnrindustrial.com.au/collections/network-cables but now when I saw the prices I will definitely order order from Monoprice if they can ship the cables in my country.

Thanks for the info!
 

Agent Smith

Well-Known Member
No! I wasn't saying my BNC connector is silver-plated. LOL I was just agreeing with you that silver has the least resistance.

No, the BNC connector is gold plated.
 
Top