Windows 10: Best CAT Ethernet Cable For my internet?

Is this because my PC is older? Does the cat 6 only work better with a newer PC?

 

This is the kind of cat 6 cable that I used

Amazon.com: Cable Matters Cat6 Snagless Ethernet Patch Cable in Black 50 Feet: Computers Accessories

 

The limiting factor for the speedtest.net website is the internet beyond your router/modem, not your internal network. Unless you are paying mega $$$ for multi-GB/s internet, your internet speed that speedtest.net tests will only be about 20% of your internal network speed. For example, I pay for 50 Mb/s, which tests on speedtest.net at about 56 Mb/s, but even my WiFi connection to my internal network is 10X faster than that at 526 Mb/s. You just simply can't use speedtest.net to measure your internal network speed/capability unless your internet connection is guaranteed to be greater than your internal network speed which should max out at 1 Gb/s and, not only that, but the server that speedtest.net connects to must also be guaranteed to be greater than you internal network speed.

Even on my internal network, my speeds are limited by hard drive speeds rather than the network speed. Large file transfer speed on my CAT 6, Gigabit ethernet connection only maxes out at about 75 MB/s, not 125 MB/s which would be Gigabit network speeds because it is limited by the hard drive file transfer speed.

 

Ok I see what you mean but am confused on the whole CAT cable thing. Is the cat 6 cable better compared to the cat 5 regardless of the results?

 

If you have the time this may help you get your head around it ... ...

Whats the difference between cat 5, cat 6 and cat 7 Ethernet cables? - Quora

 

Okay, thank you *Smile

 

Thanks all, I'll mark it as solved now.

 

"Better" is relative. Cat 6 is typically a higher grade of metal, and it's designed to have less crosstalk and interference, but that's like using Premium gas in your car that is designed to use Regular Unleaded. It doesn't really gain you anything if your equipment isn't designed to use it.

 

Yeah I see what you mean

 

You'll find CAT 6a cables are generally thicker than anything below (including CAT 6).

 

Cat-5e is sufficient since the WAN to LAN is not that high and majority of equipment that you will be connecting to it through Ethernet will only hit your capped speed when using the Internet. Across the switch you will be lucky to hit between 54-100 mbps burst.

I have the same Gateway but have a Cisco RV320 in DMZ behind it as an edge router. That is because I am using Wireless-ac to a NAS that has the capability of up to 1,000mbps.

You do not need Cat-6 in a home setup. Cat-5e will work fine for 10/100/1000. Even on the setup that I have, I have zero issues with my setup on that Gateway.

 

No need for the equipment he has. Even with Giga, Cat-5e will work just fine. 6 is total overkill with residential networking since the majority of gear is only going to have a 10/100 Ethernet and Wireless-b/g/n Single channel at most.

 

The OP is not getting Gig for their Internet. They have the 20mbps package with U-Verse. Most likely single pair.

I have Bonded pair and get up to 50mbps down, 6mbps up, even though I can hit 60 down and 20 up if they took the cap off of my cards. A lot of customers will never see Gig with ATT in anyone's lifetime, since there are too many customers that sit too far away from the DSLAM's and CO's.

 

You got a bum cable.

 

Well I have Cat 6a cable and I keep loosing connectivity, because of a microscopic loose connector problem.
I have ordered Cat 7 cables, they cost the same, but they are heavy duty, I wonder, if anything can damage them.