Re: What Kind of Ethernet Cable is best?
 

Try running it anywhere near HT/EHT or RF equipment and cat5e falls over like a limp lettuce leaf ;) At least cat6 tends to have more image rejection properties. In the home environment anything like a microwave close by can severely degrade performance.

Re: What Kind of Ethernet Cable is best?
 

Good point Kymmy.

If you are looking at cabling outdoors, etc, then you want cable with some better shielding.

This is where I buy mine from:
http://www.cableuniverse.co.uk/network-cables/

Re: What Kind of Ethernet Cable is best?
 

If you don't have specialist requirements (such as running near serious RF sources) then I would use CAT5e.

UNLESS...

You are wireing up a building in a very permanent way, such as fitting cables in the wall space and building in wall sockets etc. In that case I would use CAT6 to future proof the installation. The cable is not expensive, but the effort is so best to over compensate now.

Re: What Kind of Ethernet Cable is best?
 

I'd suggest you get your microwave checked out or swapped out. Urgently.

Re: What Kind of Ethernet Cable is best?
 

Yet someone else who assumes that it's just the 2Ghz from the magnetron that's the only RF output from a microwave. :rolleyes:

The control boards of most domestic appliances have unshielded oscillators at low frequencies and that's the issue with long ethernet runs especially when you start getting close to wavelengths and/or harmonics for standard unshielded oscillators..

Re: What Kind of Ethernet Cable is best?
 

I would certainly hope that the 2.4GHz leakage is very low indeed or you could be looking for a cornea transplant.

ADSL is far more susceptible to local noise pickup than ethernet as it operates at far lower signal levels yet that survives the domestic environment in millions of homes on similar cabling.

I have an amateur radio licence and have never spotted a hiccough with my own ethernet even when transmitting 400w of SSB on HF or VHF.

Re: What Kind of Ethernet Cable is best?
 

You'll be fully aware then that a meter or two either way on any antenna can mean the difference between signal strengths. That's the main issue in that a long run in one situation can be fine where as another a bit longer/shorter can be the death of a network.

I was in no way suggesting that every run over 50m will have issues, but instead suggesting that longer runs can be more susceptible to issues caused by equipment that we generally think of being benign. The longer the run though the more likelihood there is in being interferred with. ;)

Re: What Kind of Ethernet Cable is best?
 

A longer run of cable will certainly stand more chance of picking up more common mode RF noise as it will pass more sources and will act as a better MW antenna. It will also be more susceptible to internal crosstalk and that is what CAT6 is designed to reduce. For the most part kit designed to work with UTP will also be designed to reject common mode interference at the sort of levels most normal environments would cause.

I accept that in industrial environments with high power kit in use such as arc and RF welding gear some special measures will need to be taken - and they will be well beyond using CAT6 which is still UTP although of a margially higher grade than CAT5E.

What I don't accept is your example of a microwave oven is going to have any effect whatsoever unless it is faulty. Same for just about any other household equipment. Most UK homes won't be using runs anywhere near 100m either unless some very indirect routing is used.

Re: What Kind of Ethernet Cable is best?
 

Microwave was just an example that uses high voltage with some form of control board.. I could have said Flourescent light, BT Homeplugs, CRT Television..and any number of devices you find round the home. The whole point was that the longer the run the more susceptible ethernet is to interference from devices you;d never expect interference from. Being on HF you'll be perfectly aware of being able to tell when someone in your street turns on a household device that will then wipe out a band for the evening. An ethernet run might not be as sensitive to it as a HF reciever but it can still have an effect. Hence at the very beginning I did suggest that if running over 50m cat6 is preferable :rolleyes: :D ;) :p:

Re: What Kind of Ethernet Cable is best?
 

I wouldn't argue against using CAT6 for future proofing but it will not offer any significant immunity to interference over CAT5E.

Yes there is interference in virtually any home. Both grades of cable are designed to operate satisfactorily in normal environments and for the most part they do. If a cable passes the CAT5E spec then it has to be capable of running at a gigabit over 100m.

Throwing in terms like "image rejection" when you clearly don't know what it means weakens your argument.

Re: What Kind of Ethernet Cable is best?
 

Yeah image rejection probably wasn't the correct term (especially when an IF isn't involved) but it's hard to put into simple words when I haven't slept properly for 72 hours.. ;) You know though what I mean...

BTW, cat5e specifies gigabit over a maximum of 100m (between active devices) again that is dependant on environment and is not a guarantee and could run longer or could have problems a lot shorter.

As for normal environment it begs the question what do you consider normal? Most household equipment (especially older stuff) isn't regulated by emissions laws like office/data/telecoms devices

Re: What Kind of Ethernet Cable is best?
 

I'll just fall back on my observation that ADSL operates at close to the noise floor of modems perfectly happily in millions of homes through lower spec cable than cat5e. The operating voltage levels on ethernet are many thousands of times higher which makes it vastly more immune to local RF noise pickup. Plus CAT6 is no more immune to noise pickup than CAT5E.

IMO future proofing would the only reason to choose one over the other. In any normal home running gigabit ethernet there would be no difference in performance.

Re: What Kind of Ethernet Cable is best?
 

Yet our ethernet used to drop down and freeze the hub up a couple of times a week (100Mb Cat5, 80m run) mind you that was because my partner decided to move the welding bench to where the cable ran through the workshop.. Seems that the HF start on the TIG wasn't ethernet friendly :D

I totally agree though that cat6 is preferable for future proofing installs.. yet I still stand that not ever install is in a perfect environment and long runs can cause issues which is another reason to use the best spec commonly available...

Re: What Kind of Ethernet Cable is best?
 

Whichever grade of cable you go for, Cat 5e or Cat 6, make sure you fix it in position with ties or trunking. Avoid cable grips of the type you thump in with a hammer! The chances are you will compress the cable or even damage it. This will affect performance.

Re: What Kind of Ethernet Cable is best?
 

In fairness, most houses don't have a welding workbench.

While I think that 5E is good enough for now (even in long cable runs), if you are talking about a permanant installation go for the best available.