Not all Lan cables are the same and have features for different uses

The complete guide on the best Lan cable to choose

Introduction

With the convenience provided by the wi-fi networks that we now find everywhere, the wired connection is used less and less even if it offers better performance and above all there are no problems regarding super crowded frequencies or disconnections if at the limit of the coverage range.

But if we work in the office with important devices such as Server, Nas and network printers or we need a reliable connection and the connection between these devices with the router-modem will be made with ethernet cables .

Categories

There are various types of ethernet cables with different specifications and can be divided into 5 main categories .

Let’s see which ones with the formulated scheme :

Category	Shielding	Maximum transmission speed	Maximum bandwidth
5	Not shielded	10/100 Mbps	100 MHz
5e	Not shielded	1000 Mbps / 1 Gbps	100 MHz
6	Shielded or unshielded	1000 Mbps / 1 Gbps	250 MHz
6a	shielded	10000 Mbps / 10 Gbps	500 MHz
7	shielded	10000 Mbps / 10 Gbps	600 MHz

Therefore, a higher category will correspond to a higher transfer speed, especially for long lengths of cable.

In detail:

• cat 5 now obsolete and difficult to find on the market
  
• cat 5e the most popular among the cables and differs from the previous one for a higher speed up to 1 Gbps , the “e” stands for enhanced
  
• cat 6 have a particular braided shield for high frequencies and transfer data up to 10 Gbps but at a distance not exceeding 55 meters
  
• cat 6a even more advanced shielding capable of maintaining its speed at important cable lengths
  
• cat 7 latest technology that allows transmission speeds of up to 1 00 Gbps and obviously more expensive than the brothers
  

Notes on shielding

With the high data rates, the shielding has also undergone changes to allow for a safe and stable flow.

The shields are highlighted with some abbreviations:

• U / UTP : unshielded cable
• F / UTP : shielded cable
• U / FTP : shielded cable
• F or S / FTP : shielded cable
• SF / FTP : double shielded cable, for professional use

For normal use and connections that do not exceed 10/20 meters there are no particular indications.

How to identify them

To recognize and identify the category of cable you are currently using, just read the label printed on the cable.

Which one to choose

Now that we have outlined each type of cable we need to understand which one to use starting from the speed of our internet connection .

In fact, if we have a connection that does not exceed 20 mega , a category 5e, 6 lan cable will also be fine if we think that in the future we can get a bandwidth upgrade.

Category 5e:

Category 6:

On the other hand, if we have a fiber connection at 100 Mega or even more at 1 Gbit and we have all our latest generation devices with monitors and TVs in 4k , category 7 is the most recommended.

Category 7:

A note

We would like to point out that in connection with a fiber to 1 Gbit we still have difficulties to fully exploit that speed because they are fundamental upgrade some side PC or monitor / TV .

In fact, if for example our PC / Notebook does not have a latest generation 10/100/1000 network interface, it would not be able to manage 1 Gbit flows .

On the market at affordable prices we can buy two products that come to our aid :

for desktop:

TP-Link TD-3468 PCI Express 10/100/1000 Mbps Network Card

for notebook:

StarTech USB31000S USB 3.0 to Gigabit Ethernet adapter

Useful accessory

It may happen to check if the cables do not have any imperfections in the internal sheath cuts and to test the correct functioning a lan Tester can solve every paradigm: