Silly question, I need a recommendation for an ethernet cable length, cat 6, about 20 feet to connect my mac mini to the network closet. My current one is this, not sure why it started giving me issues. Does anyone have a recommendation where it ‘clicks’ in?
I make my own. Crimp tool, connectors, and a 1,000’ spool of cable and I’m set for years. I run cable wherever I can in the house.
These cables are essentially commodities, and Monoprice has a good reputation. I’d just buy another cheap one and see if it makes a difference. If you’re in a hurry you can buy the same length for a few dollars more from Best Buy et al.
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Take advantage of the lifetime warranty mate. I’ve had a few Monoprice cables break and they replaced them no question.
I’ve had cables suddenly give up the ghost, cables which hadn’t even been touched recently (in the comms cabinet at work).
You also need to be careful of the type of cable you buy, solid core is for longer runs in locations where it won’t be touched (But this tends to be sold in spools for people to install), stranded cable is for “local” drops and can handle being twisted, stepped on, bent a bit better.
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I have a cable tester, don’t remember the brand. I can either plug both ends into tester or use a loop back connector on one end. They used to be expensive but can now be bought for <$50 depending on capability.
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It should do the job. The pass thru connectors make the task a lot easier.
I am resurrecting this topic because I am now in the market for running a cable to my new work-from-home office in the house, which is a wifi-dead zone (owing to whatever they put in the walls: the whole house is within easy reach of the TP-link router but not this room). Anyway – I am thinking using a flat cable because I could pull this underneath the carpet without much hassle and make it an easier job. I read online though that rounded cables are much more reliable. Is this true?
This isn’t mission critical stuff for me: I don’t need industry speed or reliability, but ideally be done with this job for the next 5 years or so.
I am thinking this cable: 20/30 metres of Cat 6. Are there any reasons I should avoid flat cables; or look elsewhere for reliability?
Thank you friends!
As a general rule flat cables are more susceptible to noise and can therefore have less speed. If you don’t need gigabit type speeds it may be a moot point. There’s also the issue of being limited to their fixed lengths. I always make cables to length and crimp my own connectors on.
One way to run round cables with carpet is to stuff it into the gap between the baseboard and the carpet. There is usually enough slack space to fit a cable. It can be difficult around door frames though. Not sure how your carpet is installed but in the US it’s stretched to the walls and held by tack strips. The padding makes it impossible to fish wire underneath and pulling up an edge requires restretching to make it tight.
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Any cable run under a rug or carpet runs the risk of wearing over time, especially if it’s somewhere that people will walk a lot or (for example) furniture legs are resting on. Also, anywhere it will encounter a power cable where either of the cables is unshielded runs the risk of disruption.
Stranded cables will resist being handled/bent/moved far better than solid core cable.
On the assumption the cable is Cat 6 minimum, be aware of the radius of the cable (the smallest arc you can run it around a corner in) I’m sure it’s better now, but at one point if Cat 6 had to go around a corner, you needed a radius of about 15cm, but it occurs to me that was probably Solid Core.
For the price of the cable you’ve linked to though, I’d give it a go and see what happens.
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I got my cable from my company’s IT department when setting up my WFH office. Perhaps this might be an option for you?
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Thanks all! I’ll give this cable a go and report back. I will avoid heavy tread areas and run it along the skirting boards underneath the carpet where I can. Here’s hoping I’m soon surfing MPU at better speeds again.
If anyone wonders if it is worth stringing cable I did a speed test with my M1 iMac. Connected via Ethernet to the router gave me a download speed of 937 mbps. Using Wi-Fi to the same router that was 4 feet away in the same room yielded 545 mbps. This is why I hardwire anything that sits in one place like desktops, TVs, and mesh router nodes.
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… how do you test your cables?
A continuity tester such as the one you mentioned below is fine as simply a gross check that the correct wires connect to the correct pins in the terminations (RJ45 plugs or keystone jacks) of the cables.
Another example (cheap, somewhat slow and requires concentration to check for blinking lights):
cheap cable tester
cheap cable tester:
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A much better cable continuity tester with locater remotes, I recommend this one:
Klein cable tester w/remotes
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To truly test cable performance up to 10G, you need something like this, but you are not going to like the price:
Fluke LIQ-100 LinkIQ
There is much to learn about cable types, terminations and testing. If there is interest, I will post later. Short version: Use cat 5e or cat6 or 6A solid-core cable for “Permanent links” (in-wall, etc.) and use factory-made patch cables (stranded wires) of appropriate lengths to connect devices to patch panels, wall jacks, etc. Hand-made patch cables using solid core cable will usually work, but it’s not advised and is fraught with potential problems.
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Agree re: flat cables for short runs, when transmission speed is not critical and when RF interference is not an issue.
Home-made patch cables made from solid-core cable can absolutely work in a pinch but there are several potential problems: These include quality of the terminations made (amateurs are notorious for poor-quality RJ45 plug terminations) - fitment (not using the correctly-sized RJ45 plugs for the sizes of the cable’s individual wires and of the cable jacket), damage to the individual wires/insulation when removing the cable jacket during termination, untwist of the wires (no more than 1/2 inch of untwist allowed for the twisted wire pairs), fragility at the point where the displacement pins in the RJ45 plugs contact the solid copper, and stiffness of the solid-core cable that limits how much the cable can be bent (bend radius). These potential problems are exacerbated by handling, moving, plugging/unplugging of the patch cables over time. Quality commercially manufactured patch cables made of stranded wire are preferred for patch cables. Again - hand-made patch cables can work, but commercial patch cables are inexpensive and much less trouble-prone.
Here is a video from a reputable ethernet cable manufacturer explaining this and a few other points:
“Top 7 Things You Should Never Do With Ethernet Cable”
@geoffaire - yes, exactly. The video linked above discusses the bend radius allowed for solid-core ethernet cable. The bend radius will vary for different types (shielded/unshielded) and category (Cat 5e, Cat 6, Cat 6a). This should be specified by the manufacturer.
Quality terminations for ethernet cables are critical. This video shows bad and good quality points for RJ45 plugs and keystone jacks:
What Does a Bad Termination Look Like?
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