Does it make sense to upgrade my ethernet cables?
Does it make sense to upgrade my ethernet cables?
So I self host some stuff like jellyfin, ssh server for borg backup etc. over lan(Asus RT-AX53U router).
And just noticed that i still use cat5 and cat5e cables.
Does it make sense to upgrade to newer cat8 cables?
First and foremost, the user that adviced you to look at the connection speed is 100% right. If you establish a gigabit link with a gigabit device, it makes no sense to upgrade other than future proofing.
There's no point in going beyond Cat 6a. Keep in mind that the length of the cable is a big factor as well. For 1/2.5GbE, Cat 5e is plenty (for at least 100m). If you plan on going to 5/10GbE now or in the near future, Cat 6a will get you there with ease (for at least 100m). In both cases, keep the cable as close to the required length as possible + a 30cm/1ft service loop (slack) on each end. That will cause no more signal degradation then necessary and make for a clean install.
Some cat 5e cables are able to do up to 10gbps for short distances (less than 30 meters).
2.5gbps and even 5gbps should be achievable for most cat 5e cables.
Your cat 5 cables could be a bottleneck depending on their quality. If they are high quality they should be able to achieve 1gbps over short distances (30-35 meters).
However your router only has 1gbps so it doesn't make sense to upgrade your cables unless you also upgrade your router (and presumably your network cards).
If you decide to upgrade your networking I'd recommend that you buy cat 6a cables.
Cat 7 is only a standard recognized by ISO if I'm not mistaken so finding good cables is harder.
And cat 8 is the newest standard recognized by both ISO and IEEE, but it's too expensive for home users.
They are about 90cm to 120cm, so they are pretty short. So I should probably be good for couple of more years, i guess
What you should be asking is whether the cables qre the bottleneck in your network or not.
Is there any link that is not negotiating 1Gbps? Do you have devices that could push 10Gbps but the cable is not allowing it? If not, then there's no need to upgrade them.
Unless, of course, if you want to do it just for fun, which is also a legitimate reason 😄
No, cat5e will easily carry 1gbit links and will probably even be fine for anything up to 10gbit.
If you have a lot of cables going in parallel you might want to check if they are shielded though.
I have 3 ethernet cables together with a dozen power, audio, display cables. Would it be better if I have a separate bundle for them? How would i check if they are shielded? They are around a meter long each.
If it's only a meter, don't worry about it.
You can guess if it is shielded or not by how hard the cables are to bend, but otherwise you need to cut them open and see if there is some metalized foil wrapped around the cables. I think this shielding is not mandatory by the specs so usually only the professional ones have it.
lol bro do you run 25Gbps? Than hell no. Cat6A at most for 10g, Cat5e is good enough for 1g.
If it's actually Cat.5 then it may be worthwhile to look at replacing with something newer, but if you're on Cat.5e then unless you wanna start playing with 10Gbit you'll probably be fine.
If you do upgrade, you don't need to go to Cat.8 simply because it exists. Cat.6a or even plain Cat.6 will do everything you're gonna need in Gbit networks.
I'd say only if you are maxing out the cables respective bandwidth. If it ain't broke, don't fix it
Cat5 and 5e are good for up to 2.5G. So if your hardware doesn’t go faster, there won’t be any improvements by changing the cables. (Well, unless you have a really wonky one.)