Buying ethernet cable: Need to know/what to know?

PenguinForce

Hi all,

Currently I have 200Mb UPC broadband. When I connect the supplied CAT5e cable that came with the modem I am getting full 200Mbps. However when I use my 25m/30m CAT5e cable that I got free from ordering the TVPad I am only getting around 90Mbps download speed.

So what is there to know when getting an ethernet cable?

Should I get CAT6 cable or CAT6a?

Are there any brands I should look out for?

Also I need a relatively long cable since I am running it from the sitting room to my desktop upstairs. Does having a long cable make it difficult to get 200Mbps speed?

Thanks.

ED E

Cable you got free is junk cable. CAT5e should manage gig speeds at 30M, yours is falling back to 100Mb and you're seeing an effective 90Mb. Just need some decent cabling.

UDP

Sounds to me like the cable you got free may not have all 8 wires connected up inside it or one or some are faulty - you can probably just look into one of the ends and see.

You just need a Cat5e patch cable. Cat5e supports 1 gigabit. You can also use Cat6 but it is unnecessary unless maybe there is more electrical interference etc. even then that's unlikely to cause a problem at 30m.

You could get something like this:
http://www.adverts.ie/cables/30m-white-rj45-cat5e-network-ethernet-cable-10-100-lan-lead-free-postage/5593439
or this:
http://www.adverts.ie/network-cables/30m-100-ft-rj45-cat5-cat5e-ethernet-lan-network-cable/2936539

The first one is listed as 10/100 speeds for some reason so I would get clarification from them first. I like snagless leads (where the clip is protected) like the second cable has just so the clip doesn't break off.

PenguinForce

ED E wrote: »

Cable you got free is junk cable. CAT5e should manage gig speeds at 30M, yours is falling back to 100Mb and you're seeing an effective 90Mb. Just need some decent cabling.

Cheers for the reply.

So any 30m CAT5e or CAT6 from a shop should sort this problem out then?

ED E

As long as its decent quality core yeah, should do just fine. I'm running gigabit on some long lengths of ooold cat5 and its fine.

Sometimes the onboard NIC on the PC might not manage gigabit well on long lengths as its outside the typical use case, in that case a small gigE switch at the "remote" end beside the PC might be useful.

PenguinForce

UDP wrote: »

Sounds to me like the cable you got free may not have all 8 wires connected up inside it or one or some are faulty - you can probably just look into one of the ends and see.

You just need a Cat5e patch cable. Cat5e supports 1 gigabit. You can also use Cat6 but it is unnecessary unless maybe there is more electrical interference etc. even then that's unlikely to cause a problem at 30m.

You could get something like this:
http://www.adverts.ie/cables/30m-white-rj45-cat5e-network-ethernet-cable-10-100-lan-lead-free-postage/5593439
or this:
http://www.adverts.ie/network-cables/30m-100-ft-rj45-cat5-cat5e-ethernet-lan-network-cable/2936539

The first one is listed as 10/100 speeds for some reason so I would get clarification from them first. I like snagless leads (where the clip is protected) like the second cable has just so the clip doesn't break off.

Cheers for the links.

I might just order the cable on your second link.

PenguinForce

ED E wrote: »

As long as its decent quality core yeah, should do just fine. I'm running gigabit on some long lengths of ooold cat5 and its fine.

Sometimes the onboard NIC on the PC might not manage gigabit well on long lengths as its outside the typical use case, in that case a small gigE switch at the "remote" end beside the PC might be useful.

Is this what you mean?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Netgear-5-port-Gigabit-Ethernet-Switch/dp/B0000E5SEQ

So I just connect a CAT5e ethernet cable from my desktop into a port on the switch then connect another ethernet cable into another port from the modem/router?

ED E

Yep, if the cable alone doesnt do the trick then that should. Also allows for expansion.

PenguinForce

ED E wrote: »

Yep, if the cable alone doesnt do the trick then that should. Also allows for expansion.

Cheers, just bought the cable in the second link so hopefully that should do the trick. If not I will buy a switch

PenguinForce

My cable arrived today. Sadly it did not work on my desktop I was still getting 100Mbps however it seems the problem lies with my PC. I tried the cable on my laptop and I was getting 1.0Gbps on my connection status and around 196Mbps(down) on UPC speed test.

I have even tried setting the Speed Duplex in the settings of my NIC on my desktop from Auto Negotiation to 1.0Gbps Full Duplex but that did nothing.

My on-broad NIC is Atheros AR8151 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller(NDIS 6.20).

So will purchasing a gigabit switch still solve this issue like ED E suggested?

Thanks.

gctest50

software / driver problem maybe if its just using the built-in drivers ?

old win7 + 8151 driver

https://www.atheros.cz/atheros-wireless-download.php?chipset=50&system=6

think you need em from qualcomm/atheros but seems like they are updating their site to be tablet-pc friendly or something

http://www.qca.qualcomm.com/corporate/

ControlPanel - System and Security - System - Device Manager - Network adapters - Atheros Lan Card - Properties -
Advanced (tab) and change next settings


- Large Send Offload (IPv4) and disable

.

PenguinForce

gctest50 wrote: »

software / driver problem maybe if its just using the built-in drivers ?

old win7 + 8151 driver

https://www.atheros.cz/atheros-wireless-download.php?chipset=50&system=6

think you need em from qualcomm/atheros but seems like they are updating their site to be tablet-pc friendly or something

http://www.qca.qualcomm.com/corporate/


.

Thank you! Updating the driver did the trick. I am now getting 1Gbps speed