Ethernet cables for home networking

Question

Is Cat5 or Cat5e Ethernet cable OK for home networking or should I look at Cat6?

Saleem · Answer

Cat6 external cable good for home networking but for better performance I suggest Cat6 FTP shielded cable.

Tomasz · Answer

Cat5 is still very good depends for what. If this outside I would advise to buy good quality one. Of course if you do not mind to pay a bit more Cat6 will be much better for future.

Kevin · Answer

If your router is Cat6 compatible I would install Cat6. If your router isn’t Cat6 I would recommend getting one to install Cat6. 
Cat5 - 100mb connection
Cat6 - 1000mb connection

Keith · Answer

CAT5 only supports up to 100Mb where CAT5e supports speed of up to 1Gb, and CAT6 supports speeds of up to 1Gb.

You you therefore abound Installing CAT5, and as an ideally install CAT6 for future proofing, however it depends on what you are using on your network as you want to consider CAT7 which supports 10Gb.

Isaya · Answer

Cat 5 is ok for most home 🏠 speeds but if you do high speed gaming, you need cat6

Errol · Answer

Definitely use cat6 as it can process more data than cat5e

Derek · Answer

Hi cat 5 is ok for home networking and will run good speeds

David · Answer

Cat5e is good if you’re on a budget but Cat6 is better as it can handle more data

Joe · Answer

Don’t use cat5, cat5e is fine for for a home network, but if it was me and you’re running cables I would future proof it and run Cat6 as standard.

Patrick · Answer

Cat 6 is better specification. But 5 will do ok too. Unless you have a lot of electrical equipment or interference nearby. Price difference is negligible.

Ethernet cables for home networking

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