Not All Ethernet Cables Are Equal: You Can Get Faster

LAN Speeds By Upgrading

by Chris Hoffman on February 26th, 2015

Wired connections, which use Ethernet cables, are generally faster and have lower
latency than Wi-Fi connections. But, just as modern Wi-Fi hardware has advanced,
modern Ethernet cables are capable of communicating at faster speeds.

For a typical home network, this isn’t a really big deal — your Internet connection is the
bottleneck. But there is a difference between these cables, and you can get faster local
network speeds by upgrading.

Cable Categories

Did you recently pick up a new Ethernet cable, or did you use an Ethernet cable that
came bundled with a modern router or other piece of equipment? It’s probably recent
enough that you don’t need to worry.

But, if you’re still using older Ethernet cables that have been sitting in a closet
somewhere, you may want to look at upgrading them. If you long ago wired your house
with Ethernet cables — perhaps you strung them through the walls and under the
carpets to expand wired Internet access to every room — you probably have older Cat-
5 or Cat-5e cables in your walls.

There isn’t just such a thing as a generic “Ethernet cable.” Cables are standardized into
different “categories.” For example, there’s “Category 5,” “Category 5e,” “Category 6,”
and so on — shortened to “Cat-5,” “Cat-5e,” “Cat-6” and so on. Each cable with a higher
number is a newer standard. And yes, these cables are backwards compatible. They
just support communicating at faster speeds if you have modern devices that support it.
The connector type is the same, so you can plug a Cat-6 cable into a device created
back when Cat-5e was the hot new standard and Cat-6 hadn’t be released yet.

We’ve run down the differences between Cat-5, Cat-5e, Cat-6, and Cat-6a cables. Each
newer standard brings higher possible speeds and reduced crosstalk, which helps you
achieve those speeds — even with longer cables. There are newer types of cable like
Cat-7 and Cat-7a — but those really aren’t relevant for home networks.

Is Upgrading Worth It? Maybe Not, But…

The reality is that a Cat-5e cable with its up to 1 Gb/s speed will be fast enough for your
Internet conenction. You probably don’t even have Gigabit Internet, so you won’t see
any increase in your Internet speed if you switch from Cat-5e to Cat-6 cables. But, if you
do a lot of transferring data between computers on your local network, upgrading may
be worth it. And, if you’re buying new cables or wiring your home right now, you should
at least use Cat-6 instead of Cat-5e cables.

Category 5 (Cat-5) and Category 5 enhanced (Cat-5e) are actually basically the same.
Nothing changed physically in the cable itself — instead, Cat-5e cables are tested more
stringently to ensure less crosstalk (electrical interference). In other words, only some of
those old Cat-5 cables are good enough to be Cat-5e cables.
Cat-6 and Cat-6a cables are more interesting. If you have a modern router and modern
Ethernet-enabled devices, you can get faster speeds — up to 10 Gb/s from 1 Gb/s —
by using Cat-6 or Cat-6a cables instead of Cat-5 or Cat-5e cables. The rest of your
hardware has to support it, but you won’t get those above 1 Gb/s speeds unless you
have good enough cables. If you plug all your great new network hardware into old Cat-
5e Ethernet cables that you ran through your home’s walls years ago, you won’t get the
full speeds.

This doesn’t mean you should rip your home’s walls open to replace Cat-5e cable
installed years ago, especially if you don’t have a need for faster local network speeds.
But not all Ethernet cables are equal.

How to Tell What You’re Using

On most cables, you should be able to look at the cable itself and find the label printed
on the outside surface of the cable. That’s your best bet.
Cat-6 cables are generally thicker than Cat-5e cables, and less flexible — so that’s
another easy way to tell if you’ve handled Cat-5 or Cat-5e cables previously.

Most people won’t really care whether they’re using Cat-5e or Cat-6 cables at
home. The Internet connection is the bottleneck, and Cat-6 cables won’t help that. Cat-6
can enable faster speeds when transferring files or otherwise communicating between
two computers on the local network, but most people won’t notice.

Still, there is a difference! If you’re wiring your home with cables that will be stuck there
a while, you should definitely go for Cat-6 for the future-proofing and faster LAN
speeds..

What’s the Difference Between a Modem and a Router?

by Chris Hoffman on November 23rd, 2015
If you’ve been on the Internet for a while, you’ve no doubt heard the terms “modem” and
“router” thrown around, but might not have taken the time to understand what they are.
We’re here to help.

In short, your router creates a network between the computers in your home, while your
modem connects that network—and thus the computers on it—to the internet. When
you connect to Wi-Fi, you’re really connecting to your router, which
forwards traffic between the internet and your computer. Many internet providers offer
a combined modem/router unit that performs both these functions in one device.

So why bother to understand the difference? Because that understanding can lead to
better decisions, like buying your own modem so you can stop paying $8-$15 a month
to rent one from your ISP.

A router connects multiple networks and routes network traffic between them. It’s really
that simple. In the case of your home network, your router has one connection to the
Internet and one connection to your private local network. In addition, most routers also
contain built-in switches that let you connect multiple wired devices. Many also contain
wireless radios that let you connect Wi-Fi devices.

The simple way to think about routers—especially on your home network—is like this.
The router sits in between your Internet connection and your local network. It lets you
connect multiple devices to the Internet through one physical Internet connection and
also lets those devices communicate with one another over the local network. In
addition, the router offers some protection to your devices over being exposed directly
to the Internet. To the Internet, all the traffic coming from your house looks like it’s
coming from a single device. The router keeps track of what traffic goes to which actual
device on your network.
But you can’t connect directly to the Internet with just a router. Instead, your router must
be plugged into a device that can transmit your digital traffic over whatever type of
Internet connection you have. And that device is a modem.

What a Modem Does

Your modem serves as a bridge between your local network and the Internet.
Historically, the term “modem” is shorthand for modulator-demodulator. Modems were
used to modulate the signals on telephone lines so that digital information could be
encoded and transmitted over them and then demodulated—and decoded—on the
other end. Though more modern broadband connections—like cable and satellite—
don’t really work the same way, we kept using the term “modem” because it’s a device
people were already familiar with and associated with connecting to the Internet.

How a modem attaches to your network depends on the type of connection you have.
The modem plugs into whatever type of infrastructure you have—cable, telephone,
satellite, or fiber—and gives you a standard Ethernet cable output that you can plug into
any router (or a single computer) and get an Internet connection.
Since the modem communicates with your Internet service provider, you’ll need the
correct type of modem that will work with your ISP’s infrastructure.

Combined Routers and Modems

Some ISPs offer a modem and router in a single device. That device has the electronics
and software in it to provide both functions, acting as a modem that communicates with
your ISP and functioning as a router to create a home network. Some ISPs also bundle
a phone interface into the same box so you can use their VOIP offerings.

While a combined unit has its attractions—just having one device cluttering up your
office being one—there are also disadvantages. Using separate devices offers more
flexibility in what you can do with your network and lets you make sure you’re using the
best quality devices you can. And using your own devices instead of the ones your ISP
provides can save you some money.

Buying your own modem is an easy way to save money on your Internet bill. Check
your monthly bill and you’ll probably see an “Equipment rental” or “Modem rental” fee
that’s costing you somewhere between $8 and $15 per month. Rather than renting your
modem from your Internet service provider, you can buy your own and hook it up. You
can then return the original modem to your ISP and remove that fee from your monthly
bill. Yes, it will cost you some money up front. But that typically adds up to somewhere
between 6 and 10 months of monthly device rental fees. Keep the devices longer than
that and you’re saving money every month.

Of course, if you have a combined modem/router unit, you’ll also need to buy a home
router. That’s not necessarily bad news, though. The router your ISP provides may not
have the latest technologies like 802.11ac and 5 GHz Wi-Fi, so you may be better off
buying your own router anyway.

Check to see if you’re actually renting your modem and how much you’re spending
every month, and then find the best modem for your ISP. The Motorola SURFboard
SB6141 is a good bet for most people at around $70. If you’re spending $10 a month on
a modem rental, you’ll break even and start saving money after just seven months.
That’s hundreds of dollars saved over the life of your modem.

You can use any wireless router you want, but the modem you purchase has to be
approved by your ISP to function with their network. In a sense, you can think of your
router as a device that’s part of your home network and the modem as a device that’s
part of your ISP’s network.