Basic Ethernet Cable Question

[HardwareSurgeon]

I am very new to all of this. I've recently gotten 1000 Mgb powerline with what I believe is a cat5. I know cat 5, cat 5e, and cat 6 all have varying networking speeds, but is it worth for me to invest in a 30 foot cat 6 or cat 5e to better my internet speeds? I'm currently averaging 69 Mgb with my modem, and I have no idea if that's good or not; if it has to do with modem or cable. Also I should mention the area I live in gets excellent network connections.

 

[USAFRet]

I am very new to all of this. I've recently gotten 1000 Mgb powerline with what I believe is a cat5. I know cat 5, cat 5e, and cat 6 all have varying networking speeds, but is it worth for me to invest in a 30 foot cat 6 or cat 5e to better my internet speeds? I'm currently averaging 69 Mgb with my modem, and I have no idea if that's good or not; if it has to do with modem or cable. Also I should mention the area I live in gets excellent network connections.

1. You need to know what speed youa re supposed to be getting from the ISP. How much do you pay them for?
2. "1000 Mgb powerline" is a marketing number.
3. Look at that cable closely. I'd be surprised it it did NOT say 'Cat5e', instead of 'Cat5'
4. The only real difference between Cat5e and Cat6 is a theoretical 10G performance, at 55 meters. They both will do 1GB up to 100 meters.

 

[HardwareSurgeon]

Thanks for your quick response, really appreciate it.
I was surprised too as I had bought the cable last year for my dorm room but it said cat 5. And yeah, I thought cat5 and cat6 would have the same speeds but I wanted to make sure because I'm still pretty new.

I talked to the people who pay for my internet, ( I assume that what you mean by "ISP"-if not, my bad) and they said we have the most expensive package we could buy. I'm not sure if that fulfills what you mean by ISP and whether or not I should be asking how much Gb (maybe?) of possible data we could be using....
'
Also do give a perspective the ethernet network is running from the basement to my room, which is 2 floors (the actual powerline adapter is 30 feet from the modem) is geting an average of 69 Mbps to a maximum of 88 Mbps, while the router on the same floor gets 120 Mbps and maximum of 200 Mbps.

To clarify I would connect to the router but my room literally gets an average of 5 Mbps from the router, while average of 69 Mbps wired. So I'll recheck the ethernet cable but if it truley says "cat5" would cat5e be worth to try to match the potential router speeds and whether I should I look into my "ISP"; if so, please explain.

Thank you so far

 

[HardwareSurgeon]

I am very new to all of this. I've recently gotten 1000 Mgb powerline with what I believe is a cat5. I know cat 5, cat 5e, and cat 6 all have varying networking speeds, but is it worth for me to invest in a 30 foot cat 6 or cat 5e to better my internet speeds? I'm currently averaging 69 Mgb with my modem, and I have no idea if that's good or not; if it has to do with modem or cable. Also I should mention the area I live in gets excellent network connections.

1. You need to know what speed youa re supposed to be getting from the ISP. How much do you pay them for?
2. "1000 Mgb powerline" is a marketing number.
3. Look at that cable closely. I'd be surprised it it did NOT say 'Cat5e', instead of 'Cat5'
4. The only real difference between Cat5e and Cat6 is a theoretical 10G performance, at 55 meters. They both will do 1GB up to 100 meters.

Thanks for your quick response, really appreciate it.
I was surprised too as I had bought the cable last year for my dorm room but it said cat 5. And yeah, I thought cat5 and cat6 would have the same speeds but I wanted to make sure because I'm still pretty new.

I talked to the people who pay for my internet, ( I assume that what you mean by "ISP"-if not, my bad) and they said we have the most expensive package we could buy. I'm not sure if that fulfills what you mean by ISP and whether or not I should be asking how much Gb (maybe?) of possible data we could be using....
'
Also do give a perspective the ethernet network is running from the basement to my room, which is 2 floors (the actual powerline adapter is 30 feet from the modem) is geting an average of 69 Mbps to a maximum of 88 Mbps, while the router on the same floor gets 120 Mbps and maximum of 200 Mbps.

To clarify I would connect to the router but my room literally gets an average of 5 Mbps from the router, while average of 69 Mbps wired. So I'll recheck the ethernet cable but if it truley says "cat5" would cat5e be worth to try to match the potential router speeds and whether I should I look into my "ISP"; if so, please explain.

Thank you so far

 

[USAFRet]

The "ISP" (internet service provider) is whoever your people pay to provide internet service to the residence.

(In the US) Cox, Verizon, Comcast, etc etc.

"most expensive" means little. Actual numbers count. Yes, you need to find out what that number might be.
"most expensive" in one location might be 15mbps. "most expensive" at my house is 500mbps (I think, if I wanted to pay for it).

Your powerline connection is very house specific. Not unusual for a distant connection to get worse performance than one in the same room.

 

[HardwareSurgeon]

The "ISP" (internet service provider) is whoever your people pay to provide internet service to the residence.

(In the US) Cox, Verizon, Comcast, etc etc.

"most expensive" means little. Actual numbers count. Yes, you need to find out what that number might be.
"most expensive" in one location might be 15mbps. "most expensive" at my house is 500mbps (I think, if I wanted to pay for it).

Your powerline connection is very house specific. Not unusual for a distant connection to get worse performance than one in the same room.

I'll be sure to call tomorrow and as soon as I posted i figured ISP was internet service provider...oops
And as of now the router is getting a maximum of 200 mbps while my wired connection in my room is shy of 90.And I realize the connection should deteriorate the farther I get from the router. From what I know so far, would the internet speed difference be noticeable if I upgrade the cable to cat5e? (Thats the cable running from the modem to the adapter that is. I have a cat5e plugged into my adapter-pc right now, but cat5 in the adapter-modem).

 

[USAFRet]

Network 'speed' is limited by the slowest device in the chain.
You could spend $40,000 on uber parts, and have it limited by a crappily build Cat6 cable in the middle somewhere.

Yes, change that cable to a Cat5e if it isn't already.

 

[HardwareSurgeon]

Network 'speed' is limited by the slowest device in the chain.
You could spend $40,000 on uber parts, and have it limited by a crappily build Cat6 cable in the middle somewhere.

Yes, change that cable to a Cat5e if it isn't already.

Will do by tomorrow. Thank You so much so far USAFRet. I know these are novice questions but I'm surprisingly the only hardware oriented person in my household so I appreciate it. Other than the cat5e could you think of any other things I could to speed up my wired connection?

 

[USAFRet]

Network 'speed' is limited by the slowest device in the chain.
You could spend $40,000 on uber parts, and have it limited by a crappily build Cat6 cable in the middle somewhere.

Yes, change that cable to a Cat5e if it isn't already.

Will do by tomorrow. Thank You so much so far USAFRet. I know these are novice questions but I'm surprisingly the only hardware oriented person in my household so I appreciate it. Other than the cat5e could you think of any other things I could to speed up my wired connection?

The main question is...what are you supposed to be getting
Second question, where are you testing this?

If your supposed to be getting 75mbps, and seeing 69mbps at the PC...that's not bad.
If you're paying for 300 and only seeing 69, then there is an issue.

For testing, to keep everyone on the same page, only speedtest.net really counts.

 

[jsmithepa]

"The most expensive..." LOL. Anytime anybody say that to you they are insulting your intelligence.

A dorm you say... you are aware you are sharing the bandwidth with the whole building... start by telling us why you are not happy with your current speed. If this is a stand-alone house and the ISP sold you x-bandwidth for x-dollar then we can chase something, but in a shared situation, what are we chasing?

 

[HardwareSurgeon]

"The most expensive..." LOL. Anytime anybody say that to you they are insulting your intelligence.

A dorm you say... you are aware you are sharing the bandwidth with the whole building... start by telling us why you are not happy with your current speed. If this is a stand-alone house and the ISP sold you x-bandwidth for x-dollar then we can chase something, but in a shared situation, what are we chasing?

haha, yeah i figured. Well as of now I don't my max ISP speeds so I have to call tomorrow. Also this set up is actually in my family's home. Fairly large House-built only 4 years ago so wiring is fine. Everyone uses wifi but my room is a deadspot so I've resorted to wired. Its actually very decent, but I was wondering if there was anything I could do optimize
the connection. I suppose I won't be able to get an answer until I get the exact numbers from the ISP until tomorrow...

 

[jsmithepa]

Well now lets say for some reason you can't get answer from ISP.

Wait until everybody is gone out, so they are not disturbed, then go down to the modem and plug your laptop directly there and run a test. There is nothing in between to slow you down, so that will be your max speed. A commonly available CAT5e cable should do the trick. Now if the admin of the house is running some IP camera or some home automation stuff, he would know if you unplug things.

 

[HardwareSurgeon]

Well now lets say for some reason you can't get answer from ISP.

Wait until everybody is gone out, so they are not disturbed, then go down to the modem and plug your laptop directly there and run a test. There is nothing in between to slow you down, so that will be your max speed. A commonly available CAT5e cable should do the trick.

Good point and good idea. I will be sure to do that tomorrow!

I would like to clarify that the 200 Mbp was an maximun outlier on the router speedtest. My wired has gotten a maximum of 88 (very decent but sitll) and average of 50-69 and the rooms closer to the router get an average of 100. So I do have verify my potential maximum speeds tomorrow.

 

[HardwareSurgeon]

Network 'speed' is limited by the slowest device in the chain.
You could spend $40,000 on uber parts, and have it limited by a crappily build Cat6 cable in the middle somewhere.

Yes, change that cable to a Cat5e if it isn't already.

Will do by tomorrow. Thank You so much so far USAFRet. I know these are novice questions but I'm surprisingly the only hardware oriented person in my household so I appreciate it. Other than the cat5e could you think of any other things I could to speed up my wired connection?

The main question is...what are you supposed to be getting
Second question, where are you testing this?

If your supposed to be getting 75mbps, and seeing 69mbps at the PC...that's not bad.
If you're paying for 300 and only seeing 69, then there is an issue.

For testing, to keep everyone on the same page, only speedtest.net really counts.

Oh of course. Lol, I'm new but I'm not that new

 

[USAFRet]

Well now lets say for some reason you can't get answer from ISP.

Wait until everybody is gone out, so they are not disturbed, then go down to the modem and plug your laptop directly there and run a test. There is nothing in between to slow you down, so that will be your max speed. A commonly available CAT5e cable should do the trick. Now if the admin of the house is running some IP camera or some home automation stuff, he would know if you unplug things.

Mostly.
But, if testing direct to the modem...
He sees a speed of 69mbps
But in fact, is supposed to be getting, and paying for, 200mbps.

There is still an issue. This would be the ISP's problem.
Unlikely, but it happens.

 

[HardwareSurgeon]

Well now lets say for some reason you can't get answer from ISP.

Wait until everybody is gone out, so they are not disturbed, then go down to the modem and plug your laptop directly there and run a test. There is nothing in between to slow you down, so that will be your max speed. A commonly available CAT5e cable should do the trick. Now if the admin of the house is running some IP camera or some home automation stuff, he would know if you unplug things.

Mostly.
But, if testing direct to the modem...
He sees a speed of 69mbps
But in fact, is supposed to be getting, and paying for, 200mbps.

There is still an issue. This would be the ISP's problem.
Unlikely, but it happens.

I would like to clarify that the 200 Mbp was an maximun outlier on the router speedtest. My wired has gotten a maximum of 88 (very decent but sitll) and average of 50-69. The the rooms closer to the router get a wireless average of 100. So I do have verify my potential maximum speeds tomorrow.

 

[USAFRet]

Wired, cat5e directly to the router or modem. Not via the powerline.
Know the baseline. Then you will know if the powerline, or WiFi, or whatever else is in the middle, is a problem.

Start with the baseline number.

 

[HardwareSurgeon]

Wired, cat5e directly to the router or modem. Not via the powerline.
Know the baseline. Then you will know if the powerline, or WiFi, or whatever else is in the middle, is a problem.

Start with the baseline number.

When I said wired so far I meant powerline. I'll have to get the baseline tomorrow, including the numbers.