this post was submitted on 05 Jun 2023
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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?

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I wonderbif there is a way to measure this. Like a speed test for LAN.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Iperf is the standard for measuring speeds between devices, remote OR local. Can you be more specific about what you mean by "This"?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

This -> Speed Thanks for the tip about iperf

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

lol bro do you run 25Gbps? Than hell no. Cat6A at most for 10g, Cat5e is good enough for 1g.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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 😄

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Right? I also wanted slightly longer 2m cables, but thats secondary.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A 2 metre 5e cable will be a hell of a lot cheaper than a 2m CAT8 cable, and unless your internal network is faster than a gigabit or two there's really no point in using anything more expensivethatn 5e or maybe 6.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Cat 5e supports 5 and 10GbE at least for 10 meters. I wouldn't bet on it considering the price of Cat 6a but 2 meters is really short.