CAT5e cable... But which one?

[khaun]

Greetings!

 

I currently own a ASUS VI Hero with an Intel I217v NIC. I've read some topics, forums and articles about how much sensitive this NIC is, because I have some issues with it too. 

1., it's not a big deal, but my SSD is faster than my network, so after my programs loaded (almost immediately), my network is still searching for connection, and I could use my PC, but because of the network I have to wait another 4-5 secs before browsing. My old H81M-A never did this, and clean win. reinstall didn't solved it either, so yes, it's NIC/RoG specific issue, appears on 7 and 8.1 too

2., which seems to be a bigger problem: if I select auto or 100Mbps full duplex, I have no problems, but when I switch to gigabit, I have no network at all (which also wasn't problem on H81M-A)

 

So back to the beginning. I read some articles and find out, that this NIC is very sensitive to UTP cables, most of the time that causes these issues on this chip. We have a 200/50 connection, so I don't need better than CAT5e, CAT6 would be an overkill - and don't think that this mobo also wants that either-, and I don't need a cable over 1m (3.2 feet), even its half could be enough. I accept the fact, that I have old UTP cables, don't know how old they are, but 5 years at min., so maybe it's time to get a pair of new ones. And the obvious (thread-opening) question is:

 

Which one? Is there a real difference between a cheap and an expensive one? Yes, the isolation. But anything else? In my country (and my favourite shop) there are the following brands (/w prices):

1. Logilink - 1.5$

2. Wiretek - 1.5-1.6$

3. Belkin - 4$

4. Roline - 4.5$

5. Equip / Intellinet - 5.5$

6. Startech - ~10$

 

I thought that these are made from the same matter, so I don't know if I really should spend 5 times more on a small cable like this, but those topics and articles fickled me more than enough, to come here and ask for your thoughts.

The truth is, I don't really trust in a cheap cable like 1.5$, but if it's doing its job, then okay, sure, why not. But if I buy the Belkin, is there any chance that I'm going to make a better choice with it?

[NeatSquidYT]

AFAIK there shouldn't be any difference. I get all mine from Poundland and they are great. Same with HDMI cables.

[aidenrelkoff]

does not matter at all, unless its for servers, then you might get some interference and you will need CAT6 (has more plastic shielding)

[Kherm]

I made my own out of a box of cat5e cable and a box of connectors. There is. No difference in performance

[Guest]

The cheapest one.

If some of those cables really were meaningfully better than others, they'd be higher category.

I suppose there could be a difference in something like UV resistance, but you're using them indoors, so you only care about protection from interference, which you can only presume is the same for each cable in a given category.

[khaun]

Okay, then the cheapest it is. I was almost sure, that there should be almost no difference at all, but now I really am, so thank you. For future helping others, I will write here my experiences even if it's sad news, but I hope this really solves my problems, because if it doesn't, then that's a bothersome situation.

[Pommy192]

AFAIK there shouldn't be any difference. I get all mine from Poundland and they are great. Same with HDMI cables.

Poundland aren't too bad for HDMI cables, they last about 3-6 month's. I've never seen them sell Ethernet cables yet.

[khaun]

Well, the boot is still 'slow', but at least I have gigabit connection again.

[bomerr]

make your own from home depot bulk cable 

[AddonCustoms]

I get all my cables like HDMI, DVI, Cat6 all from amazon, find the supplier called "amazonbasic", they are extremely cheap, I have been using their CAT6(x7), HDMI(x6) and DVI(x2) cables for over a year and not had a single issue, they are very cheap.

[dalekphalm]

I get all my cables like HDMI, DVI, Cat6 all from amazon, find the supplier called "amazonbasic", they are extremely cheap, I have been using their CAT6(x7), HDMI(x6) and DVI(x2) cables for over a year and not had a single issue, they are very cheap.

I actually just got 5 partially used bulk reels of Cat6a wall-rated cable from work. They were 1000ft reels, and most reel only has maybe 50ft max on them, but hey, they were just going to throw them out because they're too short to be useful here at work.

 

But yeah, @khaun just simply buy the cheapest. Assuming all cables are actually certified (should be, if sold in a shop), then they will all operate the same. I usually buy my cable from Monoprice or from Canada Computers. I've bought from eBay before, but the shipping can sometimes be too pricey.