Cat6A vs. Cat7 vs. Cat8 Ethernet

[TheGMan1776]

I'm looking to buy all new Ethernet cables and properly do the networking for my house now that I've got Fiber internet and a new Wi-FI 7 router with a Wi-Fi 6E mesh system coming in. I just bought a Cat7 Ethernet cable and then was reading that it's not an official standard or ethernet cable but still need more cables and was wondering if I should get more Cat7 or use a Cat6A or Cat8 cable since those are official ethernet cables (according to what I've read). I don't want to go below Cat6A because of future proofing and I transfer files between devices over my local network plus my Fiber ISP currently supports speeds up to 5Gig which I only have 1Gig right now I'm looking to upgrade to 2Gig. Thx for any info!

[Skiiwee29]

6A is more than enough. I run 10gb with Cat6a easily. 

[TheGMan1776]

Just now, TheGMan1776 said:

I'm looking to buy all new Ethernet cables and properly do the networking for my house now that I've got Fiber internet and a new Wi-FI 7 router with a Wi-Fi 6E mesh system coming in. I just bought a Cat7 Ethernet cable and then was reading that it's not an official standard or ethernet cable but still need more cables and was wondering if I should get more Cat7 or use a Cat6A or Cat8 cable since those are official ethernet cables (according to what I've read). I don't want to go below Cat6A because of future proofing and I transfer files between devices over my local network plus my Fiber ISP currently supports speeds up to 5Gig which I only have 1Gig right now I'm looking to upgrade to 2Gig. Thx for any info!

Also if you know of any good and reliable ethernet cables/cable brands you can recommend that would be great too. I already read to avoid flat cables and to look for full copper cables 

[Lurick]

Cat6a that's not CCA (copper clad aluminum) or from some sketchy seller trying to offload 1000ft for $5 or some stupid low price is what you want.

Cat8 is designed for data centers for 25Gb/s and 40Gb/s speeds up to 30 meters. It's a waste of money and time to bother with since 25Gb and up (at this time) only uses fiber.

[MiszS]

3 minutes ago, TheGMan1776 said:

Also if you know of any good and reliable ethernet cables/cable brands you can recommend that would be great too. I already read to avoid flat cables and to look for full copper cables 

bro you're supposed to mark the solution as solution, not your own reply

[Lurick]

If you want to get SUPER technical, ISO ratified Cat7 using TERA (not 8p8c which is your standard Ethernet end used on most twisted copper cables) connectors but that's about as far as it got for ratification. TIA/EIA never ratified the standard officially. In theory Cat7 would have better electrical signal integrity over the same distance (100 meters) for 10Gb/s networking but that's about it.

 

Cable Matters, Monoprice, FS.com, and a few other vendors have good quality bulk stuff from my experience.

Also get plenum (advised but not required for most homes) and solid core for in wall runs and save stranded for patch cables.

[AbydosOne]

5 minutes ago, Skiiwee29 said:

6A is more than enough. I run 10gb with Cat6a easily. 

I run 10GbE with Cat5e. Works surprisingly well, actually.

[Electronics Wizardy]

5 minutes ago, Lurick said:

Cat6a that's not CCA (copper clad aluminum) or from some sketchy seller trying to offload 1000ft for $5 or some stupid low price is what you want.

Cat8 is designed for data centers for 25Gb/s and 40Gb/s speeds up to 30 meters. It's a waste of money and time to bother with since 25Gb and up (at this time) only uses fiber.

You woudln't happened to have seen these 25GBase-T or 40GBase-T cards have you? Its been a standard since 2016 I think, but I don't know of a single card/controller using the standard as of yet.

[Lurick]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

You woudln't happened to have seen these 25GBase-T or 40GBase-T cards have you? Its been a standard since 2016 I think, but I don't know of a single card/controller using the standard as of yet.

Never seen any cards either nor have I heard any information on 25GBase-T or 40GBase-T switches or other gear. Based on how hot 10GBase-T SFPs get I think anything faster that is not integrated into a switch directly (non-SFP basically) is pretty much DOA at this point anyway. It would be cool to see it one day and it could eventually happen but I don't have much hope of seeing it in the next 5 to 10 years at least.

[flibberdipper]

8 minutes ago, Lurick said:

If you want to get SUPER technical, ISO ratified Cat7 using TERA (not 8p8c which is your standard Ethernet end used on most twisted copper cables) connectors but that's about as far as it got for ratification. TIA/EIA never ratified the standard officially. In theory Cat7 would have better electrical signal integrity over the same distance (100 meters) for 10Gb/s networking but that's about it.

 

Cable Matters, Monoprice, FS.com, and a few other vendors have good quality bulk stuff from my experience.

Also get plenum (advised but not required for most homes) and solid core for in wall runs and save stranded for patch cables.

I'll throw a bone in for InfiniteCables. For CAT6 solid-core plenum stuff IC is a couple dollarydoos cheaper, though they only seem to offer it in 1,000ft rolls whereas Monoprice does 500 and 1,000.

 

Feels like hearsay recommended them over Monoprice because of the absolutely insane amount of SlimRun ethernet cables I have now (only 16 of them).

[TheGMan1776]

Thx for all the info guys! What I've got is Cat6A is good enough and Cat7 was kinda ratified by one group but not the others. Also saw some things about when I run the cables. I already have 2 Cat7 cables (1 of them is a flat cable bought years ago and one of them I just bought from Amazon heres the link https://www.amazon.com/Heavy-Duty-Networking-Transmission-10GbpsTransmission-Waterproof/dp/B08B4JWYPV?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1) a Cat6 cable, and a Cat6A cable. Is there any way I can check them or verify their integrity to know if they're any good or not? And when I was looking to buy new cables I found the one I sent a link to and figured that would be a good pick because it said waterproof and made for outdoor so I figured it would be fine for indoor use. I also think someone mentioned something about making sure the cables will have cooling and dips for running through walls. 1 of the cables will be ran above the tile celling in my basement and the other will be ran over the same tiles but just at the very end goes up throw the floor out the wall upstairs right into what will be a mesh router (The rest of the cables will also just be ran over tiles but just to get over 1 wall and right back out the other side)