Ethernet Cable

[iPC]

Hi, I need to run an ethernet cable from the upstairs router to my downstairs gaming rig, and I was wondering which ethernet cable I should use to do it. I want a cat6a cable of at least 150ft, but I'm struggling with solid vs stranded. This run has to be vertical and horizontal, and has to bend. Thank you!

[mikat]

what kind of mansion do you live in that you need 150 ft?

[iPC]

their in completely opposite corners of the condo

 

[Dylanc1500]

You are better off with stranded Ethernet in your case. If you are trying to run it within walls or even the ceiling then the flexibility of the stranded cable is going to do you a lot better. Solid cable is really only needed in industrial applications or where you needed to worry about magnetic interference (usually).

 

Most residential construction uses stranded. Heck most of the facilities I've had to do database work will run stranded Ethernet in lengths of 500 plus feet.

[iPC]

Ok Thanks!

 

[iPC]

Any specific products that you would recommend?

 

[Mira Yurizaki]

If you don't see yourself moving this cable ever, a solid core wire is fine. Otherwise just stick with stranded cables. There's no functional difference otherwise.

[iPC]

Thanks! Is there any length recommendation for stranded vs solid?

[Dylanc1500]

6 minutes ago, iPC said:

Thanks! Is there any length recommendation for stranded vs solid?

Cat5/5e/6 cable all have a max length of 100 meters. It doesn't matter if it's solid or stranded. In your application it's not long enough to make a difference. if you need more length you'll need a repeater or switch or some kind of "middleman."

[dalekphalm]

21 hours ago, iPC said:

Hi, I need to run an ethernet cable from the upstairs router to my downstairs gaming rig, and I was wondering which ethernet cable I should use to do it. I want a cat6a cable of at least 150ft, but I'm struggling with solid vs stranded. This run has to be vertical and horizontal, and has to bend. Thank you!

Okay, so a few things of note.

 

Solid cables are better for long runs. They're stronger, and have better resistance to wear and even to a small degree, emi. Stranded are more flexible, and are generally used as "patch" cables. It really comes down to bend radius. If you do really really sharp bends on a solid core cable, you can damage or break the wire inside.

 

Another thing of note: For 150 ft, you do NOT need Cat 6a, unless you plan on running 10 Gigabit Ethernet on it. Cat 6, or even Cat 5e will be totally fine within the parameters you've described.

 

I would only recommend Cat 6a if the price was not substantially more than the other cable types.

[paddy-stone]

I prefer using solid core personally, It's still able to bend around corners, just not tight 90 degree angles of course.. I'd say if trying to get around a 90 degree bend you would have to allow around 2-3cm both angles to actually make it around that corner without damaging the wire, just to be on the safe side. I even use solid for patch cables, but I don't buy stupid prices for it, even cheap-ish solid core cable is perfectly fine for cat6, and all of my cables test out perfectly and give the required Gigabit speed. You can even get kits from ebay that have the cable/crimpers/RJ45 etc for around $50 or so, the tools aren't great I admit, but the cable is fine, I've tested several of them and have had some cables from that test batch up and running for over 2 years now with no problems. I'm not an expert at this stuff by any means, but the people I bought this cheap grade stuff for have had no complaints either.