Ethernet Cables

[Bush Badger]

I have a question about ethernet cables. I was wondering what is the difference between CAT 5, CAT 5e, CAT 6 and CAT 7 for gaming? I am currently using a CAT 5e and sometimes I feel laggy and keep getting these connect error when I play games like overwatch and rainbow 6, will a CAT 6 or CAT 7 make them go away?

 

Thanks in advance

[79wjd]

Unless it's a very long run (hundreds of meters) or a very shitty cable, no, it won't help.

[WereCatf]

The category-rating has to do with how the wires run inside the cable and what sort of shielding against noise there is. With the 802.3bz-standard, the Cat5e-cabling you have is rated for 2.5Gbps, Cat6 goes up to 5Gbps, Cat6a to 10Gbps and Cat7 isn't a proper standard in the first place. If your cables are actually of good quality and they aren't damaged inside, they should make literally zero difference to your games -- it's some other part of your network that does it, including your ISP.

[Oshino Shinobu]

Just now, WereCatf said:

The category-rating has to do with how the wires run inside the cable and what sort of shielding against noise there is. With the 802.3bz-standard, the Cat5e-cabling you have is rated for 2.5Gbps, Cat6 goes up to 5Gbps, Cat6a to 10Gbps and Cat7 isn't a proper standard in the first place. If your cables are actually of good quality and they aren't damaged inside, they should make literally zero difference to your games.

I'd note that Cat6 can do 10GBASE-T, but only up to 55m. 

[WereCatf]

4 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

I'd note that Cat6 can do 10GBASE-T, but only up to 55m. 

Yeah, there's also an exception for cat5e where it can do 5Gbps, but I figured the OP doesn't really need to know about all the exceptions.

[MysticalGnome]

Connection errors can be caused by numerous things, you could try and replace the network cable with a CAT6 cable it shouldn't be that expensive.

Other possible issues could be your router/modem that is dying or that the internet cable itself is damaged causing network interrupts.

[Lurick]

10 minutes ago, WereCatf said:

The category-rating has to do with how the wires run inside the cable and what sort of shielding against noise there is. With the 802.3bz-standard, the Cat5e-cabling you have is rated for 2.5Gbps, Cat6 goes up to 5Gbps, Cat6a to 10Gbps and Cat7 isn't a proper standard in the first place. If your cables are actually of good quality and they aren't damaged inside, they should make literally zero difference to your games -- it's some other part of your network that does it, including your ISP.

Don't forget Cat8 exists (or is coming soon) which can do 25Gbps and 40Gbps up to about 30 meters

 

 

Edit:

On topic, if the cable is crap, pinched, damaged, etc. then it can cause errors in the line even though the connection works.

[WereCatf]

Just now, Lurick said:

Don't forget Cat8 exists (or is coming soon) which can do 25Gbps and 40Gbps up to about 30 meters

Bah, humbug! I'mma stick to my pigeons for carrying my TCP/IP-packets!

[Lurick]

Just now, WereCatf said:

Bah, humbug! I'mma stick to my pigeons for carrying my TCP/IP-packets!

And I'll take my 400Gb QSFP-DD optics for my light speed TCP/IP packets