Ethernet cables

corblimey

While I'm going about restructuring my HE system, I've gotten into several posts about ethernet cables (I know, the fun I have!). I have a few questions.

1. Pretty much all of my ethernet cables came with the things that use them, so I've never purposely bought an ethernet cable, to the best of my knowledge. Is it possible to tell from looking at the cable whether it's 5, 5E or 6 (or 6E)?

2. If I can tell, and I find that some of my cables are 5 or 5E, is it worth the time and money to upgrade them all to 6 immediately? I see conflicting stories about whether 5E can support 1000 Mbps or not.

3. Or is that way madness, and I'll end having to upgrade any devices (routers, etc) that are not 1000 Mbps aswell. Is it possible to tell which of my devices are trying to use 1000 Mbps and are just being brought down? For example, I've just set up my Diskstation and it's claiming the Network connection at 1000 Mbps, but I'm getting about 4 MB/s uploading files to it.

BobbyT28

corblimey wrote: »

While I'm going about restructuring my HE system, I've gotten into several posts about ethernet cables (I know, the fun I have!). I have a few questions.

1. Pretty much all of my ethernet cables came with the things that use them, so I've never purposely bought an ethernet cable, to the best of my knowledge. Is it possible to tell from looking at the cable whether it's 5, 5E or 6 (or 6E)?

The type of cable is printed on the actual cable (outer shielding)

2. If I can tell, and I find that some of my cables are 5 or 5E, is it worth the time and money to upgrade them all to 6 immediately? I see conflicting stories about whether 5E can support 1000 Mbps or not.

See attached chart. CAT5E would be sufficient, I have CAT6 ran around the house, I only did this because I got it at a good price. My advise would be if you can do it run CAT6 not that you will evr need 10GB speeds in your house! If not I wouldn't be too concerned CAT5E will still be fine. It can run at 1GB speeds


3. Or is that way madness, and I'll end having to upgrade any devices (routers, etc) that are not 1000 Mbps aswell. Is it possible to tell which of my devices are trying to use 1000 Mbps and are just being brought down? For example, I've just set up my Diskstation and it's claiming the Network connection at 1000 Mbps, but I'm getting about 4 MB/s uploading files to it.

If you have a router and switch that are only capable of running at 100mb then that's all the speed you will get. To run your LAN at gigabit speed you need gigabit ports on your router/modem and a gigabit switch. They are the norm now when buying any router/modems or switches.To test speed, connect a laptop to your router using cat5e or cat6 cable and run a speed test. You could have a problem with your internal wiring, patch cables etc. [/B][/I]

BobbyT28

corblimey

Thanks for the considered response. After looking at my wireless router's spec, it seems the problem starts there, it's only rated up to 100Mbps. So I'm going to get a new wireless router for upstairs, and a new switch for downstairs, and upgrade everything to 5e for now. Looks like most of my cables are 5 aswell, so those 3 upgrades should start showing immediate improvements. My internet connection is only 10MB, so my wireless devices won't get any benefit, if I understand the concept correctly, but communication between my wired devices (NAS to HTPC) should get a boost, right?

BobbyT28

corblimey wrote: »

Thanks for the considered response. After looking at my wireless router's spec, it seems the problem starts there, it's only rated up to 100Mbps. So I'm going to get a new wireless router for upstairs, and a new switch for downstairs, and upgrade everything to 5e for now. Looks like most of my cables are 5 aswell, so those 3 upgrades should start showing immediate improvements. My internet connection is only 10MB, so my wireless devices won't get any benefit, if I understand the concept correctly, but communication between my wired devices (NAS to HTPC) should get a boost, right?

No problem. Your internet speed (WAN) has nothing to do with your Home Network speed (LAN).

Example:

If you are uploading pictures to NAS box from laptop in your home (LAN) that would transfer at LAN speed (whatever that is).

If you were uploading pictures to your Flickr account (Internet) you would only be uploading at the speed of you internet connection from your ISP.

My upload speed from my ISP is 500kps (0.5mb). your on 10mb line I would reckon your upload is similiar to mine as I am on 8mb

Wired and wireless is different and also depends on router frequency etc. I would always try to use a wired connection or at least homeplugs for the areas in the home where you have not wired.

I am looking at upgrading my current router to this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007W16SMO/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=36X6L1CKSQOEO&coliid=I2VQTWAOZ9YWKH

also if you are looking for a cheap unmanaged switch that runs at gigabit speeds, I use this and find it great;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-SG1005D-Gigabit-Unmanaged-Desktop/dp/B000N99BBC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1415543393&sr=8-2&keywords=unmanaged+switch

Hope this helps.

BobbyT28

corblimey

Thanks again, Bobby. I put my order into Amazon just before you posted your response. That's the switch I went for alright, but I went for this router instead

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00K0MJ8DS?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01

Looking at the one you pointed to, it's probably quite a downgrade, but I can't see anything else I need right now.

BobbyT28

corblimey wrote: »

Thanks again, Bobby. I put my order into Amazon just before you posted your response. That's the switch I went for alright, but I went for this router instead

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00K0MJ8DS?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01

Looking at the one you pointed to, it's probably quite a downgrade, but I can't see anything else I need right now.

Good stuff. That router will do fine.

best of luck let me know how you get on.

BobbyT28

corblimey

Well I've just spent an hour plugging in my new gigabit router and switch and replacing all the CAT5 cabling with CAT5E (the wrong cables arrived from Amazon, but these'll do for now). Unfortunately, there's no difference on the main transfer speed from my old media-holding PC to my new NAS, so I checked the properties of the LAN, and found that I can only 10Mb or 100Mb for the "Speed and Duplex" setting for my network card (Realtek PCIe FF Family Controller). Does that mean my network card isn't gigabit compatible? The PC is about a year old, but is a cheapish model from PCWorld (~500 quid if I remember), but I'm still surprised that the network card is kinda low spec.

I can live without that for now, I've transferred all the media by now (it took 2 weeks, but it's done). But I guess now I'm wondering if my tinkering and spending has done anything. Is there an easy way to prove I'm getting gigabit speed on my other devices (assuming they're gigabit compatible)?

corblimey

Ok, on further investigation, both my desktop and my laptop (my HTPC) only sport 10/100 network cards, so that knackers my speed plans for now.

Interestingly (or not), when I make the laptop wireless, I get 120Mb, but I have no idea what that means. If PC and laptop are 10/100 rated only, does that mean that my NAS and whatnot will never get the benefit of gigabit until I upgrade?

ETA: According to what I can figure, my NAS (Synology DS415) is running at the full speed...

Network Status: 1000 Mbps, full duplex, MTU 1500

So it looks like my PC and laptop need a good kicking. I assume I can get a gigabit network card for the desktop, but I'm SOL on the laptop?

Fallschirmjager

corblimey,

for the server, you can buy a gigabit network card but before you do....

what you have now is the network is capable of 1000mbit but the server and lappy can only handle 100mbit. So the cards in the laptop and server can only work as hard as they are capable off...in your case 100 mbit. so you have a big pipe but not filling it...if you want a visual of it.

i think i mentioned before, there are loads of people who have wireless serving HD content, me, i had problem after problem after problem. slow caching of data, pauses in the movie etc. i never had that with wired...ever. wireless is perfect for loads of stuff, just, IMHO, with HD content it shouldnt have an issue but it does. So for instance if you do they maths about amount of data per second needed, wireless should work but again my experience is that it doesnt. for example i was all ready to buy the new google device for movies until i discovered it has no rj45 port (wired network port), its wireless only. my response to google was: seriously? WTF google? what were you thinking and then i promptly start looking for something else, but i digress.

what i would do, if i was you is begin a process of conversion. you dont have to do everything at once. so start by changing the next piece as money becomes available. 100mbit wired will work for your movies in the meantime and it will be consistent, which is the benefit of wired.

here is where i think you are now: you have a local network that can ship data at gigabit speed
next you need your server to be able to utilise it and your clients (laptop, android devices, raspberry pi etc etc) need to be able to utilise it.

remember it doesnt matter if the network is gigabit and the server is gigabit if the client is 100mbit...your client (laptop) speed will be a maximum of 100mbit. so the server will deliver the movie to the laptop at a speed it can handle.

if you want to think of it like this, you have a small opening (100millimetres wide (your server), connected to a 1000millimetres wide pipe (your network) that is connected to a 100millimetres wide opening (the laptop). the server can only pour 100mm, the pipe can take much more, and the laptop can only receive 100mm... changing the server to 1000mm wont change anything at the laptop as it can still only receive at 100mm. Remember this is just you local network in your house. this is why you need to change them all (at some stage). there is a number of ways to look at this, you could buy a gigabit card for your server and a gigbit dongle for your laptop but before you rush off to do that, its worth taking stock of where you are and what you want to do.

is it worth spending say 50 euro on a gigbit network card for the server? is your server fast enough? honestly sometimes you might be better putting the 50 euro off buying a new server and making do with what you have. i am sure you will hear from people here that the server is fine and in all probability it is...but sometimes you are better standing back and looking at the big picture on what do you want to do. its one of the reasons i buy the biggest fastest 'thing' (by thing replace server, client laptop or device etc) i can afford. i know you can do things cheaper, honestly it simply isnt worth it to me, personally. so when i can afford a 'thing' i get the biggest bad assed 'thing' i can afford and if that means waiting a year so be it. i honestly dont want to min spec something that will 'do', i want a freaking tank that will bulldoze its way through any issue. to quote the military term, dont dribble, spew...there are people here who have 10mbit wireless to a super old server pumping out HD movies. if it works, go for it. for me, i dont want to have to think about networks, or servers or anything other than popcorn when watching a movie.
now thats me, what you want will be different. i am also blessed that the missus understands my affliction and duly ignores it....;) if you want a tip (i think i mentioned this before), make sure your better half is on board before you go any further! I freely admit, its all about money, as always...

so i would write down what you want BUT ONLY WHAT YOU CAN AFFORD:
are you going to have a wired network port in every room?
how many people will want to watch a movie at the same time?
are you going to get tv programmes via the network (unfortunately i have almost no clue on that but there is posts here by people who know tons on that) with say a tv card in your server?
are your movies all large HD movies?
are you planning on streaming music
etc etc etc

i would write down what you want first and then work out a plan on the steps. If you dont you run the risk of abandoning the whole thing due to cost and constant problems. you have loads of it sorted already but you are now stuck in the addiction we all have here. So slow and easy and once you get it working, even badly, its just a matter of replacing components one by one. that has worked for me, however, you may want to do it differently.

Strangely, (and sort of related) i recently started looking for a new cheapish laptop at home and i quite by accident noticed some were still 10/100 on the rj45 port...i dont know if that was a typo or not so it is worth checking always, even with modern laptops. So always check if the wired port can handle 10/100/1000. you want as fast as you can for your money.

hope that helps.

Johnboy1951

I'll just add here that I have never had satisfactory results using wireless for HD media content.
That might be due to a lot of factors, but I wired everything to fix it.

The way I look at it is this .... the device holding all the media needs to be able to deliver it to multiple devices and so needs a fast connection.
That means the server needs a 1Gb NIC.

As my server is connected to a router which serves all the devices, that too became a 1GB device.

For the client devices .... those getting the media from the server I have no need of a 1Gb connection.
HD media would not even break a sweat on a 100Mb connection .... and would probably be OK on a 10Mb NIC (not tried ).

Now if I had a requirement to save large files quickly from a client device to the server, then that client device might get a 1Gb NIC .... or maybe not, depending on my perception of transfer time.

In other words I never worry about the NICs in the client devices .... 10/100 are quite capable of doing all I need.

corblimey

Yeah, I think in retrospect, I did too much too early. My transfer speeds to my NAS were killing me, but now I've got everything transferred and set up the NAS to download what it needs directly, I won't be transferring anything across 10/100 again. So now I'm just streaming from a 10/100/1000 NAS box through a homeplug (rated "500M") and into a laptop with 10/100, and haven't noticed any slowdowns (but then again, I'm not yet at the stage where everything is HD or 3D).

No harm done really, I'm future proofed and happy for now. When they finally come out with gigabit homeplugs, by that time I'll be using a state of the art NUC for my HTPC. The desktop meanwhile will function as a browsing computer only so doesn't need the gigabit speeds really - in fact I turned it off last night for the first time in about 6 months