Which network cable do I need?
Not every cable that ships with a router works reliably. Here's what to look for.
Cables rated below Cat 5e FTP don't meet the standard for Gigabit Ethernet. In a dormitory, cables often run along radiators and other cables, so unshielded ones pick up interference. The problems rarely show up right away – often it takes weeks before you notice a slow connection or random disconnects. An unshielded cable (UTP) can still “work” at first and then drop to 100 MBit/s or keep disconnecting.
These cables work
- Cat 5e FTP, SFTP, or SSTP
- Cat 6 / Cat 6a SFTP or SSTP
- Cat 7 SFTP or SSTP
What matters is the metal shielding around the plug – you can tell a suitable cable by this even without reading the print on it.
