I have gigabit symmetrical fibre optic service, which is exposing the weaknesses in my home network setup.
Currently I have a 20m cat 5e cable from the switch to my desk, which is actually only about 3 m away. I terminated this cable myself many years ago and it’s clearly far past its best. Now thinking of replacing it with something better for reasons. This cable runs for about 2m next to a 240 v power line, which cant be moved.
Thinking of getting a 5m replacement, either cat 6a or 7 or at a push, cat 8. Which would be best for running next to the power line, and should I go for S/FTP or F/FTP? My ISP offers way above gigabit, and it would be nice to have headroom for the future.
I don’t mind going up to about £$20 for a 5 m length it’s not going to break the bank. There is one right-angle bend external wall corner that the cable has to negotiate so a bit of flexibility would also help.
(ps Amazon sells flat ribbon shielded ‘cat7’ and ‘cat8’ ethernet, I find it hard to believe these are actually shielded cat 7/cat8)
Cat 8 is real.
“Category 8 was ratified by the TR43 working group under ANSI/TIA 568-C.2-1. It is defined up to 2000 MHz and only for distances up to 30 m or 36 m, depending on the patch cords used.”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO/IEC_11801
You’re right, Cat8 is recognized by IEEE altough i can guaranty that any of these cables found on amazon is fake. Cat7 on the other isn’t recognized by IEEE at all and is always fake.