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)