In order to enjoy a good internet connection, we need to take care of several aspects. A router is one of them, and it is useless to rent a high-speed connection if our router cannot use it. We have another key in the network card, although this is losing importance over time, because today practically all motherboards integrate at least one gigabit ethernet connector, which means that we can enjoy at speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps.

Many users would think that we are already done, that there is nothing more important to evaluate in order to use our internet connection, but we would forget something important, ethernet cable. If you are wondering why this is so important, the answer is very simple, because the communication between the router and the device we have connected is through a cable, be it a PC, console, TV or any other.

Ethernet cable can be a significant bottleneck because not all cables are created equal, that is, they do not have the same bandwidth and do not reach the same maximum speed. That is, a Cat 5 Ethernet cable is limited to 100 Mbpswhile Cat 5E Ethernet cable runs at max 1000 Mbps

Usually current routers come with high-speed cables, so we have nothing to worry about, but in the case of older models we can use a cable that does not reach the speed we really need and in this case we would have a problem because we would not take advantage of the maximum speed offered by our internet connection.

For example, think about what would happen if you had a 900 Mbps internet connection and were using a cable limited to 100 Mbps. Your computer, console or device you connected to the router with this cable would not reach 900 Mbps because the cable would prevent you from going over 100Mbpsthat means you’d lose a lot of power, all for a simple cable.

Then you will need to use a Cat 5E Ethernet cable, which, thanks to its peak of 1,000 Mbps, would allow you to use the 900 Mbps in an optimal way, if we do not have to overcome a long distance between the router and the connected device. This is not usual because we usually have the router very close to the main device that we connected with a cable. In my case, I have the router only half a meter from the PC.

If you’re in doubt about the maximum speed that the Ethernet cable you’re using is capable of reaching, don’t worry, it’s very easy. just look at the badge that appears on the cable itself. It should be Cat 5E Ethernet as a minimum, although Cat 5 Ethernet will do if you’re using a 100 Mbps or less Internet connection. Cat 6A and Cat 7 Ethernet cables go up to 10,000 Mbps and Cat 8 up to 40,000 Mbps with

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