2 ms·

Is it still worth doing Cat 8 for stringing Ethernet in a new build, or is it okay to cheap out and just go with Cat 6a?

• crote 4y ago
  Cat6a can do 10GB over 100 meters, cat8 can do 40GB over 30 meters. Current consumer hardware is starting to support 2.5G over 100 meter of cat5, and we miiiight see 5G over 100 meters of cat6 become common in a few years. If you're that worried about upgrade-ability, better stick to fiber.
  • toast0 4y ago
    Note that the specs are 100 meters in a dense conduit. You can probably manage higher than rated speeds in a household environment which likely doesn't have dense conduit nor 100 meter runs. If you're wiring from scratch, sure put the best you can afford, but if you've got cat3 in your walls already, see what runs, your NICs aren't going to look at the label on the insulation. (For better or worse, ethernet speed negotation runs at 1Mbps and the specs don't contemplate testing conditions and reducing speeds until you get to the multi-gig (2.5/5/10g) equipment. Some equipment will drop to 100M in drivers though)
• bluGill 4y ago
  Only time will tell. For now my best guess is cat 5e is still good enough for everything, but since cat6a is no more expensive may as well use that instead. God has not given me any indication on how the future will play out though, I could be wrong. Then again I might be right just because by the time you need more than cat6 there is a new cat 12 that you need. Only time will tell.