I'm finally going to put my 11 or 12 year old time capsule out to pasture. I've purchased a Synology router to connect to my Motorola Modem. The current cable that I use I believe is a CAT 7E. Do I need to or should I upgrade to a newer ethernet cable?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Ethernet Cable Recommendations
- Thread starter iono11200
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
This is probably overkill for what you need, so no, you don’t need to change the Ethernet cable.
Even if you are mistaken and your cable is lower than Cat7, the now 25 year old Cat5e cable can do link speeds of 10Gbps in short runs.
I don’t think Cat 7E is a real Ethernet cable specification. You probably have a CAT 5E cable, and in most cases, you probably don’t need to upgrade. See below for details:
Choosing an Ethernet cable spec is dependent on the maximum bandwidth you need and the maximum bandwidth supported by the ports you’re connecting the cable to. In the case of connecting your modem to your router, the limiting factor is—for most people anyway—going to be the upload/download speed from your ISP.
Without getting too deep into the weeds, here is a general rule of thumb you can follow:
Is it a short run (less than 55 meters)? Buy CAT6 cable.
Is it a long run (e.g., through the walls of your house or between buildings)? Buy CAT6A cable.
From my experience, these days, CAT6 cable is just as cheap as CAT5E cable (if not cheaper).
Additionally, if you already have a CAT5E cable laying around and your download/upload speeds don’t exceed 1 Gbps, there’s no need to upgrade the cable.
Choosing an Ethernet cable spec is dependent on the maximum bandwidth you need and the maximum bandwidth supported by the ports you’re connecting the cable to. In the case of connecting your modem to your router, the limiting factor is—for most people anyway—going to be the upload/download speed from your ISP.
Without getting too deep into the weeds, here is a general rule of thumb you can follow:
Is it a short run (less than 55 meters)? Buy CAT6 cable.
Is it a long run (e.g., through the walls of your house or between buildings)? Buy CAT6A cable.
From my experience, these days, CAT6 cable is just as cheap as CAT5E cable (if not cheaper).
Additionally, if you already have a CAT5E cable laying around and your download/upload speeds don’t exceed 1 Gbps, there’s no need to upgrade the cable.
Wan port on Synology router js 1gbps, anything over cat5e is a waste.
port 1 on rt6600ax is 2.5gbe if connected device also so cat6 for that just to be sure But that would be patch lead at most would have thought.