Using Ethernet cables in your home network is a great way to ensure you always have the best possible connection for gaming. While wifi is often good enough, it can be susceptible to congestion and high latency, which means you could have problems in those all important shooter games that require split second reactions.
Top 3 Picks: Best Ethernet Cables For Gaming
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Ethernet, seriously reduces the likelihood of high latency, and as such helps ensure you to have the best possible connection.
What to Look Out For in an Ethernet Cable For Gaming
Ethernet Cable Category
There are various different cable types you will likely come across when searching for an Ethernet cable. These range from Cat7, the newest and fastest cable type, to Cat5e a much older standard that is nonetheless still in common use.
Cables differ in their speed, noise resistance, frequency and maximum cable length. What is worth noting, however, is that even a Cat5e cable will enable gigabit speeds and as such should be more than good enough for your network.
Length Of The Cable
This is crucial as you need to make sure your cable is long enough to connect to whatever network appliances you need to connect to. In this case, games consoles or a PC.
When buying a cable it is usually better to buy a longer cable than needed just to be on the safe side. You don’t want to spend all that time setting up your network to find that the last cable is too short by a few inches!
When selecting an Ethernet cable, the maximum recommended limit for a cable is 100 meters. If you go longer than that you will still be able to send data, although you may find you have some problems with your network. 100 meters should be enough for you....unless you live in a huge mansion!
Your Other Equipment
While all Ethernet cables are backwards compatible and as such will have no problems working with the rest of your network, buying a better Ethernet cable will NOT improve speeds if the rest of your network isn’t set up for it.
It is also worth noting the difference between your network bandwidth and your internet speed. Your maximum internet speed is what is provided by your ISP, so if your ISP offers speeds of 128Mbps, even if you buy cat7 cables that offer 10-gigabit bandwidth (and set up the rest of your network to work at these speeds), your internet speed will always be stuck at the 128Mbps offered by your ISP.
Top 3 Best Ethernet Cables For Gaming
1. Cable Matters 160021 5-Feet Cat6 Snagless Ethernet Patch Cable
This is a Cat6 cable which will be able to give you speeds of up to 10-gigabit across your network. It comes in a range of colors which has can help avoid confusion if you have a lot of Ethernet connected devices.
This is a great set of cables at an excellent price and if you find that the cable size isn’t long enough, there are longer versions of this cable available.
2. Mediabridge Cat5e Ethernet Patch Cable
This is a massive 50 foot cable and is perfect for people who need to connect different rooms together.
It is Cat5e which is an older standard of cable, although this should still offer speeds more than fast enough for most networks.
3. Vandesail Cat7 High Speed Ethernet Cable
This is a Cat7 cable. As such buying this cable will ensure your network is setup with the newest standard of cable available. It also has the advantage of being flat which should make it easy to run through the home.
While this is undoubtedly an excellent cable, most people’s networks aren’t really set up to see the benefit of Cat7 just yet. It is a little more expensive, especially if you have a lot of wiring to do.
Buy cables direct from MonoPrice. Best for your money hands down. HDMI and Cat7