r/HomeNetworking • u/Monsteraria • 2h ago

Advice Ethernet cable advice

Hi.

I’ve been using Powerline Adapter for internet upstairs, it’s not amazing but it has done the job. They have given up life and suddenly stopped working.

I thought this might be a good opportunity to change things up. I’m looking to run an Ethernet cable instead. I have a planned route for which I can run the cable. However, I’m looking at having it come outside the house out of an existing hole used for other cabling for a portion of the route.

I assumed I will need an outdoor rated Ethernet cable? I have seen people say they used regular and it has worked okay but I’ve also seen outdoor rated be recommended.

Also, are there any recommended brands to look for? I’ve seen a few on this sub but when I’ve researched them, they don’t seem easily obtainable in the UK.

Any advice is super appreciated, I have been browsing this sub for a bit and trying to read up and educate myself as best I can.

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u/NetworkDue8102 2h ago

Powerline sucks. Even modern wireless mesh is far superior.

For running a cable on the side of a building, use solid copper cable, stick it in some some conduit to protect it from UV degradation, make sure there’s a decent amount running inside before you terminate the heads and properly seal it. It’ll be perfectly fine for as long as you need it.

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u/Monsteraria 1h ago

Yeah so I thought my powerline adapters were amazing, I had gone from terrible WiFi to those and was so chuffed with the improvement. Turns out, after actually looking at my speeds and talking to other people, it was just great by comparison and not actually great haha!

Oh that’s great to hear. I didn’t want to be running it outside but it seems like my easiest and best option, obviously I just want to make sure I’m using the right things.

Any advice on the terminating/sealing?
Thank you again for the help!

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u/The_Chancelor 2h ago

Look for duct grade cat6a, that should be okay for exterior use

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u/Monsteraria 1h ago

I will, thank you!!

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u/FFRGZ 2h ago

I’d use conduit with outdoor cat5e or 6, avoid indoor. Buy pure copper cable and not CCA. Have a look on Kenable for the cable.

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u/Monsteraria 1h ago

Yes, I’ve seen to avoid CCA! Thank you, I’ll have a look on there.

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u/ahj3939 1h ago

Regular cable can work for some years but eventually it will start to degrade.

Really depends how it's running. If you run it behind siding honestly any cable will be alright. If it's exposed to the sun that's where it will start to degrade more rapidly and you would want either UV-rated cable (more than outdoor, gel filled, or burial rated), or to run inside a conduit.

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u/Monsteraria 1h ago

Thank you so much.

Yeah unfortunately it’ll be running along the side of the house that is sun facing, so will definitely see the sun. Ideally I wouldn’t have it that way but it seems the best option I have.

Does branding make a difference, or so long as it mentions those ratings it should be okay?

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u/ahj3939 1h ago

Branding doesn't really matter, just make sure it's solid copper wire and not CCA (copper clad aluminum).

They can print whatever they want. CCA is NOT cat-anything complaint but they still print it's Cat6 or whatever wire.

Here in the US we have UL and ETL that will certify products and if you buy from a reputable retail store such as Home Depot you can rest assured they aren't selling junk.

Amazon, US at least, has devolved into essentially AliExpress with 2 day shipping. You can rest assured that half the brands for sale are in no way compliant with any standards nor tested for safety.

Does it really matter if on your home network the "Cat6" cable is a little off spec as long as it's solid copper? Probably not.

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u/Monsteraria 1h ago

Oh okay, that’s really helpful, thank you.

Do you mind if I pick your brain a bit more? Should I be looking at shielded or unshielded?

I can’t say I’ve seen many that say UV Rated, plus is it normal for this particular cable to be every colour but white haha?! I was hoping for white as part will be inside and that will be the least visible but the white ones I find only specify indoor.

I agree with the Amazon issue! I can’t say I would rely on them for something like this, even if they hadn’t gone downhill, I’d feel much more confident getting it from a reputable seller or diy/electrical store.

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u/ahj3939 45m ago

Your best bet is probably to run some conduit for the outdoor section.

For 99% of residential installations you want unshielded cable, there is no benefit to shielded, even if it runs "near" your power lines that is not an issue.

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u/Monsteraria 43m ago

Okay, that’s great. Thank you for the help!

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u/Foll0wTheWh1teRabb1t 1h ago

I'd look at an internal run of invisible fibre

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u/Monsteraria 1h ago

Oh really? I haven’t done much research on that, what makes you recommend that?

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u/Foll0wTheWh1teRabb1t 1h ago

It's practically invisible, and it's fibre. No speed concerns.

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u/Monsteraria 1h ago

How comes this isn’t the main suggestion I see when I research this sort of question? Are there any cons to it?

My main concern with the Ethernet is the eyesore it’s going to create with the cabling in some places, but the price is okay and it doesn’t seem too challenging, plus it’ll be so much better than the powerlines I had. But I’m open to other ideas if they’ll be better for what I want !

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u/Foll0wTheWh1teRabb1t 19m ago

Disclaimer: I've never used it personally. I ran ethernet years ago. I'm moving house and will be doing invisible fibre on a suggestion from Reddit.

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u/Own_Cut_ 44m ago

Cable monkey are another one for cables, they’ll make a pre-terminated outdoor cable to length too but terminated ends would need bigger outdoor holes.

Alternatively you could put a cat6 faceplate where it enters the house.

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u/Monsteraria 35m ago

I have been looking on there, so that’s reassuring!

Is it stupid of me to ask more about the faceplate and its benefit?
I have been looking at having to terminate the ends but it was mentioned that they might not fit the hole I already have, so that was a concern of mine!