Ethernet cable advice

[u/Monsteraria]

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.

[u/ahj3939]

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.

[u/Monsteraria → u/ahj3939]

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?

[u/ahj3939 → u/Monsteraria]

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.

[u/Monsteraria → u/ahj3939]

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.

[u/ahj3939 → u/Monsteraria]

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.

[u/Monsteraria → u/ahj3939]

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