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Cat7 cables make a difference
Created this as a new post to help others who have the RBK853. This follows struggles to get my PS4 which seemed to be hampered when connecting with an Orbi RBK850 series with satellites. In short: use Cat7 cables, they make a
Big difference.
So I'll preface this by describing my setup:
At&T fiber optic < Dumbswitch (takes place of At&T Arris router) < Orbi RBK852. My house was built in 2005 & most rooms are wired with an Ethernet port using Cat 5e cables in the walls. The Orbi is setup at this hub and I can plug a cable directly from the Orbi to allow a wired connection to parts of the house.
I'd been having low speeds on my PS4 so I tried to maximize it with a Cat6 cable directly from the PS4 to the Ethernet port. (I had tried earlier configurations with the PS4 doing wifi, then the PS4 wired to a satellite that was just plugged in, then the PS4 wired to a satellite which was connected by Ethernet cable to the Orbi)
As I'd stated earlier, no such luck. If the PS4 was on Wi-Fi, the top download speed was around 47Mbps.
If the PS4 was wired even directly to the router, (well through an Ethernet port in the house), then the top download speed was around 89 Mbps.
I tried manually configuring the wired connection rather than automatic on the PS4, tried port forwarding, etc. No difference.
I bought some Cat 7 cables recently and changed everything I could up. From the At&T box to the dumbswitch, the switch to the Orbi router, the wired connection of the satellite to the router and lastly, the satellite to the PS4: ALL got a cable upgrade to Cat7. The only thing I didn't change was the wired ports throughout the house, since my wife would kill me if I tore up the walls.
The speed!! 256 Mbps! And that was just through the satellite!
Then I tried directly doing the Cat7 cable from the PS4 to the router (through an Ethernet port). My new speed: 447 Mbps!!
So, the cables make a difference!
My next step is to get a 100 foot cat 7 cable and test the difference in speed if I go from the PS4 DIRECTLY to the Router, (bypassing the Ethernet ports in the house which use Cat5e cables). If there's a sizable difference, maybe my wife will let me get that hub rewired with Cat 7....
Big difference.
So I'll preface this by describing my setup:
At&T fiber optic < Dumbswitch (takes place of At&T Arris router) < Orbi RBK852. My house was built in 2005 & most rooms are wired with an Ethernet port using Cat 5e cables in the walls. The Orbi is setup at this hub and I can plug a cable directly from the Orbi to allow a wired connection to parts of the house.
I'd been having low speeds on my PS4 so I tried to maximize it with a Cat6 cable directly from the PS4 to the Ethernet port. (I had tried earlier configurations with the PS4 doing wifi, then the PS4 wired to a satellite that was just plugged in, then the PS4 wired to a satellite which was connected by Ethernet cable to the Orbi)
As I'd stated earlier, no such luck. If the PS4 was on Wi-Fi, the top download speed was around 47Mbps.
If the PS4 was wired even directly to the router, (well through an Ethernet port in the house), then the top download speed was around 89 Mbps.
I tried manually configuring the wired connection rather than automatic on the PS4, tried port forwarding, etc. No difference.
I bought some Cat 7 cables recently and changed everything I could up. From the At&T box to the dumbswitch, the switch to the Orbi router, the wired connection of the satellite to the router and lastly, the satellite to the PS4: ALL got a cable upgrade to Cat7. The only thing I didn't change was the wired ports throughout the house, since my wife would kill me if I tore up the walls.
The speed!! 256 Mbps! And that was just through the satellite!
Then I tried directly doing the Cat7 cable from the PS4 to the router (through an Ethernet port). My new speed: 447 Mbps!!
So, the cables make a difference!
My next step is to get a 100 foot cat 7 cable and test the difference in speed if I go from the PS4 DIRECTLY to the Router, (bypassing the Ethernet ports in the house which use Cat5e cables). If there's a sizable difference, maybe my wife will let me get that hub rewired with Cat 7....
I run CAT6 throughout my home. No speeds issues seen here. If you do decide to upgrade to CAT7, I recommend not mixing CAT#s. Keep to one CAT level though out.
Chuck_M wrote:Here is a good top level rundown of CAT6 vs CAT7.
TL;DR
Cat6 cable standard provides performance of up to 250 MHz while Cat 7 cable is rated for transmission frequencies of up to 600 MHz.
The maximum cabling length of Cat6 network cable is 100 m. Cat7 has been designed as a standard for Gigabit Ethernet over 100 m of copper cabling.
My Sattelites are connected by CAT6 and after reading this -- makes me think I ought to consider re-running the backhaul lines with Cat 7 to maximize speeds.
Thanks for bringing this up
10 Replies
Do you know what CAT# cables are in the walls?
- Cat 5e.
Eeeks, ya, 5e was good up to about 10 years ago. Its not recommended to mixed CAT versions, espeically with older versions of CAT#. I just pulled down 1 last 5e I had forgot about today. All CAT6 now for me.
Mark your thread as solved so others will know.