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How Long Can Ethernet Cable Work? What Does The Speed Drop Head

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How Long Can Ethernet Cable Work? What Does The Speed Drop Head
Photo: Luis Gonzalez / Unsplash

The attractiveness of Ethernet cables is clear: They often offer higher speeds and more reliable connections than Wi-Fi. But most people have a fact that they don’t notice: the longer the cable, the connection speed can drop so much. So what exactly is this drop and how can you avoid?

The main factors affecting Ethernet performance are:

  • Cable category plays critical role: Different standards such as CAT5e, CAT6 and CAT8 support varying speeds from 100 Mbps to 40 Gbps -100 meter limit overall rule: In most Ethernet standard, while high performance is guaranteed before 100 meters distance, at this point the signal is weakened
  • CAT5e cables may experience problems in shorter distances: Especially the performance drop after 55 meters in Gigabit speeds can be observed
  • Cable quality and sheathing is important: The cables protected from electromagnetic interference minimize signal loss

These limitations for most home and office users do not create problems in practice. The average house or floor plan remain in the range of the Ethernet cable within 50-80 meters. But for those who have cabling large areas, data centers or network infrastructures, this information is vital. Choosing the right type of cable and considering the distance is the key to use the reliability of the cable without losing the flexibility of Wi-Fi.