i have att fiber and most of my house is cat5e. Using speedtest.net i can get around 900 up and down on a good day. ATT now offers like 2.5 gB speed and im trying to figure out if i could possibly obtain speeds higher than i have currently. My current setup is for the fiber to go to the att modem which is set in a bypass mode and then i have a ubiquiti gigabit router which is connected to a 64 port switch. The switch has all kinds of connections to around the house. At these locations, frequently there is a 30 dollar gigabit switch so multiple devices can connect. its that way at my main computer where i get the above speeds. Thoughts on how likely it would be to get higher speeds, how to test that out and do i need to upgrade equipment to make it work?
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maximum speed i can get over cat 53
- Thread starter dhodson66
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2.5gbe should work over cat5e, but you're going to need to upgrade any network equipment between your main computer and the fiber modem. If you wanna try your wiring, you can get a couple 2.5 nics and try the different segments and see if it works well or not.
Nicklebon
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Assuming your cable installation actually meets or exceeds 5E standards end to end 2.5Gbps will work as per spec. Per spec 5Gbps will need cat 6 or better. Obviously, you will not exceed 1 Gbps if you continue using routers and switches with only 1Gbps interfaces. You will need to upgrade your switch fabric and your router.
Zepher
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I get full 2.5 over cat 5e. this is a 150 foot run from the living room, into the garage, up into the attic and to the other side of the house to my bedroom.
I bought a pair of these QNAP 2.5GbE switches, one upstairs hooked to the router and the other downstairs in the garage.
2 of my machines have onboard 2.5 and I bought a $25 2.5 nic for my Plex Server. I also bought a 2.5GbE USB-C adapter for use on devices that don't have onboard 2.5.
I bought a pair of these QNAP 2.5GbE switches, one upstairs hooked to the router and the other downstairs in the garage.
2 of my machines have onboard 2.5 and I bought a $25 2.5 nic for my Plex Server. I also bought a 2.5GbE USB-C adapter for use on devices that don't have onboard 2.5.
More than likely, you'll run 2.5Gb just fine and maybe even 5 and 10Gb just fine depending on how good the termintions are. Back in 1995 before cat5 was even a standard we ran 400Mhz rated wire everywhere. Decades later, it runs 1gb no problem in the areas where the termination wasn't some idiot untwisting 3 inches.
You can tell is was just one dumbass that did it because it is just in a certain number of rooms in one area. At some point I'll try 2.5Gb on it and I think it will do fine--and if not, we also ran rg6 to each spot so moca to the rescue, lol.The bigger question vs will it work is do you really need it? Nightly NAS backups and whatnot--sure. Bandwidth intensive transfers across the LAN--absolutely. But if this is for cameras and streaming, they're still well under 1Gb right now.
I doubt he actually “need it”
The cost from 1 gig to 2.5 is minimal at the moment from att so I was thinking about it.
Will there be any benefit in common usage? Will my kids have an advantage in whatever video game or more importantly will I since I need an advantage.
The cost from 1 gig to 2.5 is minimal at the moment from att so I was thinking about it.
Will there be any benefit in common usage? Will my kids have an advantage in whatever video game or more importantly will I since I need an advantage.
Not really, no. You're not likely to notice. I had a 1g connection and sometimes my desktop would reconnect at 100m and it would take me weeks to notice. That's a factor of 10, a factor of 2.5 is going to be even harder to notice.
But if one of your kids likes downloading linux ISOs while your other kids are playing games, you'll have a bit more room for that before the kids fight over bad pings. (Traffic shaping might help a bit in that case, but not really needed if your pipe is mostly idle, which it probably is)
Nicklebon
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Exactly as Samir says! Just because the cable has cat 5e printed on it doesn't mean the installation meets the spec. If you use good cable rated at 350 or 400Mhz and make good terminations with quality connectors you can test to higher specs. Every run in my house tests to cat6+ on the fluke even though I'm using 5e cable. I can and have run 10Gbps over it. The opposite applies as well. Quality cat6 cable + shit rj45 or jack assed installer and your plant can test as cat3. The installation is the most critical part of your cable plant. For clarity I am not saying cheap out on cables. Always install the best and most suitable cable you can afford. Just make sure that after you've bought it you don't hire an electrician to install it.More than likely, you'll run 2.5Gb just fine and maybe even 5 and 10Gb just fine depending on how good the termintions are. Back in 1995 before cat5 was even a standard we ran 400Mhz rated wire everywhere. Decades later, it runs 1gb no problem in the areas where the termination wasn't some idiot untwisting 3 inches.
As for the need of 2.5/5 Gbps Internet at home. My employer pays for one of my connections at home and would have no problems if I upgraded to 5Gbps. So even at no cost for the connection, the incremental costs of switching gear and routers is of no interest to me. I could count on one hand instances where the additional speed would have mattered over the last 5 years. Even then it would not have mattered that much. OP also understand that 1Gbps ATT is really 940Mbps in most cases.
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Such great advice on the cabling. The cable we put in cost literally 2x as much as the most expensive ethernet wire at the time. The contractor thought we were nuts. This was before 802.11a was even around and 100Mb was just becoming commonplace. But over 20 years later running standards that couldn't be dreamed of then (atm622 was ridiculously fast and being used as traffic backbones back then), the cabling was worth every penny.
And 100% ditto on the electrician. I don't understand why those idiots even say they know they can run phone wiring moreless ethernet. It's been over 20 years since the hack job at my parent's house (done by a 'security' company), and nothing has changed today because if you look online you'll still see punchdown blocks and incorrect terminations on installations done yesterday from all over the country! Hell, I even had to re-wire one of our apartments where it was brand new and we were the first tenant! I would trust an electrician with ethernet wiring as much as you would trust them with plumbing, and probably even less than that. Now, if you have no choice (as is the case in some situations), let them pull the wire to boxes and that's it--today you can get a termination tool at home depot/lowes and do the termination your self and do it right the first time once you're used to it. And a patch panel is just as easy on the other end. Also, YOU figure out the wire runs and demarc. We didn't for our parent's house and it ended up in the attic.
It's a finished attic, but we definitely didn't need it there.ATT does have true 5Gb service in certain areas though--mine's one of them. It's not cheap, but it is 5Gb coming through fibre. If you have enough space and get a block of IPs, you can build a mini-data center at home.
