Best Ethernet Cable for Gaming

Online competitive gaming is getting more and more popular. One of the reasons for this popularity is that humans are inherently competitive. Humans love to either participate in or watch competitive events. This growing popularity for competitive gaming gave rise to a massive eSports scene with the eSports community now larger than ever.

Why Are People Switching to Ethernet Connections

Due to all this competitiveness, gamers have become heavily invested in trying to improve their in-game performance. However, no matter how talented a gamer is if there is a hardware limitation, the gamer won't be able to perform to the maximum potential. These limitations include a poor-performing computer or a non-ideal network connection.

One of the most common issues that competitive gamers deal with is network-related lag, and one of the most common causes for this lag is using a wireless connection instead of a wired one. A wired connection will always be superior to a wireless connection when it comes to network stability and performance. Hence, one simple fix for this problem is getting a wired connection. However, things get a bit complicated when you start looking for an Ethernet cable to use for your wired connection.

Here we will discuss everything about Ethernet cables to help you decide which one is the best Ethernet cable for you.

Cat 6, Cat 7, Cat 8, What’s The Difference

You may have heard the term "Cat" relating to conversations about Ethernet connections. You may be thinking what do cats have to do with your network connection. We are not talking about those cats. For Ethernet cables, "Cat" is just a term used to categorize them. For example, Cat 6, Cat 7, and Cat 8 are three different types of Ethernet cables, each with a unique set of bandwidth limitations.

Cat 6

One of the most common type of Ethernet cable that is used by both gamers and in offices is the Cat 6 cable. The Cat 6 Ethernet cables are rated to handle frequencies of up to an average of 250MHz. These Cat 6 cables are also rated for a 10Gbps internet connection.

When it comes to durability, they don’t lack in that department either as they can easily last up to 10 years. However, this does not mean that you don’t have to not take care of the Cat 6 Ethernet cable after you have installed it. Having severe bends or knots would lower this life span.

Cat 7

With each generation of the Ethernet connection, all aspects are improved. These aspects include the life span and durability, the bandwidth limitations, and the frequency limitations as well. With shielding being wrapped around internal wires of the Cat 7 Ethernet cable, the durability has increased by a great margin. For the Cat 7 cable, a twisted pair of internal wires are used. This helps in reducing some of the interference that can arise in-between these wires.

Just like the Cat 6 cable, the Cat 7 Ethernet cable is also rated for speeds of up to 10Gbps. However, unlike the Cat 6 cable, the Cat 7 cable is rated at 600MHz, which is a big jump from the previous generation Cat 6 cables. Whether you should choose Cat 7 for gaming or not will be discussed in a later section.

Cat 8

The Cat 8 Ethernet cable is the latest generation of Ethernet cables, and they come with massive improvements for both the frequency and the download and upload speeds. The Cat 8 Ethernet cable can easily deliver speeds of up to 40Gbps and support a frequency of up to 2,000Mhz.

Real World Testing and What Really Matters

When it comes to real-world testing, not everyone is going to have an internet connection of over 10Gbps. The highest bandwidth that most people use is 1Gbps. At 1Gbps, there is absolutely no perceivable difference, especially when it comes to lag and ping in online video games.

When it comes to choosing a generation of Ethernet cables, there seems to be no reason that you should go over the Cat 6. There is absolutely no advantage of getting a Cat 8 cable over a Cat 6 cable if the only thing that you care about is normal internet use and online gaming.

You might think that the Cat 8 cable does not cost that much in the first place so why not get the best of the best. However, the cost starts adding up if you need a longer wire. Even for shorter wires, if you can save up some cash you will be able to use it on the other stuff. Like maybe you need a new wall mount for your monitor or maybe a new mouse pad.

With all that said, one thing that should always be kept in mind, which is that you must not be using a bad knockoff of which ever generation of cable you are going for. You should always buy from a reputable source or you will end up with a really bad performing Ethernet cable.