Fiber optic network cables

[Nemo]

Hello.
I consider myself practically ignorant about network wiring, so I turn to the wisdom of the forum to enlighten me.
A friend is moving to a new apartment and they have installed Movistar's 300 MB fiber, leaving the ONT in the dining room, so the router will stay there too to connect the TV and an Android TV box.
The thing is that he doesn't want to spend the money on installing a PLC, no matter how much I've shown him the good connection results that mine gives me and that it would avoid all the hassle of wiring an apartment (without doing any construction work, of course). He insists that nothing beats a direct network cable from the router to make the most of the fiber speed. :wall:

The fact is that between dodging doors and skirting walls, you can easily place 30 or 40 meters of cable.
My question is: Is there a maximum distance for the cable to lose intensity and start reducing the connection speed? What type of cable would I need (CAT 5E, CAT 6)?
I've also seen that there are now CAT 7 cables. Would it be worth installing CAT 7 for the future?

P.D: The crimping of the final connections will be done by a professional, so we'll assume they will be done well.

Best regards

[Fassou]

I'm not an expert either, but at least Cat 5e and better 6, and the physical limit is 100m.

Salu2!

[Mystique]

I have made Cat5 cables that go to giga without any problem. The trick is to crimp them well (I have made several thousand and that helps)

I have also made some Cat6 to use at 10GB and the same, if the connector is well made there is nothing to worry about

If a professional is going to make them for you, I understand that they will test them (and not just with a 10€ tester...)

Regards

[Nemo]

@Mystique:

I have made Cat5 cables that go to gigabit without any problem. The trick is to crimp them well (I have made several thousand and that helps)

I have also made some Cat6 to use at 10GB and the same thing, if the connector is well made there is nothing to worry about

If a professional is going to make them for you, I understand that they will test them (and not just with a 10€ tester...)

Regards

Well the truth is that I do not know the "professional" who is going to make them, so I would not put my hand in the fire for him…
So, with a CAT 5E I would have more than enough. You don't see CAT 7, do you?

[Yorus]

Perhaps Cat6 would be ideal with almost 40m of cable, because 100m is the theoretical maximum for 100Mbps on 5e, so I imagine that for Gigabit the usable length will decrease quite a bit, and more so if it goes through places of possible interference.

[Nemo]

@Yorus:

Perhaps Cat6 would be ideal with almost 40m of cable, because 100m is the theoretical maximum for 100Mbps on 5e, so I imagine that for Gigabit the usable length will decrease quite a bit, and more so if it goes through places of possible interference.

One of the walls it will go through is the one that shares the hallway with the kitchen, so it's possible that the microwave could interfere with something. But I suppose the cables will already have shielding or something, right?

[Namiga]

@Nemo:

One of the walls it will go through is the one that shares with the kitchen, so it's possible that the microwave could interfere with something. But I suppose the cables will already have shielding or something, right?

Cat 5e has shielding. Cat 6 also. I haven't tried Cat 7 yet...

I've made cables with cat5e that are 10m long working at Gigabit without problems, but it depends A LOT on the quality of the cable (not all 5e seem to be the same...)

Cat 6 is much stiffer than cat5e, so you could have problems passing it or with the corners.

But cat6 would be better for those 40m

[Magog]

Telefonica's is Cat 5e for example, and I have run 100 m through a factory and I got 300 mbps. At the price it is, get category 6, it's more than enough.

Best regards.