In most cases, the length of the Ethernet cable will have no effect on the speed (bandwidth and throughput) and I say that because there are very rare cases when people use Ethernet cables longer than 300 feet.
A single run of Ethernet cable is designed to work at a maximum of 328 feet or 100 meters. It's entirely possible to exceed the manufacturer's specification and still maintain network connectivity. However, this greatly increases the chances of connectivity issues, reduced speeds, and lower reliability.
Ethernet - 100 meters (328 feet)
Cat7 gets advertised for its 100 Gbps speed, but that will only work for distances up to 15 meters (slightly over 49 feet).
Longer cable runs can slow down your connections and be a problem for gaming. While latency is more of an issue with a wifi connection, it can still happen with a wired connection. EMI (electromagnetic interference) can still affect the quality of play.
The longer the cable, the higher quality cable is required to reliably run at a given speed. On a typical gigabit network, cat5e or cat6 is good enough for up to 100 meter cable length, and you won't see a difference between a 1 meter or a 50 meter cable.
Standards for cable distance recommend that Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6 and Cat6a cables have a maximum cable segment run length of 100 meters or 328 feet.
In most cases, the length of the Ethernet cable will have no effect on the speed (bandwidth and throughput) and I say that because there are very rare cases when people use Ethernet cables longer than 300 feet.
A Cat8 cable is designed for professional scenarios and data centers and can operate at up to 40 Gbps – which is more than any home-user internet package provides, and would be overkill for even the most demanding of gaming.
Cat8 cables support PoE technology, which means they're able to save space in server rooms by simplifying installation. For home equipment, Cat6a is more than sufficient, even for gaming, and Cat8 cable can be difficult to install and overkill for most home applications.
You probably don't need Cat7.
Cat7 cables are not a common standard, nor one you need to concern yourself with. If you need the kind of performance Cat7 offers, Cat6A is perfectly up to the task. It's a widely supported cable standard and has all of the benefits of Cat7 without the drawbacks.
Cat7 cable ethernet cable types and speeds are backward compatible with Cat 6, Cat 5/e cabling standards, and Cat5/e equipment.
Ethernet segments are limited to lengths of 100 meters because stations connected to Ethernet share a communication medium. If two stations send messages at the same time, both signals distort and become unreadable.
Cat 7 Cables:
Cons – They are a bit expensive. They require 40 to 60% more space to contain the cable and different connections. Their testing is trickier and requires modern test equipment. There is no real speed advantage over a good Cat6a system.
Ethernet cable can have a length that is too long. The maximum cable length for copper twisted pair cables is going to be up to 328 feet (100 meters). Anything beyond this and you run the risk of your signal strength deteriorating.
You may have a slow Ethernet connection for the following reasons: The Ethernet cable you're using is faulty or damaged. Ethernet cable is of a lower category and has a lower data transfer cap. Ethernet ports where you are connecting the Ethernet cable are having a problem.
An Ethernet cable may slow your connection if it's the wrong type. For example, never use a CAT 5 cable if your internet connection is 200 Mbps or faster. A damaged Ethernet cable can also slow your connection. A broken clip, for example, prevents the contacts from making a full connection in the port.
Although there are no official standards or specifications for CAT 9 and CAT 10 Ethernet cables as of September 2021, researchers and manufacturers are likely exploring the development of higher category cables to address the growing demand for faster data transfer speeds and higher bandwidth capacities.
One of the great things about Cat8 cable is the backwards compatibility it provides. Just like Cat5e, Cat6, Cat6a, and Cat7 cabling, Cat8 Ethernet Cable uses RJ45 connectors making it fully backward compatible.
Category 8 is similar to previous standards Cat5e, Cat6, and Cat6a in that they use the same RJ45 connector and are fully backward compatible. The internal features of Cat8 and performance attributes are what set this new cable apart from the others.
Yes, but for most home applications Cat 6a is more than sufficient. Most home network equipment cannot operate at Cat 8 speed, so Cat 8 cable is overkill. Because it's much faster than most people need, Cat 8 cable is best suited for data center applications.
Cat8 supports a bandwidth of over 2000 Mbps, which is double the frequency supported by Cat7 cables. This means a faster transfer of data and improved performance for applications that require high bandwidth, such as data centers, gaming, and streaming high-definition videos.
The primary benefit of Cat8 cabling is faster throughput over short distances: 40 Gbps up to 78' and 25 Gbps up to 100'. From 100' to 328', Cat8 provides the same 10Gbps throughput as Cat6A cabling.
Cat 5e – the current standard
Cat 5e supports up to 1,000 Mbps and is built to reduce crosstalk — unwanted transfer of signal between the cables — for a more consistent connection. This is the most common type of Ethernet cable because it supports speeds up to 1 Gbps and typically costs less than Cat 6 or Cat 7 cables.
However, with the constant advancement in wifi technology, the difference in speed is getting smaller. An ethernet connection can support speeds up to 10 Gbps, depending on the cable you use, and the speeds offered on your plan. New wifi standards can offer speeds up to 866.7 Mbps.
Running an Ethernet cable further than 100 metres
Fibre optics are used for longer distances. There are, however, products called Ethernet Extenders which use low grade copper cable (eg telephone cable) or coax CCTV cable can transmit for many km, the data rate generally decreasing with distance.