Ethernet cable

Chances are you will still be OK with unsheilded unless you have a long run parallel to mains cables. Probably worth some trials to see if sheilding helps. Any cable designated STP is braid sheilded. FTP is foil sheilded, which is cheaper, with, I think, less effective sheilding. I don’t think you need a high spec Cat 7 or 8 cable, so I’d start with a sheilded Cat 6, or even 5e is sometimes sold sheilded. 

I think S-i-S said shielded cables need grounding at a single point. Not sure about 272s but my ND5XS has a grounded Ethernet port and so does the Cisco switch. I've just stuck with Cat6 routed away from mains cables.

JimDog posted:

I need to get a 4m ethernet cable to get my router away from my Hi Fi. The cable will run very close to power cables, speaker cables and interconnects, maybe even touching some of the them, so it needs to be as well shielded as possible. 

You say that you "need" to get the router away from hifi;  why ???  do you think the router is detrimental to the hifi or do you mean you would just like to move the router for another reason.

Per ChrisSU post,  100% agree its OK to route un-screened ethernet near to power cables for such a short distance as 4m,  regs permit 15m.  If still concerned just try to separate as much as possible & its OK to cross ethernet over power,  just try to make it at 90 degrees if you can,  but 45 degrees is perfectly OK.

Mike - good question. My idea was to tidy the morass of cables up - especially to get the ethernet cables to stop touching the speaker cables in case the broadband signals are interfering with the signals from the power amp. Also to get the router and the WiFi-enabled solar panels box that's also plugged into it away from the rest of the AV kit and wires.

But actually the system doesn't bad at all. There is no specific problem to fix - it just seems a sensible precaution to take.

But I probably won't be able to hear any difference at the end of the process, so maybe it's a waste of money and effort.

Get the router closer, or use a noise gap in between like a Melco...

I’m using an Oyaide IS-707 Cat 7 between my streamer and ISP router to good effect. It’s nicely shielded and comes installed with the fancy and robust MFP 8 RJ 45 plugs. It’s quite reasonably priced IMO. I purchased it from a Japanese retailer on the auction site. Some here use Supra Cat 8 and Meichords which also come recommended but I haven’t compared them. 

aznblue posted:

................ Some here use Supra Cat 8 and Meichords which also come recommended but I haven’t compared them. 

Unlike the other cables you mentioned,  MeiCord is Cat-6 (UTP) .........  I'm not a great believer in ethernet making a significant difference,  or maybe better say a difference worth the money.   But in my case I changed all my Supra Cat7A's & its 1000MHz bandwidth to MeiCord with 250MHz bandwidth.  Not a huge change,  but they ticked all the slight improvement boxes.   Also not to loose sight of the fact Naim streamers support 100Base-TX standard (100 MHz bandwidth) so who needs Cat-8

the only concern about cat cables is the quality of plugs ,cable and the termination,  QED CABLES PASS THAT TEST AND ARE NOT EXPENSIVE £20  for 1 metre

EXCEL cables are also very well made and are not expensive at about £3 for 1 metre.

QED do make some excellent value cables and are sometimes overlooked I have a single RCA >>BNC QED between my Raspberry Pi and my Chord 2Qute don't know the exact name from their reference range I think £30 used from eBay.

It is better than the Naim equivalent which lasted a week before being sold I've also had a couple of Chord ones which were also very good Crimson was the name of one.

Back on track I have used quite fancy ethernet cables Audioquest Cinnamon I've had 1 meter and also a 5 meter length and noticed no difference from the bog standard Cat 5 I now use.

garyi posted:

EXCEL cables are also very well made and are not expensive at about £3 for 1 metre.

Quite, and I would say actually £3 per metre is at the upper range... they key thing about Ethernet cables is that they are built to comply with the appropriate cable construction standards and are guaranteed against that.. ie Cat 5e is ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-B.2 or ISO/IEC11801 Class D... this is often and should be printed on the jacket. 

However I would not use  Cat5 cable even if you can still find it new.. this is largely obsoleted and replaced by Cat5e or Cat 5 Enhanced / ISO11801 Class D.  which is good to 1Gbps at 100metres. For 10Gbps you need Cat6A (or ISO11801 Class EA ) at100 metres (or Cat6 over shorter distances).. or likely better go to fibre.. for 10 Gbps you will need SFP+ modules. 

I still have not heard a suffficent argument in regards to the buffer in streamers regarding Ethernet. Still they sure do look nice

Thanks chaps.

To Mike's question, I do also have a need to move the rack to the other end of the room as the kids often fight at, with and near the door, which can smack into the rack where it is currently positioned...