Cat6 cable 305m Where should I buy from?

[jimseng]

This has to be a simple one but cat6 UTP for 1/10gb ethernet and RS485. On ebay a box of 305m white is £43.85. Is this poor quality? I'm just running Ethernet around my house build, nothing specific. I know cat6 isn't really RS485 impedance but at low data rates I think I'll get away with it. trying to save money on everything but I don't want to buy cheap from ebay if it is fake/rubbish. Any thoughts?

[-rick-]

£43 seems extremely cheap.

 

Here's some options for comparison:

 

https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/store/cat6a-network-cable/cat6a-cable-reel-box/

 

I'd recommend using Cat6a rather than Cat6. Difference won't matter in most cases but if you want to run 10g or HDBase-T (HDMI over ethernet) then it might make the difference on longer/noisier runs and the price isn't hugely different.

 

I think cat6 will work fine for rs485 over the distances involved in a house.

 

 

 

 

[Mattg4321]

Thats extremely likely to be Copper Clad Aluminium (CCA). Keep away from that junk. You want solid copper or don't bother!

 

Decent quality Cat 6 is fine for 99.9% of domestic usage now and foreseeable future. Anything above that is like spending 500% the going rate when buying a SCART lead back in the day, because it had some fancy marketing.

[-rick-]

When this is only a bit more expensive than Cat6 and comes with LSZH and outdoor rating I'd go for this.

 

It's about 15p per metre more than standard Cat6 (from the same shop).

[Mattg4321]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with a decision to spend extra for Cat 6a, but it's simply overkill for nearly all foreseeable uses in a domestic setting, with a few exceptions, generally for people who are really into 'tech'.

 

I've installed 10's of 000's of m of the stuff for clients, and although I don't get too involved in anything past that normally, I've never once heard an AV/security/smart etc installer say that cat 6 wasn't up to the task of what they needed it to do. In fact they often get Cat 5e to do what they need where existing cabling is in place. I personally can just think of better ways to spend my finite amount of money! If jim is on a tight budget it's highly likely Cat 6 will be more than good enough.

 

I pay roughly 50% more for Cat 6a over Cat 6 at trade prices, for good quality cable. Cat 6 can easily be found at around £105+vat from a quick google, which is only slightly more than I am getting it for.

[jimseng]

Thanks. I had forgotten about the cca aspect. That's why I asked, I thought it was too cheap on ebay.

[-rick-]

3 minutes ago, Mattg4321 said:

with a few exceptions, generally for people who are really into 'tech'.

Agree with this.

 

Jim mentioned his interest in 10gb ethernet and I took that as tech interested. That in itself will probably be ok with cat 6 in most cases but for the little uplift 6a buys you more room for suboptimal install/placement. There is already a 25GBase-T standard. Not very available yet but will be in the life of the building. 10 gigabit is already quite slow compared to modern storage* so if you do tech stuff in general or specifically do stuff related to video (wannabe youtuber, etc) then I can see you wanting to upgrade to 25g when it's available to consumers.

 

*1GB/sec. SSDs can usually do 5GB/s now, latest Macbook they are claiming upto 14GB/s

 

3 minutes ago, Mattg4321 said:

I've installed 10's of 000's of m of the stuff for clients, and although I don't get too involved in anything past that normally, I've never once heard an AV/security/smart etc installer say that cat 6 wasn't up to the task of what they needed it to do. In fact they often get Cat 5e to do what they need where existing cabling is in place. I personally can just think of better ways to spend my finite amount of money! If jim is on a tight budget it's highly likely Cat 6 will be more than good enough.

Cat 6 is fine for in a home for what is available now. But again, what you put in your walls you hope will last for decades so spending a little more now makes sense to me.

 

TBC Cat7 is a complete waste of money and bigger number is not better here.

[garrymartin]

CAT6 will do 10Gbps so long as the cable isn't very long (37-55m max generally).

 

You can't go wrong with TruHD Cat 6 HDBaseT Cable - tested to 500MHz, so good for 10Gbps if needed.

 

Details and pricing - https://www.fscables.com/products/cat-6-hdbaset.html

Datasheet - https://www.fscables.com/sites/admin/plugins/elfinder/files/fscables/Datasheets/C6T00-E00.pdf

 

 

 

 

[Mike]

23 hours ago, Mattg4321 said:

There's absolutely nothing wrong with a decision to spend extra for Cat 6a, but it's simply overkill for nearly all foreseeable uses in a domestic setting, with a few exceptions, generally for people who are really into 'tech'.

I'm installing CAT6 too. By the time that I need anything faster fibre might be preferable (and cheaper).

[Onoff]

On 12/03/2026 at 19:06, jimseng said:

trying to save money on everything

 

I bought a part roll of Cat-6 on FB marketplace when I ran it for the EV charger recently. Bargains to be had etc!

[jimseng]

47 minutes ago, Mike said:

I'm installing CAT6 too. By the time that I need anything faster fibre might be preferable (and cheaper).

I wondered about running some fibre in too, maybe just a couple of places like office to plant room but it seems a bit more complicated. I don't mean actually terminating the ends, just having it within the fabric of the building and left as a coil behind a blank plate. I doubt I would ever need it but in the future someone might appreciate it. I hope I don't regret not doing it. 

[-rick-]

Just now, jimseng said:

I wondered about running some fibre in too, maybe just a couple of places like office to plant room but it seems a bit more complicated. I don't mean actually terminating the ends, just having it within the fabric of the building and left as a coil behind a blank plate. I doubt I would ever need it but in the future someone might appreciate it. I hope I don't regret not doing it. 

 

If you want to run fibre you can buy preterminated lengths for not crazy money. https://www.fs.com/uk/c/fiber-patch-cables-261

 

But it's still expensive and only really worth it unless you want to go over 10gbit or run 4k hdmi long distances (and there the box either end will cost many hundreds at the low end).

 

So maybe better to plan a gentle big conduit path for the hopefully few areas you may want to run the cable in future.

[-rick-]

On 12/03/2026 at 20:02, -rick- said:

When this is only a bit more expensive than Cat6 and comes with LSZH and outdoor rating I'd go for this.

 

It's about 15p per metre more than standard Cat6 (from the same shop).

 

Oops realised I didn't include the link:

 

https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/50242-dtech-cxg-ftp-zhie-nbk/

 

23 hours ago, garrymartin said:

CAT6 will do 10Gbps so long as the cable isn't very long (37-55m max generally).

 

You can't go wrong with TruHD Cat 6 HDBaseT Cable - tested to 500MHz, so good for 10Gbps if needed.

 

Details and pricing - https://www.fscables.com/products/cat-6-hdbaset.html

Datasheet - https://www.fscables.com/sites/admin/plugins/elfinder/files/fscables/Datasheets/C6T00-E00.pdf

 

This seems like a good deal for good quality cat6. Their similar spec cat6a is 3x the price. If I was choosing between the two I'd def do cat6. But it's much closer between this cat6 and the cat6a above.

 

That said, Cat6 is supposed to be 250Mhz, Cat6A 500Mhz, so if the Cat6 above is tested to 500Mhz then a lot of my reason for going to Cat6a goes away.

[garrymartin]

1 hour ago, -rick- said:

This seems like a good deal for good quality cat6.

It is.

 

And if you have multiple different cabling uses (network, cctv, TV distribution, etc.) it comes in a wide variety of colours. It seems to be a favourite of many high-end installers.

[jack]

It's worth having a look at installation specs and limitations. Higher spec cables tend to be thicker, stiffer, and have larger minimum bend radiuses. Cat 6a can be more challenging to route and terminate than cat 6, for example.

 

I also think cat 6a needs different terminations compared to cat 5e/6 due to having thicker conductors. 

[-rick-]

1 hour ago, jack said:

It's worth having a look at installation specs and limitations. Higher spec cables tend to be thicker, stiffer, and have larger minimum bend radiuses. Cat 6a can be more challenging to route and terminate than cat 6, for example.

 

I also think cat 6a needs different terminations compared to cat 5e/6 due to having thicker conductors. 

 

I think the biggest installation difference will be sheilded vs unsheilded. Unshielded 6a vs 6 will be similar, but once you add shielding it gets harder both with bed radii and termination. Unshielded 6a seems less common though and given the 500Mhz cat6 listed above maybe the manufacturers have decided that selling slightly underspec 6a as high bandwidth 6 is a better business than making fully to spec 6a unshielded.

 

Whatever is installed, termination matters a lot for high speed. A perfectly terminated cat6 connection will likely outperform a badly terminated 6a.

 

Argument for sheilding is if you are running the data cables close to mains cables (especially if those mains cables are feeding noisy circuits, induction hobs, inverter driven stuff, etc).