Which Ethernet cable should you use for Xbox series x?

To get the fastest possible internet speeds from your Xbox series X you’ll want to connect an Ethernet cable from a LAN port on your router to the Ethernet port of your Xbox series X Found on the back. 
The Xbox series X has a Gigabit Ethernet port which means the port is capable of up to Gigabit speeds although in reality, it will be closer to the high 900Mbps. 
To get the fastest possible internet speeds from your Xbox series X you’ll want to connect an Ethernet cable from a LAN port on your router to the Ethernet port of your Xbox series X Found on the back.

To ensure you get the best connection you want to use a cable which is capable of achieving these speeds. 

Below is a table of the different categories of cable and their speed capability:

Categories of cable and their speeds

Category of cable	Speed	Limitations
Cat5e	1Gbps	Value
Cat6	10Gbps	Upto 30m or 100ft
Cat6a	10Gbps	Value
Cat7	40Gbps	Upto 50m or 165ft
Cat8	40GBps

Which Ethernet cable should I use with my Xbox Series X?

As you can see every single one of these cables is as fast or faster than 1Gbps. Which essentially means that any one of these cables is suitable.

Cat5e cables are usually quite a bit cheaper than Cat8 for example so you might be wondering if it is worth paying more for the additional speed. 
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So my advice would be to save your money and simply use a Cat5e cable. 

Permentant cable installations

If you plan on installing a permanent cable, maybe running through walls or ceiling and you know it’s going to be in place for a while then it might be worth using a higher category of cable to future-proof your installation for the next generation of consoles. I would not be surprised at all if 10G ports become pretty standard with these models. 
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The higher the category of cable the more expensive it is, shileded cable is also more tricky to terminate. Cat8 cable is particularly difficult to work with as it is very thick and unflexible. All these factors will generally mean the higher the category of cable the more expensive it will be to install. 

Avoid cheap, low-quality cable!

It is also worth spending a little bit of extra money on quality cables, many cheap Ethernet cables on eBay and Amazon are poorly made and often the cable core is Copper Clad Alminium rather than pure copper.

​Aluminium does not conduct electricity as well as copper and personally, I would try to avoid them and opt for a pure copper cable, especially if your cable is going to be fairly long. 

What is I have a really long run of cable?

Ethernet cable will officially work up to 100Meter but in reality, the distance is a bit longer, however, if you have a particularly long run then it may be worth upgrading your category to ensure you are not going to get a problem.

​If you are looking at joining buildings with very long runs of cable then it may be worth considering Fibre Optic. 

Your connection will never be quicker than your Internet!

My final point is about internet speeds. As I mentioned the slowest point is the overall speed so even 1Gbps cable and 1Gbps Port if your internet is slower then that will be the overall speed.

​So for example say you had a 300Mpbs internet connection, you will never get higher than that 300Mbps. But if you have a 2.5Gbps internet connection your problem will be reversed as the Xbox won’t go higher than gigabit because it only has a 1Gbps port. 

Conclusion

So in summary. Cat5e should be your go-to cable for non-permanent runs but if you plan to install the cables in a more permenant way then I would Opt for Cat6a at least.

I hope you have enjoyed the blog if you have any questions on any of the above please feel free to add them to the comments.  To find out who we are and what we do why not check us out on instagram.com/home.network.solutions.