On many occasions we connect our equipment by cable to avoid WiFi connectivity, since it is generally much slower, we depend on having a good coverage, in addition to this, we decongest the wireless network, and we only connect the equipment that has only connection WiFi like smartphones, tablets and other devices. However, it is possible that when using the cable connection, you do some things that could cause the connection to not work well, today we are going to tell you what the main errors are.
Main errors when using Ethernet cable connection
When we use a wired network, it is very important to take good care of the Ethernet network cable, since it is what will connect us to the main router, a switch and even a WiFi repeater with an Ethernet network socket. If we do not pay attention to the network cable, we will have connectivity problems.
Using old network cables
If you use any Ethernet network cable you have at home, it is probably too old and only has two pairs of wires, so the maximum speed you will get will be 100Mbps, not reaching 1000Mbps as is the case with current network cables. It is highly recommended that you use current network cables, even if they are Cat5E and UTP-type network cables, what you should pay attention to is that they have four pairs of wires to achieve speed.It is highly recommended that you use Cat 6 or higher cables, we recommend you visit our complete guide to Ethernet network cables so that you buy the correct one and do not have speed or reliability problems.
Using bad RJ-45 plugs
If you tend to plug and unplug your Ethernet network cable many times, as happens with laptops, it is possible that the RJ-45 plug is beginning to be damaged, and even the small "pin" that it has to anchor in the port is broken. If this little pin is broken, that means the cable could easily jerk and become disconnected, and even have random disconnections as soon as you make a bad connection.
If you are in this scenario, you have two options: change only the RJ-45 plug and crimp a new one, or change the entire network cable. If it is a short network cable to connect the PC to the router, then it is worth buying a new cable, unless you have all the accessories to crimp it (plugs, crimper and tester).
Pulling on the network cable
Pulling on the Ethernet network cable is the worst thing you can do, when you do this, you can not only damage the cable from the inside, but you will surely break the RJ-45 connector of the cable, or even worse, the connector of your network card or the Ethernet port of your router. You should never pull the network cable, nor should you use it if it is "tight", it is best that something loose is left to avoid having this type of problem.
With the passage of time, if you keep hitting this type of pull, you will end up breaking the connector that is the weakest part of the cable, either physically the RJ-45 itself or you could loosen the copper wires of the connector, making it impossible to use the cable until you fix it or buy a new one.
Network cable too long
On many occasions we tend to run many meters of cable from the router to another room in the house, to connect a switch and distribute the connection to our PC, to a NAS server or the console. On many occasions, we buy UTP-type Cat5E network cable that does not have any type of protection against external interference, something that could cause speed drops under certain conditions.
According to the 1000BASE-T standard, we can have a cable length of up to 100 meters, however, in a domestic installation this cable can actually go through electrical conduits (you shouldn't do this), make 90º angles when passing through walls, etc. . This causes the actual distance to be reduced, and sometimes the synchronization speed may work at 1Gbps, but in other cases it only syncs at a speed of 100Mbps. Keep in mind that if you are going to run a network cable at home, our recommendation is that it be Cat 7, since it is not only of a high category, but it will also be of the S/FTP type to improve isolation against interference.