I'm currently looking to implement an ethernet cable connection finally, as my WiFi is pretty awful when it comes to gaming stability, and I need to run a cable under the house for what I estimate to be 100-120 feet length. From what I've found online so far, it sounds like a Cat6 cable is the way to go for planning ahead, while still having a decent price point, and now what I'm mostly concerned about is quality. With that in mind, I have no idea which brands are better or worse than others since I have never been in the market for these before, and I just want to pick the right one. Can anyone help me out here?

As a follow up question, without going the DIY route with terminating the cables myself, that would force me to put larger holes in the ground, I'm just curious if you guys think that's a big issue overall, or if caulking the holes is effective enough at keeping bugs and whatnot from being a big issue lol. I should probably just Terminate them and put small holes, but that can get a bit more expensive, and I'm not sure if it's entirely worth it without having the tools to start with etc.

Anyway, thanks for any help you guys can give, wasn't sure where else to ask XD

Shielded, Direct burial, UV resistant, grounded. Like this...

https://www.amazon.com/Outdoor-Waterproof-Ethernet-Direct-Shielded/dp/B002HFEPLG/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1472127949&sr=1-1&keywords=150ft%20Cat6%20Outdoor%20Waterproof%20CAT6


/e Yeah, you can just drill a bigger hole, and then caulk it. 1/2" drill bit, 12" long. When determining cable length, remember vertical distance as well as horizontal. If unsure get a longer cable.
Do NOT make any "sharp" right angle bends. A slow curved bend is the best option.

Make sure you get about 25ft. longer than you need. In the future, you may have to re-terminate the ends. Or, you may want to move your devices. Don't buy "just enough" on a cable run this long.



/ee As for brands...not too much. The specs are what is important. But, as brands go, Belkin is generally the go to company for cables. However, I doubt you will find a pre-terminated Belkin cable at 150' length. Belkin is much more likely to sell in bulk, as they supply most of the companies that make pre-terminated cables.





/eee Here is the actual company that provides these cables, if you have questions: http://store.ultraspec.us/15caouwaetca1.html

This post was edited by Ghot on Aug 25 2016 06:59am

You need shielded cable for outside runs. Brands do not matter much. cat5 and cat6 are just fine.
tbh cat6 is planning ahead but we just got 1gb lines in some area's I highly doubt anyone will have 10gb hardware or service for a long time.(stick with cat5 for price)
either or works, caulking should be fine or spray foam.

Thanks guys, very helpful stuff

have you seen those wall adapters that use your electrical current to carry signal to the other end of the adapter. Easy way to get wired connection without running long Ethernet.

Yeah I have, the problem with that is my houses wiring is pretty poorly setup (since apparently my dad and uncle did some of that themselves when they added additional rooms years back, and they were novices etc) and the house semi regularly overloads the circuit breaker causing power to cut off, and I had heard that the powerline networkd adapters can be sensitive to power surges, as well as being less effective if the circuits they are running on have too much stuff connected to it, such as microwaves etc, which I believe they would be in this case. I could be wrong here, but it just seems like that option might solve one problem, but run into several others in this particular scenario. I did get the ethernet cable though, just haven't set it up yet, hopefully it pans out well.