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Dave and the team discuss Android satellite texting, the upcoming iPhone event, customer feedback in Ford EVs, Ai guessing passwords from typing, the demise of Pixel Passes, the growth of takeout and delivery, and more.
Dave and Admiral Grace Hopper, discoverer of the original computer bug, at the Orange Bowl
Bob in Thornton, Colorado asked: I’m really confused about the upgrades of Wi-Fi via cable. Cat6… now I’m seeing Cat7 and Cat8. Tell me Dave, What is the benefit and how far do we go? I’m remodeling my basement and I want to put the right cabling in the remodel. And what’s the best Wi-Fi modem as well? As we get Cat6 is that dependent on the service from your Internet provider? Thanks.
Bob, Cat 7 is a shielded cable with less interference, it supports high speeds of up to 10gbps, like cat 6e cables, but they are subject to less interference. They also dont terminate in an RJ45 connector, so you can probably skip that one.
Cat 8 cables are also shielded and do use the typical, standard RJ45 connectors and can support speeds of 40 gbps, but they are more expensive than cat 6e cables that can support 10 gbps.
Any DocSys 3.1 modem should be able to get you speeds of up to 10gbps today, and thats as far as youre really going to get from a residential modem these days.
One thing that you should probably consider here is that you may be trying to future proof a horse and buggy after cars became popular. Most electronics today assume WiFi first and wired internet second.
If you, for example, work from home and want a more secure connection it may be worth investing in a wired setup, but the way things are today, its likely that you wont end up really using that wired setup for much else, and instead will end up with something like a mesh WiFi system that allows you to connect WiFi cameras, WiFi doorbells, WiFi smartplugs, phones, tablets, etc. Even most laptops today require a separate adapter to plug them into a wired network.
You may be better off saving that money and just setting up a wireless mesh instead, but if you want to wire the place up anyway, Cat 6e is probably still your best bet at the moment unless you have servers in your own home that can take advantage of the high speeds. It will take ISPs a little longer to catch up to the speeds that the other cables can manage.
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