When considering ways to improve network performance, it's easy to overlook the cabling. This is something I've been guilty of, and only recently have I realized that one of the longest Cat6 cables I'm using temporarily while I finalize the 10GbE fiber links between the office, house, and garage has been damaged and is causing reliability issues. Replacing this cable with a new one, costing just $10, completely fixed all the problems we were experiencing.

Dealing with network slowdowns or support requests from family members can force you to overlook some of the more basic elements of the LAN. The trusty Ethernet cable is a reliable workhorse, but even these can cause trouble when damaged or old enough that the insulation starts unwrapping or they're not up to the job. Replacing Ethernet wiring won't win you awards at home, nor will anyone other than yourself likely notice the change, but it can prove an invaluable upgrade that doesn't cost much at all.

Evolution of the home network

More and more data

Gone are the days of simply having a router and calling it a day. More and more households are taking advantage of Ethernet cabling, which can be used to hook up devices, such as smart home hubs and other hardware. We've also upgraded networks over the decades from simply 10 Mbps local connections to gigabit and even multi-gigabit solutions. We're now living in an online age with media streaming, cloud storage, and self-hosted services.

Your router can usually handle most clients in a busy household, but once you start clogging down the network with more advanced usage, you can quickly encounter some problems relating to performance and bandwidth. This is especially true if you're relying on older cabling that has been moved around, reinstalled, and even moved location. Free cables bundled with hardware are usually more affordable to save companies money, so unless you specifically purchased the Ethernet wires, you could have bad cabling.

We've all been there, too. You've noticed some crimps in the cabling thanks to someone standing on the wires. Pets can attempt to chew through them, and they can be outright crushed between a door and its frame. Ethernet cabling does have adequate shielding that should mitigate much of this damage, but over time or with enough force, the internal wiring can be affected. That's when problems can arise, like I experienced — slow performance and random dropouts.

The worst part is that cabling can quietly degrade network performance, and you may not even be able to tell without troubleshooting or using specific hardware to test. Just because both ends of the cable "click" into place, that doesn't mean you have a clean and reliable connection for electrical signals to pass through.

Why Ethernet cabling matters

Forming the backbone of your LAN

Ethernet cabling is incredibly important within a home network. If you use even a small amount of network cabling, you're at the mercy of this stuff holding out for years. It's responsible for handling the transfer of electrical signals between devices, be it your router, PC, network-attached storage (NAS), or smart TV. Ethernet is entirely physical and cannot be optimized through software or hardware tweaks. If your cabling has limited speeds, you'll need to replace it.

Depending on what could go wrong with your cabling, you could experience increased latency, connectivity issues, and even negotiated speed restrictions, effectively cutting your 1 Gbps (or higher) link to just 100 Mbps. No matter how fast your access point (AP) or Ethernet ports are on hardware, this won't matter if your cabling isn't up to par. Depending on how much you have to spend and how long you need the cabling to be, you could get away with multiple cable patches.

But which cable type should you buy? Cat5, Cat6, or even Cat8? This all depends on your LAN. There's a good chance you're working with shorter distances between devices and lower speeds — I'm talking less than 20 feet and 1Gbps. Cat5 would do the job just fine. But if you can stretch to Cat6, I'd suggest you do so. Ready to make the fix? I purchased a 75-foot reel, but you likely won't require anywhere close to this much cable unless you're connecting two rooms with a considerable distance in between.

Check your cabling

Spend some time running across all your lines to check that all the cables are in good working order. You can use testers to check, or simply fire up a PC and attempt to use the cable to transfer files and see what speeds you get. Start by replacing older cables first, and those that come with products. It may also be worth adding small labels or warnings to doors and other areas where cabling is present to try to help others avoid causing irreparable damage to any network links.