Cat8 Cables for Mac mini

[Neil J. Squillante]

Given the 2024 Mac mini’s 10 GB Ethernet port option, which brand do you recommend nowadays for reliable Cat8 cables? Thanks.

 

[waloshin]

Cat 6a is all you need. Cat 8 is ridiculous...

 

[startergo]

Cat 6a or cat 7

Ethernet Cables Explained | Eaton

Buying an Ethernet cable? We cover it all... cable types, speeds and features to consider.

tripplite.eaton.com

 

[Neil J. Squillante]

Cat 6a is all you need. Cat 8 is ridiculous...

There’s minimal difference in price. 🤷‍♂️

 

[Gnattu]

There’s minimal difference in price. 🤷‍♂️

The EMI shield on Cat8 cables could even make the signal worse if the equipment and the port is not properly grounded, and that is not the case for most home networking environments. I would still recommend buying Cat6a cables.

 

[waloshin]

And secondly Cat 8 is very thick making it hard to install. Cat 8 is for 40 GBs most homes do not even have 2.5 GB let alone 10 Gb. Thirdly Cat 8 can only go a distance of 98 feet.