Are EssaNet/EssCables Ethernet cables ok?

[chebby]

I don't mean 'ok' as in 'have audiophile properties' (not going down that route, it's paved with broken glass), I mean is it up to industry standard?

Belkin U/FTP would be £2.71 (1 metre) and this EssCable F/UTP only £0.98p. I know the difference between the way the two cables are shielded. Does that account for the price difference?

I've just been ordering Belkin (as usual) CAT6 snagless, U/FTP for 3m and 5m lengths but, for the 1m length, the only shielded option was EssCable F/UTP snagless ... yada ... yada.

They seem to be the 'house brand' for Broadband Buyer UK.

I should do like everyone else does and steal it from work, but there'd be no choice of colours then!

I guess I just like to stick with a brand (Belkin) when I find a reliable one.

I have their High Speed HDMI cables, network cables and optical cables and always used to use their USB cables too. (Don't need USB now.)

 

[chebby]

Ok I guess no-one has bought any Ethernet cables lately

Anyhoo, I stuck with Belkin and bought their shielded CAT 6 FTP (F/UTP), snagless in 1m, 3m, 5m and 10m lengths.

I bought them in (different) funky colours so I know which goes to where from the back of the router. (My old, unshielded CAT5, U/UTP cables were all grey.)

I have (slightly) re-configured the AirPort Express (latest generation used as a network extender) so it is now wired to the base station with a 10m ethernet cable rather than wireless between them.

iStumbler is now recording signal noise ratios of 47 - 54dB downstairs and 44 - 48dB upstairs (in a long 3 bed Edwardian terrace with thick walls and floors plus conservatory and garden).

I have reset the 2.4GHz channels to 4 (no other nearby network using channel numbers anywhere near that).

I have also banished the slowest element of the network (an old Belkin USB 802.11g network adaptor) and replaced it with an 802.11ac example.

I should have done this years ago. I recently 'converted' a £100 JL gift card (an award) into most of an AirPort Extreme 802.11ac costing me only £65 from my own cash. I decided - after the leap in performance from replacing our nine-year-old Extreme 802.11n 2nd gen - that I may as well use the opportunity to complete the job properly.

Before the new base station and new CAT 6 cables etc. We had pretty good, and very stable, reception around the house but you could fry an egg on the signal now. (Ok not really.)