Buying an Ethernet cable for the first time can be problematic largely due to the technical jargon used to describe the cable specifications and features.

This article will explain some of the jargon you are likely to come across in layman terms, tell you where the various cables are used.

The most common type is the Cat 5 cable, where Cat 5 means that the cable can support up to 100 MB per second of traffic. There are other speed cables like Cat 3, Cat 5e, Cat 6 and Cat 7, which support from a low of 10 MB to 600 MHz, the fastest and most expensive of Ethernet connections today.

You will also find different pin specifications for various cables, for example, one cable with straight wiring, while another with crisscrossed wiring. Straight through wiring means that pin 1 on the first end is connected to pin 1 on the other end. Crossover cable means that pin 1 may be wired to pin 8 on the other end. The easiest to use are the straight-through cables, since crossover cables won’t work without auto uplink technology to figure out where the pins are connected. However, check the device you want to connect if it requires a specific kind of cable.

It is easy to identify these different types of cables by holding the ends together. If the pins on both look identical, you are looking at a straight wired cable and if not, it is a crossover cable. You may also be able to notice the differences if the cable has see-through cover where you can see the different colors of wires connecting the pins.

You also need to know how the data will travel through the cable depending on the device you need it for. You may encounter a full duplex cable, which means data can move in both directions at the same time, or a half duplex that allows data in one direction, making it slower and should be generally avoided. Auto negotiation cables are the most efficient because the network device determines whether the sides are full duplex.

Ethernet is usually faster than using wifi adaptors for your Internet connection, though installing Ethernet may require an expert to do it for you. If you want to do it yourself, do follow instructions to ensure that the data flows properly to serve all devices connected via Ethernet. Learn about your cables, including VGA cable for your gaming consuls to get the best connectivity.