Calling all Ethernet cable experts - @Anupc are you listening 
I am actually posting this here as I thought there may be some interest. In the past I have used, and continue to use, flat Ethernet cable (basic, to spec, from Amazon) as it is easier to work with.
I wonder if there are some compromises to its integrity as it is not round and the internal wires are not properly twisted. A quick google search came up with some criticisms regarding crosstalk, shielding etc.
Just curious
https://www.neotechcable.com/Ethernet-UP-OCC-Silver-Cable.html
Also not round and very good for the money. I use the Shunyata omega on my streamer, but otherwise I use the Neotech cable.
Thanks however I am not necessarily referring to Ethernet cables for my dCS - I use a cheap, to spec, Blue Jeans ethernet cable.
My question is generic and refers to all Ethernet cables used for general purpose throughout the house
There are flat Ethernet cables that are properly ANSI/TIA certified actually, but generally theyâre for 10/100Mbps Ethernet only - which is fine for the Vivaldi Upsampler since itâs 10/100Mbps, not Gigabit Ethernet.
The properly certified ones will likely work OK for Gigabit Ethernet as well, especially if theyâre relatively short. Contrary to popular (especially audiophile) beliefs, Ethernet at the physical layer is actually quite robust because of the various coding techniques used (Manchester/4B5B for 10/100, and 8B/10B for 1000).
If youâre using a managed Ethernet switch, itâll tell you exactly how many errors are encountered at the physical layer. One of the Juniper Ethernet Switches that I use extensively in my Home Office, connected to my Bartok and Lina systems, has an uptime of 1,797 days (almost 5 years since itâs last reboot/power-off), it has zero errors 
(but I generally only use Nexans certified Ethernet cables).
Thank you Anup for the reply. I am asking my question not for the ethernet cable used between my switch and Vivaldi Upsampler (there I use a Blue Jeans Cable) but rather for several ethernet cables I use to connect other devices to my switch. The flat ethernet cable is not for use with the Vivaldi stack.
It sounds like if the flat cables I use are relatively short in distance (in my case around 3 feet) they should work fine for Gigabit Ethernet speeds.
Ahh, well, personally I wouldnât, but I believe even most of the flat Ethernet cables do actually have fine twisted pairs wires in them (itâs the most basic requirement for an Ethernet cable), so, it should be fine for short lengths like 3ft 
Hi Anup!
I donât think my Unifi kit has error counters that I can categorically confirm with but I tend to use flat Ethernet cables at home myself simply because theyâre often easier to route.
I think the longest one that I have in my âAladdinâs caveâ of network kit is 25m and I have had no NOTICEABLE issues with that at Gigabit (I tend to use it when running direct connections back to a router when diagnosing issues) and the longest I have in daily use being 15m (which is my living room switch uplink back to the central switch here at home), again with no NOTICABLE issues at Gigabit, it did at one point drop back to 10/100 which was confusing until I pulled the entire cable out and it seems that one of the kittens had decided to chew on it so it was replaced.
The only Ethernet cables I ever really have had issues with have been the really slimline Ethernet cables (not flat, still round, but very thin) and they really donât want to support Gigabit at anything over 5m (given the ones that I have in my stash) but again I do have some of them as they have their place in the world. 
I agree that generally though Iâd be looking at a âproperâ cable wherever possible simply due to them being far less fragileâŚ
Phil
Doesnât it? Not even basic port stats, thatâs strange for a managed switch! 
(Which model is it? Oh wait, Ubiquiti doesnât have any User Manuals do they ). It just might be encountering errors that arenât seriously affecting your throughput.
The only flat Ethernet cable Iâve ever used is one of these thingamabobs for travel use
I get retries / dropped packets for the WiFi APs but nothing for hard wired links in the Unifi UI ⌠I did look at other kit such as - hmmm - Meraki (as a friend was using it at his company) but there was a subscription to it and the UniFi stuff does for what I need as itâs only a domestic network. 
As for those travel cables, oh yeah ⌠I wouldnât trust those as far as I could hurl them from an open hotel window.
Definitely donât do Meraki, stick to the big-boy kit like the Catalyst series (or any Cisco Switch built natively to run IOS-XE or XR). Alternatively, the Juniper EX series is pretty rock solid (the one with a 5-year uptime I have at home is the EX2300-C).
I did chortle at âbig boy kitââŚ
The UniFi stuff does for what I need. 
I prefer this cable https://www.ghentaudio.com/products/et12a?VariantsId=12866
great quality for fair price! I also have AQ diamond, dont hear a big difference.
I
will comment that although a CAT 8 cable may be excellent for much of a LANâs connections ( though I expect it is a bit of overkill for most domestic needs), it is not recommended for connection to the network port of any dCS unit. The
dCS recommendation is that the cable here should both be correctly certified and unshielded.
Based on the information here and in other threads, the cable that goes into the network port of any dCS unit should be unshielded which Iâm planning to use from a network switch to the Rossini. I guess, itâs ok, though, to use a shielded cable from the DSL or fiber socket to the router. Is this correct?
Correct 
/10chars
Iâve had good luck with both Synergistic Research Foundation SX and Shunyata Omega.
Ruud,
In my efforts to never buy US products again, I just replaced a generic ethernet cable (from Cisco optical converter to Upsampler), with a Neotech silver cable (GBP 210). A good improvement and preferred to the Audioquest Diamond (GBP 1100) I borrowed from my brother to try.
Yes, I know its not supposed to make a difference, butâŚ
