Tech & Gadgets · Head-to-head
trueCABLE Cat6A Riser Ethernet Cable, Unshielded vs Cable Matters Snagless Cat 6 Ethernet Cable
Which should you buy? Our verdict on both, pulled from our full The Best Ethernet Cables: 4 Compared (and One to Skip) comparison.
trueCABLE publishes the things that matter - conductor material, gauge, tested bandwidth, jacket rating and certification - and the numbers are all where they should be for permanent in-wall wiring. The Cable Matters snagless Cat 6 lead covers the far more common job of connecting gear that is already in the room, with bare copper conductors and no invented performance claims.
trueCABLE Cat6A Riser Ethernet Cable, Unshielded
Buy itA bulk box of 23 AWG solid bare copper Cat6A with a riser jacket and third-party certification, which is exactly what a permanent house run should be.
- 23 AWG pure solid bare copper conductors, stated plainly on the product page rather than left vague.
- cETLus certified and marked CMR, so it is legal riser cable for in-wall and between-floor runs.
- Tested to 750 MHz and rated for 10 Gigabit to 328 feet, with PoE, PoE+ and PoE++ 4PPoE up to 100 W.
- Sold only in 500 ft and 1000 ft boxes, so it is overkill if you need two cables.
- You have to terminate it yourself into keystone jacks or a patch panel, which needs tools and practice.
- Cat6A is thicker and stiffer than Cat6, which makes tight conduit bends and jack termination harder.
Cable Matters Snagless Cat 6 Ethernet Cable
Buy itThe ordinary patch lead done properly: 24 AWG bare copper, snagless boots, and a claim set that matches what Cat 6 actually is.
- 24 AWG bare copper conductors, which rules out the copper-clad aluminium problem in cheap leads.
- Snagless moulded boots stop the retention clip snapping off when you pull it out of a switch.
- Sold in more than twenty lengths from 1 ft to 200 ft in six colours, so you can stop coiling slack.
- The product page cites TIA/EIA 568-C.2, which is an older revision than the current 568.2 series.
- Marketed as 10 Gbps, but Cat 6 only reaches 10 Gigabit over shorter distances, not a full channel.
- No UL or ETL listing is stated for the patch cord itself on the product page.
Side by side
| trueCABLE Cat6A Riser Ethernet Cable, Unshielded | Cable Matters Snagless Cat 6 Ethernet Cable | |
|---|---|---|
| Our verdict | Buy | Buy |
| Best for | Anyone running permanent cable inside walls who wants it to still be adequate when 10 Gigabit gear gets cheap. | Replacing the anonymous leads behind your router, switch and desk with something whose conductors you can actually verify. |
| Price tier | $$$ · premium | $ · budget |
The bottom line
Our overall pick is the trueCABLE Cat6A Riser Ethernet Cable, Unshielded - A bulk box of 23 AWG solid bare copper Cat6A with a riser jacket and third-party certification, which is exactly what a permanent house run should be. Choose the Cable Matters Snagless Cat 6 Ethernet Cable instead if replacing the anonymous leads behind your router, switch and desk with something whose conductors you can actually verify.
Want the full picture, including the other options we compared and the popular one we'd skip? Read the complete The Best Ethernet Cables: 4 Compared (and One to Skip).