The above recommended Linkup Cat 8 cable may not be your best choice. The Amazon web page for it states "*** This highly double shielded wires may not work with some non-10G equipment which cause “Antenna Effect” bottlenecking network speed (down to less than 100mbps). Please contact us for devices that are not supported.". The fiber optic solution described above is a much better approach with an inexpensive price point. A Cat 6 Blue Jeans ethernet patch cable is your best bet going from the media converters to your Ethernet RJ45 input jacks. Unlike almost all audiophile Ethernet cables, the Blue Jeans Cable comes with a test sheet from a Fluke cable tester which shows the cable meets its spec. Cables from Cat6A and above are meant for data center use which is a very high RF noise environment running at speeds above the 1 Gb. speed of most home networks. A good switch doesn’t need to be an "audiophile" switch. For example, a Cisco managed switch would be a better choice but does require some IT networking knowledge to setup. Overall, a much higher quality unit that most unmanaged switches or so-called Audiophile switches. The ability to use the management software to see what i going on with your network in terms or issues or high error rates is much more useful feature than some inexpensive repackaged. switches which claim to have better sound.
Ethernet opinions
Hello everyone, I finally got my system setup. I had a few setbacks the past few months. My mom had lung cancer and passed away a month ago. It has been a journey getting my system set up which is part of the fun. I am running Pass Labs XP-12, pass 250.8, and Bricasti M3. My original plan was to run the Bricasti with a EERO mesh network since the modem is on the opposite end of the listening space. Needless to say the EERO mesh would not work and Roon could not see my M3. I was on the phone with Bricasti trouble shooting the issue. I removed my M3 from the system and double checked everything with it hard wired to the modem which worked. I was told I could really use any Ethernet for the most part as long as it’s cat 5 or 6. Well, I returned the EERO and got a 25 foot Ethernet cable from Best Buy for 10 dollars. The sound is much better then I was guessing running a 10 dollar cable, for me it’s deff a temp fix. Especially since I bought two audio quest vodka cables. I am using one of them now connecting the room nucleus to the modem at the moment. I have read a bit about blue Jean cables which seem to hold spec. I don’t see me buying a longer Audio quest vodka cable given the cost. In some ways I feel like I spent more then I should have on the Vodka cables at this point. Opinions please ?