Cable Matters 160021 5-Feet Cat6 Snagless Ethernet Patch Cable, Pack of 5 (Black/Blue/White/Red/Green)

Work as expected, best connection speed, perfect length & in variety of colors for different needs. Great value for the money. Recommended.

Well made cables... Fair to little price maybe, but seem well made and easy to handle and work with. I really am a fan of Cable Matters products. An updated , in depth review... to clear the air about cat6 cables. Just ordered some more from CM, and in the past from some other vendors. From other vendors, when I held the patch cables I was readily suspect of the cable not being Cat6. When I cut them open, nope.. was not. While construction is not specified for cat5e vs cat6, just performance... there are things that are just a matter of accepted best practice to achieved the specified performance of bandwidth and rejection and capacitance. The major item is the separator found in the middle. To reduce noise.. distance is paramount. Spacer helps separate and organize the pairs. Twist rate is another factor, huge factor..., again twist rate is not specified, but there is physics, so a best practice is there, and normally seen between the differently rated cables. I've handled enough cat5, 5E, and 6 to tell the difference by the feel. I received patch cables that were marked cat6 but it sure wasnt.. cut it open and it as pure cat5e... no separator and the twist was very loose. These Cable Matters, while I like them, after reading some bad comments, I decided to sacrifice one to compare. Mind you, I started second guessing these CM patch cables, the OD is a tad smaller. I can feel it.. Normally cat6 patch cable is 5.9mm in OD. These are 5.6mm OD. Enough to feel the difference. And it's visible, see attache photo. In dissecting the cable, it's the size of the divider. It measures 4.1mm across the plane of the " + " , my bulk cat6 measures 4.6mm . So some spacing it lost, very minor. Again, construction is not specified for cat6, performance. In my opinion as a EE, I don't think this will make a difference. So check, these cat6 patch cables have the separators, a little smaller, but this provides for a better flexibility. Gauge of the wire is 24awg... all copper. Check, good. A word on gauge and 5e vs 6... Cat5e and Ca6 both are specified to have 24awg. But Cat6 can optionally have 23Awg, best for POE, but not needed for non POE applications. So no issues here. About another post that calls out the connector for being non-cat6 , that post is some whata correct, but not completely. The reason for the stagger on "cat6 connectors", is to accommodate 23awg wire.. not for noise or separation. You can not fit all eight 23awg wire side by side in the confines of a "cat5" connector, which was designed for max awg of 24awg. So check, the connector is acceptable, since this is a gauge issue, not spacing. And this is a 24awg patch cable, not 23awg. What would matter, which we can not see, is for how long is the twist rate preserved as the wires leave the jacket and are found in the channels for the connection to the blades of the connector. Here I have to trust CM, based on every other positive merit in the best practice construction of the cable. They have tested and certified the cable to perform at the "cat6" levels. Twist rate, see the photos... Again, twist rate is not specified, just performance and left to the manufacturer to meet the criteria of the specifications. Cat5e, is about 1 twist per 10mm, as seen on the photo, this is very common. The CM under review, is about 1 twist in 5mm. It's generally accepted, but not specified that cat6 would be 50-100% greater twist rate, but again, left up to the manufacturer to determine to pass the specified performance criteria. So Check, much great twist rate on these CM patch cables. To compare, I also took a photo of the twist rate of the cat6 bulk cable I have.. See photo. It is about 1 twist on 4.5mm, same magnitude at the CM patch cable. Patch cable need to be flexible and rugged. The potting with in the connectors on these CM patch cables provides great robustness IMHO. Far sturdier them making the cables myself, hence why I buy rather than make. I make when I have a very odd length required and I'm looking to minimize the size of a "service loop". I thought by the time I was done with this, I might be knocking of a few or couple of stars, but nope... these PATCH cables are as good as expected. The very minor difference of the cross section of the center separator might be, again MIGHT be measurable to a db or so if tested at the max specified length for Ethernet cabling, but for a 7ft patch cable this is nothing. For the patch cable flexibility is needed, and this small compromise is nice..

[Background] My home was built in 1976. Over the past few years I've enacted major remodels, fixes, and upgrades to our home to bring it into the future. As typical with many homes built pre-1990, only 2 rooms in a 4 bedroom home even had coax cable, which was old and needed replaced. Talking to my contractor, we devised the easiest and most economical plan to install an electronic equipment box in the basement, and run new coax and Cat-5e cables into 7 rooms. The box contains both a Comcast signal replicator, and an 8 port gigabit network switch. I then had a local home network specialist professionally terminate and label all of the cables, button up the boxes, and test all of the Cat-5e connections. Now, the family is no longer constrained by the limitations and weaknesses of WiFi. With a spouse that: 1) remotes into her office 90% of the time from home; 2) a son that is a computer science / mathematics major in college, and a heavy gamer; 3) a 60" smart TV that connects to the internet to stream content from Amazon, Netflix, etc...we absolutely desired to ensure that the Ethernet cables connecting our all-important devices were reliable, and posed no bottlenecks. I could have easily went to Best Buy and purchase a single Ethernet cable that costs more than this pack of 5. However, I am convinced that I would have purchased nothing more than a name, and a pretty package that goes straight into the trash can. I have no problems recommending these Cat6 Snagless cables to connect your most important devices. Each one has proven reliable, provided full transmission, and the termination plugs snap perfectly in place. .

Ordered a pack of 5 different colored cables; received a pack of 4 different colored cables. -1 star for their mistake. Other than that, the cables seem to work fine. They are a bit thick but the 2 that I've deployed work fine.

Terrific product. Outstanding, easy to use end connectors.

***UPDATE: Changing from 1 star to 5. Less than 48 hours after leaving this review CableMatters left a comment telling me to e-mail customer support. I did, and they shipped me a new cable which I have now received. I can understand that manufacturing defects occasionally happen, but if you have the customer service to back it up then all is forgiven. The only thing to note is that since I bought this product not long ago, the price has increased 20% from $10 to $12.*** Let me say that this would be a 5 star product if not for a manufacturing defect! 5x 5ft Cat-6 cables for $10 is a great deal, but I only received 4 functional cables! The black one I received seems to have had a molding problem with the black plastic around one of the connectors. This makes it impossible to insert. You can see this my pictures. By the time I noticed this I had already spent 20 minutes behind my TV cabinet and had installed 3. At this point I it isn’t worth the $2 (10/5=2) to me to uninstall the other 3 and send it all back. However, that doesn’t change the fact that I’m disappointed with the quality control on this product. That being said, here are my other thoughts on the cables: The main attraction of these cables for me was the fact that they are cheap, come in a variety of colors, and are Cat-6. The main drawback is that the simple plastic tab over the locking lever is a flimsy design and better disigns exist (but cost significantly more). Since I don’t plan on moving these around (disconnecting and reconnecting) the durability of the locking lever was not a huge concern for me. As for price, I bought 5x 5ft Cat-6 cables for $9.99. Seeing as a single equivalent AmazonBasics cable is $5.49, I’m considering this a good deal. When considering Cat-5 vs Cat-5e vs Cat-6 the real answer is that Cat-5 is slow and dated while Cat-6 is unnecessary unless you are doing very long runs (100+ feet). Therefore, it may sees like Cat-5e is the practical and economical right answer today. I went with Cat-6 because it is slightly more future-proof, but more importantly: when it is this cheap why not? In fact, when I searched for 5 foot Cat-5e cables, none showed up. The funny thing is that Cat-5e only saves you money for long runs, at which point you should be using Cat-6 to reduce crosstalk and preserve speed anyway! Long story short, Cat-5e may seem like the right answer (and use them if you have them) but when buying new, just get Cat-6.

Great works as promised!

Well made set that allows for using a different color for each unit being attached to the router to make cable runs easily identifiable. Substantial feel, good stout RJ45's at each end, not too stiff or too thin. Like Momma bear said..."Just right"

good but a little to short

Good quality cables. I needed short ones for connecting my laptop and WiFi router etc. to my network switch which is all on my desk. It's much more tidy to not have large coils of cables on my desk. As you can see in the picture, I already have a cable management problem that I didn't want to make worse. The colors also help identify what the cable is used for which is helpful.

I thought the cables would be a little thicker otherwise they work fine

If you're looking for high-quality, short-length Ethernet cables for networking setups that require reliable and high-speed connectivity, the Cable Matters 5-Color Combo 10Gbps Snagless Cat6 Ethernet Cables are an excellent choice. I recently used this set of cables in a structured home network setup and was highly impressed with their build quality, performance, and versatility. Build Quality & Design Each cable in the pack is 0.3 meters (about 1 foot) long, making them perfect for short connections between network devices, such as patch panels, switches, routers, and computers. The cables have a durable yet flexible PVC jacket, which prevents tangling and makes cable management easier, especially in tight networking spaces. The snagless design is particularly useful, as it protects the clip from accidental breakage when unplugging the cable from a port—something that often happens with cheaper alternatives. The 5-color combo is a thoughtful addition, allowing for easy cable identification when setting up multiple network connections. This feature is particularly beneficial in structured cabling environments or when troubleshooting networks, as you can quickly distinguish between different connections. Performance & Speed These cables are Category 6 (Cat6) rated, which means they support speeds up to 10Gbps and bandwidths of 250MHz. I tested them in a gigabit and 10GbE network, and they performed flawlessly, delivering low-latency, high-speed connections without any signal loss or interference. Since Cat6 cables are backward compatible with Cat5e, they work perfectly with older networking equipment while offering better shielding and lower crosstalk. I experienced no noticeable interference, even when running multiple cables in parallel—something that can be an issue with lower-quality cables. Use Cases These short Ethernet cables are perfect for: Connecting network switches and patch panels in data centers or home offices Linking routers, modems, or access points without excessive cable clutter Short-run connections for gaming consoles, PCs, and NAS devices for stable, high-speed networking Color-coded network management, making it easy to organize different connections Value for Money Considering the high build quality, excellent performance, and color-coded variety, this 5-pack of cables is great value for money. Many budget Ethernet cables claim to be Cat6 but don't actually deliver on the promised speeds—Cable Matters, however, is a trusted brand known for its networking accessories, and these cables meet their advertised specifications. Final Verdict If you need short, high-quality Cat6 Ethernet cables for your networking setup, this Cable Matters 5-Color Combo pack is a fantastic choice. With excellent speed performance, durable construction, and convenient color coding, these cables make network management easier and more efficient. Whether you're a professional IT technician or a home user looking for reliable cables, these are well worth the investment. ⭐ Rating: 5/5 – Highly recommended!

Happy with these. I also bought some 1.5m ones too as I was so pleased. Quality cable, quality boots and good colour, not washed out.