Choosing the right ethernet cable is going to depend on a few different factors depending on your circumstances and your personal needs. The most common ethernet options will come in a category 5 (cat 5) or cat6, but there are other options as well.

The cat 5 ethernet cables are made to work at 100 MHz, and they work for Internet speeds up to 100 Mbps. Cat 6 ethernet cables, on the other hand are wound tighter and will operate at 250 MHz. Many people look for fast network cables like 100 Mbps in hopes of increasing their speed, but the truth is that households with up to three computers can work perfectly well using a 10 Mbps ethernet cable.

Another cable that most people make a lot of use of are the USB cables, or those cables that you use to connect a small device to a larger one. Think phones, cameras, iPads, etc. Those cables are available in USB 2.0 as well as USB 3.0. The USB 3.0 will work faster than the USB 2.0 cable, however, if the device it’s being used with is a 2.0 it will still only function at the speed of USB 2.0 cables.

USB 2.0 cables are compatible with most devices so you don’t have to waste time trying to figure out which goes with which. There are a lot of different lengths of cords to choose from which is a good thing to keep in mind. Shorter cables can help a work area feel less cluttered, but if you need to use a device while it is plugged into another device you might consider the longer options as well like a USB 2.0 extension cable.

Always keep in mind that with a lot of electronics using energy in your home you might need some protection in the form of a surge protector. There are different reasons why there might be a surge in energy from an electrical outlet, and without a surge protector if one of those surges takes place it could damage any electronics that are plugged into the wall.
There are actually both surges and spikes. Surges last under two seconds and can create 500V of energy, while spikes only last a fraction of one second but can produce thousands of volts. A simple surge protector could end up saving you thousands of dollars if you experienced either a surge of spike without one.