Can you expand on that last sentence? I don’t understand it but it sounds interesting.
Hence only useful in homes with protected installations like a server enclosures.
Why spend money on SFP's and optical cables, when you can just pick up cheap 10GbaseT hardware?
10GBASE-T is showing up in more and more small business targeted equipment but I think more likely 2.5GBASE-T and 5GBASE-T will make it to consumer home equipment instead of 10GBASE-T.
2.5GBASE-T supports a distance of up to 100m on CAT5e. 5GBASE-T supports up to 100m on CAT6 and may operate on some Cat5e infrastructure. Additionally they both support PoE which 10GBASE-T does not.
The cable modem OTOH... (a few bad packets a day).
Edit: Also for most purposes 'modern' 5e (which tends to be more an ad-hoc standard due to people exceeding the base requirements) is basically as good as cat 6, its only with 6A do you get the longer runs with are a result of stricter termination rules, larger gauge cable, better cross pair (foil) shielding, and a bunch of other rules.
As far as 2.5/5G, I was really annoyed that it wasn't just an optional part of the 10G standard. The idea being that vendors sell 10G switches and if the cables arn't up to the task to degrade to something slower. Initially the big vendor pushing seemed to be trying to market segment 2.5/5 and 10G, but more recently it seems sanity has prevailed and more recent switches are doing exactly that. You get 10G if the switching thinks the cable run is good, otherwise it drops to 1/2.5/5.
You can certainly buy 10GBASE-T equipment meant for small business and give it a go on your network. If you are lucky you may have success.
Also, for a 10-20m run, the price difference is literally in the single figures. The effort alone to send something back is (should be) worth more to you than that.
That depends on the country. E.g. in the EU you can return goods bought online within 14 days (for any reason).
What are these actually called, and what do I look for?
What people mostly mean here is multimode vs single mode glass fiber, though.
So, yes, all the common stuff is pretty flexible, because its plastic.
That being said, I've seen people do some horrific things with copper, and it tends to survive things it shouldn't. But if you treat glass even half as gently as copper wants to be treated, they'll both be fine.
I think fiber gets a bad rep because large multi-strand cables have stiffeners to keep the jacket from kinking, and people assume the individual strands are similarly stiff. They really aren't.
Had 20+db of loss while it was pinched, but after unpinching it and massaging the kink out, it went right back to normal.