Can squeezing an RJ11 cable affect network performance? [closed]

Question

I have just bought one of these: Ultra High Speed ADSL Cable 5m to move my router from the hall into my living room.

Before and after I installed it I did a batch of speed tests. I was getting 75-80 Mbps which is as high as it has ever been so I assumed that the new cable had not degraded my connection at all.

Today whilst working from home I have noticed the remote connection not responding a few times so I set up a ping to my ISP's first hop and sure enough I was getting more missed packets than I would expect. (I was also pinging my router over wifi and basically got no lost packets there so I can assume that the packets are going missing between my router and my ISP - implicating the RJ11 cable or something external to the house).

When I was running the cable I forced it under the skirting board to go round a door. This was a tight fit and I had to use a relatively large amount of force to squeeze the cable in there.

I have now pulled the cable out from this point and I do not seem to be dropping any packets.

Is it possible for a cable that is squeezed to provide a poor network connection then for it to "recover" when it is no longer compressed? I can't see how the physics here would work. Surely if the cables are still properly insulated it wouldn't matter if they are squeezed!

Thanks

Answer 1

With balanced twisted pair cables running at high frequencies, like for data, untwisting the pairs can have a detrimental affect on performance. Squeezing a cable will spread the twists out. There are problems if you exceed the pulling tension of minimum bend radius, and you can permanently damage the cable.

Answer 2

Yes, it may affect network speed. When cable becomes squeezed, it becomes a little hot and affects speed.