I think the walls of my house are lined with lead.
The laws of physics seem to conspire against me because, regardless of what I do, none of my consoles can get a stable Wifi connection.
So I thought, enough-was-enough: I wired in an ethernet connection from my router downstairs to my PS4 in my gaming room upstairs.
And what a transformation!
In the past, on Wifi, FIFA matches would be a stuttering unplayable mess. Now, with a wired connection, the only messy thing about my online FIFA gaming is the Messy I have on my right-wing.
But that got me thinking:
Would the PS5 even come with a LAN Ethernet port? After all, the PS5 comes with high-speed Wifi 5. Would Sony even bother adding something as antiquated as a “wired internet connection” when they have speedy next-gen WIfi built into the box?
Concerned for the future of my new found lag-free soccer freestyling, I jumped online and to discover if the PS5 comes equipped with an ethernet port.
This is what I found…
Does the PS5 have an Ethernet LAN port? Yes, the PlayStation 5 does have an Ethernet LAN port. It is located on the back of the PS5. The Ethernet LAN Port is rated for 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T which offers speeds up to 1 Gigabit per second. Notice, that’s 1 Gigabit, not Gigabyte. This means, to get the best out of the PS5’s Ethernet port you should use at least a Category 6 or higher LAN cable.
OK, that’s a lot of techy speak. Don’t worry. I’ve got a more detailed explanation of all that techy-nonsense down below.
Does the PS5 have an ethernet port?
Yes, the PlayStation 5 does have an Ethernet Lan port, thank goodness!
The port is located on the back of the PlayStation 5 between the HDMI port and two USB ports. So it’s nice and easy to access and nicely hidden. We don’t want any more wires snaking across the gaming room floor after all, do we?
The port supports 3 types of LAN speeds. They are:
- 10BASE-T
- 100BASE-TX
- 1000BASE-T
10BASE-T is a legacy LAN type which is automatically supported by this type of LAN port. However, it is not used anymore due to its slow 10 Megabit per second data capacity. Note, that the speed is measured in Megabits, not MegaBytes. 10 Megabits is only about 1.25 MegaBytes. 10BASE-T uses Category 3 cables. If your gaming at this speed, lag in your online games is the least of your worries.
100BASE-TX is essentially the next step up from 10BASE-T. It offers 100 megabit per second speeds which is about 12.5 Megabytes per second. It uses a category 5 cable. Though this standard is still in wide use, it is still slow in comparison to many internet provider speeds. Especially in the USA, Canada, and Europe.
1000BASE-T is the fastest standard that the PS5 is capable of using. 1000BASE-T operates at a speed of 1 Gigabit per second or 125 MegaBytes per second. Far faster than most home broadband speeds.
To take advantage of this speed, make sure that you are using a category 5 cable or better. Category 6, 7, and 8 cables are designed for faster speeds than 1000BASE-T. However, they are fully backward compatible.
What is the best ethernet cable for the PlayStation 5?
To be sure of getting the most speed out of your PS5 and Broadband connection you want to get at least a 1Gb/s Category-5 or faster ethernet cable.
Check out this low cost but high-quality Category 8 cable on Amazon (Yes, I use Amazon affiliates. I have to pay my BlueHost overlord or risk the site being consigned to digital oblivion)
The reason why you should buy a Cat-8 cable instead of Cat-5, Cat-6, or Cat-7 is that Category 8 cables are more readily available, are just as low cost as lower category cables, and offer fast speeds for future-proofing.
Also, remember that ethernet ports are backward compatible with slower ethernet cables.
If you use an older ethernet cable, you may not take full advantage of your PlayStation 5’s maximum data transfer speed.
How to know what category your Ethernet cable is?
If you already have a spare Ethernet cable, it’s worth checking it’s category. That way you know if that ethernet cable will support the PS5’s maximum potential ethernet speed.
But how do you check?
Most Ethernet cables will have information printed directly onto the cable.
So grab your cable and take a look along its length.
Look for the word “Category” followed by a number. For example, “Category 6”.
Some cables may have a shortened version of this. In this case look for something like this: “Cat-6” or “CAT5e” as in the picture above.
If the cable has the number 5 or higher, then the cable is fine to use.
If the cable doesn’t have anything printed on it, assume it is slower than what you need, and buy this Category 8 cable instead.
Does the PS5 come with an Ethernet cable?
No. The PlayStation 5 doesn’t come with a packed-in ethernet cable.
Why not?
To save Sony a little money, of course!
When it comes to making money, every little saving helps.
Think of it like this, if it cost Sony $1 to include an ethernet cable with the PS5, and the PS5 ended up selling 100 million units over the next 5 years, it would cost Sony 100 million dollars to have included that pack-in ethernet cable.
Do I need an ethernet cable even though the PS5 has Wifi?
No, technically, you do not need an ethernet cable.
The PS5 does have great wifi: It has 802.11ac Wi-Fi (aka Wi-Fi 5).
However, there are a number of benefits to using a wired connection over a wireless connection.
A wired ethernet cable connection improves Internet speed
A wireless connection’s speed can dramatically drop if the PS5 and the router are situated in different rooms, if there is a physical barrier between them, or if there are other radio sources, such as microwaves, nearby.
Also, a wired connection is far faster than a wireless connection.
For example, WiFi 5 speed tends to cap out at about 210 Mb/s in a best-case scenario.
That sounds pretty fast, but it’s nothing compared to a 1000BASE-T wired connection of 1Gb/s. For example, the internet speed in my house is over 500 Mb/s. So over half of the speed of my internet wouldn’t be used if I used Wifi.
Whereas an ethernet cable plugged into the PS5 can hit a max speed of 1000Mb per second. An ethernet port can offer speeds nearly 5 times faster than what the PS5’s WiFi can offer.
A wired LAN connection improves connection quality
There are many ways in which the quality of the connection between your router and PS5 can very suddenly degrade.
You could have a stable connection one second, then, just as you’re about to make the winning shot, your connection quality flings itself off a cliff because somebody decided to warm their coffee in the microwave downstairs. Yes, this used to happen to me… A lot.
Connection quality can vary wildly with a Wifi connection as there are many different ways the connection can be interrupted leading to loss of transmission quality or loss of data mid-transmission.
As pointed out above, radio waves from different sources such as phones, microwaves, and TVs, can affect a router. But metal-containing objects can also cause WiFi signal reflection and refraction which can also degrade signal quality.
A wired ethernet connection decreases latency
We’ve all experienced latency when playing a game. Latency is when there is a delay between you pressing a button on the controller and the corresponding action happening on screen.
Many things can affect latency in games. But, in online gaming, the main thing that causes latency is a poor internet connection.
This is often caused by lost “packets” of data that are transmitted between your console and the router. This data has to be retransmitted. And this retransmission introduces lag into the game.
The more objects in between your console and the router, or the greater the distance between the two, the more data that is lost in transmission. And so the greater the lag.
A wired connection completely eliminates this loss of data and greatly reduces latency.
Go wired
So if you want the best connection for gaming, I recommend a wired connection.
In my own house, I keep the router downstairs and my consoles upstairs in my gaming room.
To get the best internet speeds possible for my console, I ran a flat 50ft Ethernet cable up the stairs under the carpet to my gaming room.
The wire is unobtrusive and offers me the full potential of my 500 Mb broadband with zero compromises.
Conclusion
So now you know the PS5 does have an ethernet port. And you know the benefits of a wired connection over a wireless connection.
Here’s a little reminder of those benefits:
- Faster download speeds
- High-quality internet connection with less latency
- Vastly more stable connection
To use the PlayStation 5’s ethernet port effectively, you should buy this Category 8 Ethernet cable. It will enable you to take full advantage of your PS5’s max data transfer rate and your home broadband.
Plus, if you need a longer cable to run under your carpet, check out this ethernet cable.
What next?
Will the PS5 controller have paddles? No, the PS5 DualSense controller will not have paddles. However, there are other options worth exploring in regards to adding paddles to your PS5 controller. Check out my “Does the PS5 controller have paddles” article to find out more.
How do I expand the PS5 storage? The PS5 can take an extra PCIe 4 M.2 SSD. Or you can plug in external USB hard drives. For more information, take a look at our “How to expand the PS5’s storage” article.
Can the PS5 lay down on its side? Yes, the PS5 can be laid down on its side. Check out our “Can the PS5 lay down” article here to see how.