[bluedino]

To expand on this - instead of using a media converter, use a small managed switch.

A 'dumb' media converter is a little bit cheaper but there's no way of knowing if the failure is due to the cable, the media converter on either end, or what. Without physically inspecting it, that is.

All fine for something inside your house but not something where you have a remote location.

[client4]

Better yet, if you're connecting two devices that have PCI ports -- an eBay Mellanox ConnectX3 is great. Solarflare also works, but Mellanox has had better driver support in my experience (though we'll see now that they are owned by Nvidia).