Thunderbolt 2 adapter to Ethernet

Hi, I have a 2014 Mac mini. I still LOVE it. There is of course a direct Ethernet port. However, I prefer to connect through a THUNDERBOLT 2 adapter. It is APPLE brand. My transmission speed improves by a lot.

Two questions: The connection does get pretty warm is that ok? I hadn’t tried this before.

The reason I ask is, a brand new Ethernet cable I used failed yesterday. I realize cables can often be faulty however. This leads me to the next question.

Is there a heavier/shielded type Ethernet cable I should get for this or will any type work? I don’t want to damage the port if a cheap cable were to blame. I guess they’re all pretty inexpensive.

I also know adapters don’t always give the best results for various reasons. In this case it does work slick!

I put a new cable on and I’m back online but want to try to prevent an issue down the road and know if I’m better off not doing this?

Thank you in advance!

Jet