Are you confused with Ethernet cable categories? Do you want to choose the right one for your need? I will help you to get the details of the Ethernet cable categories.
Contents
In wired Networks, Ethernet Cable is used to connect the devices to LAN, Computers, Routers, Switches etc..
This Physical cable is more or less similar to Phone cable but bigger than it. The number of wires also more in Ethernet. Port is needed to plug this Ethernet cable and this port is larger compared to Phone port. Simply we can say that
“THE COAXIAL CABLE WAS TAKE THE PLACE OF POINT-TO-POINT LINKS CONNECTED BY ETHERNET REPEATERS OR SWITCHES.”
This Ethernet cable has some limit for distance, Signals, and durability. Ethernet is categorized to support for faster the bandwidth, cancel noise and increase speed. According to this limit stretching the Ethernet cable have differed in their types.
cat5 is otherwise called “Category 5” Ethernet cable. This cable is used in twisted pair Ethernet technology of Fifth Generation. It uses RJ-45 standard connector.
This cat 5 cable consists of four pairs of copper wire that supports up to 100 Mbps of speed. The maximum distance that covers up to 100 meters/ 328 feet. Even though it having four pairs, cat 5 uses only two pairs for fast Ethernet connection. In later year EIA/TIA worked on this remaining two pair for greatest share to speed up to 1000 Mbps and they name it as ‘CAT5e’ otherwise called ‘CAT5 Enhanced’.
Note: Cat 5 is an unshielded twisted pair.
Solid CAT5 cable suited well for longer length. For example: inside office or home.
Stranded CAT 5 cable suited for Shorter length. It is flexible compared to solid. For example: connecting two devices.
Pros of Cat5 Cable:
Cons of Cat5 Cable:
cat6 is otherwise called “Category 6” Ethernet cable. This cable is used in twisted pair Ethernet technology of Sixth Generation.
This cat 6 cable consists of four pairs of copper wire that supports up to 10 Gigabit of Ethernet connection. The maximum distance that covers up to 164 feet for per cable. It is backward compatible with its previous versions such as (cat 5 and cat 5e). It uses RJ-45 standard connector which is used by the cat5 and cat5e categories.
Note: Cat 6 is unshielded / Shielded twisted pair.
In later cat6 enhanced version released in the name of ‘cat6 a’ which is otherwise called ‘Category 6 Augmented’. How it differs from cat6?
Note: Cat 6a is shielded twisted pair.
Pros of Cat6 Cable:
Cons of Cat6 Cable:
cat7 is otherwise called “Category 7” Ethernet cable. It is protected shielded type of twisted pair cable that supports for high-speed Ethernet communication of 1 Gbps or above. The Cat 7 cable has backward compatible with Cat 6, Cat 5 and Cat 5e cable categories.
It has most of the similarity of cat6 cable. The cat 7 helps to avoid crosstalk compared to cat6.
Note: Cat 7 is Foil or Braided shielded twisted pair.
Pros of Cat7 Cable:
Cons of Cat7 Cable:
cat8 cables are under development it is expected to support bandwidths up to 2 GHz for the distance up to 30 meters. The speed range is 25Gbps / 40Gbps.
Based on shielding it differs in three types.
It wraps only the twisted pairs in foil.
It wraps all copper pairs in foil and also each twisted pair is wrapped in foil.
It will wrap braided shield over the unshielded / Foiled twisted pair.
| Vs. | Category 5 / cat5 | Category 5e / cat5e | Category 6 / cat6 | Category 6a / cat6a | Category 7 / cat7 | Category 8 / cat8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHONE LINE USAGE | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO | — |
| HOME NETWORK USAGE | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO | — |
| OFFICE NETWORK USAGE | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO | — |
| DATA CENTER USAGE | NO | NO | NO | YES | YES | — |
| BANDWIDTH COVERAGE | 100 MHZ | 100 MHZ | 250 MHZ | 500 MHZ | 600MHZ | — |
| TRASMISSION SPEED | 10 to 100 Mbps | 10 to 100 Mbps | 1 Gbps | 1 Gbps | 10 Gbps | 25Gbps / 40Gbps |
| SHEILD TYPE | unshielded | unshielded | unshielded /shielded | shielded | Shielded/ foil shielded | — |
| USAGE FROM THE YEAR | 2000-2010 | 2000-2010 | From 2005 | From 2005 | From 2010 | — |
| DISTANCE | up to 100 meter | up to 100 meter | 37-55 meters or less | up to 100 meters | up to 100 meters | — |
| — | ||||||
| CHARACTERISTIC IMPEDANCE | 100 ohms = 15% | 100 ohms = 15% | 100 ohms = 15% | —- | 100 ohms = 15% | — |
| NEXT (MIN. AT 100 MHZ) | 32.3 dB | 35.3 dB | 44.3 dB | 27.9 dB | 62.1 dB | — |
| ATTENUATION (MIN. AT 100 MHZ) | 22 dB | 22 dB | 19.8 dB | —- | 20.8 dB | — |
| EL-FEXT (MIN. AT 100 MHZ) | NA | 23.8 dB | 27.8 dB | 9.3 dB | NA | — |
| PS-ELFEXT (MIN. AT 100 MHZ) | NA | 20.8 dB | 24.8 dB | —- | NA | — |
| PS-NEXT (MIN. AT 100 MHZ) | NA | 32.3 dB | 42.3 dB | —- | 59.1 dB | — |
| PS-ANEXT (min. at 500 MHz) | —- | —- | —- | 49.5 dB | —- | |
| PS-AELFEXT (min. at 500 MHz) | 16 dB | 20.1 dB | 20.1 dB | 23.0 dB | 14.1 dB | — |
| Return Loss (min. at 100 MHz) | 16 dB | 20.1 dB | 20.1 dB | 8.0 dB | 14.1 dB | — |
| Delay Skew (max. per 100m) | NA | 45 ns | 45 ns | —- | 20 ns | — |
| Networks Supported | 100BASE-T | 1000BASE-T | 1000BASE-TX | 10GBASE | NA | — |
| Cost | Less | Less | Expense compared to previous | Expense compared to previous | High | High |
| ANEXT – Alien Cross Talk |
| NEXT – Near End Crosstalk |
| PSNEXT – Power Sum Next |
Let us have test with this cable. Consider an hour of time within that how many DVD(4.5 GB) get downloaded by this cable.
Before buying Ethernet cable first analyze your need for your house or office and the choose the cable according to it. Hope you get a good idea about the Ethernet cable categories. If you have doubts you can post it below.
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