Cable categories (Cat 5e-8)
termnetworking
Stands for: Twisted-pair cable categories per ANSI/TIA-568
The TIA-568 performance grades of twisted-pair cable - what 'Cat 6A' actually promises.
Each category certifies a bandwidth and the Ethernet speeds it carries over a 100 m channel: Cat 5e (100 MHz, 1 Gb/s), Cat 6 (250 MHz, 1 Gb/s at 100 m and 10 Gb/s only to about 55 m), Cat 6A (500 MHz, 10 Gb/s at the full 100 m), and Cat 8 (2000 MHz, 25/40 Gb/s but only to 30 m, for short data-center runs, and shielded in practice). The category names the cable and its connectors together - a Cat 6A link with Cat 5e patch cords is a Cat 5e link.
Cable categories describe the frequency a cable is qualified to carry, which determines the speed and distance it supports. Cat5e handles gigabit reliably, Cat6 adds headroom and supports ten gigabit over shorter runs, Cat6a supports it over the full hundred metres, and the higher categories address environments most installations do not have.
The practical guidance is that the cable is the cheapest part and the most expensive to replace, because the cost is labour and disruption rather than material. Installing a higher category than currently needed is usually correct for permanent runs and usually pointless for patch cords. It is also worth remembering that a channel is only as good as its worst component: a Cat6a run terminated on Cat5e jacks is a Cat5e channel.
Also known as: cat 5e, cat 6, cat 6a, cat 8, cable category, cat6a