Cable categories (Cat 5e-8)

networking

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.

Also known as: cat 5e, cat 6, cat 6a, cat 8, cable category, cat6a

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