There are five common types of gigabit cat ethernet cable on the market: CAT5, CAT6, CAT6A, CAT7, and CAT7A. CAT8 ethernet cables, like CAT7 /CAT7a network cables, are shielded twisted pairs and can be used in data centers and high-speed and bandwidth-intensive places. Although the transmission distance of CAT8 is not as good as CAT7/CAT7A, its speed and frequency are far higher than those of CAT7/CAT7A network cables. The differences between CAT8, CAT5e, and CAT6/CAT6a are mainly reflected in speed, frequency, transmission distance, and application.
Standards and categories
CAT1: The highest frequency bandwidth of the cable is 750kHZ, used for alarm systems, or only suitable for voice transmission, CAT1 standard is mainly used for telephone cables.
CAT2: The highest frequency bandwidth of the cable is 1MHZ, used for voice transmission and data transmission with the highest transmission rate of 4Mbps
CAT3: refers to the cable currently specified in the ANSI and EIA/TIA568 standards. The transmission frequency of this cable is 16MHz and the maximum transmission rate is 10Mbps. It is mainly used for voice and 10Mbit/s Ethernet and 4Mbit/s Token Ring, the maximum network segment length is 100m
CAT4: The transmission frequency is 20MHz, used for voice transmission and data transmission with a maximum transmission rate of 16Mbps, mainly used for LAN and 10BASE-T/100BASE-T, maximum The network segment is 100m long and uses RJ connectors.
CAT5: This cable type has increased winding density and is coated with a high-quality insulating material. The cable has a maximum frequency bandwidth of 100MHz and a maximum transmission rate of 100Mbps. It is used for voice transmission and a maximum transmission rate of 100Mbps. Data transmission is mainly used for 100BASE-T. The maximum network segment length is 100m and uses RJ connectors. This is most commonly used in Ethernet cables. Within twisted pair cables, different pairs have different lay lengths. Usually, the twisting period of four pairs of twisted pairs is within 38.1mm, twisted in the counterclockwise direction, and the twisting length of one pair is within 12.7mm.
CAT5e: Category 5e has small attenuation, less crosstalk, higher attenuation to crosstalk ratio (ACR) and Structural Return Loss, smaller delay difference, and greatly improved performance. CAT5E cable is mainly used for Gigabit Ethernet (1000Mbps)
CAT6: The transmission frequency is 1MHz~250MHz, providing twice the bandwidth of Category 5e. The transmission performance of Category 6 cabling is much higher than the Category 5e standard, and it is most suitable for applications with transmission rates higher than 1Gbps. The wiring distance required by Category 6 standards is: the length of the permanent link cannot exceed 90m, and the length of the channel cannot exceed 100m.
CAT6e: Category 6e cable is an unshielded twisted pair cable specified in ANSI/EIA/TIA-568B.2 and ISO Category 6/Class E standards. It is mainly used in Gigabit networks. The transmission frequency is 200~250 MHz, and the maximum transmission speed can also reach 1000 Mbps, but there is a big improvement in crosstalk, attenuation, and signal-to-noise ratio. In addition, a cross-shaped pair separation bar is added between the four twisted pairs. The separator strip works with the outer sheath of the cable to tightly fix the four pairs of wires in their designed positions, which can slow down the loosening of the wire pairs caused by the bending of the cables, thus reducing the degradation of performance during installation.
CAT7: It is a shielded twisted pair that can provide a comprehensive attenuation to crosstalk ratio of at least 500MHZ and an overall bandwidth of 600MHZ, which is more than twice that of Category 6 lines and Category 6e Super lines, and the transmission rate can reach 10Gbps. The parameters of the Category 7 system require that all pairs of connectors provide at least 60DB of comprehensive near-end crosswinding at 600MHZ. The Category 5e system only requires 43DB at 100MHZ, and the value of Category 6 at 250MHZ is 46DB.
CAT8: The relevant standards for CAT8 Category 8 network cables were officially released by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) TR-43 Committee in 2016. The details are as follows: 1. Complying with the IEEE 802.3bq 25G/40GBASE-T standard, it specifies the minimum transmission rate of CAT8 network cables and can support 25 Gbps and 40 Gbps network cabling. 2. Complies with the ANSI/TIA-568-C.2-1 standard, which specifies the channels and permanent links of CAT8 network cables and includes restrictions on resistance imbalance, TCL, and ELTCTL. 3． Complies with the ANSI/TIA-1152-A standard, which specifies the measurement and accuracy requirements for CAT8 network cable field testers. 4． Complies with the ISO/IEC-11801 standard, which specifies the channels and permanent links of Category I/II CAT8 network cables.
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