What Is the Difference Between Cat 5 6 7

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Show Page Contents

• Types of Twisted Pair Ethernet Cables
  • Unshielded Twisted Pair ( UTP )
  • Shielded Twisted Pair ( STP )
• Cat5 vs. Cat6 vs. Cat7 Cable: What's The Difference?
  • First, What is the meaning of the " CAT" Ratings?
  • So What Makes them Different?
    • 1. Cat5
      • Rated Performance:
      • Material and Installation:
    • 2. Cat5e
      • Rated Performance:
      • Materials and Installation:
    • 3. Cat6
      • Rated Performance:
      • Materials and Installation:
    • 4. Cat6a
      • Rated Performance:
    • 5. Cat7
      • Rated Performance:
      • Materials and Installation:
• Does It Matter the Kind of Cable You Buy?
  • Procedure
  • Results
• How to Install an Ethernet Cable By Yourself?
• Plenum vs Non-Plenum Cables
• Why Should You Use a Plenum Cable?

If you are going to purchase an ethernet cable for any, you may have noticed that there are several different types available.

But have you ever wondered what are the differences between them? And what should you use for your home network? Does it matter which one you get?

In this article, we will take a deep look into the different types of ethernet cables and how to select the right one for your home network.

Before diving into the differences between the Cat5, Cat6 and Cat7, let us take a quick look at the types of twisted-pair Ethernet cables used in Local Area Networks.

Types of Twisted Pair Ethernet Cables

Twisted pair cables are the Ethernet cables used to connect our computers to our routers or modem to have access to the internet.

Internet twisted pair cables come in two different types. These are:

Unshielded Twisted Pair ( UTP )

This is by far the most common type of cable that is used today. Unshielded twisted pair has four pairs of color-coded wires which are twisted around each other.

These wires are twisted to prevent electromagnetic disturbance or interference, known as crosstalk.

This is the type of network cable most people use in their businesses or homes. An example is a Cat5 cable.

Shielded Twisted Pair ( STP )

This type of ethernet cable is very similar to the UTP; however, the key difference is that the STP has a foil shield that covers the wires.

This shielding adds an extra layer of protection against electromagnetic interference, which can leak into or outside the cable.

This type of network cable is mainly used for industrial purposes; however, some people use it in their homes and businesses. An example is the CAT6a cable.

Now we know the types of twisted pair ethernet cables, let us look at the three main categories of ethernet cables.

Cat5 vs. Cat6 vs. Cat7 Cable: What's The Difference?

First, What is the meaning of the " CAT" Ratings?

Well, for ethernet cables, the word " Cat" stands for Category.

And the different numbers represent different specifications and standards for the cable. So, you can think of them as different versions.

The good news is, all these cables will typically " work" since the new versions are all backward compatible.

This means that they all use the same RJ45 connector, which is often known as an ethernet port.

So What Makes them Different?

Two factors make each ethernet cable different. These are:

• The rated performance of each.
• The demand for material and installation to use within each cable

Let's dive into how each cable differs from the other:

1. Cat5

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The Cat5 is common, but these days if you hear someone say Cat5, they are usually referring to the newer version known as Cat5e cable.

But we are getting a little bit ahead of ourselves with that.

A true Cat5 cable is obsolete, and you probably cannot even find them anywhere to purchase.

• Rated Performance:

This type of cable has a 100 Mhz bandwidth, which is only rated up to 100mbps at 100 meters maximum length.

So, only being rated for 100mbps, you are rarely going to see these anymore, because usually, 1 gigabyte is now the minimum.

If you're still using one, then you need to replace it. Because in addition to having a slower speed, it might be less reliable than the new types we will discuss later.

• Material and Installation:

When the Cat5 network cable is cut open, you will see two twisted pairs of copper wires. Each pair is color-coded with no insulation between each pair.

Also, the entire cable has no insulation. The design of the material and installation of the Cat5 is what I call- straightforward.

2. Cat5e

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The Cat5e stands for Category 5 enhanced. Cat5e is common these days.

• Rated Performance:

The Cat5e cable has a rated speed of 1gbps or 1000mbps per 100m and a bandwidth of 100MHz instead of the original with a rated speed of 100mbps.

This is made possible due to the improved specs regarding the twisting of wire pairs inside, shielding, and other improvements, which we will look at soon.

These improved specs reduce crosstalks or the interference of the different signals, which will reduce speed.

• Materials and Installation:

Regular Cat5 requires 2 twisted pairs of copper wires; whiles Cat5e uses four. So, it can transfer much more data.

A Cat5 network cable may have 4 pairs of twisted wires, but it only requires two. So, an important thing to note is that the rating certifications are for bare minimum specs.

So, a network cable will likely be capable of carrying much more data than what it is rated for.

For example, a Cat5 network cable might be capable of transferring data close to gigabit ethernet speed; it is a high-quality premium cable, even though it is older. And the same will go for all types of cables.

3. Cat6

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After the Cat5e came the Cat6 cable, I will then Cat6 is my recommended option if you are not sure of what type of cable you want to purchase.

This is because it has a moderate price range depending on where you buy it, and it will provide future proof your cable for a while.

• Rated Performance:

The Cat6 cable bumped up the specs from 1-gigabit ethernet speed to 10 Gbps, at 55 meters with a bandwidth of 250Mhz.

For those of you confused as to what bandwidth means, it means the range of frequencies that the cable can reliably use, which explains how that improves the speed. It got more space to fit more data in.

The Cat6 cable further reduces crosstalks using tighter wound wire pairs and may also use things like a plastic core through the middle of the cable to better separate the internal wires.

• Materials and Installation:

Most Cat6 cables are flat, making them very handy going through tight corners within the house, for example, the door frames.

In terms of the installation, you will see that it has 4 twisted pairs, but what makes the Cat6 different from the Cat5 is that the Cat6 has either a foil( insulation) or a plastic core separating each pair of wire, as said earlier.

This insulation reduces the interference between each twisted pair.

Also, each twisted pair has copper wires, and the purpose is to again reduce the crosstalk between each cable within the twisted pairs.

If you're not sure what type of cable to buy, Cat6 is a good choice since it probably wouldn't be much expensive to buy, depending on where you buy it, and it will futureproof your cable for a while. You'll probably be able to use it in the near future.

But this is especially important if the wire cannot be easily replaced as if you're wiring a house, where it will just be in the walls forever, I recommend you get at least Cat6 cable.

However, if you're buying a general-purpose cable for your laptop or something, then I recommend you get the Cat5e. Since I doubt any of your devices is capable of 10gig anyway.

4. Cat6a

Maybe by now, you might be thinking if Cat6 is the best, why then will you need anything more than 10gig, right?

Well, you might be right, but we are not stopping there.

Another higher version of the Cat6 is the Cat6a.

• Rated Performance:

The Cat6a can transfer data at a speed of 10gbps, but a longer distance of 100 meters instead of 55 meters. It has a much larger bandwidth of 500MHZ.

So if you're looking into creating a 10 gig network, Cat6a will be more reliable at getting your full speed since it has better specs to reduce crosstalk.

5. Cat7

This is the big daddy of internet cables. As far as I can tell, this is the fastest Ethernet cable available.

Some cables claim to be category 8, but I do not think they truly are.

Read also: 10 Best CAT 7 Ethernet Cables for 2021

• Rated Performance:

The category7 is also rated for a 10gig speed but with a much larger bandwidth of 600 MHZ.

• Materials and Installation:

Comparing the Category 7 cable or Cat7 cable to other cables, the outside coating is thicker than that of any other cable.

Furthermore, it has the strictest specification for reducing crosstalk, such as requiring shielding between individual wiring pairs in the cable and mesh insulation for the entire cable.

The purpose of mesh insulation is to improve the durability of the cable and reduce interference from the external environment.

This seems to be all about improving reliability and not necessarily improving the speed since it doesn't improve anything above 10 Gbps.

However, it is probably capable of higher speeds if you have a faster switch than 10gig.

Generally, I think Cat7 cable would be best suited for extreme future-proofing permanent wire installations, for people who are not just satisfied with the best but want the completely unnecessary.

So, let's say if you're wiring a house, and you want to go all out, then you can get the Cat7 cable.

Below is a table summarizing all that was said above:

Category	Rated Performance	Length	Maximum Bandwidth	Cable Type
CAT5	100 Mbps	100 Meters	100 MHz	UTP
CAT5e	1000 Mbps	100 Meters	100 MHz	UTP
CAT6	1000/10,000 Mbps	55 Meters	250 MHz	UTP or STP
CAT6a	10,000 Mbps	100 Meters	500 MHz	STP
CAT7	10,000 Mbps	100 Meters	600 MHz	SSTP

Does It Matter the Kind of Cable You Buy?

We have now learned that there are tons of different Ethernet cables you can use, but does it matter?

To find out if the kind of cable works, I did a quick test.

So, I got three different cables, A Cat5e, a Cat6, and a Cat7 cable, all of the same lengths of 7 ft.

I wanted to find out if it will make any difference if I used them with a gigabit internet connection since it is the fastest internet connection available to us now.

Yes, I could have done a local gigabit ethernet speed test; however, I decided to do it this way since it is more practical.

Procedure

All I did for this test was connect my laptop directly to my router using each of the cable types.

Also, to make sure there was no limiting factor, I had my router connected to the fiber optic intake with a Cat7 cable, so there is no limiting agent there.

Results

So after I tested it, these were my results:

CABLE TYPE	AVERAGE DOWNLOAD RATE
Cat5e	940 Mbps
Cat6	932 Mbps
Cat7	935 Mbps

So, what was the difference? Well, none at all. As I pretty much expected, with such a short distance of only 7 feet, all the cables were capable of handling the gigabit ethernet connection.

I had also tested the upload speed, but it was very inconsistent between the same type of cable tests, so I didn't consider that.

So, the takeaway here is that unless you need to worry about future-proofing your connections, it doesn't matter what type of cable you buy.

Perhaps if you have tons and tons of cables packed next to each other, and it is electronic noisy, and you need that extra shielding, then the improved shielding on the better category will help you. However, in all other cases, it really shouldn't matter.

After looking at all these, you may be wondering, what is the point of all these cables if it doesn't matter in most situations.

Well, part of it is marketing, since it's easy to say you need the " better " with the higher number, which of course will cost more.

But, of course, there is networking hardware out there capable of 10 gig ethernet- it is usually commercial equipment, though.

However, we are starting to see some 10-gigabit consumers grade switches out there. An example is the Asus XG-U2008 switch, which has two 10 gigabit ports and 8 regular gigabit ethernet ports.

So, with this, you could hook your computer along with and maybe a network storage device to the 10 gig port, and everything else will go into the regular gigabit ones.

That way, even if none of the other devices on the network is capable of 10gigabit, it will allow multiple 1-gigabit data transfers to multiple devices simultaneously.

So, the 10-gigabit storage server will be able to provide out that 10 gigabits and as many devices will leach off it as you want.

Or, of course, you could do a full 10gigabit transfer between the two devices plugged in, so between your server and computer if they are both plugged into the other port.

So, in that sort of situation where you do have 10gigabit capabilities, you would need a Cat6 or higher, at least for those two 10 gigabit ethernet ports. And it's over any distance, then Cat6a would be ideal. For better reliability.

So, the takeaway from these cables is that even the old Ethernet standards have held up surprisingly well.

Believe it or not, the RJ45 connector was used in these Ethernet cables was first standardized in 1987.

At that time, the initial spec was only 3KHz bandwidth, and now it is getting into the Gigahertz.

So, I think it is safe to say that the connector probably is here for a while and won't be going anywhere anytime soon since it seems there is still a lot of room for improvement and expansion.

Now you know the ethernet cable category you want to buy, how do you install an ethernet cable?

How to Install an Ethernet Cable By Yourself?

If you're looking to make your custom cables, you would typically buy a bulk roll of twisted pair cables, and then you need to wire them correctly before you can attach an RJ45 connector to each end.

Follow these steps below, and you would know how to do this correctly:

• To do this, first, you would have to remove the protective shielding at each end of the cable to expose the wire. You can do this by using a cable stripper, by inserting the cable into the cable stripper, and then the outer shielding is removed to expose the wire.
• When done, you will insert the cable into a wire crimper and attach an RJ45 connector.

However, before you attach the connector, the cable's wires should be arranged in a certain order. That order will vary depending on what you want to do with your cable.

The most common types of Ethernet cables wiring orders used in a local area network are straight cables and crossover cables.

Before we dive into these two, two different wiring standards are used. these are:

• 568A

The 568A is arranged in the following order from top to bottom: white-green, green, white-orange, blue, white-blue, orange, white-brown, and brown.

• 568B

The 568B is wired in the following order from top to bottom: white-orange, orange, white-green, blue, white-blue, green, white-brown, and brown.

So, the only difference between the 568A and the 568B standards is that the orange wires are swapped with the green wires.

However, it doesn't matter which standard you use, both standards do the same thing. However, in the United States, most people use the 568B standard.

So, should you choose either the A standard or the B standard, if both ends of the cable are wired using the same standard, then this is what is known as – a Straight Cable. Which is sometimes referred to as a Patch Cable?

A straight cable will allow signals to pass through from end to end, which is the most commonly used in LAN networks.

You should use a straight cable wiring order when you want to connect your computer to a hub, routers, switches, or even modems. It is used in the connection of dissimilar devices.

A crossover cable wiring arrangement, on the other hand, is also used in local area networks. However, it isn't as common as a straight cable wiring arrangement.

This type of cable is created when both ends of the cable are wired using the two different standards. This means that one end is wired using a 568A, and the other end is wired using the 568B standard.

Crossover cables are used when connecting two similar devices. An example is, a crossover cable can be used when you want to connect two computers directly to each other without using a switch or hub.

You may also use this type of wiring arrangement to connect a hub to another hub or a switch to another switch. So, when you want to connect two similar devices, you will want to use the crossover cable connection.

Plenum vs Non-Plenum Cables

Before you go to buy any Ethernet network cable, one last thing you need to consider is whether the cable is a plenum or not.

A plenum cable is covered or jacketed with a fire-resistant plastic cover or jacket.

Non-plenum cables, on the other hand, may produce smoke together with toxic fumes when burned. This can be harmful to your health when inhaled.

Plenum cables pass a series of regular testing by a nationally recognized testing laboratory. They ensure that it is up to standard A classified as plenum or non-plenum.

Why Should You Use a Plenum Cable?

Well, these types of cables can be safely used anywhere; an example of these places include air ducts. It is also required to meet building or fire codes.

So, if you're looking into running some Ethernet cables through the air spaces of your building, then you might want to consider getting a plenum cable.

This is because in case of an outbreak if toxic fumes are to get into the airspace of a building, they would then be distributed throughout the building.

This is why I highly recommend plenum cables if you are looking to pass the cable through air spaces.

However, if you aren't using them in any air spaces, you can go in for a non-plenum cable if you're on a tight budget.

So, before you go out there to purchase an Ethernet cable, ensure that you:

• Know the types of twisted-pair cables
• Know the various categories and what they offer
• How to install them
• And finally, whether you need a plenum cable or not.

I hope this article was helpful. If you found this article informative, kindly share it with friends. Leave a comment if you have any questions or suggestions

What Is the Difference Between Cat 5 6 7

Source: https://gamingcpus.net/cat5-vs-cat6-vs-cat7-ethernet-cables/

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