what is the difference between Cat5e and Cat6?

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In this article, we will discuss the difference between Cat5e and Cat6.

UTP CAT5E

UTP CAT6

At present, the twisted-pair cables commonly used in local area networks are generally unshielded, Category 5, 4-pair (ie, 8 wires) cables. The transmission rate of these twisted pairs can reach 100Mbps.

The outer protective rubber of category 3 twisted pair on the market is thin, the rubber is marked with “CAT3”, and the outer carton is marked with “category 3”, the price is lower; the outer protective rubber of category 5 twisted pair is thick , The rubber is marked with “CAT5”, and the outer carton is marked with “Category 5”, the price is higher. When buying, do not buy low-quality Category 5 twisted-pair cables for cheap. These products can often only be used as Category 3 twisted-pair cables.

Super Category 5 twisted pair is an unshielded twisted pair. Compared with the ordinary category 5 twisted pair, the super category 5 twisted pair has smaller attenuation and stronger anti-interference ability when transmitting signals. In a 100M network, the interference level of user equipment is only 1/4 of that of ordinary Category 5 lines, which is an ideal solution for network applications.

“Category 5” refers to category 5 unshielded twisted pair (UTP—Unshielded Twisted Pair)

The unshielded twisted pair cable is composed of multiple twisted pairs and a plastic sheath. Category five refers to the five different quality levels defined by the International Electrical Industry Association for twisted-pair cables.

Category 5e unshielded twisted-pair cable is a cable that has improved some of the performance of the existing Category 5 shielded twisted-pair cable. Many performance parameters, such as near-end crosstalk, attenuation crosstalk ratio, return loss, etc. Improved, but its transmission bandwidth is still 100MHz.

Category 5 twisted-pair cable also uses 4 winding pairs and 1 tensile wire. The color of the pair is exactly the same as that of Category 5 twisted-pair cable. They are white orange, orange, white green, green, white blue, blue, and white. Brown and brown. The diameter of bare copper wire is 0.51mm (wire gauge is 24AWG), the diameter of insulated wire is 0.92mm, and the diameter of UTP cable is 5mm.

Category 5e twisted pair cables are usually only used for 100Mb/s fast Ethernet to connect desktop switches to computers. If you want to upgrade the network to Gigabit Ethernet in the future, you may wish to use Category 5e unshielded twisted pair in the horizontal wiring. Category 5e unshielded twisted pair can also provide up to 1000Mb/s transmission bandwidth, but it often requires the support of expensive special equipment.

The parameters of the six types of unshielded twisted pairs have been greatly improved, and the bandwidth has also been extended to 250MHz or higher. Category 6 twisted-pair cables are different from Category 5 or Category 5 twisted-pair cables in appearance and structure. Not only does the insulated cross frame increase, but the four pairs of twisted-pair cables are placed on the fourth of the cross frame. Within a groove, and the diameter of the cable is thicker.

The cross frame in the center of the cable rotates with the change in length, and the four pairs of twisted pairs are clamped in the groove of the frame to maintain the relative position of the four pairs of twisted pairs to improve the balance characteristics and crosstalk attenuation of the cable. In addition, ensure that the balance structure of the cable is not damaged during the installation process. The diameter of the bare copper wire of Category 6 unshielded twisted pair is 0.57mm (the wire gauge is 23AWG), the diameter of the insulated wire is 1.02mm, and the diameter of the UTP cable is 6.53mm.

According to the different electrical properties, twisted pair wires can be divided into three types, five types, super five types, six types and seven types of twisted pairs. The prices of different types of twisted-pair cables vary greatly or even widely, and the scope of application is also very different. Except that the traditional voice system still uses Category 3 twisted pair, network cabling is currently basically using Category 5 or Category 6 unshielded twisted pair. Although Category 5 unshielded twisted pair cables can still support 1000Base-T, they have gradually faded out of the cabling market because they are almost the same in price as Category 5 unshielded twisted pairs.
Although the price of Category 6 unshielded twisted pair cable is relatively high, it is slowly becoming the new favorite of integrated wiring because it has very good compatibility with the Category 5 cabling system and can support 1000Base-T very well. CAT7 shielded twisted pair is a brand-new wiring system. Although it has excellent performance, it is expensive. The construction is complicated and there are fewer products to choose from, so it is rarely used in wiring projects.
Category 6 unshielded twisted pair can support Gigabit Ethernet very well and achieve a transmission distance of 100m. Therefore, the Category 6 cabling system is widely used in the cabling of the sub-server room and the horizontal cabling that retains the ability to upgrade to Gigabit Ethernet. According to the international cabling standard ISO11801, the life expectancy of a cabling system is at least 10 years. As a long-term basic investment, integrated cabling should fully consider the potential needs of the network and the development of the cabling system. Therefore, it is recommended to choose six types of products to build the cabling system under the conditions of capital permitting.
If you consider the future application requirements of the network, theoretically the most advanced wiring products should be installed, because it is often difficult to update and replace after the installation of cables. Basically, a wiring system must be used as a standard for at least 10 years and can support 4 to 5 generations of networks The performance of the equipment is updated, if the future network equipment needs a better cable to increase the data speed.
So, it is inevitable to use Category 6 cables to replace Category 5e cables, but these cables are very expensive to rebuild, so even if the price of Category 6 products is slightly more expensive than Category 5 products, in order to reduce future network upgrade problems, Six types of products are still worth considering.

Difference between cat5e and cat6

The logo of Category 5 cable is “CAT5”, with a bandwidth of 100M, which is suitable for networks below 100M; the logo of Category 5 Super Cable is “CAT5E”, with a bandwidth of 155M, which is the current mainstream product; the logo of Category 6 cable is “CAT6” , Bandwidth 250M, used to set up a gigabit network, is the trend of future development.

“Category 5” refers to Category 5 Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP—Unshielded Twisted Pair)

Although CAT5e unshielded twisted pair can also provide up to 1000Mb/s transmission bandwidth, it often requires the support of expensive special equipment. Therefore, it is usually only used in 100Mb/s fast Ethernet to connect desktop switches to computers. If you are not going to upgrade the network to Gigabit Ethernet in the future, you may wish to use Category 5e unshielded twisted pair in the horizontal cabling.

“Category 6” refers to category 6 unshielded twisted pair

Category 5 or Category 6?

Except that the traditional voice system still uses Category 3 twisted pair, network cabling is currently basically using Category 5 or Category 6 unshielded twisted pair. Although Category 5 unshielded twisted pair cables can still support 1000Base-T, they have gradually faded out of the cabling market because they are almost the same in price as Category 5 unshielded twisted pairs.

Although the price of Category 6 unshielded twisted pair cable is relatively high, it is slowly becoming the new favorite of integrated wiring because it has very good compatibility with the Category 5 cabling system and can support 1000Base-T very well. CAT7 shielded twisted pair is a brand-new wiring system. Although it has excellent performance, it is expensive. The construction is complicated and there are fewer products to choose from, so it is rarely used in wiring projects.

Category 6 unshielded twisted pair can support Gigabit Ethernet very well and achieve a transmission distance of 100m. Therefore, the Category 6 wiring system is widely used in the wiring of the sub-server computer room, and the horizontal wiring that retains the ability to upgrade to Gigabit Ethernet. According to the international cabling standard ISO 11801, the life expectancy of a cabling system is at least 10 years. As a long-term basic investment, integrated cabling should fully consider the potential needs of the network and the development of the cabling system. Therefore, it is recommended to choose six types of products to build the cabling system under the conditions of capital permitting.

If you consider the future application requirements of the network, theoretically the most advanced wiring products should be installed, because it is often difficult to update and replace after the installation of cables. Basically, a wiring system must be used as a standard for at least 10 years and can support 4 to 5 generations of networks The performance of the equipment is updated, if the future network equipment needs a better cable to increase the data speed.

So, it is inevitable to use Category 6 cables to replace Category 5e cables, but these cables are very expensive to rebuild, so even if the price of Category 6 products is slightly more expensive than Category 5 products, in order to reduce future network upgrade problems, Six types of products are still worth considering.

Super Category Six”

Belden IBDN has developed a high-performance cabling system that can operate normally above 40℃, and officially launched the IBDN 4800LX system at the end of 1999. Its final index reaches 300MHz bandwidth, and it can still reach the 20 specified in the category 6 standard at 50℃. ℃ performance index. In order to distinguish it from the ordinary Category 6 wiring system, this kind of wiring with bandwidth performance far exceeding Category 6 is called Category 6 Super.

Most of the Super Category 6 definitions use the same modules and jumpers as Category 6 of the same brand, so the main difference between them is in the data. IBDN’s Super Category 6 data 4800LX has been operating normally at the operating temperature from the beginning, so its features include a large wire diameter. The transmission diameter has been increased from 0.5mm (24AWG) for ordinary Category 6 to 0.6mm (23AWG). ; Some manufacturers used 24AWG in the initial Super-6 data and tried their best to improve the NEXT method, but the improvement details in 2002 increased the wire diameter to 23AWG. The other is a cross-shaped pair call bar added between the 4 twisted pairs. Without the cross notification, the data line of the smartphone may have a serious impact between the lines in another message between the line and the line, which may cause a sudden crosstalk problem. 4800LX is a super 6-category decoration with scattered cross stitch strips, which reduces its performance during installation. Later digital groups followed suit and adopted similar techniques.