Types Of Cat6 Cable

This is a shielded cable.

Types of cat6 cable.

There are two types of category 6 cable. The amount of twists per pair is usually unique for each cable manufacturer. Cat5e cat6 and cat6a each of these cables are constructed of fundamentally similar twisted pairings of copper cables and are each used with the same rj 45 connection to plug into computers routers switches or other network equipment. Current common types include cat 5 5e cat 6 6a 7 and cat 8 and the rj45 connector is widely used.

Standard cat6 cable allows for a higher frequency signal of 250mhz and has a maximum usage distance of 55m unshielded for 10gbase t. Cable twisting length is not standardized but typically there are 1 5 2 twists per cm in cat 5 e and 2 twists per cm in cat 6. Cable types connector types and cabling topologies are defined by tia eia 568. These days the choices comes down to a handful of different types.

Performance is comparable provided both ends of a cable are terminated identically. Therefore f utp and u utp is the easiest way to distinguish cable types. Within a single cable each colored pair will also have different twist lengths based on prime numbers so that no two twists ever align. The amount of twists per cm varies upon each cable manufacturer.

While cat5e cable features 1 5 2 twists per cm cat6 cables are more tightly wound and feature 2 or more twists per cm. Cat6a f utp means the cable consists of 4 unshielded twisted pairs however it contains an outer foil shield. Cat 6 cables technically support speeds up to 10gbps but only do so for up to 55 meters. Types performance pinout cat 5 5e 6 6a 7 8 various cables are used for carrying ethernet.

Cat6 cables also sport thicker sheaths in comparison to cat5e. Cat 6 patch cables are normally terminated in 8p8c modular connectors using either t568a or t568b pin assignments. Cat is short for category and generally denotes the speed the cable is able to. Cat 6 cabling supports 10 gigabit ethernet connections but not at this full distance.

While there are many types of cable there are three main types or categories of ethernet cable that are commonly used for network deployments. Limitations of cat 6. Cat5 cat6 and cat7 with some variations. Cat6a ethernet cable also known as augmented cat6 has a frequency of 500mhz and can be operated at 100m maximum distance on 10gbase t.

That speed comes with a price however as cat 6 cables are more expensive than cat 5 and cat 5e variants.