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What Is The Difference Between Cat5e and Cat6?

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James Frank
What Is The Difference Between Cat5e and Cat6?

When it comes to Ethernet Cables, there are several categories that you can choose from. The two most common categories are cat6 and cat5e. Cat6 cables are faster than cat5e cables, but they also cost more. If you don’t need the extra speed, then a cat5e cable will be just fine. Cat6 cables have more wires than cat5e cables, which allows for faster speeds. However, if you have a lot of devices connected to your network, then you may need a cat6 cable in order to get the best performance. 


Cat5e Cable

Cat5e cable is a type of Ethernet cable that is used to connect devices together in a local area network (LAN). It can be used to connect a computer to a modem or to connect two computers together. Cat5e Cable has been replaced by the newer and faster cat6 cable, but it is still widely used because it is less expensive than cat6 cable. Cat5e cable has four pairs of twisted wires, whereas cat6 cable has six pairs. Cat5e cables are also typically shorter in length than cat6 cables.


Cat5e cables are the fifth generation of ports used to attach networking hardware such as computers and servers. Data is transferred at 100 Mbps up to a distance of 100 meters while transferring data of a speed of 1 Gbps over a distance of 164 feet or 50 meters.


The cable currently has UL and ETL certificates available and are made by independent laboratories. UL has set extremely stringent regulations and obtaining this certification for cable television is not easy, but costly also. ETL, on the other hand, follows UL standards to the letter. ETL certification, on the other hand, is a comparative bargain.


Cat6 Cable

Category 6 cable, commonly referred to as Cat6, is a type of twisted pair cable that is used for Gigabit Ethernet and other network protocols. It is backward compatible with Category 5e (Cat5e) cable and supports 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX (Fast Ethernet), 1000BASE-T (Gigabit Ethernet), and 10GBASE-T (10 Gigabit Ethernet) standards.


Cat6 cable features more stringent specifications than Cat5e cable, including a requirement for tighter twists in the pairs and a higher minimum transmission speed. It also has an increased bandwidth of 250 MHz, compared to 100 MHz for Cat5e. This makes Cat6 more resilient to crosstalk and interference, making it ideal for use in high-traffic areas. 


The majority of the Cat6 Cables you can purchase are based on pure copper and on copper-clad aluminum conductors. Furthermore, the cable can be available in either STP or UTP versions. It also has a certificate (depending on the manufacturer) and UL and ETL.


Which is faster, Cat5e or Cat6?

Cat5e and Cat6 cables are both Ethernet cables used for networking. Category 6 offers a faster data transmission rate than category Cat5e. This is due to the fact that Cat6 cable has more copper wires than Cat5e. Category 6 cable can handle speeds up to 10 Gbps, while category 5e can only handle speeds up to 1 Gbps.

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