Ethernet Cable to Use? Cat 5? Cat 6? Cat 7?

Choosing the right Ethernet cable may be very confusing, there is a few cables that you may have heard of and not sure which one to choose. Ethernet cable all serve the same purpose of providing a network to a device but they are not all the same. If you ever found your self in need of an Ethernet cable and was not sure which cable you should choose you are not alone.

What does Cat mean?

If you have ever looked up the term online cables you probably seen terms like Cat 5, Cat 6 and Cat 7 or something very similar. Cat stands for category, and the higher numbers represent higher speeds.

Ethernet Cable

Cat 5:

Cat5 supports speeds up to 100Mb/s

Cat 5e:

Newer version of cat 5, Cat5e supports speeds up to a Gigabit Ethernet (Catergory 5 enhance) Transfer more data than the 5

Cat 6:

Cat6 supports speeds up to 10 Gigabit Ethernet at 55 meters, good choice if you are not sure which cable to use. Good to use if wire can not be replaced. Cat 6 will support more bandwidth than Cat 5 and Cat 5e, but is more expensive.

Cat 6A:

Cat6A supports speeds up to 10 Gigabit Ethernet with distance up to 100 meters (10,000 Mb/s)(500 MHz)

Cat 7 & Cat 7A:

Cat7 & Cat7A support speeds up to 10 Gigabit Ethernet with distance up to 100 meters (10,000 Mb/s)(1000 Mhz), currently the fastest speed. If you want to go all out and use the best use cat 7, but Cat 6 will do.

When would you use each cable?

Cat 5 is the oldest cable, it is outdated.

Cat 5e supports Gigabit, if your network changes often or is temporary. Cat 5e may be a route that you want to take.

Cat 6 is optional if you are looking for a higher performance for your network. Cat 6 will support 10 gigabit but will only go so far. So if you need more length to be ran, we recommend Cat 6A

Cat 6 A will support 10 gigabit, if you are looking for a cable to with stand a long time and be reliable we do recommend Cat 6 A. It maybe a little bit more of an investment but it will serve as a reliable network for your business.

Cat 7 and Cat 7 A supports speeds up to 10 Gigabits and is the best cable out there at the moment, if you are looking for a cable that is versatile and that can be ran on many devices you may want to consider Cat 7 and Cat 7 A.

Here at K & B Communications, we are committed to providing our Las Vegas clients with the highest quality service. We have helped many individuals and companies with our data cabling installation and design services, and we are looking forward to offering those same services to you, too! If you are in or around Las Vegas and have any questions or want to schedule an onsite evaluation, please give us a call or send us an email. We are looking forward to hearing from you!

#Cat5 #cat6 #cat7 #Ethernetcable