Exam 220-1001 topic 1 question 212 discussion

The category's Max Transmission Speeds : CAT1: 1 Mbps CAT2: 4 Mbps CAT3: 10 Mbps CAT4: 16Mbps CAT5: 100Mbps CAT5e: 1 Gbps (1000 Mbps) CAT6: 1 Gbps (due to TIA standard) CAT6a: 10 Gbps CAT7: 10 Gbps CAT7a: 10 Gbps CAT8: 25 Gbps

CAT5e vs. CAT6 Maximum Length Both CAT5e and CAT6 offer lengths of up to 100 m per network segment. The maximum achievable speeds will never be met beyond this length. This can result in a slow or failing connection, or even no connection at all. If it is required to cover distances longer than 100 m, the signal can be amplified with repeaters or switches. When used for 10GBASE-T, the maximum length of a CAT6 cable reduces to 55 m. After this distance the rate drops to 1GBASE-T. To be able to run 10GBASE-T over the full 100 m, it is advised to use CAT6A also called Augmented Category 6 cable.

CAT5e vs. CAT6 Crosstalk CAT5e and CAT6 are both twisted pair cables. Both use copper wires, with typically 4 twisted pairs (8 wires) per cable. In the past, the 250 MHz performance provided by CAT6 was often achieved by using a nylon spline in the wiring, which isolated each of the four twisted pairs, making the cable rigid. Nowadays, CAT6 cables are more flexible, using other methods to reduce noise. Regardless of whether a spline is used, CAT6 features more stringent specifications for crosstalk and system noise. Not only does CAT6 provide significantly lower interference or Near-End Crosstalk (NEXT) in the transmission compared to CAT5e, it also improves Equal-Level Far-End Crosstalk (ELFEXT), Return Loss (RL) and Insertion Loss (IL). The result is less system noise, fewer errors and higher data transmission rates.

CAT5e vs. CAT6 Speed Because CAT6 cables perform up to 250 MHz which is more than twice that of CAT5e cables (100 Mhz), they offer speeds up to 10GBASE-T or 10-Gigabit Ethernet, whereas CAT5e cables can support up to 1GBASE-T or 1-Gigabit Ethernet.

CAT6, derived from Category 6, came out only a few years after CAT5e. CAT6 is a standardised twisted pair cable for Ethernet that is backward compatible with CAT5/5e and CAT3 cable standards. Like CAT5e, CAT6 cables support Gigabit Ethernet segments up to 100 m, but they also allow for use in 10-Gigabit networks over a limited distance. At the beginning of this century, CAT5e typically ran to the workstations, whereas CAT6 was used as the backbone infrastructure from router to switches.

CAT5e, also known as Category 5e or Category 5 Enhanced, is a network cable standard ratified in 1999. CAT5e offers significantly improved performance over the old CAT5 standard, including up to 10 times faster speeds and a significantly greater ability to traverse distances without being impacted by crosstalk. CAT5e cables are typically 24-gauge twisted pair wires, which can support Gigabit networks at segment distances up to 100 m.