If you’ve ever looked into the specifics of network cabling, then you already know: there’s a lot of jargon and terminology floating around out there.
At the same time, when you take a look at whatever network cables are nearby, you might also notice that they all look pretty much the same.
So what’s the story here? What’s the difference between Cat5 and Cat6? What about Cat7? (And why are we talking about cats at all??)
This week as we continue to roll out our low voltage and structured cabling service, we’re demystifying network cabling. Here’s what you need to know about the various options available, along with why it matters which one you choose.
Ethernet Cables: The Basics
When we talk about ethernet cables or network cables, we’re talking about those cables that look like an old telephone connector, only wider. Network ports on the wall of your home or office use this connector (called an RJ45), and all desktop PCs (and many laptops) have this port as well.
The first point of confusion is the name: sometimes these cables are called LAN cables or network cables, or more formally, twisted pair cables. Sometimes people don’t use any of those names and simply call them by their type (like Cat5 or Cat6a).
To make matters worse, “network cables” technically includes several other completely different cable types, like coaxial and fiber optic.
But day to day, most people call the cables we’re discussing network cables or ethernet cables. If you hear either of those terms, it’s safe to assume we’re talking about the cables that plug into network ports, routers, and devices.
What’s with All the Cats?
“Cat” is short for “category.” Essentially, these cables are classified according to how much data they can send at a time, along with how far they can send it. The categories started with Cat1, but Cat1 through Cat4 are ancient by today’s standards and more or less unusable. We’ll start with Cat5 and work our way down.
- Cat5: 100Mbps top speed; rated up to 100 meters
- Cat5e: 1Gbps top speed; rated up to 100 meters
- Cat6: 10Gbps up to 37 meters; 1Gbps up to 100 meters
- Cat6a: Same as Cat6 but with higher bandwidth (500MHz)
- Cat7: Nonstandard cable type with proprietary connectors; rarely used
- Cat8: 40Gbps and high bandwidth (2Ghz); up to 30 meters
So essentially, the higher the number, the faster you can send data over the cable. That’s the biggest differentiator. There are technical reasons why bandwidth may matter, but those are beyond what you need to know for now.
Why Does Cable Type Matter?
In a word: speed.
It doesn’t matter how great your hardware is; it can’t send network information any faster than the cables it’s sending that network information through can handle.
So take Cat5 cable: it’s limited to 100Mbps. Many of us have ten times that speed for our home internet, let alone our business. So imagine you’re paying for gigabit internet at home, but you connect your Wi-Fi modem to your router using a Cat5 cable. The fastest anything can ever go over that cable is 100Mbps. You’re getting one-tenth of the speed you’re paying for.
On the other side of the coin, it doesn’t matter how great your cabling is if your hardware can’t use its speeds.
So take Cat8 cable: it’s heavy, stiff, and hard to work with, and it isn’t rated for more than about a hundred feet. It’s also expensive (2-3 times the price of Cat6a). It would be exceedingly rare for any small business to own on-premises hardware operating at 40Gbps, so the added expense of Cat8 cable almost certainly isn’t worth it.
Takeaway for Your Business
Let’s wrap this up for your business: relying on older, slower cables is literally slowing down the speed at which work gets done. Even if you have one older cable between a couple of key devices, you could unknowingly slow down your entire network. And since the cables all look similar to the untrained eye, it can be pretty hard to spot this kind of problem!
When you work with our team, we take the time to get cabling right. We choose the cable types that make sense for your exact physical structure and technology needs, and we install it following industry best practices that make repairs and expansion easy.
Ready to learn more? Reach out anytime.