A Quick Guide to CAT6 Ethernet Cables and Their Workings

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A Quick Guide to CAT6 Ethernet Cables and Their
Workings
CAT6 Ethernet Cable is one of the most
popular Ethernet cables. It was standardized
by Electronic Industries Association and
Telecommunications Industry Association
(EIA). This article will provide you
with all the information about CAT6 Ethernet
Cables and its types. ? The working of CAT6
Ethernet Cables
Being the sixth version of twisted pair
Ethernet cabling, CAT6 was built in order to
support the Gigabit Ethernet Data rates. i.e 1
gigabit/second (Gbps) It has four pairs of copper
wires and all the copper wire pairs can be
utilized
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• for signaling and obtaining superior quality
  performance. The best part about it is that
  it can support 10 Gigabit Ethernet connections
  for a distance of 50 meters or 164 feet. Here are
  some more facts about it
• The enhanced version of CAT6, known as CAT6A and
  it can support the speed of upto 10Gbps.
• Similar to the previous versions of Ethernet
  Cables, ends of CAT6 cable use the same RJ-45
  standard connector.
• The cable cover of this Ethernet Cable has CAT6
  printed on it.
• ? CAT6 vs. CAT6A The Difference

CAT6 supports 10 Gigabit Ethernet. However, it
covers the distance only of up to 50 meters.
Category 6A of Ethernet Cables was introduced to
enhance the performance of CAT6 cables. It also
enables 10 Gigabit data rates on a single cable
run but runs up to 100 meters. This is
twice as compared to CAT6. Due to its higher
performance, CAT6A ethernet cable costs more than
CAT6 and is thicker in density. It uses the
standard RJ-45 connectors.
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? CAT6 vs. CAT5e The Difference
In order to improve the previous versions of CAT5
Cables, two efforts were made. One out of them
came to be known as CAT5e (CAT 5 enhanced) and
the next one was named CAT6. Some technical
enhancements were lacking in CAT5e which were
than made in CAT6. However, if you are looking
for a cable that supports Gigabit Ethernet
installations at lower costs, CAT5e is a good
choice. As CAT5e cable offered a fair performance
for Gigabit Ethernet at cost effective rates,
it gained a lot of popularity for wired
Ethernet installations. Quite similar to
CAT6, CAT5e also utilizes a four wire pair
signaling to provide smooth data rates. CAT5
cables on the other hand have four wire pairs out
of which two remain inactive. ? Disadvantages
of CAT6 Costs CAT6 is more expensive as compared
to Cat5e cable. Also, if you can resolve the
network speed issues with CAT5e, it is better to
buy that instead of CAT6. CAT5e is economical and
offers a good quality performance. It can also be
obtained in different colors.
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? Speed not guaranteed Buying CAT6 cable
doesnt necessarily mean that you will get
an entire gigabit network. It can offer speed
optimization only if every element in your
network works at gigabit speed. If one of
them is not gigabit rated, the network will
work at the slowest devices speed. There are
times when users end up buying CAT6
Ethernet cables only because they are the
latest version. What they need to know
here is whether they will be suitable to
their network. Hence, make sure you conduct
proper research before buying these cables.

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