Cat6 Ethernet Cable Specs

The category 6 augmented cable standard or cat 6a was created to further improve the performance of cat 6 ethernet cables using cat 6a enables 10 gigabit ethernet data rates over a single cable run up to 328 feet.

Cat6 ethernet cable specs.

Sometimes the category is updated with further clarification or testing standards e g. Compared with cat5 and cat5e cable specification cat6 features more stringent specifications for crosstalk and system noise. In order to run 10gbase t for 100 meters category 6a cable or augmented category 6 cables need to be used. It s suitable for up to 10gigabit ethernet at 250 mhz.

Cat 6 has 4 pairs of the color code. Cat6 cable is a major improvement over cat5e. Let s look at the technical and physical differences in ethernet cable categories to help us decide. 164 feet single cable.

Category 6 cable cat 6 is a standardized twisted pair cable for ethernet and other network physical layers that is backward compatible with the category 5 5e and category 3 cable standards. 4 pair of copper wire. Cat 6 supports 10 gigabit ethernet only up to 164 feet of cable length. Category 5e cables use all four pairs of conductors as opposed to the two pairs used to transmit data in 10 or 100 mbps networks.

Cat6a cables allow performance up to 500 mhz. Category 5e cables share all the same basic specifications as category 5 cables however it reduces interference caused by crosstalk between the wires inside the cable. It has a stronger resistance to signal interference. Cat 6 cable has a good specification that helps the user choose their idle cable for networking.

The cable standard specifies performance of up to 250 mhz compared to 100 mhz for cat 5 and cat 5e. Ethernet cables are grouped into sequentially numbered categories cat based on different specifications.