Find the Difference Between Cat5 and Cat6

Posted by DifferenceBetween on March 6th, 2013

Cat5 and Cat6 are diverse standards of cable. These are twisted copper wires that are used to transfer data through the network and also used in home theater applications. Depending on performance levels they are given different names. Strict guidelines from Telecommunication Industry Association (TIA) and Electronic Industries Association (EIA) enable manufacturers to group and classify these cables. There are two types of Cat5 cables – Cat5 and Cat5e. Conditional on the user’s needs, cat5 or cat5e may serve the purpose.

CAT5

Standard Cat5 (CATegory5) cables usually support network connections that run at 10 Mbps and 100 Mbps speed. Cat5 cables weretypically used for internet connections; it can also be used for telecommunications and other data purpose. However the modern networks use Cat5e instead of Cat5 most of the time. Inside the Cat5 cables are four pairs of wires, which can be matched in the same order at both ends to be used for typical purposes or can be configured differently for different purposes. However, Cat5 cables have a weaksignal strength when the cable runs longer than 100 meters. Itsupports a bandwidth of 100 MHZ.

CAT5E

Cat5e stands for CATegory5 enhanced and is an improved version of Cat5. It supports a bandwidth of 350 MHZ and hence can easily replaces Cat5 cable because of its advanced bandwidth.Cat5e is designed to support speeds up to 1000 Mbps which is known as Gigabit Ethernet. With the improvements in Cat5 “Crosstalk” i.e. confusions in cable signals were reduced to a greater extent. Cat5e cable is perfect for users of gigabit Ethernet aiming to improve their connection and data speed.

CAT6

There is a lot of similarity between Cat5 and Cat6 cables. Both are best for telecommunication purposes, phone connection and video signals. However, Cat6 cables have thinner cables inside because they use 23AWG wires compared to the 2AWG wired used in Cat5 and this provides better insulation when compared. Unlike Cat5 and Cat5e, Cat6 cables work best when it’s laid at the length which is less than 100 meters. Cat6 supports a bandwidth of 250 MHz, which is much, greater than Cat5, but not as much as Cat5e. In technical terms, Cat6 entailes better insertion loss, near end crosstalk (NEXT), return loss and equal level far end crosstalk (ELFEXT) which provides a higher signal-to-noise ratio allowing higher reliability and data rates. Analysts predict that Cat6 would replace Cat5 and Cat5e cabling standards in the next two decades to come.

The Bottom Line

To conclude, it is suggested that the cable should be chosen depending on usage and requirement. While Cat53 cables can handle gigabit Ethernet connections, Cat6 is certified to handle the same. For home use and internet connected Cat5e and Cat6 can be used for better speed and swiftness. If you are in an environment with a lot of intereference such as near power lines, manufacturing equipment etc; Cat6 would be the best choice. This is the difference between Cat5 and Cat6. The price factor also needs to be considered before choosing the cable. Cat6 is slightly expensive than the Cat5 and Cat5e. The bottomline today is that one can use Cat5e for any purpose in home Ethernet connections while for commercial purposes, a suitable standard has to be adopted depending on the usage and expandability of infrastructure.

About the Author:

Sena has extensive experience in working in the Information Technology field with an emphasis to Information Security and Industrial Research. He has served as a Software Engineer shortly before moving in to Lecturing. He is an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Computer Engineering where he graduated with first class honors. He is passionate about teaching and continues to work as a visiting Lecturer in other Higher Education Instututions, as well. His research interests are in Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Bioinformatics while he is also interested in Quantum Information Systems.

Sena has won many competitions on Enterprise Mobility Applications and has received special recognition award for dedication in research. He has also published several research papers and wishes to broaden his research horizons while contributing to the community as a Technical Writer in the IT domain.  Sena is a Contributing Editor of Difference Between In Information Technology.