Cat 5 Cable Differences

[olds]

I just started to network my home. I see Cat 5, Cat5E and CAT5E ENHANCED cables. What are the differences between them? I'll probably have 3 desktops, 1 laptop and 1 connection at my home theater. TIA

 

[WTT0001]

Wwwwweeeeeellllllll,

From what I read they are pretty much the same Cat5 is the basic stuff, Cat5e does better on "not losing stuff" (better crosstalk, data loss etc.) and Cat5e e is even better. Look here for a little info. Anyway go Cat5e at a minimum. Have fun.

 

[JackMDS]

Click me:

CAT5 Straight, Crossover. What is CAT5, which one should I Use?

 

[olds]

Thanks, Cat5e it is.

 

[Strych9]

<< CAT5 is the standard Cable that is used for connection between Network?s Hardware Components.

CAT5, is rated up to 100MHz

CAT5e (?e: for enhanced), CAT5e can tolerate higher frequency (350MHz.)

CAT6 - The new standard that will get to the mainstream market in the near future. This cable will be able to work smoothly with the new upcoming 1GHz. Network Components >>

The Cat5e I've seen is advertised to handle 1gig. Is that not correct?

 

[spidey07]

Gigethethernet on copper uses all four pairs of a CAT5e cable, each pair using 250 Mhz. So in essence that cable really isn't rated at 1000 Mhz, but is rated to cat5e specs which specify 350 Mhz.

 

[Strych9]

I was just about to buy a 1000ft roll of Cat5e from Home Depot as I am plannning to redo my home network wiring job in the near future. The Cat5e they have claims to be rated for gigethernet. Now, I don't know if I will ever take advantage of that or not but who knows what the future will bring and I want to future proof my setup as much as possible. Would it be better to use Cat6 then?

 

[spidey07]

CAT5e is fine for gigabit ethernet on copper (1000 Base-T). I was trying to point out the differences when you move to 1000 Base-T. Uses all four pairs instead of two. each pair operating at 250 Mhz.

 

[Strych9]

Does Cat6 only use two pairs?

 

[spidey07]

1000 Base-T uses all four pairs. The underlying cable must be CAT5e or higher wired to 568a or 568b standards.

good luck.

 

[Strych9]

Thanks

 

[Nutz]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but CAT-6 is the cable spec. The LAN protocol is what determins which pins get used for what.

 

[spidey07]

NUTZ,

aren't we still at the physical layer here? Cables/pinout and what not? LAN protocol would be layer2 right?

but then again maybe not. I thought how bits are encoded and transmitted was a function of L1. Layer2 has no idea of the underlying "put bits onto the wire". Tough call.

 

[jaydee]

I'm with spidey on this one, LAN protocols would be a function of the data-link layer, as the DLL controls packaging of frames and presenting them to the physical layer.

 

[spidey07]

well, NUTZ knows his stuff so it really is an interesting topic. Sometime the layers get a little blurry.

 

[Nutz]

Well I was looking towards 802.3 as an example. Where, oh where, is it decided on what pins will be transmit and which will be recieve, what voltages are used, etc?

In all honesty, I was thinking it was buried in the actual protocol itself. But in truth, this one has me stumped.