Cat5 and Cat5e

[thelanx]

What's the difference between a cat5 and a cat5e

 

[jhu]

i think cat5e can handle 1 gigabit

 

[R0b0tN1k]

cat5 is rated for 100MHz and cat5e is rated at 350MHz. It's the best stuff to use for 1000baseTX until they come up with something better.

 

[Mday]

what R0b0tN1k said.

the higher transfer rate is due to a tighter twist of the twisted pair...

i'll smack you if you ask me what twisted pair is.





or maybe i won't.


--

to fully use gigabit, and the proposed 10 gigabit, optical is best. fiber is expensive, but ROCKS...

 

[huesmann]

<< i'll smack you if you ask me what twisted pair is. >>





<< or maybe i won't. >>



Yeah, he might like that too much...

 

[Mark R]

Both cables are suitable for 10 and 100 and 1000 Mbit/s networking.

Cat5 is only just good enough for Gigabit which means that a damaged connector, etc. could lead to unreliability at this speed. Cat5e has more leeway so is recommended for new installations where Gigabit may be considered in the future.

 

[shadow]

Isn't there CAT7 for gigabit?

 

[bryan2010]

I dont think there is a Cat7. I think there are standards only go up to Cat5 - Cat5e is kinda an unoffical standard...
Bryan

 

[Mark R]

Cat 7 does exist - there is a little confusion over it, because there seem to be 2 seperate standards, and it's not quite clear whether they have been finalised or not. But it specifies a minimum of 600 MHz and individually shielded twisted-pairs with an overall shield, and a new connector design.

Here are some products which meet the proposed specification.

 

[Mday]

ratification is a funky process =)

still, fiber is better for those higher speeds.

cat5e is okay for future wiring, but who's gonna need giga speeds in the house... and giga costs A LOT!!!

 

[Barny]

Cat 5 is rated for 100 MB/s, Cat 5e is rated for 1000 MB/s. At Home Depot at least you can buy either one for about the same price. Why not go for the higher rated cabling then?
In the olden days people thought you'd never need more than a 10MB harddrive on a personal computer. Never know what the future may bring. For example, what if you could play a DVD movie on a computer that has a DVD CD player and watch it on one that doesn't. A 10 MB ethernet connection wouldn't cut it. A 100 MB probably would but if you've got other things going on on that connection, maybe not. If you had Gigabit ethernet cards.......no problem.
Eventually, we'll probably all be using Fiber channel but who on a home level wants to make that investment at todays prices?

 

[cavingjan]

I went with the cat5e in my house because that happens to be what a friend had at the time. Unfortunately that only finished one floor and I decided to keep using cat5e instead of mixing the wires. It was the same price at Home Depot ($1 more for a 1000ft spool and the HD at home had a spool this week but they didn't have it a month ago so I guess they are going to start carrying it) and it will be a lot more forgiving with kinks and such. I'm only running a 10 Mbit/s network right now. I'd prefer to use fiber at the higher speeds. I think gigabit will drop in price before I sell this house and it might be an option for me then.