"official" Cat5 (100Mbps) vs Cat5e (1000Mbps) info wanted

[poohbeer]

Hi folks, what I'm looking for is a (kind of) official website where I can read that Cat5e is enough to run gigabit ethernet over it. I know this is possible but someone has convinced my client that he needs Cat7 (go figure :disgust::roll to do this so I need some 'real' proof since their are a LOT of sites spreading misinformation.

 

[Jugernot]

Do you mean Cat6? Yes, 5e and 6 both support 1000Mbit.

Personally, I'd go ahead and get Cat6 as you have a better chance of supporting future connectivity options. Though it won't be any good when we all switch over to fiber.

 

[yoda291]

Personally, I'd go with the cat5e standard over the cat6.

My reasoning is as follows:
1.)cat6, installed professionally, can easily cost 50% more than cat5/5e.
2.)a well done cat5e installation will definitely support a gigabit infrastructure.
3.)802.3ae (10 gigabit ethernet) is not supported by the ieee for cat6, only fiber.

as far as your proof to your boss,
ieee.org and tiaonline.org should have the information you're looking for
http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/3/tutorial/march98/mick_170398.pdf
is kind of an introduction to 802.3ab (gigabit over copper) from ieee.org that introduces gigabit ethernet running over existing category 5 installations but it's kind of dated.

If you want to be safe with your bandwidth installs, go cat6, but if you or the installer know how to do the job, go cat5.

 

[ScottMac]

Check out the Anixter.com site (technical library). Anixter invented the concept of "level rating" cabling (which became Catagory rating later through the EIA/TIA).

IMHO, it would be a huge mistake to install a new cabling plant for a business and not use the highest level of media you can get your hands on (in this case, Cat 6 for copper). I'd also be inclined to recommend fiber to go in with the copper. The majority of the cost for a commercial cabling installation is the labor, not the media.

This happened "a few" years ago with Cat 4 and Cat 5. A lot of places figured 16Mbps Token Ring was probably as good as it was going to get, so Cat 4 (being *slightly* less expensive, and adequate for the type of networking protocol) was installed. Then Fast Ethernet hit the streets and got cheap, and those places ended up re-cabling way ahead of plan.

Pull as much as the budget allows, use the best cable you can afford, and at least run fiber to "zones" in the building for future workgroup/bandwidth expansion.

Keep in mind that you can have media pulled and left unterminated. Having some spare pair is a good thing. There's no telling what might come down the line in ~five years or so.

FWIW / JM.02

Scott