What is Cat-5 Cable?
Cat-5 cable, sometimes called Ethernet cable, is short for Category 5 cable, a current industry standard for network and telephone wiring. Cat-5 cable is unshielded wire containing four pairs of 24-gauge twisted copper pairs, terminating in an RJ-45 jack. If a wire is certified as Cat-5 and not just a twisted pair wire, it will have “Cat-5” printed on the shielding. The outer sheath of Cat-5 cable can come in many colors, with bright blue being quite common. Inside, the twisted pairs are also sheathed in plastic with a standard color scheme: Solid orange, blue, green and brown wires twisted around mates that are white and striped with a solid color. The twisted pairs inside a Cat-5 cable reduce interference and crosstalk, and should be left twisted except at the termination point. Some experts recommend untwisting only ½ inch (12.7 mm) of the pairs to strip and make connections. Cat-5 cable can be purchased off a spool in varying lengths, or bought pre-cut to standard lengths with RJ-4
