What is the difference between Cat5, Cat5e and Cat6 network cables?
The “cat” in Cat5 and Cat6 stands for “category,” and the associated digit represents the performance capability of the cable, based on Electronic Industries Association (EIA) standards. As of January 2010, Cat6 is the fastest cable offered commercially, although Cat5 is commonly found in homes and businesses. Cat5 cable is capable of transmitting up to 100 MHz. Cat5 wire is the minimum cable needed to run high-speed Internet and voice over IP (VoIP) telephone services. Cat5e cabling has better performance standards and less data and signal loss when connecting to other cables (between a computer and modem) than Cat5. Cat5e is backwards compatible with all Cat5 applications; this is not the case between Cat5 and Cat5e applications. Cat6 is the highest-rated Ethernet cable on the market. Compared to standards Cat5 and Cat5e, Cat6 has double the bandwidth at 200 MHz.Cat6 also has the best data transfer rates and lowest data packet loss in commercially available Ethernet cables. As high-s
