What the difference between Ethernet cable, Straight-through, and Patch Cables?
Absolutely nothing. These three terms are synonymous when talking cable, although typically a patch cable is made with stranded copper cable so it can bend and flex without eventually breaking or degrading the copper inside as will solid copper core wire. Category 5 vs. Category 5 Enhanced (5E) Cat-5 is an old standard, most cable manufactures don’t even make it anymore. Cat-5E is what should be used in today’s higher speed networks. Cat-5E is fully backwards compatible with almost all Cat-5 products and networks. Cat-5E builds on the old Cat-5 design but adds more twists to the wire pairs to allow for higher transmission speeds up to 3 1/2 times that of the old Cat-5 cable…from 100MHz to 350MHz!! Although Cat-5 may work there is no reason NOT to spend a few more dollars on a better, cleaner operating cable…Cat-5E or even Cat-6 Copper RJ-45 vs. Gold plated RJ-45 (50µ & 3µ) Most people don’t realize there are differences in the end connectors called RJ-45 8p8c plugs. They may all ap
