Ethernet Cables

Category 5 (Cat 5) is a legacy twisted-pair copper cable standard defined in ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-A. Rated for frequencies up to 100 MHz, it was the foundational medium for 100BASE-TX Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps) over distances up to 100 meters, utilizing two of its four twisted pairs.

Category 5e (Cat 5e, Enhanced) is an Ethernet twisted-pair copper cable standard defined in TIA/EIA-568-B.2. Rated for frequencies up to 100 MHz, it introduced stringent electrical crosstalk specifications, enabling reliable 1000BASE-T (1 Gbps Gigabit Ethernet) transmission up to 100 meters across all four pairs.

Category 6 (Cat 6) is a twisted-pair Ethernet cable standard defined in ANSI/TIA-568-B.2-1. Rated up to 250 MHz, it supports 1 Gbps at 100 meters and 10 Gbps (10GBASE-T) up to 55 meters in low-crosstalk environments, featuring tighter pair twists and a central longitudinal spline separator.

Category 6a (Cat 6a, Augmented) is a standardized twisted-pair cable defined in ANSI/TIA-568-C.2 and ISO/IEC 11801 Class E_A. Operating at frequencies up to 500 MHz, it is the primary standard for 10GBASE-T (10 Gbps) across the full 100-meter channel distance, featuring strict Alien Crosstalk (ANEXT) suppression.

Category 7 (Cat 7) is an ISO/IEC 11801 Class F cable standard ratified in 2002. Operating at frequencies up to 600 MHz, it mandates S/FTP individual pair shielding and was engineered for proprietary GG45 and TERA connectors. Cat 7 is not recognized by the American TIA/EIA standard body.

Category 7a (Cat 7a, Augmented) is an ISO/IEC 11801 Class F_A standard ratified in 2010. Operating up to 1000 MHz (and tested up to 1200 MHz), it utilizes mandatory S/FTP shielding and specialized connectors (TERA/GG45/ARJ45), supporting 10 Gbps at 100 meters and broadband CATV distribution.

Category 8.1 (Cat 8.1) is an Ethernet cabling standard defined in ANSI/TIA-568-C.2-1 (Category 8) and ISO/IEC 11801 Class I. Operating at 2000 MHz (2 GHz), it supports 25GBASE-T and 40GBASE-T data rates over a 30-meter channel using backward-compatible 8P8C (RJ45) shielded connectors.

Category 8.2 (Cat 8.2) is an ISO/IEC 11801-1 Class II cable standard operating at 2000 MHz (2 GHz). Engineered for 25GBASE-T and 40GBASE-T over 30-meter channels, it uses non-RJ45 connectors (TERA, ARJ45, GG45) derived from Cat 7a Class F_A hardware, offering superior internal crosstalk margins.