The difference between Cat 5e and Cat 6 Ethernet cables relates to the design specifications and manufacturing of the cable.
Bandwidth precedes data rates just as highways come before traffic. Doubling the bandwidth is like adding twice the number of lanes on a highway.
The trends of the past and the predictions for the future indicate that data rates have been doubling every 18 months.
Current applications running at 1 Gb/s are really pushing the limits of Category 5 enhanced cabling.
As streaming media applications such as video and multi-media become commonplace, the demands for faster data rates will increase and spawn new applications that will benefit from the higher bandwidth offered by Category 6.
This is exactly what happened in the early ’90s when the higher bandwidth of Category 5 cabling compared to Category 3 caused many local area network (LAN) applications to choose the better media to allow simpler, cost effective, higher speed LAN applications, such as 100BASE-TX.
Because of its improved transmission performance and superior immunity from external noise, systems operating over category 6 cabling will have fewer errors vs. category 5e for current applications.
This means fewer re-transmissions of lost or corrupted data packets under certain conditions, which translates into higher reliability for category 6 networks compared to category 5e networks.
It is also important to note that cabling infrastructure is generally considered a 10 year investment as opposed to two or three years for electronics. Work has already started on 10G BASE-T, and Category 5e cabling is not being considered.
All Dueltek Computer Products ’ CAT6 cables are fully backward compatible with CAT5e, CAT5, and CAT3. If different category components are used with CAT6 components, then the channel will achieve the transmission performance of the lower category.
For instance, if CAT6 cable is used with CAT5e jacks, the channel will perform at a CAT5e level.
Features and benefits of Dueltek CAT6 Ethernet cables:
- Frequency: 500 MHz
- Attenuation (min. at 100 MHz): 19.8 dB
- Characteristic Impedance: 100 ohms = 15%
- NEXT (min. at 100 MHz): 44.3 dB
- PS-NEXT (min. at 100 MHz): 42.3 dB
- ELFEXT (min. at 100 MHz): 27.8 dB
- PS-ELFEXT (min. at 100 MHz): 24.8 dB
- Return Loss (min. at 100 MHz): 20.1 dB
- Delay Skew (max. per 100m): 45 ns
- Gold plated moulded snagless connectors.
Colour range: Red, green, blue, black, grey, yellow, white, pink, purple and orange.