Cat 6 cables technically support speeds up to 10gbps but only do so for up to 55 meters.
Category 6 ethernet cable specifications.
Draft specification ansi tia eia 568 b 2 10 specifies cable systems called augmented category 6 or more frequently as category 6a that operate at frequencies up to 500 mhz and will provide up to 10 gbit s bandwidth.
The a stands for augmented and is a nod to cat6a s improved specifications compared with its predecessor the category 6 or cat6 cable.
The cat6a doubles data transmission bandwidth from 250 to 500 mhz.
Decreases the chance of crosstalk interference.
Category 6 cable cat 6 is a standardized twisted pair cable for ethernet and other network physical layers that is backward compatible with the category 5 5e and category 3 cable standards.
Finally category 8 is the new spec on the cable block.
Cat 6 supports 10 gigabit ethernet only up to 164 feet of cable length.
Let s look at the technical and physical differences in ethernet cable categories to help us decide.
If you re installing an ethernet network you ll need to make a decision about the type of cable to use for the permanent connections between network jacks.
Ethernet cables are grouped into sequentially numbered categories cat based on different specifications.
The new specification has limits on alien crosstalk in cabling systems.
Cat 6 has to meet more stringent specifications for crosstalk and system noise than cat 5 and cat 5e.
Cat 5 is also used to carry other signals such as telephony and video.
The new 2ghz speed limit.
The category 6 augmented cable standard or cat 6a was created to further improve the performance of cat 6 ethernet cables using cat 6a enables 10 gigabit ethernet data rates over a single cable run up to 328 feet.
Cat8 cable or category 8 cable is an ethernet cable which differs greatly from the previous cables in that it supports a frequency of up to 2 ghz 2000 mhz and is limited to a 30 meter 2 connector channel while cat8 cable requires shielded cabling as well.
For copper based twisted pair networks the four standards that are in common use today are category 5 5e 6 and 6a.
Sometimes the category is updated with further clarification or testing standards e g.
And provides superior reliability and transmission.
The category 6a or cat6a cable is the latest iteration of gigabit ethernet cabling.
That speed comes with a price however as cat 6 cables are more expensive than cat 5 and cat 5e variants.
The cable standard specifies performance of up to 250 mhz compared to 100 mhz for cat 5 and cat 5e.