Ethernet Cat5 Vs. Cat6
The high demand for increasing transfer speeds over networks such as the Internet has promoted the development of faster types of network and Ethernet cables. Two of these cables include the Category 5 and the Category 6.
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Evolution
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The Category 6, or Cat6, cable is far superior to the Cat5. Although the Category 5 enhanced, or Cat5e, cable replaced the Cat5 as the standard, the Cat6 is soon to be the ultimate successor of the two.
Backward Compatibility
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The Category 6 Ethernet cable is backward compatible with Cat5, Cat5e and Cat3 hardware (that is, it has the ability to connect to prior standard network ports), but the Cat5 can only work with category standards lower than itself.
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Speed
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Cat5 cables can transfer data at a rate of 100 megabytes per second. Cat6, on the other hand, can reach speeds more than 10 times faster than Cat5, approaching rates of over 1 gigabyte per second.
Efficiency
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Visually, Cat6 cable is thicker than Cat5 because it has more twisted copper wire and provides better efficiency in reducing outside interference, known as noise, from other networks.
Industry Standard
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With the emerging technologies, Cat5 cable is considered obsolete, and most electronic stores no longer carry Cat5 cables. Cat5's successor, Cat5e, is the current market standard, but Cat6 is the predicted favorite of the future market.
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References
- Photo Credit ethernet cable 4 image by BlueMiniu from Fotolia.com
