Network cables, copper & fiber patch cables, network cables, adapters, network equipment & installation products

Network Cables
Copper & Fiber Optic Patch Cords, Networking Adapters, Network Equipment & Installation Products

Our company offers data and voice communications products, such as network cables, connectors, cable adapters, hubs, switches, routers, wall plates, media converters, WLAN and BlueTooth and print servers. If you are a dealer/reseller, installer or a corporate end-user please contact us for a quick quote , a free catalog or to find out more about our computer hardware products. We have competitive prices and quality products. Our team in the US facility will help you choose the right products for your applications.

To help our customers choose the right cables we offer below a comparison between Category 5, Category 5E, Category 6 and Category 7 Cables

In the context of the 100-ohm UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair) type of cable used for Network wiring the only categories of interest are Cat3, Cat4, Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6, and Cat7. CATx is an abbreviation for the category number that defines the performance of building telecommunications cabling as outlined by the Electronic Industries Association (EIA) standards. Some specifications for these categories are shown further down.

Up until the late 1980s thick or thin coaxial cable was typically used for 10-Mbps Network networks, but around that time, UTP cabling became more commonly used because it was easier to install and less expensive. UTP CAT3 and CAT4 were used for a quite limited time since the emergence of 100Base-TX networks meant a quick shift to CAT5. By the year 2000, moves to gigabit (1000Base-TX) Network LANs created a need for another specification, CAT5e. CAT5e is now being superseded by CAT6 cable and there is a developing standard for CAT7.

Category	Type	Spectral B/W	Length	LAN Applications	Notes
Cat3	UTP	16 MHz	100m	10Base-T, 4Mbps	Now mainly for telephone cables
Cat4	UTP	20 MHz	100m	16Mbps	Rarely seen
Cat5	UTP	100MHz	100m	100Base-Tx,ATM, CDDI	Common for current LANs
Cat5e	UTP	100MHz	100m	1000Base-T	Common for current LANs
Cat6	UTP	250MHz	100m		Common for current LANs
Cat7	ScTP	600MHz	100m

It might seem that CAT5 and CAT5e are the same. Pretty much they are, the CAT5e specification simply included some additional limits over the CAT5 specification. The reality is that most CAT5 cable is in fact CAT5e cable just not certified as such. Here is a comparison of those extra specifications.

CAT5, CAT5e, and CAT6 UTP Solid Cable Specifications Comparison
	Category 5	Category 5e	Category 6
Frequency	100 MHz	100 MHz	250 MHz
Attenuation (Min. at 100 MHz)	22 dB	22 dB	19.8 dB
Characteristic Impedance	100 ohms ± 15%	100 ohms ± 15%	100 ohms ± 15%
NEXT (Min. at 100 MHz)	32.3 dB	35.3 dB	44.3 dB
PS-NEXT (Min. at 100 MHz)	no specification	32.3 dB	42.3 dB
ELFEXT (Min. at 100 MHz)	no specification	23.8 dB	27.8 dB
PS-ELFEXT (Min. at 100 MHz)	no specification	20.8 dB	24.8 dB
Return Loss (Min. at 100 MHz)	16.0 dB	20.1 dB	20.1 dB
Delay Skew (Max. per 100 m)	no specification	45 ns	45 ns

If you're cabling a mission critical system or you want your network to be future proof, go for the CAT6 cables (and patch panels and connectors), but for the average home or small office network CAT5 or CAT5e will be just fine.

Network patch cables can be wired in three different ways, the two main ways are called straight through and crossover. The third type is called rolled and has only specialized applications.

Generally speaking, straight through cables are used to patch between different types of equipment; for example, PCs to a hub.
Conversely, crossover cables are generally used to patch between similar types of equipment; a PC to another PC for example.
Some modern hubs don't care if you use crossover cables or straight through cables, they work out what you're using and configure themselves accordingly.

As stated at the outset, the actual difference is in the wiring. Inside the UTP patch cable there are 8 physical wires although the network only uses 4 of them (the other 4 are simply wasted). The 8 wires are arranged in what's known as pairs and one pair is used to send information whilst the other pair is used to receive information.

On a PC, the pair on pins 1 and 2 of the connector send information, whilst the pair on pins 3 and 6 receive the information. To make PCs talk to each we therefore need to connect the send pair of one PC to the receive pair of the other PC (and vice-a-versa). That means we need a crossover cable. If we used a straight through cable the both be listening on the one pair - and hearing nothing, and sending on the one pair - achieving nothing.

Electrically, the straight through and crossover cables look like the diagram below: The most common cable is the straight through cable. In a home or small office network you might only have one crossover cable used - perhaps from the cable or DSL modem to the distribution hub. How do you tell what sort of cable you have in your hand? You can tell by looking at the connectors, identifying the wiring from its colors, and comparing the ends. See the next question on color codes.

The standards say that Network connectors should be cabled with specific colors on specific pins. There are two standard layouts - if a cable has the same layout on both ends it's a straight through cable. If a cable has one layout on one end and the other layout on the other end then it's a crossover cable. Whilst not universal, the color codes shown below are generally used on professional cables.

In fact, while the colors are standardized and usually followed, that's not the important part. What's more important is that one "pair" (wires that are twisted together inside the cable sheath) is used for the transmit side and another pair for the receive side. If pairs aren't used then it's likely your cable will not work. Pairs are identified by the colors. The orange wire and the orange with white stripe (or sometimes white with orange stripe) wire are a pair. The brown wire and the brown with white stripe wire are a pair. Etc.

A short lead with connectors on either end which is flexible and is used to plug one piece of equipment directly into another is generally referred to as a patch cable. To make them flexible, patch leads are generally made with stranded wire.
Cables with solid core wires are more often used in permanent wiring and terminate on wall sockets and may be sometimes referred to as network cables . These cables aren't so flexible (and will break is repeatedly flexed).

Solid conductor uses 1 solid wire per conductor, so in a 4 pair (8 conductor) roll, there would be a total of 8 solid wires. Stranded conductor uses multiple wires wrapped around each other in each conductor, so in a 4 pair (8 conductor) 7 strand roll, there would be a total of 56 wires.