The cable is used in 100BaseX Ethernet architecture and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) architectures.Ĭategory 5e – Defines a cable that can carry data up to 1000 Mbps with a signaling frequency of 100 MHz It is used to connect computers, hubs, switches and print servers.Ĭategory 6 – Defines a 4-pair cable that provides an improved performance as compared to Cat 5e. This type of cable is primarily used in today’s networking environment. The signaling frequency of this cable is up to 100 MHz. The signaling frequency of this cable is up to 20 MHz.Ĭategory 5 – Defines a cable that can carry data up to 100 Mbps. The frequency of this cable is 16 MHz and It is used for the 10BaseT network.Ĭategory 4 – Defines a cable that can carry data up to 16 Mbps. It is 1000 feet in length with marks of length at every 2 feet. It consists of 4 pairs of wires.Ĭategory 3 – Defines a cable that can carry data up to 10 Mbps.

This type of cable is not recommended for networking purposes and is used in telephony services.Ĭategory 2 – Defines a cable that can carry data up to 4 Mbps. It is designed to carry only voice and not data. Characteristics of Ethernet Cable (CAT Cable)Ĭategory 1 – Defines a traditional UTP cable. Before discussing the differences between them, let’s have a look at its basic characteristics. Cat1, Cat2, Cat3, Cat4, Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6, Cat7 and Cat8 are the different types of ethernet cable(Cat cable) used in a computer network.

2 pair cat 5 cable