Cat5 Vs Cat6 - Just what Is the Proper Choice?

We live in the digital age, and so, networking is really essential today. It is certainly true at the place of work, but networking is also an issue of concern at the home as well. This is the reality because, you cannot today deny all those high-end gadgets that everyone else is using, and of course, with these gadgets, you must have the coils or cables and the network you use is essential as well. But there’s no need to worry about this really. The cabling work is done very efficiently. But the problem is, as the technology is changing quickly here, the cables you use today may become quite obsolete tomorrow, simply because there’s a new thing that is better and smarter that is ready to be used.

When you are trying to make the connections at home, you will see that there are two kinds of cables that are in popular use. They are the cat5 and cat6 cables. You can make the LAN networks with both of these. They both offer their respective pros and cons.

Those homeowners, who know about this, end up asking about the better option to use. They want to know about the cables that will stand up, you if you do a cat5 vs. cat6 evaluation? This is what we are trying to find out here.

Of course, by mentioning cat5e vs cat6, or cat5 vs. cat6, or even to cat3, I wish to refer to the difference between these categories of cables. You will find the Category 3 cables in the standard telephone, and are not meant for computer networks. So, let us keep the category 3 cable out of this comparison and discussion. In other words, let us keep ourselves focused to finding out which one is better by taking a closer look at cat5e vs cat6. There is an improvement in the category 5 cables, but let us discuss that a bit later.

Category 5 cables

If you are using a dated modem, router or Ethernet adapter, you will most certainly be using the cat5 type of cable. They are capable of both the 100BaseT (100MBs) and 10BaseT (10MBs). The cable will work efficiently if what you have is a low-bandwidth system. They have however, now been replaced by cat5e cables, and this has happened because of many factors. The reality is, there are today very few cat5 cables around.

Category 5e

If you take an outside look, you will hardly notice much difference between cat5 and cat5e. But, there are indeed a few differences on the inside. For example, cat5e is able to support up to 1000BaseT connections, and can offer 1000MBs. So, this cable will allow you to receive extra speed, and they can thus support today's networks. Those who are not yet into cat6 will definitely be using cat5e.

Category 6

These are the latest cables. They offer better wire insulation that allows enhanced performance capability. Cat6 cables are able to reduce or entirely remove crosstalk interference much more efficiently than its predecessors. The rate frequency of this cable type is also much more at 250MHz, as compared to 100MHz offered by cat5e. And thus, it will let you enjoy more reliable and faster transfer speeds. Definitely, this is what the users of today like.

Thus, in any cat5 vs. cat6 comparison, the verdict will definitely be in favor of the cat6 cable. The fact is, the debate about cat5 vs. cat6 cable is already coming to an end as the advantages of cat6 are being pointed out.