Cat5 Vs Cat6 - What Is the Suitable 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 too. This is the reality because, you cannot really say no to all those high-end gadgets that everyone else is using, and of course, with these gizmos, you will have the coils or cables and the network too. However you need not worry at all about this issue. The cabling work can be done very efficiently. But the problem is, as this is a fast-changing technology, the cables that are in use now may be outdated tomorrow, simply because there’s something better and smarter available.

If you are making an attempt to fix up 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. They will both let you connect the LAN networks. They both come with their own advantages and disadvantages.

Those homeowners, who are aware of this, end up asking about the better option to use. Which of these cables will win the battle on a cat5 vs. cat6 comparison? We are trying to find out exactly this here.

When we are referring to cat5e vs cat6, or cat5 vs. cat6, or even to cat3, we are actually referring to the difference between these categories of cables. You will find the Category 3 cables in the standard telephone, and and not in computer networks. So, let us keep the cat3 cable out of this evaluation and debate. In other words, let us keep ourselves restricted to finding out which should be selected by looking close at cat5e vs cat6. The category 5 cables have also improved, but we will come to that a bit later.

Category 5 cables

If you have an old modem, router or Ethernet adapter, you probably have the cat5 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. But they have, now been thrown out by cat5e cables, and this has happened because of many factors. The fact is, there are today very few cat5 cables that you will find.

Category 5e

If you take an outside look, you you won't see much difference between cat5 and cat5e. But, there are indeed some differences on the inside. For example, cat5e is able to support up to 1000BaseT connections, and can offer 1000MBs. Thus, this cable will let you enjoy extra speed, and can support today's networks. Those who are not yet into cat6 will almost surely be using cat5e.

Category 6

This is the most recent cable type. They come with better wire insulation that allows they can support performance capability. Cat6 cables can reduce or entirely eliminate crosstalk interference much better than the cables of the past. The rate frequency of this cable type is also better at 250MHz, as compared to 100MHz offered by cat5e. And so, it will let you enjoy more reliable and faster speeds of transfer. Certainly, this is what the users of today like.

So, in any cat5 vs. cat6 comparison, the verdict will certainly 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 pros of cat6 are being pointed out.