CAT5 vs. CAT5e

[Danior]

hi,
connector gives some loss which affects the overall EIRP and there is also loss depending on the length of cable/feeder used.Is there such thing as CAT5 versus CAT5e?

[Rawko]

• Cat5 = If you plan on running at most 100 Mbps
• Cat5e = If you plan on running at 1000 Mbps (1 Gbps)
• Cat6 = If you plan on running at 1000 Mbps (1 Gbps) or more. Cat6 is better if you are in areas that have lots of interference like near power lines, lights, manufacturing equipment, or a long distance 1000 Mbps (Gigabit) run.
• We advise that you run at least Cat5e or Cat6 cable in the walls
• Cat5e are great for patch cables from the patch panel to the switch or from the computer to the wall jack
• We very rarely use Cat5 cable anymore.
• For most applications the CAT5E 350MHz network cables are best. They will run up to 1 Gig and are not as expensive as CAT 6 cables.
• CAT 6 cables are great for "future proofing" your installation. They are rated to carry network speeds above 1000 Mbps (Gigabit).
• CAT5E 100MHz are rated to only run up to 100Mbps networks but are inexpensive.

[Killen]

hi,
Actually, it's not the number of twists/foot that is the difference, it's the low capacity per foot that allows faster data transfers.

[RoninBlade]

Cat 5e cable is an enhanced version of Cat 5 that adds specifications for far end crosstalk.Although 1000BASE-T was designed for use with Cat 5 cable, the tighter specifications associated with Cat 5e cable and connectors make it an excellent choice for use with 1000BASE-T. Despite the stricter performance specifications, Cat 5e cable does not enable longer cable distances for Ethernet networks: cables are still limited to a maximum of 100 m (328 ft) in length (normal practice is to limit fixed ("horizontal") cables to 90 m to allow for up to 5 m of patch cable at each end, this comes to a total of the previous mentioned 100m maximum).

[Maxforu]

CAT5
Ratified standard for unshielded twisted pair. Handles voice or data at 100MHz over 22 or 24 AWG wire.
Used for high-speed twisted-pair networks such as 100 base-TX, fast ethernet.


CAT5e
More stringent specifications than CAT5. CAT5e has a higher rating, 350Mhz vs 100Mhz for CAT 5...it also provides better performance.
Cable manufacturers have improved the cabling, connectors and patch cords of regular CAT5 to provide an improved attentuation-to-crosstalk ratio (ACR), and to meet or exceed all the parameters of the CAT5e standards approved by the Electronic Industries Association/Telecommunications Industry Association (EIA/Telecommunications Industry Association) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)