Category 5, Category 6, Category 7 network cable, which one has the fastest transmission speed?

We usually use network cables the most, but we don’t know much about the various types of network cables. When we do many projects, we have the illusion that there is little difference between the super 5 and 6 types of cables. Today, let’s take a look. , the difference between Category 6 line and Category 5 line is there.

1. Attribute comparison of Category 5 line and Category 6 line

Category Five (CAT5): The transmission frequency is 100MHz, used for voice transmission and data transmission with a maximum transmission rate of 100Mbps, mainly used in 100BASE-T and 10BASE-T networks. This is the most commonly used Ethernet cable, this type of cable has increased winding density and is covered with a high-quality insulating material.

Category 5e (CAT5e): The transmission frequency is 100MHz, mainly used for Gigabit Ethernet (1000Mbps). It has small attenuation, less crosstalk, higher attenuation-to-crosstalk ratio (ACR) and signal-to-noise ratio (Structural Return Loss), and smaller delay error, and the performance is greatly improved.

Category Six (CAT6): The transmission frequency is 250MHz, which is most suitable for applications with transmission rates higher than 1Gbps, mainly for Gigabit Ethernet (1000Mbps). Category 6 twisted pair is different from Category 5 or Category 5 super twisted pair in appearance and structure, not only an insulating cross frame is added, but the four pairs of twisted pair are placed on the four sides of the cross frame respectively. inside a groove, and the diameter of the cable is also thicker.

Super six or 6A (CAT6A): the transmission frequency is 200 ~ 250 MHz, the maximum transmission speed can also reach 1000 Mbps, mainly used in gigabit networks. Category 6e cable is an improved version of Category 6 cable. It is also an unshielded twisted pair cable specified in ANSI/EIA/TIA-568B.2 and ISO Category 6/Class E standards. Compared with other aspects, there is a big improvement.

Category seven (CAT7): The transmission frequency can reach at least 500 MHz and the transmission rate can reach 10 Gbps. It is mainly used to adapt to the application and development of 10 Gigabit Ethernet technology. This line is the latest shielded twisted pair in the ISO Category 7/Class F standard.

2. The difference between Category 5e cable and Category 6 cable

Difference 1: The difference in loss, an important difference between Category 6 cable and Category 5e network cable is the improved performance in terms of crosstalk and return loss. It is recommended to use Category 6 network cables directly for home decoration.

Difference 2. The thickness of the wire core is different. The wire core of the super five type network cable is between 0.45mm and 0.51mm, and the wire core of the six type network cable is between 0.56mm and 0.58mm. The network cable is much thicker;

Difference 3: The cable structure is different. The outer surface of the super five-type network cable has the "CAT.5e" logo, and the six-type network cable has the most obvious "cross frame", and the skin is marked by "CAT.6".

Although the CAT5e unshielded twisted pair can also provide a transmission bandwidth of up to 1000Mb/s, it often requires the support of expensive special equipment.

"Category 6" refers to Category 6 unshielded twisted pair (CAT6).

The parameters of the six types of unshielded twisted pair have been greatly improved, and the bandwidth has been extended to 250MHz or higher. Category 6 twisted pair is different from Category 5 or Category 5 super twisted pair in appearance and structure, not only an insulating cross frame is added, but the four pairs of twisted pair are placed on the four sides of the cross frame respectively. inside a groove, and the diameter of the cable is also thicker.

The cross skeleton in the center of the cable rotates with the change of length, and the four pairs of twisted pairs are stuck in the grooves of the skeleton to maintain the relative position of the four pairs of twisted pairs and improve the balance characteristics and crosstalk attenuation of the cable. In addition, it is ensured that the balanced structure of the cable is not damaged during installation. The bare copper wire diameter of Category 6 unshielded twisted pair is 0.57mm (wire gauge is 23AWG), the diameter of the insulated wire is 1.02mm, and the diameter of the UTP cable is 6.53mm. Of course the thicker the better. Signal is stable.

3. The difference between Category 6 super cable and Category 7 cable

Category 6e cable: The maximum transmission frequency is 500MHz, which is twice that of Category 6 cable. It is mainly used in 10 Gigabit (10G) networks, and the outer skin is marked with "CAT.6A". There will be a similar logo of 10Gigabit on the appearance;

There are two types of Category 6 wires. Generally, the diameter of a single strand of bare copper wire is 23AWG, which is about 0.573 mm, and there are also Category 6 wires of 24AWG, with a thickness of about 0.511 mm.

Category 7 cable: Category 7 cable is similar in performance to Category 6 super network cable. It adopts pure copper 8 cores and has a shielding layer, which makes the performance more powerful. The transmission rate can reach 10Gbps, which is used in data centers and other occasions.

Each pair has a shielding layer (usually metal foil shielding), and then there is a shielding layer (usually metal braided mesh shielding Braided Shield) outside the 8 cores, and the interface is the same as RJ-45. Overall shielding (usually metal braided wire mesh shielding) + wire pair shielding (usually metal foil shielding) Category 7 cable S/FTP Cat.7 (HSYVP-7) The maximum transmission frequency is 600MHz, and the transmission frequency of Category 7 cable is 1000MHz , seven categories fully support 10G.

Category 7 wire cores use high-quality oxygen-free copper with a diameter of nearly 0.58mm as the transmission conductor, which is slightly thicker than Category 6 wires. Chemical foam insulation is used, which greatly improves the transmission capacity of a single conductor.

From the perspective of the wire core of the network cable, the diameter of the wire core has increased for Category 5, Category 6, and Category 7 cables. The higher the quality of copper used, the faster and more stable the transmission rate.