A Networked Home

Cat 5, Cat 5E and Cat 6

Having recently run some new ethernet cables in my home I got to thinking about what exactly the differences are between the Cat 5E I was running and the older Cat 5 standard and the latest Cat 6 standard.

To start:

• Cat 5 is rated to 100m (100MHz)
• Cat 5E is rated to 350m (100MHz)
• Cat 6 is rated to 550m or 1000m (Depending on you source) (200MHz)

Both Cat 5E and Cat 6 are backwards compatible.

For general home use any of the 3 would be fine, but if you want to “future-proof” your home, or if you are wiring an office then Cat 6 is the way to go.

If you would like to read some more in-depth analysis of these cables then here are a few good links:

• http://www.connectworld.net/syscon/support.htm
• http://www.broadbandutopia.com/caandcaco.html
• http://discountcablesusa.com/ethernet-cables100.html