Hey Network dudes

[Cakedaddy]

What's the difference between Cat5e and Cat6? What about Cat5e that's rated at 350Mhz compared to Cat6 at 200Mhz? Just curious what you've come up with.

[GORDON]

1e

[TheCatt]

cat6 = more reliable transmission of data.

However, I thought 5e was rated at 100mhz, and cat6 at 250mhz.

Both support gigabit ethernet.

[Cakedaddy]

That's the catch. The standards say 100mhz and 250mhz. Many vendors advertise Cat5e cable rated to 350mhz. So, can you do the same thing on 350 cat5e as you can 250 Cat6? My guess is no. Otherwise the vendor would market/sell the cable at the higher Cat6 premium. So, what's the difference?

In looking for a link to show someone making 350mhz Cat5e, I found other stuff. And basically, what it boils down to is, the Cat5e at 350mhz doesn't pass all the tests for Cat6. All it means is that at 350mhz, the signal to noise ratio is >0. However, insertion loss, NEXT, etc may not be up to Cat6 standards. So. Cat5e at 350mhz is not a replacement for Cat6. And depending on the maker, it may or may not be better cable. At most, all it's going to do is help reduce EMI and RFI. Cause 100Mbps on Cat5e 100 or 350 is still 100Mbps. You just might cut down on some retransmissions with 350mhz cable. 350mhz Cat5e gives the installer some 'mess up' room as well. So, 100mhz JUST makes the cut, so a sloppy install will fail. 350mhz has some room, so, a sloppy install might still pass.

I'm probably the only one that cares though. . . .

So, there I have it I guess!


Since I took the time, here's the links too:

Berktek cable at 350mhz

Cat6 standards

[TheCatt]

I put 5e in my house a few months ago.

But I've only got a 10/100 network.