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5

corrected for cat 5

Category 5 cable, commonly known as Cat 5, was an unshielded twisted pair type cable designed for high signal integrity. With the 2001 introduction of the TIA/EIA-568-B standard, the category 5 cabling specification was obsoleted and superseded by the category 5e specification.

The original specification for category 5 cable was defined in ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-A, with clarification in TSB-95. These documents specified performance characteristics and test requirements for frequencies of up to 100MHz. Category 5 cable was most commonly used for 100Mbps networks, such as 100BASE-TX Ethernet, although IEEE 802.3ab defined standards for 1000BASE-T - gigabit Ethernet over category 5 cable. Cat 5 cable typically had three twists per inch of each twisted pair of 24 gauge copper wires within the cable. The twisting of the cable reduces electrical interference and crosstalk. Another important characteristic is that the wires are insulated with a plastic (FEP) that has low dispersion, that is, the dielectric constant of the plastic does not depend greatly on frequency. Special attention also has to be paid to minimizing impedance mismatches at connection points.

Contents

  • 1 Usage and wiring methods
  • 2 Other categories of network cables
  • 3 See also
  • 4 External links

Usage and wiring methods

Cat 5 cables were often used in structured cabling for computer networks such as Fast Ethernet, although they were also used to carry many other signals such as basic voice services, token ring, and ATM (at up to 155 Mbit/s, over short distances).

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: horizontal cables are still limited to a maximum of 90m in length. Cat 5e cable performance characteristics and test methods are defined in TIA/EIA-568-B.2-2001.

RJ-45 electrical connectors were nearly always used for connecting category 5 cable. Generally solid core cable was used for connecting between the wall socket and the socket in the patch panel whilst stranded cable is used for the patch leads between hub/switch and patch panel socket and between wall port and computer. Cable types, connector types and cabling topologies are defined by TIA/EIA-568-B.

Other categories of network cables

  • Cat 1: Used for telephone communications and not suitable for data transmission.
  • Cat 2: 4 Mbit/s cables for low-speed data.
  • Cat 3: 10 Mbit/s cables, a well-known variant of Cat 5 cables.
  • Cat 4: 20 Mbit/s cables, being phased out in favor of Cat 5.
  • Cat 6: defined by the ANSI TIA/EIA 568B-2.1. It provides performance of up to 250MHz, more than double category 5 and 5e.
  • Cat 7 cable, with four individually-shielded pairs (ScTP) inside an overall shield, has been proposed as a standard but has not yet gained popularity. It is designed for transmission frequencies up to 600 MHz, which should enable it to carry 10-Gigabit Ethernet (10GBaseT), but may require a redesigned (but backward compatible) RJ-45 connector called a GG45 to achieve this speed. Also in development are standards such as Tera from Siemon. Tera, which does not maintain compatibility with RJ-45, promises transmission frequencies of up to 1200 MHz. 10GBaseT networks are not yet widely available. Current proposals for 10GBaseT seek to allow it to run full speed, but shorter distances over Cat 5e or Cat 6 cable.
Source: Mysticom Press Release, Nov. 2003

See also

  • Ethernet
  • RJ45
  • Crossover cable

External links

  • Cable your own house
  • Ethernet pinout guide
  • Structured cabling instructions
  • How to create your own Ethernet Cables

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "cat 5".