Category 5e Cable Specifications

Category 5e cables share all the same basic specifications as category 5 cables however it reduces interference caused by crosstalk between the wires inside the cable.

Category 5e cable specifications.

Ethernet cables are grouped into sequentially numbered categories cat based on different specifications. Premise horizontal cable ethernet 1000base t ethernet 100base tx ethernet 10base t poe poe poe. Category 5e cables use all four pairs of conductors as opposed to the two pairs used to transmit data in 10 or 100 mbps networks. Category 5 cable cat 5 is a twisted pair cable for computer networks since 2001 the variant commonly in use is the category 5e specification cat 5e the cable standard provides performance of up to 100 mhz and is suitable for most varieties of ethernet over twisted pair up to 1000base t gigabit ethernet.

Category 6 cable cat 6 is a standardized twisted pair cable for ethernet and other network physical layers that is backward compatible with the category 5 5e and category 3 cable standards. Category 5e cable 4 pair u utp cmr product description category 5e premise horizontal cable 200mhz 4 pair 24 awg solid bare copper conductors u utp riser cmr pvc jacket technical specifications product overview suitable applications. In order to run 10gbase t for 100 meters category 6a cable or augmented category 6 cables need to be used. Cat 5 is also used to carry other signals such as telephony and video.

Sometimes the category is updated with further clarification or testing standards e g. Cat6a cables allow performance up to 500 mhz. The performance requirements have been raised slightly in the new standard see comparison chart below. Both cat5e and cat6 cable specifications allow lengths up to 100 meters but cat6e has a lower max length 55 meters when used for 10gbase t 10 gigabit ethernet.

Belden offers several category 5e performance levels. Electronic specifications for cat3 cat4 cat5 cat5e cat6 and cat7 cables specifications for cat3 cat4 cat5 cat5e cat6 and cat7 gigabit specs distances. Our top of line 1200 series system cable provides headroom beyond the tia 568 c 2 category 5e standard and is offered with the bonded pair technology option which will give you peace of mind by making your installation as robust as possible. Cat 5e standard for cat 5 enhanced and it is a form of cat 5 cable manufactured to higher specifications although physically the same as cat 5.

Cat 5e can be used for 100base t and 1000base t gigabit ethernet. Cat 6 has to meet more stringent specifications for crosstalk and system noise than cat 5 and cat 5e. These categories are how we can easily know what type of cable we need for a specific application. The cable standard specifies performance of up to 250 mhz compared to 100 mhz for cat 5 and cat 5e.