Category 5 Cable, commonly referred to as Cat 5, is a twisted pair cable for computer networks. The cable standard provides performance of up to 100 MHz and is suitable for most varieties of Ethernet over twisted pair. Cat 5 is also used to carry other signals such as telephony and video. The cable is available in both stranded and solid conductor forms. Category 5 cable is used in structured cabling for computer networks such as Ethernet over twisted pair. Cat 5 is also used to carry other signals such as telephony and video.
Category 6 Cable can be identified by the printing on the side of the cable sheath.
Category 7 Cable, more commonly known as a CAT 7 or Cat-7 cable, is used for the cabling infrastructure of Gigabit Ethernet. A CAT 7 cable offers performance of up to 600MHz.
Ethernet cables come in categories like Cat5e, Cat6, and Cat6a, with higher categories supporting faster speeds and more bandwidth.
Ethernet cables can support speeds from 100 Mbps (Cat5e) to 10 Gbps (Cat6a and higher), depending on the cable type.
Ethernet cables work up to 100 meters (328 feet), after which performance may degrade, especially at higher speeds.
Cables can be shielded (STP) to reduce interference or unshielded (UTP) for general use in less noisy environments.