Though cat6 and cat7 cables exist and can work with even faster speeds cat5e cables will work for most small networks.
Cat5e vs cat6 cable size.
Cat5e cable is completely backwards compatible with cat5 and can be used in any application in which you would normally use cat5 cable.
Although the cat5 cable can handle up to 10 100 mbps at a 100mhz bandwidth which was once considered quite efficient the newer versions of cat cables are.
Cat5 vs cat5e.
For much of the 2000 s cat 5e was run to the workstations and cat 6 was run.
As a result cable manufacturers introduced cat6.
Cat 5e was already handling gigabit speed cat 6 was further improved to offer a bandwidth of 250 mhz.
The cat6 cable uses a thicker gauge wire and has an increased shielding.
Cat 5e cables are typically 24 gauge twisted pair wires which can produce a gigibit network at distances up to 328 ft including patch cables at both ends.
The cat5e cable is also better than the cat5 at ignoring crosstalk or interference from the wires within the cable itself.
Cat5 has become obsolete in recent years due to its limitations compared to cat5e and cat6 cables.
Cat5 and cat5e cables.
Cat 6 ethernet cable.
Cat 5e has been defined by the tia eia 568 b and is recognized by the same.
As a means of future proofing your network cat6 is generally a better choice and worth the small premium in price.
Cat5 cable cat5 cable is broken into two separate categories.
That speed comes with a price however as cat 6 cables are more expensive than cat 5 and cat 5e variants.
The cable needed to be capable of transmitting at a higher frequency of 250 mhz.
Also the wires have more twists.
Cat 5e is an enhanced version of cat5 that adds specifications for crosstalk see below.
Network support cat 5 cable will support 10base t and 100base t network standards that is it supports networks running at 10 mbps or 100 mbps.
Category 6 the mainstream adoption of gigabit ethernet 1000base t required a new industry standard cable.
Cat6 cables also called category 6 or cat 6 cables provide lower crosstalk a higher signal to noise ratio and are suitable for 10gbase t 10 gigabit ethernet while cat5e cables support only up to 1000base t gigabit ethernet.
Cat5e and cat6 cables are both backwards.
The cost is about 20 35 higher than cat6 but the maximum cable length is 100 meters across all systems and conditions for gigabit ethernet.
Cat 6 cables came out only a few years after cat 5e.
Cat 6 cables technically support speeds up to 10gbps but only do so for up to 55 meters.
