Cat 5e vs. Cat 6

[bcredeur97]

Ok these are two basic gigabit ethernet cables. My question is what is a REAL-WORLD difference between them and not just "well one is more MHz than the other"

[Theo]

cat6 has better insulation ( or something ) that eliminates crosstalk and interference, giving better speeds/ reliability ( though that is debatable ) And can carry a stronger connection in a long cable, so if youre planning on getting a 100m ethernet, get cat6

[Worth]

They're both cheap so just get the better one.

[MJOLNITR VIPER]

Cat 6 and Cat 6e has better EMI shielding and can reach up to 1 gigabit and Cat 6A can support up to 10 Gigabit.  Cat 5e supports up to 1 gigabit but has a much thinner cable and is also cheaper.  Cat 6 also has more 100 Mhz of bandwidth over Cat 5e.

[bcredeur97]

i was just wondering because I have about 30 feet of CAT 5e hooked up to my PC right now. Was just wondering how much better CAT 6 would be.

[Theo]

i was just wondering because I have about 30 feet of CAT 5e hooked up to my PC right now. Was just wondering how much better CAT 6 would be.

on amazon they should be aaround 10-15$ for a 10m/30ft cable i think, cheap enough to try, I got a +3mbps when i changed a cat5 with a cat5e ( going from 5mbps to 8mbps on powerline ) so you might get something similar, you might not get anything, but an extra ethernet cable is always good to have

[bcredeur97]

on amazon they should be aaround 10-15$ for a 10m/30ft cable i think, cheap enough to try, I got a +3mbps when i changed a cat5 with a cat5e ( going from 5mbps to 8mbps on powerline ) so you might get something similar, you might not get anything, but an extra ethernet cable is always good to have

when i upgrade ill probably just go straight to CAT 7 for the sake of future-proofness

[d33g33]

i was just wondering because I have about 30 feet of CAT 5e hooked up to my PC right now. Was just wondering how much better CAT 6 would be.

You wouldn't notice any difference. So long as you've terminated them correctly and you aren't running them alongside mains power there will be no improvement at all between the 2.

[WorkAroundFails]

when i upgrade ill probably just go straight to CAT 7 for the sake of future-proofness

If this is for home:

Unless your running server equipment in your house your not getting higher then 1Gb a sec. If your doing this for internet speed it will not make a difference because unless your running a Fiber directly to the location your getting around 1% of CAT5e speed. I don't see the speed of internet for home use needing to be faster then 1Gb for some time.

If this is for server farm or future-proofness:

If you want future-proofness then get CAT7e is a great choice for it can get 100Gb per sec. I don't see one pc using more then 1GB for some time. So your thinking of a small server farm of about 50 PCs CAT7e is a good choice. If you were going to buy CAT7 anyway CAT7e is what I would recomend.

Tips:

If your are going over fluorescent lights or some power lines you will have a worse connection then the cable is rated for. When you go up in CAT# the higher the # the less flex to the cord meaning you will need more cable for the clearence a thicker cord needs for tighter bends.

Edit: changed t1 to fiber. I ment fiber.

[bcredeur97]

If this is for home:

Unless your running server equipment in your house your not getting higher then 1Gb a sec. If your doing this for internet speed it will not make a difference because unless your running a T1 directly to the location your getting around 1% of CAT5e speed. I don't see the speed of internet for home use needing to be faster then 1Gb for some time.

 

If this is for server farm or future-proofness:

If you want future-proofness then get CAT7e is a great choice for it can get 100Gb per sec. I don't see one pc using more then 1GB for some time. So your thinking of a small server farm of about 50 PCs CAT7e is a good choice. If you were going to buy CAT7 anyway CAT7e is what I would recomend.

 

Tips:

If your are going over fluorescent lights or some power lines you will have a worse connection then the cable is rated for. When you go up in CAT# the higher the # the less flex to the cord meaning you will need more cable for the clearence a thicker cord needs for tighter bends.

thank you:)

[Blade of Grass]

If this is for home:

Unless your running server equipment in your house your not getting higher then 1Gb a sec. If your doing this for internet speed it will not make a difference because unless your running a T1 directly to the location your getting around 1% of CAT5e speed. I don't see the speed of internet for home use needing to be faster then 1Gb for some time.

 

If this is for server farm or future-proofness:

If you want future-proofness then get CAT7e is a great choice for it can get 100Gb per sec. I don't see one pc using more then 1GB for some time. So your thinking of a small server farm of about 50 PCs CAT7e is a good choice. If you were going to buy CAT7 anyway CAT7e is what I would recomend.

 

Tips:

If your are going over fluorescent lights or some power lines you will have a worse connection then the cable is rated for. When you go up in CAT# the higher the # the less flex to the cord meaning you will need more cable for the clearence a thicker cord needs for tighter bends.

T1s are so slow, what are you talking about?

 

Also, Cat5e cables are rated for 10Gb/s, just for less distance.

Back to the point, I would suggest Cat 6 (maybe 7 or 7e if you can afford it) if it's going to be in wall, or Cat 5e if it's just patch cables.

[WorkAroundFails]

T1s are so slow, what are you talking about?

 

Also, Cat5e cables are rated for 10Gb/s, just for less distance.

Back to the point, I would suggest Cat 6 (maybe 7 or 7e if you can afford it) if it's going to be in wall, or Cat 5e if it's just patch cables.

Lol your right I ment fiber not t1. Also great points that I would only get above cat5e if running in a wall. If your in a home cat5e is what you might want to use if you are not redoing your home walls. Homes built in past 5 years in Canada I don't know about other countries require cat5e for phone lines that in my house I converted to Ethernet RJ45s.